T minus 20

👑 Let's kick off with a tiara toss back to when Jennifer Hawkins conquered the (Miss) universe. Our Aussie queen strutted into a spotlight that catapulted her far beyond the pageant stage. Join us as we sashay through the sequins and into the savvy career moves that followed her crowning glory. 🚜 Over in Colorado, Marvin Heemeyer’s bulldozing bonanza, aka the "Killdozer" rampage,...

🚀 This week, we’re serving up a hearty slice of May 2004 chaos, with all the trimmings of scandal, tech tantrums, and pop culture pandemonium! 🛫 First up, tragedy strikes at Charles de Gaulle Airport when Terminal 2E crumbles under the weight of poor design—literally. As the newly constructed section collapses, it leaves us questioning whether faster is always better...  📵 Meanwhile, North Kore...

🚀✨ This week, we're zipping back to mid-May 2004 with a monumental leap in equality, the formidable force of nature and we unleash our inner emo…   🌈 First up, Massachusetts makes history by being the first U.S. state to say "I do" to same-sex marriage. The champagne popped and love won, setting the stage for a nationwide wave of wedding bells. Here's to love ruling the day!...

🚀 This week on T minus 20, we rewind to headline-grabbing news, ethical media dilemmas, unforgettable pop hits and pivotal sports triumphs. 🎬 We kick off with a dark chapter in modern history, revisiting the tragic fate of Nick Berg, whose brutal demise at the hands of extremists left the world reeling. This heart-wrenching story isn't just a reflection on the perils faced in conflict zones...

Hey Y2K lovers (and loathers), hold on to your trucker caps ‘cause this week 20 years ago is an emotional ride. Friends Farewell: Grab the tissues 'cause we’re going on a break. We say farewell to FRIENDS - the iconic show that became a pop culture phenomenon. 52.5 million of us watched them close the door on that iconic apartment. And you know what’s really weird? The show as we know it almo...

Buckle up, buttercup: this week 20 years ago was a wild ride - equal parts horrifying, hilarious and of course nostalgic. The heavy: The Abu Ghraib prison scandal explodes, sending shockwaves around the world. We'll unpack the details and the fallout, but be warned, it's not a pretty picture. Dick Cheney and George W. Bush take a turn in the hot seat, testifying before the 9/11 Commissio...

This week twenty years ago delivered a mix of jaw-dropping headlines and eyebrow-raising moments that'll make you say, "Wait, did that really happen?" First up, the heart-wrenching tale of Pat Tillman, the NFL star turned soldier whose story reads like a Hollywood script. From sacking quarterbacks to dodging bullets, Tillman's journey took a tragic turn when he was killed by fr...

The headline is a bit misleading but British PM Tony Blair did visit the US this week 20 years ago where he held a joint press conference with the US President Geroge W Bush to talk all things Coalition of the Willing and give an update on the War in Iraq. Surprisingly Bush managed to forget a few key dates when questioned. In sport West Indian Cricket batting legend Brian Lara broke the record fo...

We’re pretty sure our research this week has us on a watch list somewhere as we look into ammonium nitrate and why this highly explosive chemical needed to be banned way back in 2004. The fun doesn’t stop there either as we take the best parts from Condaleeza Rice when she testifies for over three hours at the 9/11 commission hearings. As promised you can find all the deets here: https://www.9-11c...

It’s a week of good news for the people in Ireland, whether they like it or not, as they breathe the fresh air that comes with banning smoking in pubs and clubs. Although some may argue that it was a rather anti-social initiative, the people who didn’t have to breathe the passive smoke found it much easier to hold a conversation. Not so good news for military contractors in Fallujah however when a...

Ok so it’s an obscure title that we’ve used to put two unrelated occurrences together this week. The first being the deliberate sinking of the HMS Scylla of the coast of Britain and the second, Usher releasing his album confessions. Where the single ‘Burn’ basically gave him an excuse to rip his shirt off. In sport France defeated England to win the Six Nations Rugby Tournament. We also had an alb...

The news this week is positively and literally astronomical, with scientists announcing the discovery of 90377 Sedna, a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. We break down the selection criteria for a planet vs a dwarf planet and find out why Pluto was downgraded. Terror in Taiwan this week in 2004 with Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian is shot the day before the country's presidential election....

