The 9pm Edict

Let's kick off the Edict's mid-2025 series with a look at Australia's relationship with Indonesia, because Jakarta was the first international city prime minister Anthony Albanese visited after his re-election. Our special guest is journalist Erin Cook, who specialises in South-East Asia. Erin produces the excellent newsletter Dari Mulut ke Mulut, an English-language summary of what’s happening in...

With just days remaining until Australia's federal election, who better to talk with than Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous? Well, lots of people, but here we are. In this episode we do talk about the impending election, and quite a bit about sausages. But we also discuss important issues about transubstantiation, whether Princess Diana went straight to hell, why heaven is awa...

The summer series is dragging on, and there's still so many things on our minds. So joining me for a bonus episode is my good friend Snarky Platypus. In this episode we talk about lego, trains full of boomers, the echidnapus, and the panic about a so-called Chinese Spy Ship. And of course there's a few rants about election discourse and political polling. Full podcast details and credits at: https...

There's a lot going on in The America. You may have noticed. So as the summer series grinds on — way behind schedule — we're joined by Associate Professor David Smith from the United States Study Centre. In this episode we talk, obviously, about the powers of POTUS and his Yalta 2.0 imperialist desires to annex Canada. And Greenland. And Mexico. We discuss how the new Trumpian America might affect...

As the summer series grinds on we’re joined once again — well, after a gap of more than a year — by author and columnist John Birmingham.  In this episode we talk, inevitably, about the nexus between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. But we also chat about Brisbane and the good old days, cancer, the Apple Vision Pro, World Expo 88, digital locks, physical fitness, and the links between hypermasculinity,...

Snarky Platypus and Stilgherrian return to that park in North Sydney park to record another uninformative trailer for their new podcast. Please ignore the squealing child. They’ll be recording two pilot episodes in the coming weeks, just as soon as the paperwork is done for the music license.

The summer series continues, and it's more science. Today's special guest is infectious diseases physician Dr Trent Yarwood. In this episode we talk about infectious diseases, of course, from smallpox to long covid, and HIV to measles. But we also discuss the appendix, biological warfare, norovirus, poo, and the medical semiotics of bow ties.  Full podcast details and credits at: https://the9pmedi...

Snarky Platypus and Stilgherrian sit in a North Sydney park to record a brief and uninformative trailer for their new podcast. They’ll be recording two pilot episodes in the coming weeks, just as soon as the paperwork is done for the music license.

Happy New Year. It's time for another look at space news, I reckon, so once more my special guests are space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk from Flinders University, and astrophysicist and founder of SpaceAustralia.com Rami Mandow. In this episode we talk about Mars, including its role as both a source of aliens and as a potential new home for humans. That does mean we dissect Elo...

Back at the start of the year, my good friend Snarky Platypus and I created some bingo cards for 2024. Two sets of 25 things that might happen. Well, we’re now at the end of the year, so let’s see how we went. You might want to follow along with the original blog post. https://stilgherrian.com/essay/bingo-card-2024/ You might also want to listen to our half-time update from July. https://the9pmedi...

Our first special guest in the summer series is Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous, and we’re going to talk about everything that happened in 2024. Every single thing. Well, no. However we do have to talk about Donald Trump. Sorry, but we do. We also talk about the latest challenge to honesty on OnlyFans, the latest in adult diapers, certain aspects of biology, the Spanish Arma...

The first summer series episode of the Edict features Stilgherrian telling a personal story, plus a few other bits and pieces. In this episode he talks about his recent injuries and related hospital visits, the history of those hospitals, content warnings, dildos in Texas, and some old anti-vaxxers. Full podcast details and credits at: https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00238/ Please consider supportin...

It's the final episode of the spring series, finally. And with all the weird digital policy action in Australia in recent weeks, I figured we'd better chat once more with Justin Warren, "consultant, freedom of information tragic, hexagon enthusiast, and creator of the CyberRating™ labelling scheme". In this episode we talk about Australia's newly-legislated social media ban for under-16s, sure. Bu...

