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
2006 State of the Union: when terrorism, oil and marriage dominated politics
Rewind to 29 Jan 2006 to 4 Feb 2006
🇺🇸 State of the Union goes full time capsule
George W. Bush lays out a world obsessed with terrorism, addicted to oil, anxious about immigration and still debating same-sex marriage as a “values” issue. Katrina barely gets airtime, healthcare is a shopping experience and the war on terror is framed as the defining mission. 2006 politics hits very differently in 2026.
🔥 Cartoons spark global chaos
Danish Muhammad cartoons explode into worldwide protests, embassy firebombings and a massive debate over free speech vs religious respect. What started as newspaper drawings becomes a flashpoint for geopolitics, identity and everything simmering post-9/11.
🎧 Eminem says goodbye
“When I’m Gone” lands as a tear-soaked semi-retirement anthem, with Em wrestling with fame, addiction and fatherhood. Fans think this might be it. Spoiler: it is and it isn’t.
🧑🎤 Arctic Monkeys break the internet
Their second single drops after MySpace and file-sharing hype built a fanbase before the label even clocked it. Peak indie sleaze energy powered by MSN Messenger and dodgy MP3s.
👩🍼 Big Momma returns bigger
Big Momma’s House 2 hits #1 with disguises, nanny chaos and jokes that absolutely would not survive a 2026 Twitter thread. Critics hated it. Audiences did not care.
📚 Mystery books and one-star rage
Alphabet-crime thrillers top the charts and our readers lose their minds over foul language, unsatisfying endings and unanswered questions.
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 2006. We head to the hills and learn reality is scripted. Your Sony Cyber Shot uploads 462 blurry regrets. A Facebook poke makes everything complicated. And Twitter's like, cool story, you've got 140 characters. Go. T-minus 20. Rewind 20 years with Joe and Mel.
We won't deny January 2006. T-minus 20.
Bringing the sexy back.
I want to forgive you. T-minus 20. I hate this long distant relationship.
And I want to forget you. Good job! You have no style or succession. This is a beauty.
This is very nice. Yeah, boy.
Know it's good when you got Flavour Flavours, you hype man. Back in 2006, anyway, it was a big time for Flavour Flavour, which we'll get to in a future episode. This is T-minus 20, the podcast that jumps back exactly 2 decades done packing news, music, movies, TV, and pop culture that completely took over your brain at the time of... whatever lack thereof that you had, whether you noticed it happening or not. Each week we rewind to the headlines that you lived through, the chart hits you couldn't escape and the cultural moments that quietly set the tone for the next 20 years. Some of it still holds up, some of it probably doesn't that well. And this week... In early February 26, the world was feeling tense, loud and slightly on edge. But somebody who's not tense, loud or even slightly on edge is my co-host over there, Mel. My name's Joe, by the way. Hello, Mel.
Oh, no, I'm all panic and no disco these days. Yeah, boy, flavor, flavor. The start of the new year, I know, is something that Ray enjoys. When we get the new opener to the show, I know that he really enjoys trying to identify. what all the grabs are or who the people are at the start of the show. So I'm curious, Ray, send us a DM. Have you figured them all out or not? Because maybe we could do a reveal. We could reveal one each week as we go. Oh, yeah. So you've revealed the flavour of flame, obviously.
Well, yes, if we had a sponsor, we could turn it into a competition.
You could give something away.
But we don't have any of that.
Like some bread and ice cold cans of Coke.
Yeah, something like that. Let's talk about the big stories this week.
America is addicted. Addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.
Yes, America sat down at a meeting and said, Hi, my name's America and I'm addicted to oil.
People said that about me when I used to use a lot of the reef tanning oil back in tanning. They thought you were addicted to it. Yes, someone said that about me. She's addicted to oil. Really.
Is that right?
I love to tan. Is it okay to say it? You can't say that anymore. No, you can't.
You can't even do it safely these days anyway.
The cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb as a headdress and saying heaven had run out. out of virgins for suicide bombers, amongst other things, were not particularly good, but they were spectacularly offensive to Muslims.
Oh, weren't they ever? And this is the beginning of all of that sort of stuff happening way back in 2006. What's going on with Eminem?
What's going on with those lyrics there? Is he about to walk away from music? What's going on? What's going on with the M?
Some people thought, yes. Some people thought, yes. You know when he does that serious song? I think that song was bigger in Australia than it was anywhere else.
I feel like it was, do you? Yeah.
Maybe. We love a serious Eminem song over in Australia. We do.
I don't mind a novelty Eminem song.
While we're on the subject of State of the Union, a lot of things that a lot of people don't love are public speaking. Although I do feel like, and judging by the way I actually put that sentence out, things people don't love are public speaking. I like that public speaking stuff. I thoroughly enjoy it. As you can tell, I'm really good at it. But a lot of people hate it.
Imagine having to give a State of the Union. How long was that? You would...
An hour. It's about an hour.
And imagine having to talk for an hour in front of the whole world.
Yeah, it's challenging.
That would be people's worst nightmare, wouldn't it?
They have speech writers and stuff like, I could do that if I had a speech writers.
Oh, because they have those things.
What are they called? The wings, the teleprompters. No, they're called the they're called presidential autocues.
Well, there you go, ready for the State of the Union.
This is a presidential state where they got the clear purse specs.
It's no good for people like me with glasses because I can't read them. I can't read them and then I put my glasses on and then they reflect in the glasses and everyone knows I'm cheating.
Yes. Well, how did you go with public speaking? You're all right.
I don't mind. I look, I was in debating. I did debating. I loved rostrum. But debating, I always wanted to be speaker #1 because I could use half of my speech time just to define the topic. I wasn't very good at arguing. I didn't like arguing. Lucky there was a girl on my team called Rachel who's very good at arguing, so she was always speaking #3. And I even drove to Cooma and Goulburn to compete.
In public speaking.
Yes, with the boys' school in Goulburn, the boys' school in Cooma.
Did you beat them?
Look, I think we tied one year and then another year we did win. Yes. My favorite one was the topic was, is rock ripe for ridicule?
Well, if it's one that the Russians used to spy on people, then yes, it is.
Yes, definitely ready. So no, I don't mind the public speaking. I never really had a problem with it. But I do know, yeah, a lot of people hate it.
Yeah, but there are a lot of people that hate it. And then there's the people that it's like, Would anyone like to say a few words and, alright, yeah, I'll step up as it, and I feel like.
I'm not one of those people, I'm like, I'll take this, and no, I'm not that 'cause.