Yeah that’s right, break out the cheese cubes, French onion dip, Jatz and cabanossi because we have a party Susan loaded with your weekly dose of news and pop culture. Great news in Iraq as their interim constitution is signed and Colin Powell gushes over the content. So much so he gave it five stars on Good Reads! Sadly there was an horrific terror attack in Madrid, Spain this time 20 years ago w...

Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of The Christ” makes its debut this time 20 years ago and the overwhelming response was that people were overwhelmed!  And that is just one story in what was a massive week! The United Nations came clean saying they could not find any evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. UN weapon inspector David Kay simply said “We were almost all wrong”, which sent the media...

In what is one of many unexpected moves, Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted the afternoon programmes on the telly to inform his countrymen that he had just sacked the entire Russian Parliament mere weeks after he was elected for a second term as President!  In Australia Qantas launched it's budget airline, Jetstar with fares from Sydney to Melbourne as low as 60 bucks! Who cares abo...

This week in the news residents the Sydney suburb of Redfern clashed with police over the death of Aboriginal teenager TJ Hickey. TJ was allegedly clipped by a police car while being pursued on his bicycle. He hit the gutter and fell. His injuries were fatal and the local Indigenous community erupted with grief and outrage. We look at the incident and the media coverage from the time, and wonder i...

In response to a very conservative State of The Union address, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome gives the directive to issue same sex marriage licenses. This would be seen by many as the spark that lit a fire under conservatives right across the nation. Poor old Gavin just wanted to do the right thing by his constituents. Out in space the largest diamond ever discovered was spotted by the Harvard...

It's the biggest story of 2004 so far, the moment when the world was seemingly more shocked by Justin Timberlake exposing Janet Jackson's nipple at the Superbowl Halftime Show than anything a little old war in the middle east could deliver. We take a look at it from all sides 20 years later.  Meanwhile over at Harvard University as student by the name of Mark Zuckerberg took his first st...

It really is a mixed bag this week, Spirit's twin probe Opportunity touches down on Mars and instantly goes to work proving that there was once water on the red planet.  In Taiwan a massive explosion rips through the city centre of Tainan, but it's not what you think. A dead whale being transported through the city becomes so bloated with rotten gas in the heat that it bursts, leaving ev...

It's a sad and shocking start to the week this week with the death of cricket legend David Hookes as the result of an altercation with a bouncer at a nightclub.  In scientific news NASA lost contact with the Spirit rover as it's flash memory subsystem overloaded. Thanksfully they were able to try turning it off an on again to get things working.  In tech Nintendo announce the release of...

It's the wedding of the year already, Britney Spears goes on a bender in Vegas, get's married and divorced all in the same weekend! It really is the perfect start to 2004!  Over in the Middle East construction begins on the world's tallest building, The Burj Khalifa. While it still remains a spectacular feat of engineering it has one terrible flaw that has to do with poop.  While we...

It's our final week of best bits before we kick off a new season. We're going through the archives and pulling out the best bits from the past year including: 50 Cent and Lil' Kim's collaboration on 'Magic Stick' - the song that changed the game in strip clubs around the world.  US Forces kill Saddam Hussein's sons - former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s sons, Q...

We're going through the archives and pulling out the best bits from the past year including: The No War protest on the Sydney Opera House - while the perpetrators were maligned by the media and community at the time, these days they display all sorts of stuff on the sails of one of Australia's most recognisable landmarks.  The conspiracy against JC Chasez from NSYNC -  and why Justin Tim...

We're going through the archives and pulling out the best bits from the past year including: The Antwerp Diamond heist - dubbed the "heist of the century", it was the largest ever diamond heist and one of the largest robberies in history.  50 Cent releases "In Da Club" - the single produced by Dr Dre that put everyone else in the hip-hop community on notice, especially Irv...

It's a 2003 extravaganza for our last episode before summer programming kicks in.  The best and worst in Google search, the Time person of the year, billboard, iTunes and the ARIA charts, movies, television and even books!  Brace yourself!  Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast) . You can also contact us...