Spin Cycle

High school student journalists Aidan Sinclair and Saskia De Leeuw Kyle join Jess and Charlie to discuss the YMCA Victorian Youth Parliament and its Youth Press Gallery program. They consider whether the environment simulates what it's really like being a journalist, and if there are enough outlets providing a platform for youth journalism. Jess and Charlie also cover the ABC and Nicole Chvastek,...

As Barbenheimer floods cinema screens this week, the Spin Cycle team takes a look at arts and culture journalism in Australia.  Jess and Charlie are joined by Brodie Landcaster, author and freelance cultural journalist, to discuss the Hollywood Writer and Actor strikes and whether the media environment provides enough time for journalists to generate meaningful film reviews. Jess and Charlie also...

Charlie Lewis is away this week. Jess captains the good ship Spin Cycle with special guest co-hosts Rachel Withers (Contributing editor at The Monthly ) and Esther Anatolitis (Editor of Meanjin ). They chat to journalist Nick Feik about his reporting into how laws designed to support whistleblowers are failing to protect those who speak up.  Plus, a dive into  the frontpage landlord stor y that se...

Rachel Withers joins Jess and Charlie in the studio to discuss her recent piece for The Monthly. What does it mean to be a 'Teal Independent', and what do they tell us about the characteristics of the electorates they represent. The team also talk about the Robodebt commission report released this week and the role of media advisors in light of a recent Rochelle Miller interview.

Associate professor of public health and preventative medicine, Charles Livingstone, joins Jess and Charlie to talk about the media and gambling. They discuss the politics, research, and recommendations, and ask the question :  what does the future of gambling regulation look like in Australia? Jess and Charlie also update on the coverage of the yes and no campaigns for the Voice to Parliament, th...

Jess and Charlie's guest is Kimina Lyall, Deputy CEO of Dart Centre Asia Pacific, a clinical psychologist and a former journalist. She talks to the team about trauma literacy in the Australian media; how does the media respond to traumatic incidents, and are we cultivating a media environment of inflicting further trauma? Jess and Charlie also talk the corruption inquiry into Gladys Berejiklian, a...

Jess is joined by senior reporter for The Australian, Sarah Elks, to discuss Sarah's jaw dropping series of investigative reports into long-time QLD MP, Warren Entsch. From spiriting a billionaire to Thursday Island for a covid jab to questions around government-funded pottery classes in Doomadgee to Entsch's former lives as a croc catcher and LGBTIQ+ activist - this is a story you don't want to m...

Media ethics expert and long-time journalist, Denis Muller returns to Spin Cycle to join Charlie for a discussion on the past week's news. What does the ABC's redundancy of Andrew Probyn and his role say about their approach to political reporting? Is the News Corp response to the Ben Roberts-Smith saga undermining other media outlets? Is there a way for media monopolies to be effectively regulate...

Jess and Charlie are joined by journalist Marc Fennell for a discussion about the making of his new SBS documentary  The Kingdom , his personal history with the church, and the changing face of Pentecostal religion in Australia. The team also cover how the continuing media response to the Ben Roberts-Smith verdict appears to have split along ideological lines and the continuing adventures of socia...

Academic and Author Sally Young joins Jess and Charlie to discuss Australia's media mogul history and her new book, Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia's Newspaper Empires . The team also cover this week's verdict in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case and how defamation laws in Australia impact the media environment.

After Stan Grant's  departure from the ABC , hosts Jess and Charlie discuss how various corners of the media responded, and the broader lack of inclusion and support of Indigenous voices in the Australian media.   They also consider the strange bedfellows that celebrity journos and politicians make and  the tech-riddled media fail that was the Twitter Launch of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' 2024...

Award-winning author of The Trauma Cleaner, Sarah Krasnostein, Joins the Spin Cycle team for a chat through her latest piece for the Monthly - exploring the media response to 2022 Train family murders in Wieambilla, Queensland and their link to online conspiracy theories. Plus, the team digs into the latest media dramas of the week including 2023 budget reporting and how outlets select their polit...

