The 9pm Edict

The first special-guest episode in the spring series is a fascinating chat about artificial intelligence, killer robots, and more with UNSW Scientia Professor Toby Walsh, chief scientist of the brand new UNSW AI Institute. In this episode we talk about neural networks, the dangers of algorithmic policing, Google Duplex, cryptocurrency, HAL 9000 (obviously) and other disembodied computers, tribbles...

The spring series of The 9pm Edict kicks off in a strange week, especially in British politics and the monarchy. This episode is a disjointed set of personal observations and complaints. We talk about Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, drugs, space, the metaverse, mental health, mediocre Australian politicians including Angus Taylor and Tim Smith, our JobSeeker p...

The winter series of The 9pm Edict concludes with another look at all the plagues and many other things — some of them fun — with infectious diseases physician Dr Trent Yarwood. In this episode we talk about COVID-19, of course, but also ebola, monkeypox, Scott Morrison's secret ministries, the sexual proclivities of backpackers, leeches, dinosaurs, William Shatner, Langya henipavirus, how we deci...

The winter series of The 9pm Edict continues with the return of Justin Warren, "consultant, freedom of information tragic, hexagon enthusiast, and creator of the CyberRating™ labelling scheme". He's also chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, but I'm sure they'll disown him. In this episode we talk about the disaster that was the Australian government's COVIDSafe app, as well the wonders of elec...

The winter series of The 9pm Edict continues with astrophysicist Rami Mandow, founder of SpaceAustralia.com. There's a new telescope to talk about, and much more. In this episode we talk about the imagery from the James Webb Space Telescope, pulsars, how declassified military data is aiding science, water on mars, orbital mechanics, adaptive optics, Assyria, rainbow lorikeets, space junk, junk sci...

A family in Florida is shocked by some unusual behaviour. Bob Katter talks about his cunning nature. And Scott Morrison continues to be Scott Morrison, telling us he doesn’t trust governments In this episode we talk about Angus Taylor, George Christensen, pronouns, fruit flies, nudity, and former ABC Adelaide broadcaster, the late Philip Satchell. Full podcast details and credits at: https://the9p...

The winter series of The 9pm Edict continues with another very special guest, satirist Mark Humphries. We met up on Bastille Day. We retreated to an upstairs bar. This delightfully rambling conversation was the result. We spoke about bigotry, beef tallow, the honesty and integrity of Clive Palmer, giant African land snails and brain worms, Elon Musk versus Donald Trump, Bruce Ruxton, Gerry Harvey,...

The winter series of The 9pm Edict continues with a sunshine and rainbows-filled chat with special guest Claire Connelly. She's a researcher, freelance journalist, and Policy Fellow at the Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney.  In this episode we talk about so many horrible things: inflation, the housing crisis, rising inequality, avocados, and surveillance capitalism — but we definitely...

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has just celebrated its 90th birthday, but it's the reaction to that which has triggered some thoughts. Long thoughts. Ranty thoughts. In this episode we talk about writing, about political myths, about political journalism (again), transphobia, a funnel, and about everything from NIMBY attitudes, to Peter Dutton's excellent leadership skills, to Christian P...

The America is disintegrating and we’re going along for the ride — with Bette Midler at our side. In this episode we talk about American abortion laws, Australian values, quality thinking, Peta Credlin, neurology, flagpoles, and furries. Full podcast details and credits at: https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00176/ Please consider supporting this podcast at: https://the9pmedict.com/tip/ https://skank.c...

The winter series of The 9pm Edict continues with special guest David F Porteous joining us from Edinburgh in the actual Scotland. He's an author, he's a social researcher, he's a podcaster, and he's a lovely chap to chat with.  In this episode we talk about the hairstyles of royalty, the joys of COVID-19, Britain's brilliant plan to send refugees to Rwanda, minimum wages and living wages, the Thu...

The winter series of The 9pm Edict kicks off with special guest Yun Jiang, the inaugural China Matters Fellow at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. And guess what? We're discussing China and Australia.  In this episode we talk about the massive COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, the possibility of a Chinese naval base in Solomon Islands, recent diplomatic moves of both Australia and Ch...

