T minus 20
The year is 2005... Anakin turns to the dark side, YouTube makes its debut and we’re all couch-jumping for Maria, McDreamy and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo…
T minus 20, rewind to this week in history 20 years ago with Joe and Mel.
T minus 20
From fake news to digital cults: Reddit is born
Rewind to 19 June to 25 June 2005
This week, we’re talking digital disasters, newspaper nightmares and sports meltdowns so epic they’re still rage-tweeted about today.
🧻 Wikitorial wipeout. The LA Times tried letting the public edit their editorials. What they got instead? Porn, profanity and chaos in 36 hours. A short-lived democracy, quickly replaced by Ctrl+Alt+Nope.
🐀 Rat vs nation. One rat, one clumsy workman and boom—New Zealand goes offline. Stock exchange? Down. Internet? Toast. Emergency plan? Apparently, “fax machine.” Welcome to unplugged panic.
🏁 F1’s flattest finish. 14 cars dipped after the formation lap, leaving just six to race at the US Grand Prix. Thanks to a Michelin tyre fiasco and zero compromise from the FIA, fans got the most boring Ferrari win of all time.
🧠 Reddit is born. While MySpace was still everyone's homepage, Reddit quietly launched. Fake posts, wild AMAs and chaotic subreddits followed. Welcome to the front page of the internet or its dumpster fire (depending on the day)
🏀 Spurs keep it classy. The San Antonio Spurs clinch the NBA title without flash, drama or TikTok dances. Just Tim Duncan doing robot things and Robert Horry being clutch as hell. Dynasty-mode: activated.
🦇 Batman begins again. Christopher Nolan ditches the bat-nipples and gives us trauma, ninjas and a Batmobile that could eat your SUV. Christian Bale growls, Katie Holmes dodges bats and superhero movies grow the hell up.
🎧 Incomplete but intense. Backstreet’s back, but moody this time. Incomplete trades matching outfits for heartbreak and desert storms. Kevin Richardson calls it grown-up pop. We call it boy band emo-core.
📣 Battlefield goes boom. Battlefield 2 drops and online warfare is never the same. 64 players, flying tanks, screaming into voice chat—pure, chaotic bliss. Unless you were the guy always stealing the jet. We still hate you.
🎤 Biggie’s murder trial. The Notorious B.I.G.’s family sues LAPD, claiming Suge Knight orchestrated the hit. Secret files, gang links,and a whole lot of unsolved rage bubble back to the surface. The case? Declared a mistrial. Justice? Still MIA.
Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.
Transcript is generated automatically.
The year is 2005. Anakin turns to the Dark side, YouTube debuts, and we couch jump for Mariah Mcdreamy and a girl with the Dragon Tattoo t -, 20 rewind 20 years with Joe and Mel.
19 June 2005.
-20, hey, what you do? This is a talk show minus.
20 It's an ice breaker. Don't judge me.
Yet this is bananas. My question is who approved that?
Do you see where this is going? Not really.
Ladies and gentlemen, team -20 is your weekly time machine to the chaos, cringe and pop culture gold of exactly 20 years ago. That's right. We dig up some of the biggest news, juicy scandals, chart bangers, movie moments, forgotten weirdness, all from the one week in 2000 and. Five, the very same week right now. But in 2005, so not actually the same at all, completely different. But the best part about this is that you don't have to Google any of the stuff mid conversation, cause you're gonna listen to us and you're gonna be schooled. So strap yourselves in because this week the Internet tried to be a little bit grown up and it.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Kind of face planted a little bit, which was very funny.
We had the birth of Reddit and a literal rat taking down New Zealand the 19th to the 25th of June 2000 and.
Five on one Saturday night. People started flooding it with really horrible ***********.
There's nothing worse. There's nothing worse than on a Saturday night being inundated with horrible ***********, and that's what happens. This is why you can't have nice things. We will find out in the news why you can't have nice things.
Things flooded. Flooded. ****.
No.
See, he would have been a death ward because that's how talented he was out of the suit. As an artist, because I felt I could have a bigger deal.
Biggie would have been a death throw artist because that's how talented he was. Yes, thanks very much, sugar over to this.
That was our man on the ground shook Knight reporting. There the C -. 20.
And what is the reaction of the crowd? Well, it's stunned, stunned silence.
Stunned silence because it was one of the most controversial Formula One Grand Prix races of all time, with a field of only 6. That's right thing cars taking place in the final race. It was absolute madness. We'll find out more about that when we do the sports.
Feel ripped off if you went. To that.
I'd be pretty upset. Yes, I also feel ripped.
Ross for Mad 80s, nineties skills that are. Now basically. Ohh, getting a lot of lot of go on. The socials lately.
So. So what do you mean?
Like things that things that you could do, that there's no need to do anymore, they're redundant, obsolete, obsolete skills like covering A textbook with a brown paper bag. Obsolete. Don't have textbooks anymore? Still on your bloody.
All that have become completely pointless in our in our.
Is that obsolete? Why? Crime book also?
The iPad, the Brown paper bag.
I never understood covering the textbook with the Brown paper bag anyway, cause the textbook would have had a cover that would have indicated. But. That was the textbook. Ohh you so you'd write, but surely there would have been something printed on the cover of the textbook. And usually while you're covering with brown paper, unless it's some, unless it's some kind of horrible *********** that you're gonna flood the Internet with.
Be righted. We stick a. Label on it.
Reflectives let's say.
We produce contacts with Brown papers with. Dialling a phone number on a Rotary phone that's a lost skill.
That is a loss. Especially for radio competitions, you have to be super quick. Yeah, with dialling numbers on a Rotary phone.
Yeah, I had more luck with the Rotary than the push button for competitions. Yeah, yeah.
Really. Yeah. Well, the thing with the Rotary phone is if you get the number wrong, it can become quite time consuming.
Well, there's a lot of nines. Yes, yes, very annoying.
Hmm. Yeah, that's that's definitely a a skill of a bygone age. Bygone age. Oh, my goodness. What about what about folding a map?
Hmm.
The olden days.
Ohh look, I couldn't do that even then.
Folding a map correctly.
That's a skill that I never had. I was trying to fold the instructions for the COVID tests. It's doing a COVID test the other day. Isn't that amazing now it's not just COVID. They're testing you for SARS and the Fluenz A and B and something that starts with an R that's yeah. So you gotta have, like 4 times as much booger to put on the end of it. So it can test you for all these things. Anyway, it had these these instructions that were like a map.
Ohh really everything. All in the one test. Convenient. That you needed to fault so well then I would say.
That were in the box and I had to fold it. I had to fold it back up and try and get it back in the box so that maybe is a skill that's still still useful if you're testing for the COVID. And I couldn't. I just scrunched it, scrunched it up and shoved it back in the box.
That. Applies, yeah. The map folders, well, there's two types of people, isn't there? Two types of people in the world, those who can fold them up and those who can't. We know where.
Bunch of them. How do we do? We do.
You land, hmm.
Rewinding a tape using a pencil.
Well, yes, we we're, we're familiar with that still we we talked about it in that quiz. You gave me a few weeks.
That's a lost skill.
Very, very much.
Ago. Yeah. Hmm.
That's true. What about texting? Just using numbers, using the number keys.
Ohh yeah, I got to be very quick at that and I'm kind of disappointed that I can't even show that skill off these days.
Hmm.
Yeah, like you.
How many buttons did you have to press to say? The word hello like 50.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, yes, there. There's a lot. I mean to get to like AZ for example, is always a challenge. So that is definitely one that's.
That is your thumb.
Is gone, gone by the wayside?
Yeah.
Hmm.
Pull one out for that.
My brother had a skill he could know based on the sound of the modem. What was wrong? Why your computer was on? The Fritz.
Are you serious?
Yeah, made different noises. You could tell.
Diagnose connection issues based on the noise the modem made.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
What do you mean with the Internet, you know?
The yeah, yeah, yeah. You know that like if it made like they. Make different noises.
I could I could diagnose connection issues with it based on the smell. It smell like it's burning. It's yeah.
Like burn. You've got a problem. You've got a big problem. Dewey Decimal system do we use that any?
Ohh.
Surely libraries would stir, but I.
You have to go in the library, but I think I don't think they get taught Dewey Decimal system anymore. I can barely remember it, but I used to and I used to be a librarian at the school library, so I need to brush up on my digestion.
Don't. People know. No.
Hmm.
You aren't a librarian, you're a library monitor.
I need to brush up on my double D's.
You cannot say that. You cannot say that you're a librarian because you don't stamped a few books. It's a that's a skill that's a yes, that's that's that's a career.