We’re joined today by one of my favourite guests, space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk from Flinders University. In this episode we talk about the research she and her colleagues have been doing with the International Space Station. Apparently it's rather like a share house. We wonder how you might develop a feminist map of the Moon. And as usual we veer off on plenty of tangents....

No, we're not really on ketamine. But as the spring series continues we're going sideways with a bonus episode featuring my good friend Snarky Platypus and many, many topics. In this episode we talk about robot whales, the secrets of Dinosaur Club, Australia's proposed social media age restrictions (again), the truly horrible side effects of ketamine addiction, how Donald Trump and Elon Musk might...

The spring series grinds on — and I do mean grinds — with friend of the pod, satirist Mark Humphries. In this episode we do talk about the thing that happened last week — the Trump thing — but we also talk about edible underwear, North Korean soldiers, British comedians Ben Elton, Rik Mayall, and Steve Coogan, whether straight people can do camp, and pixellated genitals. Full podcast details and c...

As the spring series continues we're joined by Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous to talk about the thing that happened in The America this week — but also much more. In this episode we talk about Australia's plans to ban under-16s from social media,  a selection of animals to turn into jerky, Macaulay Culkin, British religious history, and why violence sometimes isn't wrong. F...

As regular listeners to the Edict will know, I reckon Australians should know more about the other nations in our region. So our special guest today is journalist Erin Cook, who covers South-East Asia, and we're talking Indonesia and Thailand. Mostly. Erin produces the excellent newsletter “Dari Mulut ke Mulut”, an English-language summary of what's happening in the region. https://darimulut.beehi...

The spring series of the Edict kicks off properly with our first special guest and it's David Gerard, co-editor of the newsletter Pivot to AI . So guess what we talk about. Yes, in this episode we talk about artificial intelligence. Specifically, we test out Google's NotebookLM podcast creator, we discuss why the much-promoted AI utopia won't happen, we put the idea of a robot uprising into its cu...

It's more or less the start of the spring series as Stilgherrian vents about three more things that got on his wick this week. He also plugs his current crowdfunding campaign, because of course he does. In this episode he talks about the shoddy journalism of the US presidential campaign, the problems of artificial intelligence, and his disturbing dreams. Full podcast details and credits at: https:...

With so much news about social media in Australia right now, I thought I'd wrap up the winter series by speaking with Professor Axel Bruns from the Digital Media Research Centre at Queensland University of Technology. In this episode we discuss whether anything can replace what was Twitter, Australia's News Media Bargaining Code and Meta refusing to pay for news content, age restrictions for socia...

It's time for another podcast about space, so we're joined once again by astrophysicist Rami Mandow, founder of SpaceAustralia.com. In this episode we talk about what may be a new kind of pulsar, the cancellation of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, three ways in which the solar system is being a jerk, Japanese folklore (no really), those astronauts who are definitely not "stuck" or "stranded" on the...

Victorian-era Melbourne had a thriving sex industry, and the flashiest of the flash madams was Caroline Hodgson, aka Madame Brussels. My guest today is Barbara Minchinton, author of the new book, Madame Brussels: The Life and Times of Melbourne's Most Notorious Woman . In this episode we talk about Madame Brussels' life in the context of Victorian-era Melbourne. We cover sectarian disapproval her...

Have you ever been a victim of cybercrime? I know I have. I bet you have too. So let’s talk about that now with Dr Miranda Bruce from UNSW Canberra, because she's been working on the World Cybercrime Index. In this episode we talk about the types of cybercrime and its different characteristics around the world, cybercrime factories and human trafficking, and how law enforcement agencies' views abo...

Finally the real special guests start hitting the Edict's winter series. It's Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous. We do touch upon the recent UK election results, but there's much, much more. In this episode we talk about Armando Iannucci, lacerated ears, magic shoes, serial killers, haggis smuggling from Kenya, the weight of a teaspoon of sugar. and other things. Full podcast...