The Middle

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 159 – Oasis Andy and Roger gear up (and grumble) ahead of the much-hyped Oasis reunion tour, navigating the emotional spectrum from teenage giddiness to middle-aged back pain. With general admission tickets in sweaty hands, they debate the wisdom of attending a 31-degree Sydney stadium gig in a thunderstorm. This episode meanders through Oasis nostalgia, Gen X vs mil...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 158 – Trans In a long-overdue foray into the culture wars, Andy and Roger finally tackle the topic of trans identity in society—with the subtlety of a brick through a window. From awkward change-room encounters to the philosophical minefield of gender roles, they wade through the semantics of sex versus gender, armed with nothing but a few boomer-inspired prompts and...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 157 - Screw the kids Andy and Roger confront the great Australian pastime: feeling conflicted about housing. Kicking off with Roger’s feverish tales of toddler sleep regression, the episode spirals into a confessional therapy session on modern parenting—comparing boomer belt threats to contemporary bedtime negotiations. From four-kid fatigue to the economics of makin...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 156 - Fake news This week, Andy and Roger begin by talking about Barry Weiss and her surprise appointment as editor-in-chief at CBS News, before spiralling into a discussion about audience capture, ideological drift, and whether anyone—including themselves—can truly claim to be immune from cult-like thinking. Are we the sane ones, or just too deep to notice? From the...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 155 – Peace Andy and Roger open this episode with a surprisingly heartfelt dive into the world of Uber Eats, Five Guys, and the dark side of soggy chips. What begins as a minor rant about delivery delays soon turns into an extended therapy session on the state of modern convenience, consumer behaviour, and parenting in the age of on-demand food. There’s even a side h...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 154 – Celebrity This week, Andy and Roger tackle the hard-hitting questions: is it ever okay for men to sit down to wee, and what does your urinal splash zone say about you? As always, it starts in the gutter—literally—and then spirals into a spirited discussion about celebrity culture, the awkward etiquette of recognising public figures (including Lleyton Hewitt at...

🎵 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 153 – The FCC won’t let me be What do you get when a late-night comedian, a resurrected Trump, and a suspiciously realistic autopen portrait of Joe Biden walk into the news cycle? A particularly bleak week in American politics, it seems. Andy and Roger reflect on the spiralling absurdity of recent events: Jimmy Kimmel’s temporary cancellation and triumphant return an...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 152 – Charlie Kirk Andy and Roger plunge into the dark territory surrounding the assassination of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk. With a week’s distance from the event, they examine the cultural, political, and ideological impact of Kirk’s killing, dissecting both the online reaction and the real-world implications. Roger reflects on the shocking footage...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 151 – Stupid rules Is it a rule if no one told you? Andy and Roger tackle the peculiar world of unwritten social conventions—those awkward, often absurd codes of conduct we all follow but no one really explains. From urinal etiquette to splitting the bill, from holding the door to who gets the TV remote, it's a buffet of modern manners, passive-aggressive rituals, an...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 150 – Aussie values Roger is sick again (thanks, toddlers), but Andy’s immune system is smugly intact. After a brief detour through parenthood and dodgy Chinese street food, the duo dives headfirst into a timely and thorny discussion: the recent anti-immigration rallies across Australia. They dissect the unsettling presence of neo-Nazis, the public backlash, and the...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 149 – Taylor and Tyler It was bound to happen. Two 40-year-old men discuss Taylor Swift's engagement and the surrounding cultural fallout—from heteronormative nostalgia to conspiracy theories about psyops and Super Bowl brand strategy. They discuss the backlash among younger fans, the cheerleader–quarterback trope, and the strangely polarising nature of Swift’s mass...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 148 – Brisvegas This week, Andy and Roger ditch the studio for a boys' trip to Brisvegas, complete with a zesty blue Mustang convertible, thinning hairlines, and questionable headwear decisions. Things go sideways quickly when they encounter a real-life Karen berating Thai staff over a lack of fried rice at an all-you-can-eat buffet—and naturally, Andy has thoughts....