Yes, but people are still getting university for that as well. I'm just completely offended all of those. I tell you what if I start a blog by the end of next week, I'll be a librarian. You watch.
All the librarians.
Yeah, that's a skill. That's a skill, and 1/2 what about just being able to programme a TV or a VCR to tune it in manually? You don't even do that anymore. You just press a button that does it all for you.
I can't even turn the TV on today. I don't even know how to do that.
Ohh, you used to have to tune it in manually and change the bandwidth and all of that sort of stuff and then.
Ohh, and it'd be it'd be counting through all the different numbers. Yeah, like when you've got a radio station.
Yeah. And then you'd have to and then. So there'd be two cogs. There'd be the tuning cog and then the fine tuning cog, you know?
Fine tune.
Uh-huh.
Mm-hmm. My grandmother had a TV that was so old. A cathode ray tube TV with the tunes that you actually pushed in apart and a little drawer came out and there was a channel. There was like, a little mixer for. And there was a little channel with tuning COGS and you would wind the COGS to tune the TV in tune. Not. That is a true thing. There's like a rank arena or something like that. That was the TV. Hmm. Yep. Uh-huh.
Ah, lost the rohe. That that was a good brand, lost skills.
There.
Long division. Does anyone know how to do long division anymore?
Long division. Does anyone care about long division? There's a life skill that I didn't need.
Yeah, but you know, if the Internet goes down and you have to divide a a bill and you're out at dinner and you've gotta divide it amongst 18.
Ohh yeah.
It should be fine. The Internet goes down. You won't be able to ******* pay for it anyway.
People.
Do you take cash? Ohh God, heaven forbid they look at you like you're a criminal. Yeah, they're like you and you, you would deal. Exactly. You take cash? Yeah, man. Can't do anything when the internets down these days. It's the hatches, matches and dispatches. Clue for the segment we do at the end of the show this week is another match. Another marriage.
You're a drug dealer. Do you have that in a bum bag? It's not taking that dirty money. Thank you very much. Nice.
Yes, a couple of celebrities I've got. I've managed to capture both of their voices in this little grab that said this.
Ohh, we did pulled pork tacos. Yeah, with some rainbow slaw, which is our birth.
I'll teach you nice.
Day feast of Choice Cause we're born four days apart.
I mean, one of the lovely things is you see in the front of the bit, we're dedicated to our children, cause this is a record for them of all the food that we cook for them that they can sort of take with them and.
Ohh, the family that cooks together. Yeah. Married this time 20 years ago. You'll never guess who it is.
Oh, that's waves.
This is a funny story in the news this week. I like this story.
And it's a. Very ahead of its time, I feel like there's been a few things that have kind of stolen the idea.
And it's just and it's he's really why we can't have nice things. It really is.
Later in. 21st of June 2005, the LA Times has to suspend its experiment that was called Wiki Tutorial after just three days because of. Vandalism that might. Not be the best way to describe. It just the Internet because of the Internet.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because of because Internet.
They had a big idea, big bold idea in June 2005. Take the newspapers daily editorial, put it online, and here's the gig. I'll let anyone on the Internet edit it. Crowdsource the editorial.
The crowd sourced it. Yeah, it's like Wikipedia, Wikipedia, but in editorial form.
Hmm. And look for about 36 hours.
What can we call it? I've got a great idea. Pull it. Wiki.
With your tutorial for 36 hours, it was bold and it was the new frontier of reader engagements.
Yeah. So the readers could debate and then revise and rewrite the editorial like on something like like the Iraq War. It was like it's it's it was like 1 giant Google Doc that everyone was collaborating on, right.
Ohh what could go wrong? Ohh geez, was there track changes was was there commenting.
Well.
Yeah, I think I think their intentions were quite noble.
Yeah, I think so too.
Really. Open dialogue, participatory journalism.
Well, we're all citizen journalists now, really, and librarians.
Democracy, yada yada, yada. Exactly. But you know what happened? This is why we can't have nice things total. Total dumpster fire. And it happened pretty quick too. It happened. It spread like fire very quickly. Within hours, overrun completely because Internet.
Within hours.
Overrun by trolls, pranksters, people with really strong opinions. Zero chill. Nobody knows how to behave on.
All the opinion.
Yeah. So it develops into just this free for all of vandalism. Partisan flame wars, people going back and forth abusing each other and then eventually.
Nudes send nudes.
***********. Yeah, it's. Which is exactly what the Internet always spirals down into it. You are only like, 5, four to five mouse clicks away from seeing a penis or vagina on the Internet in all its glory. Absolutely.
Pigs. Yeah, it's like the the, the whatever degrees of Kevin Bacon, isn't it?
Yeah. Well, yes, with the emphasis on the bike.
It started out with petty edits and sarcasm.
Yeah, as as I think you'll find, I think you'll find.
Where with mocking rewrites like war is great. Let's have more of them. Not very helpful.
Now.
No, of course not. But very Internet.
Then you know the editorial, which was about the Iraq war, was meant to spark intelligent debate. Instead, it became a bit of a back and forth between pro and anti war users who constantly rerun. Wrote and then rewrote the article to basically reflect their size, so they just kind of type over each other.
Yeah. So they'll be like it'll be like, ohh, this is all a terrible mistake in one paragraph. It'd be like the was a tragic mistake. And then the. Next line would be like Ohh but. Hoorah for the American liberation efforts, yeah.
Was great, was wonderful, and then moderation broke down. So even the the, the moderators, the sensible people saying.
Well, there's only. There's only so much.
Come on, let's all. Let's all do the right thing here.
There's only so much tug of war and pushing and prodding you can do before somebody. Just goes, why don't you off? Off and that's exactly what happened. And then the profanity really took off.
Lots of rants. Ohh conspiracy theories. As well, we had a few.
Yeah, fake news. Fake news before fake news even was a fake news thing.
Of those popping up. Yeah. And then the final, the final nail in the experiments coffin the the nudes. **** **** graphic material. So they had to end the project pulling the whole thing offline.
Nudity. Yeah, that five mouse clicks away, like I said.
Pulling in a moderation nightmare.
On one Saturday night. People started flooding it with really horrible ***********, the The Newsroom lawyer at the LA Times said. She she was a First Amendment absolutist her whole life. But having read this stuff, she came in Monday morning and said she's starting to have doubts.
Yes.
It it was really awful and we had to give it up, but there are people, you know, the first first people to try things off and get it wrong and the others are are trying this experiment.
Yeah.
And and it's working. You know they have gates to keep people out and various things. And you know, you have to encourage experimentation if if we're going to find a way out of out of out of the the current mess that newspapers are in, I think you have to try everything. So we tried this and it didn't work.
It certainly didn't. That was our LA Times editor, Michael Kingsley. Yeah.
I love that he had a sense of. Humour about it.
Well, you know, I think he's right. I think he, I think he was is by the end of the IT took a weekend. It was a weekend and then it was like I said we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. And so they did they they said it was a noble experiment, but the damage was done and the Internet had spoken and they were.
Over to go gave it a red hot stone. Put on them.
Yes.
Like you trusted us with this. Just did not work and so it was a bit of a punchline was.
It.
At the time, but looking back now, it really was the start of things like Wikipedia, and it was a great.
Yeah.
Use case around. Well, you can do it, but you need to have some guard rails in place. You need to have a bit of governance, yes, people. Need rules? Yeah. And a bit of structure, but you.
Moderation content moderation verification. People need to be limited in how much they participate, you know.
Can do it. You can do it, yes. Yeah, and and you have to give your name. You have to put your name to things so we know we.
Yeah, that's right.
Know who's posting the tools.
You can't have nice things. It was just. Well, yes. You need to know who's posting the tips. You need to make sure that they're.
Ohh once.
There. Little bits and that they've they've that their **** that have been given up with consent to the the person that posted them has not only sought content but that has posted those tips within the moderation guideline and those tips are outside of the moderation guidelines and those tips have no place on that forum.
They've validated tips. Yes, under creative. Commons Creative Commons. So what have we learned? We learned that moderation is crucial. So like, look at look at Wikipedia. There is comprehensive governance structures to manage content and behaviour.
Yes. Yeah, but stuff still gets through. People still go on after events and.
But not not in the same kind of way. It's not as not as.
Well, gets fixed. It gets fixed pretty quick, yes.
Unhinged. Understanding the dynamics of the platform, so understanding how collaborative platforms function and you need the community of engaged users. You need the people that are gonna kinda do what's intended, not.
Yeah.
Hijack not hijackers.