Najma Sambul returns to Spin Cycle this week. Jess and Najma reviewed the recent episode of Foreign Conversation, Surviving in Somalia, as an example of the vital reporting foreign correspondents do. They also discussed the curious case of how twitter user, Bigolas   Dickolas, created a number one Amazon best selling book. 

Jess flies solo this week with Charlie on holidays for the next fortnight. First up, Crikey associate editor, Cam Wilson gets on the line to discuss his recent reporting into how both the Daily Mail and the Spectator have published pieces by people who have tenuous links to neo-nazi movements and the alt-right.  Later, Amy Remeikis from The Guardian Australia unpacks all the reporting around Jobse...

Ben Abbatangelo, writer for The Saturday Paper and The Guardian, joins Jess and Charlie to discuss his debut piece for Indigenous X, covering Peter Dutton's comments on Indigenous issues, Jacinta Price and the politics of refusal. Jess and Charlie also discuss the defamation case between Dominion and Fox News and the roots of "facts" in QAnon forums.

Charlie Lewis is joined by guest-host Rachel Withers (The Monthly) covering for Jess Lilley.  They're joined by special guest Kishor Napier-Raman, CBD columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age who covers Australia's most influential political and business figures, about what a "gossip column" really means, what it can tell you that straight news can't, and having a job that has powerful...

Rachel Withers is Jess Lilley’s guest host this week on Spin Cycle. Together they explore policies and politicians after the recent NSW election, and the associated media coverage. They are also joined by guest Bridget Brennan, ABC journalist and Gold Quill winner, to discuss media coverage of First Nations issues, in particular the Four Corners report from 2022: ‘How Many More? the Crisis of the...

Joshua Thorburn, criminology PhD student at Monash Uni, joins Jess and Charlie to discuss the ideologies of incels and femcels, and common misconceptions about this group due to coverage in the media. Jess and Charlie also briefly cover Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull's failed tour of Australia and the media response to the appearance of neo-nazi support at anti-trans rallies in Melbourne on the weekend.

Denis Muller, media editor, research consultant and specialist on media ethics and accountability, talks to Jess and Charlie about the role of public broadcasters in light of recent BBC controversy, and how the ABC stacks up in comparison. Jess and Charlie also talk about Paul Keating’s tough-love AUKUS opinions in his National Press Club address, and what ethical editing means in a news environme...

Jackie Turner, the Director of the Trans Justice Project, joins the team to chat about how to identify anti-trans misinformation and become more media-literate to anti-trans rhetoric popping up in reporting, both of which she talks about in  her piece for Junkee this week . Jess and Charlie also revisit the Tom Morris saga, as well as the on-going Fox News v Dominion lawsuit that has thrown the US...

Melbourne music writer & Journalist, Ben Madden joins Jess Lilley.  They unpack  his piece for Junkee on Bluesfest's rocky PR misadventures since announcing,and then eventually removing, sydney-based rock band Sticky Fingers from their line-up. Jess also digs into the latest reporting around the Robodebt Royal Commission.

Jess and Charlie chat with Alan Kohler, long time financial analyst for the ABC and all-round Finance journalist across a number of Australian publications, including The Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Together, they navigate recent reporting into the Reserve Bank, interest rates and the cost of living crisis, as well as whether the Australian public is interested in the some...

After more than 60 years of constitutionally mandated pacificism, Japan is embarking on its biggest military spend since the second world war. The Spin Cycle crew is joined by the ABC's North Asia Correspondent James Oaten to explore the implications of this to the Japanese people and the wider region, as well as Oaten's own journey to become a Foreign Correspondent. Elsewhere, Charlie and Najma d...

In this week's episode, Jess and Charlie talk to Matilda Boseley (she/her), a Melbourne-based reporter for The Guardian. Together they explore the different attempts to entice Australian youth into the news cycle via social media. Jess and Charlie also discuss ageism outrage and Chat GPT controversy.

In Spin Cycle's return for 2023, Jess and Charlie speak to 4 Corners investigative reporter, Louise Milligan about her report on Opus Dei's influence in the NSW education system. Plus we discuss the media coverage of George Pell, as well as revelations about the relationship between media and government revealed in the robodebt public enquiry.  Please note that this episode contains discussion aro...