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 147 – Masculinity In this episode, Andy and Roger wrestle with the increasingly loaded topic of masculinity—by way of a truly abysmal SBS panel show. What begins as a gripe about ChatGPT hallucinations quickly detours into Australia’s recognition of Palestine, the political symbolism of foreign policy, and whether Hamas sends thank-you hampers. The heart of the episo...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 146 – Abundance In this episode, Andy and Roger wade into the political and cultural crosscurrents sparked by the book Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. They start with a listener’s heartfelt concern about her daughter’s activism in pro-Palestinian marches—unpacking the mix of genuine compassion, complex coalitions, and the ever-present risk of being swept...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 145 – Greyzone Andy and Roger return with a sombre and sprawling discussion of the Israel-Gaza war, asking what moral accountability looks like in a situation with no easy answers. Andy begins by reflecting on the horror of starvation of people in Gaza, and expresses frustration over Israel’s continued military campaign. Roger highlights the hostages still held by Ha...

🎵 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 144 – Epstein who? Andy and Roger kick off with a chat about the joy of ageing bodies at concerts and a bizarre Coldplay scandal involving a jumbotron, the CEO, and the head of HR. There’s some gentle speculation about how to survive being caught mid-canoodle on live camera—and how Coldplay became the unexpected backdrop for one of the most publicised workplace affai...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 143 – Piracy Andy and Roger go full nostalgia this week, sailing back into the murky waters of digital piracy—from LimeWire and Napster to South-East Asian market stalls and dual-VCR bootlegs. The episode opens with Roger’s traumatising trip to Luna Park and Andy’s vivid memories of his dad recording classical music from the local library, before the pair launch into...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 142 – Forty years Roger’s recovering from a throat infection, Andy’s just turned 40, and both are contemplating how it all went so fast. In this episode, Andy and Roger embark on an ambitious year-by-year cultural tour through the major pop culture and historical events of their lifetimes—starting with 1985’s Back to the Future and ending in 2025 with AI and global d...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 141 – Tough decisions Andy and Roger open the episode with a theatrical recount of their recent hot pot experience at a place called "Master Cow," where a bronze cow statue serves as both meat platter and smoke machine. Despite Andy’s long-standing disdain for hot pot, the deluxe meat-and-dry-ice display, decent broths, private room upgrade, and $7 beers manage to wi...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 140 – Banning YouTube This week, Andy and Roger go full MasterChef as they simmer over a surprisingly contentious topic: hotpot. What begins as a light-hearted jab at overrated Asian dishes escalates into a full-blown fiscal autopsy of a $200 family meal, complete with meat math, broth bureaucracy, and accusations of ordering "like a white boy." Roger explains the cu...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 139 – Is he evil? It begins with weight loss—literally. Andy's back on the OMAD train (One Meal a Day), Roger's grappling with suit pants that have declared mutiny, and somewhere in between they find time to wonder if Jack Black is obese. From there, it’s a tight swerve into geopolitics, as they tackle a listener question about Israel’s airstrikes on Iran and the rip...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 138 – Take that as a comment This week, Andy and Roger respond to a listener question about kids, gaming, and screen addiction, only to spiral into an analysis of modern parenting. With the help of Roger’s Nintendo Switch and Andy’s apparent disdain for it, they reflect on generational shifts in authority, teenage rebellion, and how video games have become the new ba...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 137 – Home sweet home This week, Andy and Roger reflect on the public implosion of the Trump–Musk bromance. From awkward pop-up Teslas at the White House to roughhousing black eye excuses, the duo dissect the circus of politics, ego, and ketamine. Roger claims he “called it,” while Andy questions whether predicting a Trump–Musk fallout is really much of a flex. The p...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 136 – Free gift This week, Andy and Roger get philosophical (and slightly sentimental) in a gift-themed episode that celebrates turning 40 and the unwrapping of both literal and metaphorical presents. Things start with a surprisingly heartfelt moment as Roger gifts Andy the coveted SM7B microphone, prompting a dissection of male gift-giving rituals, hobby disparities...

🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 135 – Experts strike back In this episode, Andy and Roger dive into a thorny question that’s split friendships, inflamed group chats, and possibly lost them a few listeners: can you actually trust experts? Picking up where a previous debate left off, the pair discuss whether expertise is real, relevant, or just overrated. Andy poses six pointed questions to Roger, te...