It's it's posters. Yeah, and clear editorial guidelines. So actually tell them what you want them to do in there. Establish that from the from the start. And foster constructive engagement. So ask questions, help people along the way. Give them some guidance.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Help them clean the mud off their digital footprint. Yeah. Like I've got very muddy digital footprints. And I got down into the mud. And it's just, it's such a. Waste of time.
It is, it is such.
A colossal waste of time and I think we're all we're coming to realise that a lot more. I think New Zealand didn't have a choice though. Back in in the on the North Island, I think it was in in 2005 on the 21st of June.
Hmm.
No.
They couldn't participate in any Wicker tutorials because their telecom network crashed for five hours thanks to a rat and a clumsy Workman. Yeah, mobile phone and Internet Coms were really badly affected and the Stock Exchange in New Zealand had to close for several hours. I don't think the rest of the world even noticed when the. New Zealand Stock Exchange closed.
Did not. No, I did not know about this, but a a rat chewed through one of the North Island's main fibre optic cables, severing a critical line, and at the exact time the same time, because of course.
Hmm.
The Workman in another part of the island accidentally damaged the second. Table which caused the nationwide communication blackouts.
They went dark. Yes. The land of the long white cloud went.
Dark they did. And like you said, the stock. Exchange was forced. To shut.
Down and nobody.
Knows not because of a market crash because you couldn't do a thing.
But there were lots of very frustrated people in New Zealand as a result.
Businesses, banks, emergency services and start to realise.
Yeah. How important your connectivity is, especially to the world and they they said that it was a wake up call or maybe a squeak cause of the rat. But yeah, they and so they were like they need to invest in redundancy and build more routing paths so.
How crucial it? For the infrastructure. Yes, no, miss.
That, you know, hungry rats can't chew through their cables. And if they do, there's other ways of getting this. And then the emergency infrastructure as well to avoid it, you know, putting more stuff in place, having backup systems, UPS's uninterrupted power supplies. Yeah.
We'll dust off the fax machine and let me bring back my redundant skill set. I know how to fax like a pro. I still remember that skill.
Exactly. Bring back the Rotary phones and the exchanges.
Yeah. And I can fax a phone number and annoy the out of someone.
That also needed to like monitor their cable networks and perhaps rap proof them a little bit. You know, they didn't really have.
Yes, yes.
And since then you would say that they've beefed up all of their resilience, but yeah.
Learn from the mistakes.
But it happened very recently like I think around this year on the South Island.
Mobile Internet and phone services were cut earlier today on the South Island. No, it wasn't a nefarious cyber attack. Instead, pesky rodents. Chewed through the cables near Dunedin, a second backup cable wasn't much help. It had already been severed by a contractor. Some providers have been able to sort out work around. Solutions. There's no word on if the suspect rodents are still at large.
It's almost exactly the same story.
Are you sure that's not a story from 2005?
That's at South Island, Dunedin, and it was it was dated 2025.
Not the North Islands. No way. Well, they clearly didn't learn from their mistakes.
I mean, I mean, look. Pretty poorly researched but and and but all of this is brought to you by the Internet. Well, we don't know what's true or not, so. I know this to be true, though this sporting story is amazing, very controversial. Formula One Grand Prix, 19th of June 2005, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Or if you're into the Greek pronunciation, Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was supposed to be this all American high octane showdown, you know.
Oh.
The. Yes. Wow.
Hmm.
And it ended up being one of the. Biggest debacles in Formula One history, with only six cars starting in the race, there's normally 20. There's normally 20 that race in Formula One, so it's three teams, three teams racing. So what happened was, was this his massive tyre crisis? So seven teams including McLaren, Renault and Toyota are all running Michelin tyres.
6. Wow.
Alright. And during practise they're like these tyres can't handle. One of the turns turn 13 was very high speed and banked and the tyres just weren't safe, so one of them actually failed. Ralph Schumacher has a massive crash in practise and Michelin are like OK, there's a product recall on our tyres. They usually they're like don't race, it's not safe. So they're like, no, you can't do it, you can't do it so.
Bring them, bring them into your nearest county, can get them fixed, like the airbags.
Yeah. So what they do is their life. Don't race on those tyres or change and put a chicane in to slow everyone through turn 13. But the FIA, who run Formula One, the governing body like no, we're not doing that so on race day you get 14 cars taken off the track after the formation lap and they just go to the pits they're like. Sorry, it's not safe. We can't do it. So they did the formation lap like they do getting ready for the start. People in the grandstands.
So people were sitting there watching, thinking. Ohh yeah, here we go.
Yeah, this is gonna be great. This is gonna be great.
So they didn't know. They did their first lap and.
No.
Then they all just.
No. Well, I don't think so. They would have hurt. Yes. And so they would have heard all of this sort of being uttered through the crowd. So they're like, what's going on? So you have Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi still on the grid at the end of that, and the race goes ahead. It was very boring. Ferrari 1. Nobody cared.
Dot.
Who knows what's gonna happen in the US Grand Prix? It's the strangest race ever and it gets underway now. Goal predictably, Michael Schumacher leads away from Rubens Barrichello for two Jordans. They're gonna make a bit of a battle with the Minardi. Looks like we might be losing a Jordan already. I saw smoke earlier. I mentioned it off the formation lap. The two minardi's there battling with the Jordans as well. And what is the reaction of the crowd? Well, it's stunned. Stunned silence.
Yeah, they were just. They were like, what do you mean? There's only six cars. They're just watching. And so, like I said, boring Ferrari one. No one cared after the race, people start pointing fingers. So, Michelin.
Crazy. Well, you'd be annoyed if you went and more.
Bull of Congress.
So Michelin, like that's how bad we're really sorry. So Michelin actually reimbursed 120,000 ticket holders and offered free tickets to any Formula One race in 2006 of their choosing. That's a big step for Michelin. So they went, they went into damage control straight away. And they were like, Yep, that's us. The FA President Max Mosley.
Wow.
Blame the teams and Michelin for showing up. Unprepared, but could it have just?
Been a problem with the track like let's just one turn like.
Well, no, here's.
Where the race is? Well, here's where the race is. They know that they're going to this particular track.
Yeah.
You know, turn 13's a bit gnarly. Make sure you got the right tyres. Some fans actually put out a class action against them claiming false advertising. I don't think they got very far with that and it really made a mess of Formula One in the USA for a little while. The TV ratings flatlined for them. The race went for about two more years in Indianapolis.
Jeez.
But eventually was dropped after 2007, cause people just stopped showing up. And the negotiations didn't go well. And for a while there it was like, well, they're not going to have Formula One in the United States.
Wow.
But then they had a big comeback. In 2012, they had the Circuit of the Americas, which opened up in Austin, TX, and that had full support from Formula One's new American owner, Liberty Media, who took over the company in 2017. So the US Grand Prix was back on Texas style BBQ tailgating.
Wouldn't say it's big over there. Now Vegas, they have the Vegas.
All the stuff, all the stuff. Red Bull.
Riding. I don't know. Yeah.
They have the Vegas one now, don't.
Well, they have Miami and Vegas and then, you know, I mean it's it's massive. You've got drive to survive the the Netflix show, which I think just made Formula One really awesome and cool.
There's the movie coming, too, isn't there?
And of course, the movie.
That's when's that coming out? That soon, isn't it?
Yeah, where Brad Pitt is playing a Formula One driver and everyone's supposed to believe what? That a 60 year old can drive a Formula One car? Are you kidding? I'm looking forward to the movie. I am looking forward to the.
That don't impress me much. Movie. Yes, it does. This good looks very good. Very good. But I think the fans are still annoyed about 2005 as you.
Would be. Well, don't get me wrong, I think you're alright, but that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night.
Ah.
I've missed the boom box I cause we didn't open it last week. We yes, we've just completely forgot and I can't believe we forgot to open the boom box. Yes. Yeah, I guess that's kind of comes with the territory when you're opening up the boom box sometimes.
Chloe forgot. That's what happens. When you get old, if it gets, if you get things got. Because that I was. Cranky about something I don't know.
Exactly. Exactly right. Oh, jeez, I'm so angry. I forgot what I was angry about. This is your opportunity. This is your old man. Yells at cloud moment when we open up the boom box and you can put in your boom and. Complaint it's a safe. Space it is.
It is like you know, no one. Knows Dewey Decimal system anymore.
Yeah. Boom. Cop that. Exactly. No one's gonna sit there and say to you. OK, boomer here. Not on our watch. It's forbidden. This is your safe space where you can make your boom a complaint or do what we like.
No welcome friends.
To call boom. Hmm.
Yes. And we have a guests audio boom.