They're a breed apart, aren't they? They're a different level.
But also the people that have to do like the best man speech and really don't want to do it and are so nervous or have too many drinks beforehand and they just tank. That's just horrible, horrible.
Oh, well, horrible for them, but always entertaining.
Oh no, I hate, I've been terrible for them.
I don't mind seeing somebody die on stage. I think it's only because I think I've been there. Do you know what I mean? So it's nice to know you've choked on stage, have you great? Oh, many a times. I mean, you know, Sometimes when I just walk in the room, my mere presence is enough to clear it.
You had to do a speech for Chopper.
Yeah, so I had to open for Chopper Reid when he was doing this.
Did you have the presidential auto queue for Chopper?
I feel like that was a pretty low bar, actually. No, but that was an interesting time in my life.
Well, the odds, the stakes were pretty high if you'd stuffed that up.
Well, yeah, well, it's like, it's like, am I doing a favour for Chopper Reid in doing, in emceeing and opening his little stand-up? or is Chopper Reed doing a favor for me? And that's where I didn't sort of understand the line. But I feel like Chopper would be the sort of person who'd be like, does anyone want to get up and say a few words? He'd definitely be happy. Oh yeah, So anyway, we'll find out more about what George Bush has to say shortly. I mean, this is the thing with public speaking as well, Hatches, Matches and Dispatches. someone's going to say a few words, maybe at a baptism, special occasions, weddings, funerals, perfect segue to the Hatches, Matches and Dispatches segment. We're going to play a clue about the segment that we're going to do at the end of the show. This week, I don't think it was anything special. I think it was just a celebrity birthday.
Yes, celebrity birthday.
So not so much a hatch, but celebrating a hatch for a celebrity who back in 2006, I think, was only about 18 years old.
Because I am the greatest female wrestler of all time and it's not just, it's not just me saying it, okay? Other people say it.
Nobody else says that. I say it all the time. Oh, that's an easy one. That's an easy one, but a fun one. We'll find out at the end of the show.
21st of January 2006, George W. Bush gets his palm cards ready because it's, woohoo, State of the Union address. Actually, once when I did debating, there was a girl, have I told this story before? Her palm cards. Most of us just kept a rubber band around them and she kept hers in a lady products box.
Oh, really?
Yes. And we were all just outraged. We were like, you can't do that.
Well, I know that's good strategy. At least no one will tamp on with the cards. I mean, tamper with the cards.
Sorry, it's very controversial, but anyway, back.
To the tongue there. Yes, back to George, please.
And his palm cards. It was the 2006 State of the Union Address. In summary, Terrorism continues as the defining national issue. This has been going on for a number of State of the Union addresses by this stage.
This is, I think, what is this is, I don't know.
This is the fifth one after September 11.
So people are getting a bit sick.
Yeah, mate, you said that last year.
The drum that he's beating.
He just rehashed his speech from last time saying palm cards.
Did you grab the wrong palm cards on the way out the door?
Energy independence was discussed. Immigration, seeing some recurring themes. Healthcare, framed almost entirely as a consumer product.
Yes.
And same-sex marriage pops up again. Remember that was a big one either last year or the year before.
Well, he was against it.
And he was, well, he had a lot of words to say about it previously. It pops up. He's not as many words this time, but still strong feelings.
Yeah, so lots of strong feelings. All of them hidden behind the veil, I think, of the war on terror. Should we break down the statements? Sure. Yes. So, I mean, he was still beating that drum that the US was in the midst of a global struggle against radical Islamist terrorism, not just insurgents, but a worldwide ideological threat. And he described radical Islam as a perversion of the faith that seeks terror and death and framed terrorism as the central security challenge. Look, it's still a challenge these days. I think, you know, you're kind of naive if you think that any country is impervious to terrorism. But like you were saying, this is the fifth one since September 11. And multiple overseas wars are happening, Afghanistan, Iraq. There's lots of ideological framing that sounds like wartime rhetoric in there. And it stands out a lot because modern US presidents really don't use that. I mean, modern US presidents. I'm talking about this existential framing of an entire religion or an ideology in State of the Union addresses, but Christ knows what's going to get in a state of the Union address these days, really.
You should tune in. It could be an interesting one this year, actually. Energy independence was also another big topic. An addiction to oil was the language used there. I think we've got a bit of a snippet of what he said about that, don't we?
Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem. America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology.
Which is interesting to look at through the lens of 2026 and very different approach to oil and energy and security with Trump.
Well, yeah, it's like, well, I mean, that's why, is that why they went to Venezuela? I mean, for other reasons as well, but there were reasons and oil's always kind of at the forefront of some of the reasons, is what I'll say about that without getting too much into it. Because you get into it now. at all these sort of discussions and it just gets really messy and people get angry at each other.
It's very tricky. It's very complicated, but I just think it's quite the contrast to what's happening at the moment.
I found that, you know, I was listening to the State of the Union address and I remember the sentiment towards George W Bush at the time from Australia. Oh, we hated him, didn't we? Well, I mean, no and yes, I think that the, you know, left and right, it was a bit different back then, right? And so.
We were really angry about being dragged into the war. We had a lot of feelings about that.
I think a lot of people did. And so, a lot of people were really big on Michael Moore and bowling for Columbine and all of those things. So sentiment towards Bush, not so great. But when you listen to it in hindsight, my God, it's like light and shade to what we're having to consume now.
And if you listen to what he says about immigration compared with now as well.
Keeping America competitive requires an immigration system that upholds our laws, reflects our values, and serves the interests of our economy. Our nation needs orderly and secure borders. To meet this goal, we must have stronger immigration enforcement and border protection. And we must have a rational, humane guest worker program that rejects amnesty, allows temporary jobs for people who seek them legally and reduces smuggling and crime at the border.
Lots of applause, lots of people approving and like pretty tame, really like calling for stronger border enforcement, but also acknowledging that, you know, Immigration and immigrant labour is something that the US kind of counts on a little bit.
We need to treat immigrants humanely as well.
And that guest worker program is sort of something that I would assume is maybe for people who've come into the country without the correct paperwork. So they're just trying to set them up for success, you know, which is a little different to secure the border now.
Yes.
It's like, let's build a wall.
Yes, a lot more, shall we say, polarizing today.
Yeah, but I think it also, it casts a light on sort of that Republican immigration policy as well. Because it's like, you know, business needs versus political messaging. And I mean, now, like, it's even more polarizing, I guess is what we're saying. Yeah.