The autumn series of The 9pm Edict concludes with the implosion of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Our special guest is David Gerard, author of "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain" and "Libra Shrugged: How Facebook Tried to Take Over the Money". This podcast is an expression of glorious schadenfreude. But we also talk about garlic, Julian Assange and the battle with Scientology, and even Elon Musk. Full...

The autumn series of The 9pm Edict continues with a look at some recent space news with astrophysicist Rami Mandow, founder of SpaceAustralia.com. We talk about black holes and pulsars, darkness and space chemistry, Dyson spheres, tequila, how to get started with astronomy, extraterrestrial life, whether faster-than-light travel will ever be possible, and even that Elon Musk chap and the commercia...

Well then. It happened. Anthony Albanese is Prime Minister and Australia has a new Labor government. There's a sense of hope in the air, but there's also a sense of hesitation. In episode we talk about the election result, obviously. We also talk about the unhinging of the conservative commentators, especially those on Sky News Australia, about the problems in political journalism, international r...

Just two sleeps to go! With the election day this Saturday 21 May, and with the polls showing a solid chance of a Labor win, the unhinging continues on all sides. Let's talk about that, and other things. In episode we talk about the ongoing corflute wars, a certain terrible election advertisement, Scott Morrison's love of focus groups, his character, and the Coalition's housing policy. There's eve...

Nine sleeps to go! As Australia's federal election campaign enters its final days, the unhinging is going through the roof -- and it's not just the politicians who are losing their minds. In episode we talk about bad journalism, the leaders debates on Nine and Seven, the sexiness of Bob Katter, Australia's Mother of the Year, how all Asian-Australian candidates look the same, lies, the making of t...

With just 16 days left in Australia's federal election campaign, the unhinging continues. Anthony Albanese has officially launched Labor's policies, and Scott Morrison's campaign looks like it's starting to get a bit desperate. In this slightly arithmetic-heavy episode we talk about Tim Wilson's derangement, Pauline Hanson's One Nation, housing affordability, interests rates, that goddam chicken c...

We're almost halfway through Australia's federal election campaign, and of course the unhinging continues -- but was it as unhinged as last week? In this episode we talk about Katherine Deves' hilariously bad campaign video, hung parliaments, the Prime Minister standing firm, inflation, and even Nigella Lawson. Full podcast details and credits at: https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00167/ Please consid...

The autumn series of The 9pm Edict continues with another visit from author, columnist, and reprobate John Birmingham to chat about strategic things, the election, and breakfast martinis. We talk about the great power competition between the US and China, Nazis, racism, the Yellow Peril, coprophagia, cocktail recipes, and of course the upcoming federal election. Full podcast details and credits at...

We're two weeks into Australia's federal election campaign, and of course the unhinging continues. In this episode we talk about Vote Compass, disendorsed One Nation candidates, theory of mind, self-proclaimed senator-in-exile Rod Culleton, actor Miriam Margolyes, and Anthony Albanese going down with the 'rona. Full podcast details and credits at: https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00165/ Please consid...

Australia's federal election has been called for Saturday 21 May 2022. In a headrush of poor judgement, I've decided to produce a six-part mini-series of The 9pm Edict with an election theme, with episodes appearing each Thursday. This is the first. These episodes will run in parallel with the special guest episodes of the autumn series, which will still see another three episodes appearing before...

The autumn series of The 9pm Edict continues with special guest Greg Muller, a journalist who's produced, among many things, the podcast documentary series Motherlode, It's about the early computer hacking scene and the origin story of Julian Assange. We talk about Motherlode and hacking and Mr Assange and WikiLeaks. Obviously. But we also cover the nature of journalism, arsonists, the separation...

In the first special guest episode of The 9pm Edict autumn series we're joined by evelyn douek, lecturer on law and a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Law School, and co-host of the Lawfare podcast Arbiters of Truth. We talk about all manner of things connected with the online information ecosystem, including the lack of transparency at the major platforms like Facebook and Twitter, the war in Uk...

In a prelude to The 9pm Edict autumn series we ignore the special guests and rant about other things. In this episode we talk about late social commentary, late night buses, artificial intelligence, tits and teeth, misleading Budget announcements, whiskey, public housing, and of course the forthcoming federal election. Full podcast details and credits at: https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00161/ Pleas...