This week, yeah, I feel like we've opened up the boom box and now we can't put the lid on with this bloke. But it's good, it's good because we've got.
He's figured out he knows how to do it. Now he knows how to do it.
I know and we love active participation and you can do it too.
If you like, he knows that it's. A minute? He's.
It's one minute. If you want to send us a boom, you can message us in text form and we will obviously read your boom out or you can go the extra mile like our very good friend Ray, who's gone the extra mile like the first monkey to be shot into space. He was our test pilot.
1. No, no. Just go for it. Press the microphone.
The. Booms. Yep. And now he can't get enough of it.
Press the little microphone and justice boom into your phone. But it's gotta be under 60 seconds as as we learnt with Ray.
Yes, and the 64. You have one minute to boom and he's back.
The first time you do.
Hey guys, me again. I've got another one for you. Why does every generation feel the need to actually change the meanings of words in the dictionary and repurpose them? Caught my kids the other day. Referring to a good looking gay guy as being zesty. I mean, for crying out loud. He's not a chicken burger. He's got damn human being. Just stick to the dictionary, kids. Come on.
Stick to the dictionary. Yeah, hang on.
See.
Wow, he's got a point.
He does have a points.
Language is just devolving. I mean this is a big boomer complaint of mine like because language is important.
Uh, yeah. I agree and I only just figured out what Yeats meant and then now some wrestlers gone and trademarked it, and it. Means something different.
Means something completely different. You eating? You're not throwing anything away.
I don't understand what? Yeah, and I only just learned the definition of the eating now.
I do kind of like zesty though.
So. I feel I feel.
Zesty is nice.
That that condiments and spices are having a moments because, you know, we were salty.
Yeah.
For a while.
Yeah.
We were salty. Spicy is one that's used a lot. You're a bit spicy now we're zesty. I haven't heard zesty.
Yeah. Spicy. Yeah. Now someone says TTY. What's gonna happen when somebody's email me? I mean is that maybe you gotta reserve that for good looking Latina people, mummy.
Very nice.
Right.
Ohh mommy.
No, stick to the dictionary, kids.
I do like zesty. I really do like I I'd feel like I'd be if somebody said to me you're looking.
Zesty today looking zesty.
OK. Fresh and fresh. Spice things up a little bit too, and zesty.
Citrusy, 50.
Yeah, you just gotta be. It's got a bit of a spring now. That's that. That says that you might have used.
Tangy.
Infection or something if you're tangy. Hey, let's go do some technology technology before we flow. We don't. That's why we can't have nice things. Yeah.
OK, technology, there's probably actually, there's probably a thread on this technological foundation that will help us understand the from the things because 23rd of June 2005 Reddit.
Uh-huh. Really. OK, alright.
Is founded.
Ohh, the front door of the Internet.
The social news aggregation websites, which has become a major platform for online discussions.
Well, now it has. But back in in June 2005. Have while we're all just poking each other on Myspace and stuff it, it is always happens in with college roommates. They're just sitting in their dorm and they're dreaming big dreams and they come up with big ideas. What else is there to do in a college dorm? You. I don't. I don't think I can even answer that on an M rated podcast, let alone AP.
Ohh top aiding. What else is there to do really? Wicked door names. Is it nasty?
That one it you get very zesty if you don't throw it out, Steve. Ohh honey and Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian sitting there.
I don't know Steve, Steve Huffman and Alexis.
Hmm.
We're in their dorm and like they created a site, they said, what do we call, we call it Reddit? What are we doing with Reddit? What's it all about? Well, we just want to create, like, a digital bulletin board. People can post their links and they can vote them up or down and they can.
Getting zesty.
Talk about whatever they like. That's what they wanted.
To do they not learn from the Wiktoria people.
Did.
From a week tutorial I mean it's like at the same time. Isn't it? Somehow read it's OK and Wiktoria didn't work. They established brands.
Well, maybe this is our life. Well, maybe the the Reddit brand is unhinged, so you know, you're all welcome here. Bring your ****. No problem.
Well, people are like, yeah, it's not. Well, there's there's nothing to occupy because it's like it's a new thing, whereas like the LA Times has probably occupy the LA Times. So if you Fast forward to now, this side project that these guys did in college is probably, I would argue, one of the most influential websites on the planet. I used to be scared of it, but there is a lot.
This is true.
Hmm.
Of information that you can get from it.
I would never post on it, never. I I read it, but I would never say anything on there. Did you? What did you post about? What did you do? What? What? What did you say? What film?
Yeah, I kind of did a little bit, but. There were, yeah. Nothing offensive. I was just in movie, just forum film forums discussing all kinds of films. I like Batman and Star Wars and stuff.
Did you talk?
About.
What did you say? Wow, I didn't know that you've edited it.
What did I say? I said I said stuff that went with the majority just to be on the safe side, that's what. I did.
You never know. You never know where you're gonna end.
Never. Exactly. Yeah, it's it's not a case of around and find out over there. I just went with whatever the majority was saying. I didn't wanna mess around too.
Much 430 million monthly users now.
That's why I don't need 430 million torches and pitchforks beaten down my virtual door.
Equal parts brilliant, bizarre and unfiltered.
It is very strange. It's very strange and it is very unfiltered as well. You can see stuff in there that you might not.
But it's it is.
Wanna see? It's.
Not just influential in terms of it as a site and the number of users, when you look at AI now, AI scraping the web or even when you look at you go into Google Now and instead of typing in a Google like you, you go to do a Google search and instead of going to the list of pages.
Yeah.
Now Gem and I will give you this little synopsis at the top so you don't actually ever have to even leave the leave Google. You get the summary. Well, those summaries and a lot of the AI scraping is actually.
Yes, I love that. Google. Yeah, I love that.
Pulled from Reddit.
Yeah.
A lot of it comes from there, which is very scary because we.
It's.
I'm like, oh, I'm not gonna go and click on that link. I'm just gonna believe what Gemini. Is telling me from the reddits at leak.
Least at. Least Gemini is still using information that humans have poured into the Internet. My concern happens when when the AI starts just writing its own history and then drawing upon its own sources that it's created itself.
For now. Ohh, it does do that now. It does make things.
Yes, that's, I know. But it it's that is a bit of a worry.
Up from time to time. But Reddit is Reddit is one that is a lot of a lot of AI.
Did I say the front door of the Internet? I'm such a boomer cause it was the front. Page of the Internet. That's what it was. Stupid idiot. That's what it is, which is a very brash and bold statement.
Well, it was quite humble to start with and in fact most of the original posts on the site were fake Huffman, and Ohanian is that his name was honey. They put a lot of stuff on pretending to be other people to make it look busy.
Ohanian. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, which is easy.
Let's be.
We put some fake articles up quick, go put some recipes up. Some dog, dog and cat pictures.
Just post a whole bunch on there. Look busy. Yeah, fake it till you make it. Boys. Mm-hmm. You know Steve Hoffman.
Hmm, maybe some poultry?
And I started running right out. Of college and we we did not really know. What we're doing, we just wanted to create some place to find out what was new and interesting online. People could submit links, vote on them. We have this platform for online communities and we could create a subreddit about whatever they wanted and there would be, in theory, this massive platform for forums and an interesting content online and. You know, today it's over 90 million unique visitors a month spanning the globe, thousands upon thousands of these communities. So it's far exceeded everything we could have hoped for. I mean, we just back then it was just one community. It's just one subreddit. Now thousands society, I mean, it's it. It's sort of certainly we hoped that it would get to be that size, but we have no clue. We just we. Just want to make something work.
Well instead of.
Did you say billion monthly users? Something billion? I've said 44130 million, I think he's.
Moon. I think you said around 990,000,000. So it depends on the time of recording. Obviously OK, but. The proof is there like and that all came from humble beginnings of dudes just making their own stuff up and and posting a whole bunch of articles and trying to populate it to make it look busy and.
Yes. The dorm room.
Now it is busy and it.
It's it really is the site. For a lot of. Niche interests, which can be good, can. Also be bad, but you know you can find your people there. The cute animals, deep science, life advice. But on the flip side. Of that conspiracy theory.
You do need to be careful of the people that you find on there sometimes, but there is definitely. It's like any community, right? There's there's, there's a whole bunch of well wishing people and there's a few misfits and there's a couple of fringe dwellers and there's bottom feeders. It's all of those things. Just be careful, be alert, not alarmed.
Yes.