Healthcare was also a big topic. Bush pushed health savings accounts. HSAs, consumer driven healthcare, private insurance choice over government programs. So very much privatizing the concept of healthcare, no talk of universal healthcare, no public options, very much So pick a plan and good luck to you.
And I think that's kind of a point of difference that you'll see that Obama gets up on later on, which is the whole Obamacare thing, which we will obviously discuss at a later date. But then we have the same-sex marriage stuff, which he framed as a massive threat, even though the amendment was pushed around 2004 to the Federal Marriage Act. Bush is continuing to defend the idea that marriage should be legally defined between a man and a woman. And he's praising the states that are banning anything but that and calling it a stabilizing social institution. He says it was more about values than rights, which is interesting. And I, you know, I mean, Very conservative, very conservative.
And you obviously would not hear anything like that today.
Well, no, in 2026, it's federally protected and broadly accepted. Although, once again, I just, everything feels so unstable. You know, I mean, in the States at the moment, they've reversed Roe versus Wade and things like that. That's a massive step backwards. So who knows? Then there, of course, is the big elephant in the room that he has to address.
Something that he doesn't really address. was notably excluded.
Right. And that doesn't fall in his favor either. Yes. Hurricane.
Hurricane Katrina.
Yes.
How little it was notable for what was not said. It was only a little bit and obviously had devastated New Orleans months earlier.
That's right. They're still cleaning it up. They're still finding bodies.
They've still got the trailers there.
Exactly. Yeah.
Widely criticized. He had a slight reference to rebuilding, but was very careful to avoid blame or accountability. which really, really spoke volumes when you look at State of the Union addresses or any big kind of political speeches, really. Things like emergency management are always high on the agenda. They're always topical. They're always things that people address. So for him to completely leave that out.
Well, it just leaves this room for speculation. And it puts a bigger light on it, really, because it shows how toxic and messy it was, because it was state versus federal, and it just kind of spirals down from there. It's really gross. So a bit of a time capsule. Marriage as a values right, terrorism as a defining crisis, oil as an addiction, climate change, what climate change? And some hurricane that happened a couple of months ago that we won't mention. But while we're talking about elephants in the room, I mean, this is where the thing that we mentioned at the start, the Muhammad cartoons start to really cause a bit of controversy and escalate. So in 2005, there's a Danish newspaper that publishes 12 cartoons depicting the prominent Muhammad. And one shows him with a bomb in his turban. And the paper said it was about free speech. And of course, the Muslim community saw it as deeply offensive and blasphemous. And their initial reaction was kind of local and diplomatic, but eventually it went global.
And it's this week in 2006 that it goes global and it escalates on the 1st of February because we see newspapers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain republishing the controversial pictures in defiance of widespread Muslim protests in the Middle East and elsewhere.
The cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb as a headdress and saying heaven had run out of virgins for suicide bombers, amongst other things, were not particularly good. But they were spectacularly offensive to Muslims, who regard any likeness of the Prophet as idolatrous. Protests against the initial publication led to the cartoons being printed elsewhere, and have led in turn to riots, boycotts, diplomatic sanctions, and threats to Westerners and their institutions. Muslim anger at what they see as lack of respect for their deepest beliefs is also fuelled by a growing sense of victimhood, in which a war on terrorism, some of them think, is a cloak for a Western war on Islam.
So that's the BBC's take on it. They've got a whole series on YouTube that you can check out that sort of shows the escalation from the early days up until what eventually happens in 2015. But 1st of February, Newspapers obviously are publishing that as we said. And then you get protests in Denmark, Norway, the Middle East, South and South East Asia. Danish embassies become massive flashpoints and anger shifts from media criticism to more state level outrage, which becomes really concerning.
And then on the 4th and 5th of February, we see Danish and Norwegian embassies attacked and set on fire in both Syria and Lebanon. The violent protests spread into Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia. We have deaths also occurring during these demonstrations. And this is really where the story stops being about cartoons and becomes more about identity, religion, colonialism, and perceived Western arrogance.
Yeah, and I guess the pushback of that is free speech as well and not being oppressed. So there's definitely two sides to it and it's getting very heated. By the end of the first week, 20 countries are involved in the protest. Western governments the freedom of the press as they would. Muslim majority countries demand apologies. Media outlets worldwide debate whether or not they're going to reprint the cartoons. A lot of them do in defiance. Some refuse. But it's because of, I think, not just the drawings itself, it's that anger, that long-standing anger over Iraq and Afghanistan and Western foreign policy and the feeling that Muslim voices were being dismissed. I mean, yeah, they are deeply offensive cartoons. What I liken it to is, do you remember when Madonna released the video for Like A Prayer?
Yeah, and she had the stigmata.
And the Catholic Church just were fuming. So it's kind of the same thing. That's sort of as close as I can get. get to it, I guess, without understanding the Muslim perspective. But seeing how people in the Catholic Church reacted to that film clip from Madonna was, yeah.
And I guess that's just one artist. That's not multiple media outlets republishing it.
If you do the lyrical breakdown of that entire song, it's, you know, with the stigmata and everything, it's also about basically giving ******** to Jesus, I think. Oh, okay, great. It's pretty full on. So also deeply offensive. But in this society, we would say that people are free to create that in the name of art and challenge, I guess, the status quo and do things like that.
And that's what they were saying on the flip side. It's freedom of expression. So...
At what cost, though, is the question.
We then get to the 8th of February, and this is where the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, publishes the cartoons yet again. This is not at the start of the controversy. This is right when it's exploding. This is when we're having the demonstrations and people are dying. It's getting really messy.
But Charlie Hebdo likes to poke.
Charlie goes, yeah, I might publish them now because it's a statement about free speech. And it's political expression. It's satire. We can do this. They copped a lot of backlash, probably more than the other outlets. And it triggered a lot of lawsuits in France. It put them on the radar of extremist groups. And it then sets the stage for years of threats and violence, obviously culminating in the 2015 attack. When we get to later in the year, later in 2006, They unsuccessfully sued over the republication, so they weren't successful with that. Then in 2011, they issue a...
By they, you're talking about Islamic organisations. I'm not sure of the specific ones, but they were, they were, they're like, we're going to take Charlie Hebdo to court. They didn't succeed, which I think compounded the frustration.
Yes, and so then in 2011, Charlie Hebdo featured a cartoon of Mohammed.
Yes, but they changed the title as well. They called it Sharia Hebdo. Right. Yeah.
And this particular publication then results in the office being firebombed and the website hacked. They then move offices.
