The Battler

This week Pat and Tim talk to writer and painter Joseph Earp about writing and painting. There’s also a little bit about the importance of failure and unfinished works; about influence and about the insecurities of Australian writers. Before that, the Battler regular corps chat Gillard’s feminism, Western Liberal Leaders in their Noble Stand Against Israel and the Woodside North West Shelf Gas ext...

This week Pat and Tim talk to dan hogan, author of A Secret Third Thing, award-winning poet and co-founder of Subbed-In small press. We chat about the terrors of the lit “scene” in Sydney and Melbourne (and beautiful Boorloo); the agnosticism of Australian publishing on matters of class; and the squeamishness of the industry towards any sort of novelty. Beforehand, Pat and Tim talk Zionist zombie...

This week we chat with Crystal Andrews, journalist and founder of Zee Feed . We cover the “Stephen Graham effect” in talking about the politics of zoomer boys; the tension between legacy and new media; and the role of cringe in Ozpol. Pat and Tim also talk about Sussan Ley’s new role in a Guy Ritchie film; Ted O’Brien losing his milk arrowroot; and how all small business owners are fascists. Produ...

This week we celebrate the death of the parliamentary Liberal party and herald the millennium of Albanese’s Red Sea. We also speak with Pundit, Plaudit and Puerile Pedant Osman Faruqi, co-host of Lamestream with Scott Mitchell. We talk about the ghoulish indifference of Australian media and politics to Gaza; the devastating electoral result for the Greens in the lower house; and the superiority of...

Two days out from the election, things look set for a Big Fat Labor Drubbing. In this episode, Pat and Tim talk about what a routing would mean for the Tories; the possibility of a revanchist rapprochement between the minor and major Rightwing parties; Kyle Sandilands’ prospects as ambassador to Trump; Jackie O’s Archibald portrait; and the seeping evil of the Craft Beer era. Caveat: we spent seve...

In this ep, Pat and Tim talk to writer, musician and editor Cher Tan, whose Peripathetic was one of the better books to come out of Australia last year. We chat about the repression of pro-Palestine speech; the role of independent outlets and substack in Australian writing; the development of the internet-friendly “house style” among writers and the need to protect our nepo babies and venture capi...

An easter treat with two eps in a single week. Tim’s off to do the Yuppie Ghan (driving from Garramilla to Uluru) so we’re in early. Alithya anesti. Joined this week by Charlie Lewis from Crikey and RRR, chatting about the rizz problem in the Liberal party and Dutton’s calamitous campaign; the absence of intrigue in this year’s election and Crikey’s own bit of brattery in r unning a fake candidate...

This week we talk to Joana Partyka: artist and activist with Disrupt Burrup Hub. DBH have been protesting against Woodside’s gas mining bonanza up around the Pilbara for the last several years. Joana takes Pat and Tim through their strategy, their actions and the extreme, terrifying response of Western Australia’s police force. This is heavy stuff, and shows the lengths to which the petro-state is...

It’s not real campaign unless it’s from the campaign district of the Liverpool plains. In this episode, Pat and Tim talk about Dutton’s bareback entry to the electoral Stakes; the Tealification of politics; the “Australian Left;” Matt Canavan’s forehead and the smell of parliament. Things are moving quick, and we know that the world has changed in the short time since Thursday of Last Week. We’re...

Albanese handed down his budget on Tuesday night, Then, Albanese hadned down his election date on Friday. In between, a creature from the deep bubbled its antiphony. Pat and Tim walk through the powerful mildness of the budget, the standings of the various parties and the independents, the stakes of a short election campaign and the possible advantages of Labor’s small-target approach. Tim didn’t...

No guest this week, as Pat and Tim talk about a big few days in global bastardry. The brutishness of Israeli foreign policy is laying waste again to Gaza. In response, our Defence Minister has announced the production of new precision missiles in Australia to eventually send to Israel, and the leader of the opposition has announced a free trade deal with Israel. The CFMEU is under attack from Chan...

This week we speak to Peter Korotaev, from the substack Events in Ukraine . If you know nothing about the war, this is a fantastic background. If you know a little bit, this is an excellent update. If you are currently fighting in the region, write in for a chance to win a Nissan Pulsar– Australia’s safest family car. Pat and Tim also talk about AUKUS, Tariffs, and all the things that we’ve been r...

In this episode we chat with Alex McKinnon (https://everythingisfine.beehiiv.com/c/about), a freelance journalist who has been covering the restriction and censorship of pro-Palestine speech in the Australian media. We talk through some of the particulars of rightwing strategy; the culture of preemptive capitulation and the march of McCarthyism through the university sector. Before that, Pat and T...

In this episode, Tim and Pat talk to Rachel Withers , Crikey Journalist and host of “Well Hung” (successor to “Forget the Frontbench”) as well as RRR’s “Spin Cycle.” Rachel tells us about where the polls stand and why Albo is looking at a flogging. She also clues us in to what a hung parliament might look like. Before the interview, we chat Tony “Burqa”s mass Qassam Brigades recruitment (citizensh...

A bad week to be Australian. A good week to start a podcast. Pat and Tim take a look at the appearance of Ita Buttrose in court over the Antoinette Lattouf unfair dismissal case; the appearance of daily telegraph journalists at a small café in Sydney confecting fake narratives of antisemitism; the two nurses shamed across media and politics for comments made on an Israeli vlog; and the quick, spin...