Just be careful. Just be careful. It was so it was sold to Conde Nast in 2006, but regained its independence in 2011. Right about the same time as meme meme culture. So it's very lots and lots of memes happening. Hmm. It hosts the world's largest Secret Santa gift exchange annually, with thousands of participants exchanging gifts globally. It was actually the launchpad for AMA's ask me anything. That's where ask me anythings.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Started on Reddit with celebrities scientists.
It did, and I can remember when I. Yeah, I remember when Obama went on there in 2012, that was massive for Reddit. That was a big deal.
Yes. Yep, I think it crashed the size.
It did temporarily, and there's there's a lot of controversy on there as well. And for Obama to go on, there was controversial at the time too, I remember. But, you know, there's lots of debates over. Moderation, free speech, community standards like you can really find kind of anything on there.
And a lot of misinformation. Remember the Boston Marathon bombing? Reddit uses tried to identify the perpetrators through. There was a subreddit called.
Yes. Yes.
Find Boston bombers. Which led to the misidentification of several individuals.
Yeah, that's bad.
That is bad and online vigilantism spread of misinformation. The Red Pill subreddit, which is one that's been discussed more recently through what was that movie?
That that's the the misogynistic size.
Yeah, yeah. What was that movie? That movie we watched with the the boy that that killed the girl? All the red pill that was a red pill thing.
Ohh the the net the Netflix special.
Yeah, cause remember they were doing the red pill emojis and.
Adolescence, adolescence was the show, yeah.
Old boomers like us have no idea what that's about, but that was a subreddit around gender relationships criticised for promoting misogyny and toxic masculinity.
Yeah, I didn't know what. I I do remember the GameStop stuff. Remember that when in 2021, that was excellent when Wall Street bets coordinated a big buying spree of GameStop stock, which caused it to go ridiculously high in the stock market.
Oh, that was massive. I like that.
Big surge and it disrupted all the financial markets and it really was like. Like this is what can happen if online communities mobilise for a cause they can influence things like the stock market.
Yeah. Stop looking at **** and mobilise people.
Yes. And if we stop looking at **** and mobilise, we could do great or terrible things.
Equal parts news source support group, joke factory collective brain cat videos, world politics do you wanna hear some of the more quirky and unhinged subreddits? TI FU.
Yes, please.
I think that means.
Tie my up. Tie my up.
Yes, yes, I FU. By throwing my stake out the window where a user recounts a dinner mishap that escalated to tossing a stake out the window. Another subreddit, which song is most improved when all occurrences of I, me, my are replaced with Greg.
Yes. Of course. That's outstanding. That's a, that's a subreddit I can get down.
Bread, stapled trees, a subreddit dedicated to the absurd practise of stapling bread to trees, complete with strict rules about acceptable bread types and tree species.
That's yeah. Yeah, that is good.
I like the.
Rules side of that, that's good. AI TA. Am I the ******* for switching to regular milk to prove my lactose intolerant?
All right.
Roommate keeps stealing from me.
That's funny.
Definitely not the *******. Clever. Clever.
Yeah, the lactose intolerant is going to get very acquainted with theirs, though. After that, if they take the regular milk.
One that I'm intrigued and I think I will look it up. Pictures of Ian sleeping. Taken by Ian's roommates, been active for eight years.
That's amazing. Does Ian know?
I don't think Ian knows cause he's sleeping.
Ohh really? Cause he's asleep. That's a great one. Crabs eating.
Pictures of Ian sleeping.
That's gross crabs eating, I think would be great really.
I think it's cute. I think crabs eating is a cute thing.
Just picking like dead flesh off stuff and devouring eating all the dead off the bottom of the ocean. It sounds wonderful.
No, it no I haven't looked. I haven't looked at it. Toast has gone wild.
Really. That.
Dedicated to posting only the dirtiest, most risque not. Suitable for work. Pictures of toasters.
Ohh saucy toasters. I love it.
And birds with arms.
Ah, I know that one. I love birds with arms. Ferns with arms is very good. Yeah, it I highly recommend going to find the subreddit bird. That's a nice safe introduction to Reddit. Don't comment just for your own safety. Don't comment. Just look, just lurk and look.
Yes. With. That's one of the. More popular ones, yes.
Just look just.
Birds with arms. They could conduct an.
Orchestra. I saw one that had big like muscle arms. I don't know what the bird was that put muscle arms on it. There's a lot of photoshopping.
Yeah.
Of things. Yeah, it's very creative.
It is, it is. But we're not talking about that now we're talking.
No, not music.
About. Yes.
Crazy frog. Still number one over in the UK.
Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding.
God, that's enough. Yeah, it was a bit much. Sorry about that.
I would laughs. Turn that up a bit too long, my knees thin.
Apologies.
Top five in the US.
Southern style get piled old tools coming down in a different colour wheel. Picture perfect you might. Want to take a click? Click. Click.
4.
But.
With my heart. No hall of.
That.
Nobody.
Ohh I still got about, I don't know 10 or 11 weeks of that. Mariah at #1 belonging together there by with with us. Thanks. We belong together, Mariah Carey.
Hmm.
Holla back girl.
Drew's sister.
It's funny, #2. Black Eyed Peas and moving up the charts don't funk with my heart in it. I'm 3.
Damn. It's one band, the group band, whatever that. I just don't wish any success on.
Yeah, I know. I know. Yeah, great number.
There's probably a few, but they just. They're an easy target. So yeah, sorry, number.
4 #4 just a little bit 15th and number 5S.
Just a little bit. Oh oh, it's on the way out. Oh. Oh, that's OK.
Oh.
It's alright I. Think there's plenty more louder songs? I. Didn't realise how.
Eyes everywhere.
Many songs, not just songs by him, but songs featuring him in. The early 2000. Every time I play my workout mix, I do the Spotify 1 now and it adds new songs all the time. It doesn't just do the same songs. It's like you might also like and some random ludicrous song about.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rasp please or some sort of lolly or something popped in the other day when I.
Is there I I think.
Was doing leg press. I was so. Confused.
Ohh well yes you know, especially if Ludacris is talking about raspberries mid leg press that is difficult, but but.
It was distracting and just I I didn't know that song was odd.
So I feel like Ja Rule was kind of. On everything on every song for a while there. Yeah, which is why I kind of gave Joe Rule the title herpes of music because he attached I'm. I'm just saying he's no, no, I'm not. Because I don't think that there's a negative effect with that. I think ludicrous augments.
Till 2000 and till 50 Cent came on the scene. You are not about to transfer the. Herpes to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Improve songs.
Like ohh like ohh.
Oh.
Because I mean, that song comes on. It's like, ohh and then you. Get ludicrous, but. We, we, we.
Yeah.
Yeah, and that's good. That makes the song better.
Yeah, it's like.
This old guy that jumped out of the couch at.
The Super Bowl? Yeah, cause without that exactly cause. Without that you've just got. Ohh, so I I don't. I don't.
That kind of reaction, yes.
Hmm.
OK. So it's like to rule in that he's massive and then he starts featuring on other people stuff, but he makes it better as opposed. He's like the polar opposite of draw.
I think he's. I think he's like the antibiotics of music. He's the penicillin of music. Ludacris, yes. Yeah.
Yeah. OK, great. It was raspberries or something good.
Store please.
Yeah, something like that. I mean, you can blow raspberries. I've never tried to do that to a strawberry. I'm sure the.
So then what once?
Strawberry would appreciate.
It anyway. New song? Yeah, at #1 here in Australia. Can you play it?
In. Sure.
Please.
For this heart to feel, but without you. Long.
Incomplete. The Backstreet Boys have have landed on the charts in Australia. They've entered the charts.
Yes.
Yep, we spoke about the big album release last week and now number one. Yeah. And the piano's still.
Uh-huh.
Going.
Please.
Here in Australia's lead single from that new album Never Gone. Marking their return after five year hiatus and.
A. With so much heartbreak to expunge.
Like we said last week. Oh, I know. So much has happened in so much has happened in five years.
Very sponging their heartbreak upon us. Hmm, lots of. Hearts broken that need to be expunged in song form, yeah.
Lots of things.
Reddit started. That wicked torial thing happened. So much has happened. We last heard from them. Yeah, so we've really. We've already talked about it different sounds. Some people liked it. Some people didn't. Very emotional.
Uh-huh, exactly. They said I think it was Kevin. The backstreet boy, Kevin. Yeah, he said. It was their first grown up record. So then the so the Backstreet Boys have become backstreet men. But I think you've gotta be careful because then there's boys to men.
Oh. Oh.
And they would sue you.
When? Since when was Kevin the spokesperson for Backstreet Boys? He was like the one in the background. He wasn't. He wasn't one of the main character energy people.