Yeah.
Couple of years later, Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen release a hit list, which is a whole list of names, which includes Stephanie, I think it's Chabonia, known as Chab, who is the editor of Charlie Hebdo. So she's on an Al-Qaeda hit list.
Right, and then, so then you fast forward a couple of years, 7th of January, 2015, 11.30 in the morning in Paris, France, employees of Charlie Hebdo are targeted in a terrorist shooting attack by two French-born Algerian Muslim brothers, Said Kouachi and Sharif Kouachi, armed with With rifles and other weapons, they murdered 12 people, injured 11 others. They identified themselves as members of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed responsibility for the attack. All over a couple of silly drawings. I don't know if I should do this, but I'll let you know a little behind the scenes conversation that we just had. Because we, look, coming up soon we're going to open up the boombox, but though I just sort of wanted to put the brakes on it, I didn't think it was very appropriate to open the boombox after a conversation about terrorism.
No. So let's move on to the. We'll hold that.
Yes, we'll go to the music segment now. Here's Mel with the music.
A change of pace now. Let's start with the U.S. Top Five. This one.
Nobody gonna love me better. I must stick with you forever. Nobody gonna take me higher. I must stick with you. So don't forget about me. Nice, laying in the dark and waking up inside my arms, boy, you always be in my heart and I can see it in your eyes, you still want it to, don't forget about it. On the floor, if he ain't, let me know Let me see if you can run it, run it Girl, indeed, I can run it, run it Did you come over and check up on it I'ma let you walk up on it Hate it, let him check up on it Watch it while he check up on it Wow. Let me see.
My wife. Yeah, you grill.
Yeah, you grill. Yeah, you grill. Recap.
Sure.
Stick with you, Pussycat Dolls, #5. They were in last year, weren't they?
Yeah, they were. Stick with you.
Mariah, don't forget about us.
We won't. I'm sad that Nickelback aren't there. I won't play.
I'm sure. I'll be sad.
They'll sneak back in. They always do.
I have snuck a.
Nickelback song on my workout playlist.
Which one?
No, it's not. It's too slow. I don't know what it's called. I think it's called Burn It Down. I don't know. It's terrible.
Wow.
It's all about drinking and getting drunk.
Right.
Yeah. That is appropriate to discuss. It's incredibly bogan.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Does it make you lift more weight? Is it motivating?
It's motivating in that I'm like, at the start of this song, I'm going to do this set. And if it's not finished by the end of this song, I'm going to be in a bit of trouble.
Right.
Yeah, I don't know. I'm just trying to open up. I mean, there's room in my life for Nickelback.
Maybe you should put grills in your playlist. Grills is in mine.
I don't know.
It's good. Really? It's good when you're on the cables.
Yeah.
Yep, you grill.
No, you can be conscious of gritting my teeth when I'm at the gym. Anyway.
That was #1. A run at Chris Brown's #3 and all over the shop. Check on it. beyonc� and Slim Thug.
Yes.
Not to be confused with Slim Shady. Slim Thug.
Yes, exactly.
Filled out thug.
Yeah.
Rubenesque thug. Thug.
Jacked thug.
Oh, jacked thug. That'd be dangerous.
Shredded thug.
Let's talk about this song, actually, because...
Check on it.
Yes, we didn't talk about it last time. Oh, okay.
Don't you come over.
And check up on it. I'm gonna let you walk up on it. Hadies and I'm check up on it. Watch it while he check up on it. That's just.
Obnoxious. But when does he check up on it? I'm thinking like, oh, did I leave?
Did I leave the oven on?
Did I leave the oven on?
Hot plate running.
Did I lock the front door? Hang on, let me check up on it.
Did I shut the garage?
Exactly. Did I check? Let me just check up on it. I feel like this song is very triggering for anyone who's got a bit of an obsessive compulsive disorder.
Or forgetful.
Yes.
When they leave the house. It's by beyonc�, obviously, featuring Slim Thug.
Did he have any writing credits or he's just featured?
Slim Thug's real name is Stave Jerome Thomas. Houston rapper closely associated with the hip-hop boom of the early 2000s.
The Southern hip-hop boom. That's like how we're like our castle. Yeah, all of those guys.
Country grammar kind of stuff. Yes. Some versions of Check on It feature Bun B.
Who's Bun B?
I've got no idea.
Right, good. Excellent. I'm glad that you've highlighted that for anyone who might have an idea.
They can send us a message and, yes, let us all know.
This was, I do know that this was supposed to be for a film soundtrack. It was, yes. Check up on it. was supposed to be for the 2006 remake of the Pink Panther, which I don't actually recall.
She was in it, which is why she put the song for it.
Steve Martin playing Inspector Clouseau, maybe. Not sure.
I don't know, but the song didn't make it into the final.
Is that right?
And instead, and I think this is weird, they put it on Destiny's Child's Greatest Hits album.
Really? But it's not a Destiny's Child song. It's A beyonc� song.
I think they just thought she had the star power now that they've all, you know, moved off in their solo directions. She's the only one really that's charting.
I find that in poor taste.
I agree.
Yeah.
I agree. I'd be ****** if I was Kelly or Michelle.
I'm surprised they weren't. protesting in Norway and Denmark over that.
It later appeared on her B-day album.
B-day.
B-day.
Is that like, that's like a thing in Japan that you sit on to wash your *** with?
B-day, beyonc� day.
Oh, Happy beyonc� day. B-day, not bidet.
Happy beyonc� day.
Sorry, I thought you meant bidet, not B-day.
B, letter B, apostrophe day.
Yeah, as opposed to the other thing that you use to wash your *******. Yes.
I think it goes to #1 at some stage.
Oh, well, it shouldn't really go to #2 if it's B day.
Stays there for a little while. One of the longest running number one singles of the year, her third solo chart topper after Crazy in Love and Baby Boy. They also loved it in New Zealand, Canada, Europe. And the video itself, I think, won quite a few awards. It premiered on BET. It's very pink heavy. It's very pink aesthetic. Oh, it was the pink panther. Even though it didn't end up in the movie. It's still a very pink video clip, apparently.
Right, okay. Yes. It's not that if you sit too far back on the B day, you'll end up washing your pink panther. Anyway, let's go to the Albert release.
No, I'm going to go to the UK first.
Oh, you want to go to the UK? All right, what's happening in the UK?
We've got a new number one called When the Sun Goes Down by the Arctic Monkeys. They said it changes when the sun goes down. Yeah, they said it changes when the sun goes down. They said it changes when the sun goes down around here.
