Not Stupid

At the Australian Open, a protester yelled out in the quiet stadium at the end of the men's tennis final. Jules and Jez unpack what it was all about and how sports deal with allegations against players. And after hosting a few days of Australia Day events, Jez has been thinking about how we mark important dates. BUY ADELAIDE SHOW TICKETS HERE https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2025-writers...

Have you come back to work after a summer holiday? Are you thinking that this year, you'll get your work/life balance sorted? Are you wondering if it really is possible?  Jules and Jez chat about whether we should have a "right to disconnect" from the office and it turns out they are just very different humans.  The Right to Disconnect https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-01/we-now-have-the-right-t...

Donald Trump has taken office, so what will the next four years look like in the White House? Jez and Jules look at what Donald Trump has done in his first days in the job and who is pushing back. And after a series of Anti-Semitic attacks across the country, the Government is promising to act, but Jules thinks we also need to think more about our history. SHOW NOTES  COME TO OUR ADELAIDE SHOW! TI...

Jules has been reading up on solitude after finding a piece in The Atlantic about "The Anti-Social Century". It looks at our changing habits around social isolation and says that Americans are spending more time alone than ever. So is it the same here? And if you love your solitude, do you sometimes think about why? "The Anti-Social Century" in The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The fires in California have been dominating the news for the last couple of weeks and on social media its getting hard to sort the facts from fiction. Jules and Jez look at the conspiracy theories about the fires and whether Meta's decision about fact checking might make it worse in the future.  And we are a few weeks into January, so how are your new year’s resolutions going?? Have they already...

A US study found that when a group of people were asked to read poetry by famous authors and poetry written by Chat GPT, they preferred the Chat GPT poems. Jules and Jez put Chat GPT to the test, plus more of your favourite poems. Buy tickets to our Adelaide show here: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2025-writers-week/podfest-not-stupid/ Poems discussed: "Good Bones" by Maggie Smith "A...

Do you have a favourite kids book? Can you still recite it? Jules and Jez chat about their most-loved children's books and the ones they remember reading to their own kids. Have you got a favourite? We'd love to hear from you. You can email us at notstupid@abc.net.au Buy tickets to our Adelaide show here: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2025-writers-week/podfest-not-stupid/

This year, Jules has been speaking to lots of people about what makes them resilient. She wanted to know how they cope in the aftermath of horrific events or how they deal with ongoing pain. She's been writing about it in her "Staying Upright" column and she and Jez chat about what she has learnt.  STAYING UPRIGHT https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-24/staying-upright-life-can-be-hard-how-do-peopl...

After a big year of pretty toxic politics globally, can we learn to disagree better? Jules has been reading up about the "Dignity Index", so could it make a difference? And the so called "hot assassin" has lots of people talking about healthcare and health insurance in the US. Also, could "Not Stupid" get in the Guinness Book of Records? SHOW NOTES Buy tickets to our Adelaide show! https://www.ade...

We asked if you needed any life advice and you've got questions. What's the best trifle recipe? Is a plastic Christmas tree better than a real one? Do I have to buy nice presents for people if they only give me rubbish ones? Jules and Jez offer their advice and their baking tips. MADS' EMERGENCY TRIFLE TIPS 1.Use the right bowl. A good bowl is the difference between an amazing looking trifle and s...

The Raygun Musical was shutdown before it even began, so is it ok to make fun of celebrities? How much do people in the public eye get to control their image? And if we can recreate dead celebrities with A.I., who controls that story? Also Syria is back in the headlines as Syrians across the globe celebrate the end of fifty years of the Assad regime. Jules and Jez take a closer look at what's happ...

Jez had an idea to make a playlist with all the songs he loves to dance to. When he asked for song requests, so many of you got in touch. Jules and Jez chat about some of the songs you love to dance to and why you love them. You can find the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/36xBCBL6jCrPJe6J8drjYe?si=BF6PCTj-QCK-nIDa1LTPTg&pi=a-CpIDFEEDROGt And if you have other suggestions, you...

Has your year been: a) brat b) demure c) enshittified? Join Julia Baird and Jeremy Fernandez as they chat about the words of the year. Plus why is it so hard to cap the amount of plastic produced globally? And would you eat a $9 million dollar banana? SHOW NOTES NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT THE PLASTIC INDUSTRY   https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/27/climate/plastic-industry-internal-documents.html M...

Jules got a tattoo in New York after some particularly strong margaritas, so we asked you for your tattoo stories. And boy did you deliver. Join Jules and Jez as they read through some of your emails about weird and wonderful tattoos. You can always get in touch at notstupid@abc.net.au

Donald Trump's White House picks have many questioning whether the #metoo movement is dead. So is it? And here in Australia, executives from Coles, Woolworths and ALDI have appeared at the ACCC’s supermarket inquiry, so what have we learned and is anything going to change? SHOW NOTES Please do our survey! Link here: https://forms.office.com/r/XCJvrKqCkd JULES' PICK Jesse Krimes Exhibition https://...

Jules is in the US talking about grace and forgiveness and it is a tricky topic in the wake of the election result. So what reaction has she been getting? If you can, please fill out our listener survey. It's anonymous and will only take a few minutes. SURVEY LINK HERE: https://forms.office.com/r/XCJvrKqCkd

Veteran broadcaster Alan Jones has been charged with historical indecent assault and sexual touching offences and Jules and Jez chat about what we know about the charges. And Jules is still in the US and everything is so expensive. We talk about how Donald Trump says he will fix the economy and what impact the economy might have on the Australian economy. You can always get in touch with us at not...

When Jules and Jez spoke about Tim Winton's novel "Juice", they spoke about communities trying to do their bit to address climate change and we wanted to hear from you. Lots of you got in touch and we discuss a few of those emails. If you have more stories, please get in touch at notstupid@abc.net.au

When Donald Trump won the US election, sexist, racist and misogynistic comments exploded online. Julia and Jeremy look at what happened at why. And here in Australia, the Government plans to stop misinformation, but will it work? Jeremy's Playlist Dancing may be better than other exercise for improving mental health - The University of Sydney

It has been a big few days in US politics and Jules is about to head to the US. She'll be there talking about grace, after a very tumultuous and divisive election campaign. So will there be any grace on display? Also Jules talks about meeting Donald Trump in 2016.

Julia Baird and Jeremy Fernandez have been reporting on the US election all day, but after the tv broadcast, they got into the pod studio for a debrief and a chat. They take us through how the day unfolded and how Trump won.

We asked for your favourite poems and you really delivered. We have been inundated with emails about poetry so we thoughts we'd share a few. Keep sending them at notstupid@abc.net.au and we will share more in coming weeks. POEMS "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum "Araluen" by Henry Kendall "Small Kindnesses" by Danusha Laméris SONG LYRICS "The Wine Song" by The...

There's one week until the US election and Jez and Jules are reading and listening to everything so you don't have to. They chat about the latest and what they think we sometimes get wrong about Trump voters. And Jules has COVID while one of her kids is doing her final exams. It has got us thinking about the pressure of final exams and whether we've got it right. And who steals cheddar? Jez is int...

Julia Baird and Jeremy Fernandez answer more of your questions about the US election. Will Trump's criminal cases matter? What are the issues which will decide the election? And when will we have a result?

King Charles and Queen Camilla have been in Australia and a heckle from Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe caused global headlines for heckling the King. So should the King be heckled and are we ever going to be a Republic? Also Julia has been deep down a rabbit hole reading about the Menendez brothers who were convicted of killing their parents more than thirty years ago. Now the case is being look...