Well, yeah, I don't know. I'm not. Draw, I think, but well, this is the first grown up record. They're like over to you, Kevin. You're the grown up of the group, yeah.
Come on, Kevin. You're the spokesperson of the grown up. Exactly. Well, was he his dad that died, wasn't it? Was Kevin's dad named the the name of the album, had something to.
I don't know.
Do with Kevin's.
Ohh, right. So Kevin's dad. So all of a sudden. We. Yeah. So Kevin is.
Dad or something? Involved. We need to watch the video because you did describe it as possibly having a helicopter. It was done by someone who did Britney videos and Eminem and Taylor Swift. So now I'm intrigued and now I feel like we should watch it and report back next week.
These investors. Had to. Really. Just a comment on it. We could do a like a we couldn't do that because I couldn't be, but it would be like a reaction video or.
Ah. Something. Ohh, actually no. Here's a short description. They're brooding.
I don't think anywhere. That's probably better. I'll react to the description.
OK, the video features the boys brooding in dramatic, windswept settings. I knew there'd be winds, wind swept settings.
Oh. Oh. Yep.
Desert. Wow. There's a stormy house. Yep. And a wrecked piano.
OK.
There you go. Actually video clip.
That's my reaction. It's all OK. You enjoyed that? I think so.
There was no matching outfits, no frosted tips.
Really, there's definitely a helicopter somewhere filming them.
Filming the wrecked piano of.
Yeah, had to. Course had to be can we talk about stuff that I think you'll know stuff about? You always know stuff in this segment much more than I do, but this is a rap conspiracy theory that I'd I'd suggest you would have been all over at the time.
Yeah. Yeah, kind of. The 21st of June 2005. Hmm. We've got the family of notorious BIG Biggie Smalls going to court, claiming that they have secret police documents that tie his murder to West Coast nemesis Marion.
Hmm.
Shoot knives.
Right. How did Biggie Smalls? By drive, by, drive by shoot.
Drive by shooting couple of years after two part.
And so now that they're saying that Suge Knight, who is the owner of death row, Rex Roads, is responsible for that drive by orchestrating that the architect of the drive by.
Death row records. Well, they have, they feel they. Have evidence enough evidence to kind of make some connections. And they there's a lawsuit going on at this time, 20 years ago, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family against the city of LA. Right. So the lawsuit was actually against, I think, the police, but also said that it had ties or implications with Suge Knights. Allegedly. Allegedly, obviously, allegedly don't mess with sugar. The trial trial officially commenced on the 21st of June 2005 in the US District.
Uh-huh. My he's very scary person.
Court and the family said that documents connected should to the slaying as revenge for the murder of Tupac, specifically stating that should conspired with corrupt LA police officers to carry out the killing.
What? That's a pretty wild allegation.
That's a big cold.
So he will. And the reason why they're suing the LA well, not LA police, but the city of LA is because Biggie was killed in LA at at a party well after a party in 97, yeah, yes.
And it had something to do with. Corrupts. Police officers allegedly. Yeah. He was gunned down in 97 in March.
That's right.
And I think.
Tupac was 96 year before in Las Vegas, and so that was that was like, well, was it a revenge? But nobody. Nobody has been charged in either murder case.
Yes. No, but he his family Biggie's family said that Sugg took the death of Tupac very personally, and by removing Wallace, who's biggie? It would not only avenge the death of Tupac, but it would hurt Bad Boy Entertainment with the loss of their top rapper. So he was signed to.
Begging yes.
80s Bad boy records.
There's plenty of other stuff out there hurting.
That label now yes, but I think he was like the the biggest artist on that label. When you think, do you even know anyone else that's on bad? Really, it's sort of the sort of R&B.
Yes. No, not really. I barely knew him.
Yeah, but he was he was the biggest artist, so the family said that detective shelved the case. So not only did they feel that some crooked cops were involved, they also felt that they didn't investigate it properly. They shelved the case and they just didn't.
They just. Right. OK.
There and that that had something to do with it. They had obviously a Tupac and Biggie had been feuding.
Well, we all know that we that's that's kind of.
With the East Coast West Coast being escalating into violence, and then there was the East Coast West Coast Turf War staff and that they felt the family also said that sugar cause sugars in gaol. At this point that he'd ordered the hit while he was in gaol. With the help of Bloods gang members.
Right.
So we go to trial on the 21st of June 2005. The case is declared A mistrial shortly after. And it was revealed that the Police Department had withheld critical documents from the plaintiffs, undermining the integrity of the proceedings, and it was eventually dismissed in 2010, leaving the murder officially unsolved.
So yes, dismissed in 2010, unsolved. But at that time in 2005, everyone was like going holy ****. Like, my goodness, is he involved in this, is it? And and and are the cops from did the LA police have something to do with it? That's a very wild accusation.
Hmm.
Hmm.
And I'm.
There were a lot of theories around that time about Tupac as well.
Yes, there were a lot and that like I just you know, I can't keep up with that and I'm glad that I didn't have to because there was an album that came out that I adored. I still adore it to this day that came out. I don't know, sometime this month by a band called Clutch from Maryland, who I really love. I think I've spoken about clutch before. This album is called Robot. Live slash exodus and it was a very much a Blues meets bizarre Sonic kind of revival thing. So these guys. They they come across as well, they're always labelled as a Hard Rock or a metal band, but I think they're much more than that. I think they're more of a Blues band really if I'm.
Yeah.
Being. Honest, but they've got a bit of diesel power behind their Blues, I think, and they're they're also a bit Spacey as well, a bit trippy. And so, you know, they've got great songs like this on this. I'm burning beard.
Come on. Come on. Done.
They are such an excellent band, like they are very blue space. There's also like 4 on the floor, kind of rock'n'roll as well. Umm, really good, really good. The thing that made this album a bit different for them is that they had an organist in there. Called Mike shower. Who used Hammond keyboards and you can hear the humming keyboards on there. They sound great with clutch. Who would have thought that they would go so well together? There are some really good songs on there. Mice and gods, 10001110101. That's a great song. Very math rock, gravel, Rd. Are cover cover of the the Muddy Waters tune.
I like that. Yeah.
Master rock.
It just goes helpful leather in the end and turns into a bit of a bluesy kind of biker bar brawl. It's, it is so good. So the album is like a a mash up of tech and theology like Robot Hive and Exodus. You know, talking about being delivered from, you know, potentially, I don't know, bad machine type stuff. They're always very trippy with their lyrics. They're very enjoyable lyrics. They have a great turn of phrase.
I like the one that was at periodic table with the centrepiece of mind. I love that, yeah.
Yes, yes, that's in 100011. It's great song they really. It did just kind of lean into that Stoner fusion rock, funk, Blues, all of it. They didn't really care anymore. They weren't trying to carve their way through any kind of genre. This was very much clutch. Just going. This Is Us now. This is what we sound like.
There's something about them where you can listen like they're a good listen for so many different reasons. I love running to them. They've got a great beat for running, but equally.
Yeah.
I love just. Turn when you've got a hangover and you're just feeling like ratchet on a Sunday and it's in summer and it's hot and you're just lying on the couch.
Yeah. Yeah.
And you put. That on it's comforting, like it's motivating. It's comforting. Like it you don't. You don't need a a reason like you. You can always just listen to it. It's really cool.
Yeah. Yes. Got a nice. It's just a groove. The groove that can apply to yeah, it's like the Mars bar of of music. You can work, rest or play to it. Really. That's close. I mean, I mean, clearly a marketing genius. I don't know why I'm not managing them. They are such a great band, though. If you've never heard clutch, go find them. Seek them out. They are.
This yeah.
Yes.
Absolutely.
Awesome. Over to the big screen and a huge movie release tops the box office in the USA.
Tell us, Mr Wayne. What do you fear?
And even my name.
Hello.
But it's too small for someone like Ruth claim to disappear. Your parents death was not your fault. My parents deserve. I cannot let that pass. If you make yourself more just a man, then you become something else entirely. Cheers. A legend, Mr. Wayne. Master Wayne, if you coming back to long?
As long as it takes to show the people of Gotham, their city doesn't belong to. The criminals and the corrupt.
Chris. Rachel. You have gone a long time.
I know.
Things are worse than ever down here.
What chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing?
No mixed alive will suit for advanced infantry.
Utility harness gas powered magnetic grapple gun the tumbler. Or you wouldn't be interested.
Ohh the tumbler. The big Batmobile. It was so great, Batman Begins Christopher Nolan's reboot of the Batman franchise. What a film. Before all of the Batman voice you. Know where because he changes his voice. And everyone was like, what the is he doing in this movie before the Why so serious? All of that stuff there was Batman Begins.