Around here. Look at those guys. I just like how bombastic they are and how in your face they are. Yes. When you compare it to what was number one in the UK last week, it's a welcome relief. Yeah.
They knocked that idol or whatever he was.
I don't know what he was. It was his goal, apparently. But the Arctic Monkey is coming to save that goal.
Look, it's good to have goals.
Yes.
This one is the second single from their debut album. Interesting backstory to this one. It was known by fans originally as Scummy Man because it was legendary online before it was officially released. This is still MySpace era. Still a little bit of MySpace hangover.
Yes.
And early versions of the song were recorded by fans live at gigs. So we're starting to see digital cameras that can record video, right?
Yeah.
So they're recording the song at gigs It's not official yet. They're just doing it at the gig.
Yeah.
They then rip the tracks and put them online. The band had nothing to do with it.
So they got this beautiful organic hype happening.
Yes.
And it's so funny because whenever something like this does happen, then the big business end of town go.
The labels replicate it.
How do we manufacture that? And the answer is.
How do we pay for that?
The answer is you can't. You just can't.
This one's lovely. because fans then create MySpace pages sharing the MP3. So again, it's not even their MySpace page. Fans are creating these fan pages and they're sharing this song that nobody knows and they just think it's called Scummy Man because that's one of the lyrics in the song. And they then spread through message boards and messenger and blogs. So by the time the band released it, everybody already knows what it is.
And it's number one.
It's pretty cool, pretty cool.
And then the record companies are sitting there going, how did they, how did they do that? Where did they get those wonderful voice?
I'm going to play an influencer to do that for us. Now here in Australia, we.
Yes, a number one, not an album, number one song.
Number one song. We also had a new number one from Eminem.
When I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn, rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice, just know that I'm looking down, you're smiling. And I didn't feel the dang, so baby don't feel my pain, just smile back. And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn, rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice.
This is weird because this didn't do well anywhere except for Australia.
Look, it went into the top 10 on the Billboard charts, but it didn't get, I don't think it went higher than #8, which is odd.
Then I'm not interested.
It's odd for many. Well, we won't talk about it in the UK charts, but we'll talk about it in the Australian ones. But there was a lot of talk about this song because it was on the album Curtain Call The Hits. Yeah, it's the greatest hits. A greatest hits album, but this was a new song written for the greatest hits album. So the greatest hits album is called Curtain Call. What does Curtain Call mean?
The end. I'm done.
This is a new song. It's not one of his greatest hits. It just pops up. No fanfare, no discussion with the lyrics. Around when I'm gone, you'll carry on, et cetera, et cetera.
Yes.
What do you think people read into? He's retiring.
He's stepping away, stepping away from the spot.
He's got a lot going on. You know, he had some troubles with all the music leaking and writing the new songs. Oh, not to mention going on. Well, you know, his personal life. He remarried Kim and then I think they get divorced again.
He got that house off that guy from Kmart.
Oh, the Kmart house here in Detroit.
You know, yeah, full of anko ****. Yeah. All of that. Yeah.
And he had started pulling back from the spotlight. He wasn't turning up to the awards shows. People weren't seeing a lot of him. The song itself, if you watch the video clip, it tends to focus more around his daughter Hayley and his fractured relationship with her. And it's more about missing key milestones in her life and fearing that he's becoming the absent father. And, you know, he's at a gig and he's just picturing her there in the audience. So it really actually was about Hayley, but everybody read into, whoa, this is the end of Eminem.
Because if there's one thing Eminem is, it's a good dad. Like he's a really good dad. He is.
He's so proud of her.
But he also he also fosters children as well.
Does he?
Yes.
I didn't know that.
Yes, he's like he's a very good dad.
So we're all thinking that he might retire and he did disappear pretty shortly after this moment. It wasn't long after that we just did not see him for a long time. And he doesn't then release a new album until 2009, relapse.
Yeah, right. So, well, that's a long time. I'm just, I'm sorry, but I'm distracted.
That's okay. But I mean, it was, I guess it was effectively curtains on era one of Eminem. You know what I mean? Like, this is sort of peak phase one Eminem. He then disappears for a bit, and he definitely reinvents himself after this.
Sorry, that's incorrect. Eminem doesn't foster.
He fosters dogs.
No, he adopted two daughters.
He's got two adopted daughters. Okay. Oh, actually, yes, I do think I have heard something.
He's given them stable homes after them being in very difficult circumstances. He also raised his younger brother.
And I love the story. I love the story of Elton being his sponsor to his Alcoholics Anonymous or AA sponsor for support. Yes.
Well, the children he adopted, his former sister-in-law's daughter, okay, and his ex-wife Kim's child that she had during an affair.
Wow.
So there you go.
He is a good dad. And it was, like I said, it was, the song was Curtains for Era One Eminem before he does come back in 2009. He has sobriety, recovery, reinvention. So we are seeing, you know, it's kind of the death of the first Eminem and then he's sort of reborn from there.
Oh, it's a series of life events. It is. All these albums are series of life events. Yeah, really needed to wedge a segment in between the news and opening up the boombox this week, which is what we did. So thank goodness for music. I think it's the great leveller. But it is now time to open the boombox, your safe space to put your boomer-esque complaints. Anything that's kind of bothering you out in the world that would lead someone to, look you in the eye and turn around and hear your complaint and say, okay, boomer, that's not going to happen here. If anything, it's just going to be a place of positive reinforcement. You will be supported with your boom and complaint because you're in a space with a bunch of like-minded people, which is Mel and I, and of course, all of our other loyal listeners, I believe. So if you do want to complain, if you do want to send in your boom, you can just DM through any of the social platforms. If you do it through Instagram, I think you can record one. Although it's a pretty boomer thing to do to not be able to figure that out. Yes, I love those ones. But you know, just in general, just send them in. You can be anonymous, you can tell us who you are. It doesn't really matter. All that matters is that you have a safe space and an opportunity to get whatever petty grievance you have off your chest.
Yes.
Who have we got this week, Mel?
Oh, there's a lot. There's so, because I've created a new folder in my Instagram, because when you save things, I didn't really, this took me a few years to figure out, because you press the little one that looks like a bookmark and it saves it into a spot.
Yes, and you never know where that spot is.
No, I just have a spot full of all these things. Is this a broom? There's so many. No, there's so many, there's so many things that I save. Sometimes I'm saving. recipes. Sometimes I'm saving booms, sometimes I'm saving nice outfits that I might want to buy.
They all just go in the same bucket.
Well, no, I figured out you can actually make folders.
Thank God.
So when you press a little bookmark, you can put it into a different bucket. And I've created one called booming. And over the break, was there so many? People were just, I think people were tired and angry and bored. It was the end of the week.
Usually happens when people are burned out, they boom. Yes, they get to the end of the fuse.
I actually have a few, but I'm trying to pick, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go with John Halo's boom.
All right, John Halo, what have you got?
Back in my day, it's going to be good when it starts.
Back in my day. It's a safe space and that is perfectly okay.
Back in my day, he's talking back in my day, house computer my day. He's not talking back in my day, horse and cart.
Yeah, so back in our day.
Back in my day, when you saved a document, it would go to a main folder called documents and you knew where it was because it was in the folder called documents.
My god.
That is so true. I've got, I upgraded a computer, what's it called, operating system.
Yes.
And now... It just saves things itself.
You don't know where they go.
You don't press save. And then so then I press save and then it asks me if I want to save a copy. And I'm like, I don't want to save a copy. I just want to save this one here. But it's already saved it. But I don't know where it saved it.
Yes, and the only way you can look at it. The only way you can find it is to go open recent.
Is that how you do it?
I guess, but that still doesn't tell you where it is. It's like in a secret undisclosed location. It's like.
Could be in the cloud.
Well, exactly. Could be in the cloud.
Q drive.
The pointies.
Could be on like in a folder that everybody sees.
Yes.
Might be in someone's calendar. Who knows?
Well, this is the computer. This is AI at play, I reckon. You know, we remove the opportunity for human error by taking the human out of it and only telling the human the stuff that they need to know. And you clearly don't need to know where your files are saved anymore. They're much safer if you do that.
There was a great picture and it had someone, someone posted it and they were trying to be mean. Remember when you had your floppy disks and you had your floppy disks in a box? It was generally a brown, no, it was usually like a brown, solid brown plastic and then see-through brown plastic on the top.
I was talking about the floppy disks.
All the floppy disks, solid black, yes, but they were kept in a box.
Yes, usually had a grey bottom and a tinted perspex top.
Yes, correct, with a lot on it. And a lot, this is the thing, somebody I posted a picture of that and wrote, Haha, this was cyber security back in the early 2000s, late 90s, early 2000s. Someone comments and was like, Well, I'd like to see Russia hack into that.
That was good. That was very good.
I feel relieved. I feel like that's, yeah, that's been troubling me.
I still don't know where anything's safe. Wait till, wait till I have to actually like press stop record on this podcast and edit it. I've got no idea where the **** it's gone. Anyway, let's go from the boom box to the box office. We had one movie, a big movie that went to the number one spot in the US box office.
And Australia.
And the Australian box office. A double-header, a two-pronged attack. Oh God.
The mother of all comedies...
There's a new sheriff in town.
...Is back in the house.
Big Mama, you stole my man.
She stole her man. My mama raised a lady.
She raised a heifer.
Damn. This January...
This is Big Mama. She's gonna be our new nanny.
Oh, my goodness. Boy, you are two kinds of crazy.
From 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises...
Ooh, a spa! Don't let me disturb you. Y'all just keep walking around naked and massaging each other in exotic oils or whatever.
Get ready.
That's my jam! That's putting stank on it. That's all that is. For the boldest... Hit the road, grandma. Are you feeling me? You feel me? I thought you would.
The baddest...
Ooh, somebody found me.
And the biggest mama ever.
Ooh, that's hot. Coming through. No! Time for me to drink a 40 and watch Dr. Phil. Martin Laura's. There's gotta be a perfectly logical explanation for these. Oh my God. I knew that thong would come in handy. Big Mama's house too. Give me a hand, my bra. I just got my nails done.
That is. something else, isn't it? I mean, it was successful once. I think Mrs. Doubtfire's got a lot to answer for, actually.
And White Chicks. That was another one that was kind of like that around that time.
I don't think White Chicks is as good a film as, say, Mrs. Doubtfire.
No.
And Mrs. Doubtfire. But it's that same, the same thing. And this one, it was like Big Mama's House One was so successful, they just went, let's do it again.
Let's do a #2.
I mean, Mum, it was a big #2, this film. Massive #2, belonged in the bidet. Well, maybe not in the bidet, because if the number two's in the BDA, you're doing it wrong. But this, was, I mean, Martin Lawrence isn't even trying in this. is terrible.
So he's undercover again as Big Mama.
Yeah.
Mission is inside a wealthy house.
I mean, you've got to remember too, number one in the Australian box office is school holidays. Go and send the kids off to see Big Mama's house too, keep them busy for an hour and a half.
Fish out of water gags, parenting mishaps, FBI surveillance meats, bake sales.
Yep.
Martin Lawrence, as you said, Neil Long, Emily Proctor. Yeah, whatever. Budget of 40 million, made 100 and forty-one.
Couldn't take it, but yeah, they did.
Audiences went, yeah, we'll watch that.
They went anyway because of some, I think in Australia it was like, oh, air-conditioned cinema, wonderful.
Yeah, I don't care what's on.
Yeah, I'll just go to the movies.
Play snake on my gnocchi at 32.10.
Exactly. Maybe. I've often been caught. I've done that. I've taken our child to the cinema and spent the whole time browsing on my phone while I've watched some other.
You're not allowed to have your phone on it.
I needed all the help I could get for whatever film it was. I think it was about cats that were samurais or something. I don't know. But this is, that's, this strikes me as one of those films, although I don't know.
Disguise comedy. I think it's.
I don't know.
It's a very specific genre.
Disguise comedy.
Disguise comedy.
What's your favourite genre of film? I'm really big. I'm the disguise comedy. Mrs. Doubtfire, Big Mama's House, White Chicks, Tootsie, you know. Tootsie. Those sort of movies. Yeah. That's my jam. Yeah.
Oh my goodness.
Well, you know, fans. Are we going to a disguise comedy fan convention? I can't wait. Martin Lawrence is going to be signing autographs. I think he might actually dress up as me. And then we're going to go back to my place. We're going to go and watch Norbert. Norbert, that was a Eddie Murphy. I mean, he did heaps of, he did Norbert, he did.
The nutty professor, but he wasn't dressing as a woman.
He was dressing as all the characters, Hercules, Hercules, he was doing everything. Yeah, so it's just more of that **** really.
Yeah. Probably, do you think today, in today's world, that we would get away with disguise comedy, where you are dressing as the opposite?
The gender.