Did you discuss it on Reddit?
I didn't. No, I was too scared of Reddit. That, that's I. I hadn't. I hadn't conquered my fear there. You know, I need to become something. They fear. I need to become the.
OK, didn't have opinions on that. You just read. You just read it, you're still lurking.
Right.
Yeah. No, I didn't. On Reddit. Yeah, I thought it was great. It just. It was a really gritty Batman film. Christopher Nolan did an awesome job, and I think it's underrated in all those Batman movies because they all kind of live in the shadow of The Dark Knight with Heath Ledger turning in such a great performance. But I think Batman Begins in many ways.
You liked that you liked this one.
Hmm.
Was a better movie. Umm, I thought it was really good 2005 game changer. This one. You know, they we just got over Batman and Robin and had gone Tim Burton kind of rebooted it and it was gritty. And then it kind of went campy again, like, really campy with Batman and Robin. And then Christopher Nolan's done this, you know, and it was awesome. It was because Batman.
Hmm.
It's just on kind of life support and Nolan was hot property. He just done Memento, that film with Guy Pearce.
And this one, this is one that had Katie Holmes. In it, yeah.
It for that, for this particular film, she was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal in the second film. I yeah, who was then blown up by the Joker? Spoiler alert. But it was good. It it was. You went really into his origins. Like the whole grief and the guilt and all of that sort of stuff. So it was cool. It was cool.
Ah yes.
And Christian Bale, didn't he have to put on a heap of weight? Cause he's done that one where he's where he's yeah.
Yeah, cause he just done the machinists.
Where he lost all.
Yeah. Well, I think he ended up only weighing something like 40 kilos or something ridiculous. And then he got and then he got really big. He ate too many pies.
The weights. That's not very healthy. Yo yo dieting Christian though.
And then they're like, dude, you bulked up way too much for this role.
I think he did eat pies. Didn't they? Ask him. I'm pretty sure he said something.
He bulked up a lot like.
About eating pies.
He was.
It's very unheld, not roots.
He did a lot of weight training. He got very big and that that thing with the voice, you know, the voice, you know, he does the voice he's like.
It's not good for your glycemic index.
If I talk like this, people think I'm Bruce. Wayne. But if I do it like this, they'll never tell the difference, and they'll think that I'm Batman. Hmm. That it's kind of like Clark Kent's glasses, but in voice form. Right. He did that. That was his idea. That was Christian Bale's idea, like Christopher Nolan's like. I reckon that's a really ****** idea. I don't think we should do that. But he insisted cause he reckoned that Bruce needed to sound different when he put the costume. I've got a costume, and so I sound different. Do you ever talk differently when you wear different clothes?
Great idea, Christian.
Fabulous.
It reminds me of. No, but it reminds you. It reminds me of a tweet that this person posted, and there was someone new starting at their at their work.
I mean.
What kind of team was it?
The person, the person starting their at their works name was Wayne Bruce. And she gets introduced to Wayne Bruce, and she goes.
No way.
It's my nemesis man bat. And she goes. And no one laughed. Seriously, I'm wasted here, and then someone commented, not all. Capes wear heroes. I just thought that was wonderful and I thought I. Wish I worked. There I would have appreciated you. That was great.
That is very good. I like that. Well, I yes. And look, I appreciated. Batman Begins. It was a return to glory. The franchise so much better. And then Madagascar was #1 in Australia, so clearly hadn't been released here yet, but I couldn't wait. I was looking forward to it immensely.
Yes.
We had a TV premiere 21st of June.
We did, yes. I want to be a Hilton.
Paris Hilton. This glamour girl is on every list worth knowing. Ever wonder where the Hilton Sisters learn to become the jet setting? Celebutantes meet Harris's mother.
Hi everyone, I'm Kathy Hilton.
She is the matriarch of one of America's richest and most envied. Families and. Now Kathy Hilton is taking 14 ordinary people and making them fit for New York society.
We've got a lot of work to.
Do.
They're quite the glue. Cowboys and showgirls, clerks and copycats, and they all would like to be at Hilton.
I want to trade in my blue collar life. I wanna. Be I wanna. Be I wanna.
I want to be.
Be but can they? Live up to the standards of New York. 'S elite. They feel so good. These hopefuls have no idea how to act around wealth and class from their clothes. She looks like trash to their manual. To their speech.
What is it called baby cat and the cat? And.
Kathy Hilton has arranged for the ultimate makeover.
She'll put them.
Through a crash course in the finer things.
Ohh, that's annoying, that's too much. That's what it was. I wanna be a Hilton. A weekly reality show.
14 contestants competing for a taste of high society life.
200 grand at stake in it in the form of a trust fund. Very Hilton nest, yeah.
Yep. That's very Hilton, yes. Yes, new apartment designer wardrobe and the opportunity to mingle with the Hilton family.
I reckon there's huge caveats around that last bit.
Yes, under St supervision.
Massey by Mingo by mingle. You stay on the other side of the room. Yeah, exactly. Mm-hmm.
On the other side of the two way glass window mirror thing and do not. Touch the hiltons.
Yeah. So apparently they were going to be taught etiquette and responsibilities of the elite.
Which you know what?
I.
It's bit gross. No, you know. What I feel like, I feel like there's a place for. I think we should bring back. Etiquette. I think we should bring back etiquette classes, and I'm not talking about like, I'm not talking about girls walking with books on their heads. I'm talking about just general manners, like think about Reddit and think about what happened with Wicked Torial. I think because we're all spending all this time online, we don't know how to interact properly with manners in real life anymore. We write things.
Yeah, but not in the form of the Hilton. Yeah.
And we say things and it it's like would you say that to someone's? Face no, you wouldn't. I think yes, I well that's.
You bring it.
Fine. I'm happy to. Boom. I think we need etiquette. I think we need. I think we need modern manners teaching for people because there's just not manners anymore.
You've boomed in the entertainment segment. You're continuing to boom. I agree. There's not manners anymore. So I think the Hiltons are trying to do a public service here.
It's not, it's not.
I think.
I don't think this is a bad idea, but do we like Kathy Hilton? Has it come with? You know, there's stuff with Paris? No. But you know Paris going to the the school, the bad school thing was that Catherine know about it? Did she send? Do we? Are we OK with Kathy? I don't I.
I don't know anything about her. Are the institutional abuse and stuff well, Kathy Hilton didn't.
Don't.
I don't.
Know I think we are. I think she's in. One of Paris's photos, like.
I can do. I think Paris has made a peace with Kathy. So if Paris Paris is OK with Kathy, I'm OK with Kathy.
I'm OK with. So who did we have? We had Jacqueline Watt, who was a landscape supply clerk who embraced her nickname, trailer park Barbie.
Yeah, yeah, that's that's nothing. Says class like embracing a nickname like Trailer Park Barbie.
Jarrett Elwood, a telephone salesman from Texas Self, described sophisticated redneck Jabe Robinson Jabe.
Goodness me, it's it's. With the B.
26 year old from Texas with a collection of pets including a donkey named Hank and Anna Punkass them.
I wouldn't mind a donkey, just quietly. I think they're quite adorable.
I love donkeys like they were the ones smiling. The one that was smiling on camera when they were trying to film the tiger or something smiling.
They've got beautiful teeth. Yes, they're gorgeous creatures. Yeah. So my money's on the guy with just purely based on the fact that he owns a donkey.
He has a. Must be alright, Anna punkass.
That's an unfortunate servant.
Former Miss Champa singer and model. The idea was it was a reverse take. A simple life is huge at the moment. This is a reverse take on the simple life. Instead of Paris and Hilton coming and living with the Redneck family, the Redneck family comes and lives with Kathy.
Yes. Ohh right, so it's it's backwards. Line. You come to us. You come to us and then we we teach you manners, teach you how to be classy.
And teaching. Teachers and manners. I only ran for one season, not renewed the.
I wonder why. Hmm. Ah, we've got a video game, so we could waste time and avoid watching that Hilton show by firing up the console battlefield. Yes, well, you could. Battlefield 2 was released and and that was certainly a no manners teabag type of game, first person shooter offering large scale battles of Modern Warfare.
No manners go and tea bag with no manners.
Scenarios, yes.
Initiating satellite scan. Camera.
Satellite coming down in 321.
Ohh yes, and there's just lots of shooting and stuff. This is the game that made war fun again, you know, cause make.
War funding and that should go on a hat.
Exactly because nothing says making war fun again like computer games, which I think is great. This is before battle Royale, was a household name before Fortnite.