I don't know that you and also the whole, there was a lot of fat jokes in Big Mama's house. I don't think you'd, I don't think you get away with that. I don't think that's okay anymore.
Don't know. I know like, you know, shallow hell, like the Coen's tried to do it with shallow hell. I mean, that was more the fat joke thing. That wasn't the disguise.
But they were trying to, I think they were trying to have a.
They were also known for their inappropriate.
They were trying to have an inappropriate message around. Exactly. Beauty is only skin deep.
Which can be a bit of a miss. as well. I think that the goofy fun from 2006 would be result in public discourse in 2020.
Yes, absolutely.
Yes, you thought you were having good fun.
Might end up in the State of the Union address.
All of a sudden like Martin Lawrence dresses up as Big Mama and you know, I mean we were more concerned about those cartoons at this stage. This was Barely offensive. Which begs the question, what did offend us in 2006? Oh, here's something that would have offended anyone that went and saw Big Mama's house. Books. Books, very offensive to those viewers of those, what are they called, costume comedies? Is that what they're called? Disguise comedies, costume comedies. Gosh, yeah. Anyway, books.
And you could just picture too, you know like when you go to IMDB, how they'd have a little icon for each genre.
Yeah.
Disguise comedy would be nose glasses.
Oh yeah.
I like that.
Disguise comedy. I love that. That's very good.
That's sort of that would be in the video shop.
Imposters.
Imagine a whole section of disguise comedy.
We'd need to be disguise comedy. because of books we didn't read.
Yes.
So, we can't really...
No, his glasses on.
Yes. No, I was too busy watching Big Mama's House. I'll tell you what, if this book was a movie and, you know, Martin Lawrence was starring in it, I probably would have gone and seen it and then read the book afterwards because it would have been that good.
S for Silence by Sue Grafton. This was #1 while we're on holidays, but you know, I thought I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to go and hang out in Goodreads. They sent me, you know how I've got a burner account on Goodreads so I can follow Lois.
Yeah, be careful. You don't want to expose yourself.
I don't think Goodreads listen. I think it's fine. They've been emailing.
Are you like a fat black woman on Goodreads?
I'm in disguise. They emailed my burner account email and invited me to participate in the Goodreads read-a-thon.
Oh, really?
2000 and 2026 or something. They want me to do some reading.
That flies in.
Do you think I should do it?
No, because it completely flies in the face of this segment, which is books we didn't read. What's this one? S for Silence. What is it?
It's part of... So the letters, the alphabet, the A for something, B, we're up to S. Oh.
So who's that by?
Sue Grafton, I said.
Sue Grafton, yes.
Is it the alphabet killer? No, not alphabet killer. I don't know, it's a series.
Okay, so it's suspenseful. That's all I wanted to know.
I think they do some investigating.
Right, okay, so. Just after American Independence Day in July 1953, Violet Sullivan, a local good time girl living in Serena Station in Southern California, drives off in her brand new Chevy and is never seen again. Geez, I wish I'd have timed that better with that.
You were close.
I was close. It's as if she disappeared off the face of the earth. left behind is Violet's young daughter, Daisy. Oh, they're named after flowers, yes, and her impetuous husband, Foley. Oh, kind of ruined it. could have been foliage. That would have been good. Who had been for Sweden?
Maybe it's short for foliage?
Maybe Foley is short for foliage. What are you going to call your kid? Foliage.
Okay, yes.
Foley for short.
Yeah, I had to disguise myself as a fat black woman to visit him after the divorce. Sorry, who had been persuaded to buy his errant wife the car only days before the car that they were missing. The Chevy.
The Chevy.
Now, 35 years later, that's a long time. Daisy wants closure. She's decided after 35 years. Although reluctant to open such a cold case, Kinsey Milhone agrees to spend 5 days investigating in five days. Just 5 days. Just 5 days. Five days only, everything in five days. Yes, deep down, she believes that Violet simply moved on to greener pastures. Fade to death. Get it, Violet, pastures. But soon it becomes clear that a lot of people shared a past with Violet, a past that some are still desperate to keep hidden. And in a town as close-knit as Serena, there aren't many places to hide when things turn vicious. It's compelling, if not just the soundtrack is selling it, which is actually, this is called Dark Investigations by a creator called, I think, Sound, Sound something, Sound Rider, I think it was.
Sound Rider.
I like that.
Ride the sound. Yes, ride the sound.
All right, do we want to know what people thought?
I'd love to.
S for silence.
Absolutely.
We're getting close to the end of the series if we're at S. Really.
Oh, yes. Well, yes, we've definitely got T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. We've got heaps to go.
S is the latter half of the alphabet.
Yes, but we've still got a few. Soundwriter music, that's what they were called. Yes, I do think I just wanted to give credit where it was due. Okay.
Deb one star.
Yep.
If Grafton had been on the next letter, she could have called it T is for trashy.
Oh, yeah. Hippie Chick, one star. I was so angry after finishing this book. I couldn't bring myself to read the rest in the series. It felt like I had lost a good friend.
Sarah Turner Fitzsimmons, one star. I would absolutely not recommend this due to the foul language and lewd activities described.
Oh, do tell Sarah Turner Fitzsimmons. Ranjani gave it one star. It was a great read until the last page when I realised the motive was not written and it's eating my brains. he doesn't understand what the motive of... I feel like there's a few spoilers in these ones.
I think, yes, I believe there were a lot of people saying that I think it's a whodunit. Oh, yeah. The who that done it hadn't been introduced throughout the book.
Right. Well, that's.
So you need to know the, you need to know the who behind the who done it. They can't just have done it.
That explains this last review then. From Noof. Noof.
Maimoni, one star. Can someone please tell me who the killer is?
That's a commitment as an author to go. I'm going to create a series of books for every letter of the alphabet.
How many are there? Twenty-six.
Yeah. That's a lot. A series of 26 books.
You've kind of, yeah, you've kind of forced yourself into it, haven't you? can't just back out. Although there was one that did a series, it wasn't letters, but They committed to a certain number and they died. Oh yeah.
That's what I reckon it's going to happen to the Game of Thrones guy. Anyway, it's time to do this. Because we're out of the books. We're out of the books and we're in the Hatches, Matches and Dispatches segment. We're just going to open the birthday book this week. It's nothing really significant in ways of Hatches, Matches and Dispatches, but a very significant birthday from a very popular celebrity these days that said this.
Because I am the greatest female wrestler of all. time and it's not just it's not just me saying it okay other people say.
It nobody else says that.