And teabagging. Did you have this guy?
Right. Yeah, it did. It was good fun. Yeah.
Ohh you had the book. You had the Cheetah book.
Yeah. Yeah, because, well, I didn't. I just wanted to learn how to play it better. That's always wasn't a cheater book. There was no cheat. It was an official strategy guide.
So I remember saying the chapter book on the Bookshelf chapter book. So the answers is like the the teacher textbook with all the answers did Cheetah book.
It was an official strategy guide. It didn't have all the answers, it just had strategies for being better at the game. Wasn't a cheater book. I'm very time for. I'm not like these other people that can spend 12 hours a day playing video games, have a life. I have a job. I'm a parent. I have things to do. I will take any advantage that I can get in order to maximise my enjoyment.
And the Cheetah book.
Sales changed. Kathy Hilton wouldn't endorse the shade of book.
And minimise my stress while playing video games so it is an official.
You won't be a Hilton.
Strategy guide that I paid for with my hard earned money because I can't sit around and play video games all. Day because I have a. Job and I need to earn that hard earned money for the strategy.
And tell us about the game.
Guys. It made more fun again. So yeah, I mean, this is before Fortnite and all those other games. This was big. This was large scale. Warzone, so they had this. Huge digital war Zone 64 player mayhem, modern military hardware. A huge sense of scale. Destructible environments developed by Dyson, EA. It was a big evolution. The first battlefield was more World War 2 nostalgia and this was modern combat, so this was like U.S. Marines, China and the fictional Middle Eastern.
Which war are you in now? Right.
Coalition fictional.
Oh, did you get to choose your? Did you get to? Choose your hair and your. Outfit.
No, it wasn't like that. Logo no, no, you just you just get randomly put onto a side. Yeah. So 64 players like that's a huge server.
Player logo.
Right. OK.
That is a.
Lot of players for the time. Yeah. Yeah. And so that you weren't just running around corridors and stuff, you're in. You're like you could jump off a helicopter onto a tank. Well, there's somebody with a sniper. This is in 1st, 5 minutes going nuts. And then they had Commander mode, where one player could oversee the battlefield. Like, almost like Napoleon. And then. And you could drop supply crates and air strikes while barking orders that you see which.
So.
So one person was like the ohh that's like a moderator. Come on everybody.
That didn't work out so well. It was really frustrating.
Let's work together.
And do you know what happened? Do you know what happened? Cause this is what happens with all these online games. No, everyone just they've got guns and they're ready to go. And it goes 321. It's like, alright, everybody, let's listen to your commander right now. Let's mobilise. Everyone's just running off, shooting blindly nowhere. Chaos. The most frustrating mode ever.
You'd kill them. You'd kill the leader, right? You say shut up. I'm not listening to you.
Voice chats. Squads. Yeah. You could talk to people and then they have this ranking and unlock system, which made it really addictive as well. It was good. It was good you. But you needed. You needed to really work as a team at it. If you went in there by yourself, you just get turned into sausage, which is pretty much what happened to me every time I played it cause.
So you had a headset, so you. Could talk to the. Ohh gosh.
I have no friends.
And they had the cheater booth.
Well, it didn't matter. I needed friends. I needed a squad and if I didn't have a squad. I was dumb ********.
#Squad that's a show.
Yeah. Or I could try and fly a helicopter and just crash into people a lot, which I did quite a few times. It but it like. Yeah, it was a big sandbox. It was great. Like the only limit you had was your teammates and and, you know, trying not to accidentally blow your friends up with friendly fire or if you you go and get The Jets straight away at spawn, you just run for The Jets, jet planes, you fly the jet planes, then you just shoot everyone. It's a good time.
What's the? Ohh.
You know, war is hell and so is working a full time job and not being able to play video games as much as everyone else. So you could be good at them. So by strategy guides.
Jade book.
It's not a cheetah book.
No.
You a cheater book. It's an official strategy guide. Thank you. Very much sure. And it's hatches, matches and dispatches time. So we do this. But remember the clue we played at the beginning of? The show ohh 2.
Celebrities were talking, weren't they? Very mysterious.
Two celebrities talking a match. They got married this time 20 years ago and they.
Said this, we did pulled pork tacos. Yeah, with some rainbow slaw, which is our birthday feast of choice, Cause we're born four days.
Apart, one of the lovely things as you see in the front of the, but we're dedicated to our children, cause this is a record for them of all the food that we cook for them that they can sort of take with them and. I.
That's great, isn't it? That your parents write you a cookbook? You can just take it with. That's nice. I have some good recipes. Make things a bit easier. You want to make sure that that you could easily. Yeah. And if it could be uploaded into an app and then pull together a shopping list for you, even better if you said Sophie Ellis Baxter and Richard Jones.
Rainbow slaw sounds good with the tacos, yeah.
Would be correct. You know Sophie Ellis bexter, right? Yes, the pop star.
Mother on the dance floor. I love her.
And and her husband was a bassist in a band called the Feeling he.
No, I'm not familiar. Not familiar with them.
Just did a.
Great. No, not a great name. Anyway. They got married at Palazzo Terra Nova in Umbria. There you go.
There's been dating since 2003. They actually met during auditions for her tour band. He auditioned for.
It back.
To play bass and it seems like you, you definitely haven't got the job as the bassist, but.
No, just stop. Just stop, OK?
I like the cut of your gear, but I'd like to make babies with you. Is where I think that we're kind of going there. Yeah. So 2003. That was auditions for the thing, and then they got together. Love blossom.
OK, that's alright. Who knows where you're going? Well, they had a baby. They welcomed their first son in 2004.
Outside of wedlock, April. That's very controversial.
Ohh yes, good on very much.
You can imagine they'd go crazy on Reddit about.
They would. So the wedding is the 25th of June 2005.
Hmm.
Low key, pretty private honey. No one got murdered in the dance. Well, honeymooned in southern Italy. They have five sons now. Still together. They were doing some great stuff during COVID. Their kitchen disco.
Nobody got murdered on the dance floor. Yeah. And they it's cause they do stuff together. Yeah. Like you. I you gotta give them credit. Like the cookbook they're talking about the cookbook. I think it's wonderful. Lots of personal and professional collaborations that I I cannot speak highly enough of couples just doing together, just collaborating on stuff and creating stuff. It's good for the marriage. It's good for the soul.
So they do a lot of cooking and the music. Yeah, I do like her. She's sort. Yes, lovely.
It makes you realise and remind you why you're hanging out with that person in the 1st place, yes.
Happy wedding.
Yes, I nobody rode in on the high horse like I just did then, but they had a good wedding. So that's it. That's the end of the show anyway. The only thing more unstable on T -? 20 than early Internet experiments was the idea of letting Kathy Hilton teach etiquette on reality TV. I have to say now, next week, next week we've got things.
We have the live 8 concert live 8 little Kim goes to gaol.
Oh.
I remember all of these things.
And we're gonna chat about the infamous couch jump.
Ohh, the point where we realise that Tom Cruise is actually a lunatic? That sounds really good. That's good. Look, if you, if you like this show, like, if you if you laughed once or twice, if you were a little bit shocked, but you're like, oh, I'm kind of shocked but titillated, you know. That's OK, yeah. Yeah. Good honour.
That's all right, they said, ****.
Yeah, and and and or if you were just like what that actually happened and I'm pretty sure it did cause we do do the research, we do our due diligence and the best we can.
What's you wanna hear? Another boom from Ray? I'm sure there'll be another one. If you don't like us. Rays, booms is.
Yeah. Any of those things, if you like any of those things, first thing leave us a a review, go and review the podcast.
Worse than admission, yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice. We've only got 2.
Nothing, nothing less than five stars tell everyone how good it is.
Got 2 reviews.
I always do this at the end because I figure if you're hanging out at the end of the show, you'd probably still like. It's like you're not gonna be like, no, in actual fact, I'm gonna give you one star spot. You please don't do that. It's really hard to to get ahead in this business. Hit the follow button for the podcast. Right. And then stalk us, come and find us on the socials team. -20 podcast is what you gotta search for.
If you're still here. You don't have. It's too much. Yes, yes, yes.
Hmm.
At T -, 20 podcast, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, you know it, we'll be back next week. I'm sure we'll have plenty more pop culture misfires, musical glow ups, chaos, lots of chaos. Always things that you almost forgot.
Well.
But so don't feed the trolls. Back up your cables and always check the tyres. See you next week.
Goodbye.
Thanks for taking the time to rewind. Join us next time for another week. That was 20 years ago. In the mean time, come and reminisce on the socials search for T -, 20 podcast on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.