I say it all the time.
If you said Becky Lynch You would be correct. WWE Superstar Becky Winch being very supported by her husband Seth Rollins there.
I say it all the time.
She's great. She's a heel in the WWE at the moment and she's just black belted ******* people off. She really is with some of her comments, but I think she's great. Yes.
She had a really nice orange jacket, big furry orange jacket the other week. I was wondering where she got it from. Stunning.
That's pretty stunning. I think she really broke. She really went into that superstar status a few years ago in the WWE, where she started calling herself the man.
I think that was a big turning point for her. Yes. And I think that's when she really leaned into that. heel, defiance, persona.
Yes.
And that's when she was really became a big star.
There's an iconic photo of her on the internet. And it was during that time where she, I think she was on the SmackDown roster and she was invading Raw with the women's roster over on Raw. And Nia Jax accidentally broke her nose in a spot that they were doing. She punched her and she actually hit her in the nose for real, which put heaps of blood all over her face. But there's this great shot of her just standing arrogantly and defiantly above the crowd shouting abuse with his bloodied broken nose. And it's one of the hottest things I've ever seen.
They do do that though, the female wrestlers. They tend to get injured when they just, it was like the one that broke a tooth.
Yeah, Charlotte Flair. Tiffany Stratton's dumb hair.
She busted a tooth and she just, yeah, whatever.
Got to keep going. The show must go on. They do live stunt shows, basically.
Let's go back to where it all began, though. She was born in 1987 in Dublin, Ireland. Fell in love with wrestling as a teenager after watching what was then WWF, before the big controversy, and started training in 2002, aged just 15, and trained under an Irish wrestler, Fergal Devitt.
Fergal Devitt, who is now known as Finn Balor. And so he's in the Judgment Day. He's also in the WWE. I had a relationship for a while as well, but yeah, he trained her. Yeah.
So she debuts in the European indie scene under the name Rebecca Knox. And this is obviously pre-social media, pre-WWE. But then in 2006, had a really serious head injury during a match, which almost ended her career. She was forced to step away for several years.
But while she's while she's doing that, so while she's doing it, sort of. around the 2006 mark before she's famous. Like she's in Ireland doing this. Like you think about if you go to a local wrestling show at your police citizens youth club, that's the stuff they're doing though.
They're pretty good.
Well, this is, you never know what. This is where it starts for some of them. I mean, that's what she's come from. Like she's been grinding it out, you know, in this little independent wrestling, like they, it's the carny life. And as Ryan Cabrera once.
Told us, it's very dangerous in the smaller time stuff. They go even further. it's.
Just funny because on the disclaimer at the start of the wrestling, it's like these stunts are performed by professionals. I don't know if they still do it, but it's like, don't try this at home. And people like Becky Lynch are the people who tried it at home.
Yes.
And that's, and now they're famous for it. So what message is that sending?
She got a serious head injury because she did try it at home, but moves to the US, studies acting, works as a flight attendant, considered quitting entirely, but then returns and signs with the WWE in. in 2013 in NXT as an underdog babyface and quickly stood out from there. But then like you said, the man becomes this turning point.
2018 was the big thing when she became the man and that was just, I mean, She was so popular with the merch. She was more popular than the guys at the time. And it was, she was like, she was like a stone cold type character. She was the man. She called herself the man because she reckoned no one could beat her and no one could best her. And it's like, well, everyone is saying they're the man. In this situation, I am the man. And it stuck. And it shouldn't have stuck. It seemed like preposterous and ridiculous, but it just worked for her. And she had this new attitude and stuff. And she was so over. Like her merch just was flying out.
I hope she sells that jacket. I'd buy that.
She really sort of crossed over into the mainstream. At a time my wrestling might have been sort of starting to sort of dip. You know, there's a lot of big superstars are kind of old and retiring and leaving. And she kind of filled up that void a little bit.
Well, in 2019, she headlines WrestleMania and wins both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships and first woman to main event WrestleMania.
Which was pretty good match too. They did great.
Pretty definitive.
They did great. She's actually she's. They're married to Seth Rollins, which you would have heard, sticking up for her in that promo at the start. That's awesome. I just love the promo that he did with that. And the soleil became public in about 2019. They're engaged in August. She announced her pregnancy in 2020 on Raw. And that was a moment where she, I think she had the title at the time. And I think she had to drop it. And she basically said, to, I think it was Oscar, who was the other wrestler in the ring at the time, you're going to have to pick this up because I'm off to have a baby and nobody knew. So it was a really nice live TV surprise moment. It's a time where they kind of break the 4th wall and we love that when the wrestlers just let everyone in a little bit on the stuff that is the secrets.
Well, she had her daughter at one of the recent press conferences, didn't she, with her?
Yeah, And I mean, I just think her and Seth Rollins are a great couple.
They're the work power couple, aren't they?
Pretty much so. Locker room leaders, former world champions, long-term talent there. And she's back at the moment. Obviously, the daughter Ru has been born and is living the carning life with mum and dad out on the road. People were very happy that she's back. Although now that she's a heel, everyone kind of hates it, but I think she does it really well. And she's moved into the mainstream. I mean, this is a girl who started wrestling when she was 15 years old watching WWE in Ireland. And now she's part of Hollywood. She's in Star Trek. She is part of the Star Trek universe.
You know, when you've already been champion of the world, there's really only one place to go next. And that's... to the stars and I am so excited to share with all of you that I am joining Star Trek Starfleet Academy as part of the bridge crew and lads this has been the most incredible experience acting alongside just a spectacular cast and crew and I cannot wait for all of you to check it out when it comes out on Paramount plus and hey Live long to prosper.
Oh, I love that for her.
I love that Becky Lynch is going to be in Star Trek. I mean, I'm A Trekkie.
It's not just a cameo. It's a proper acting role.
Yeah, she's a mainstay. She's playing Captain Angel, who is supposedly A charismatic, morally ambiguous antagonist. So I think it's going to be, it's a proper acting gig and a lot of them, you know, work really hard to sort of make that transition into mainstream acting with mixed results.
There's quite a few though that have done it, done it well though over the years.
Have been a bit hit and miss too. It's taken them time. I mean, even if you look at The Rock's career with some of his films, like, you know, there was a few big misses. Same with John Cena, like if you watched The Marine or something like that. You know, a lot of misses there as well. Stone Cold tried, didn't really succeed. Kane had tried. I think WWE for a while had their own movie studio and they're making these just movies. But look, Star Trek works. I think it's great to see Becky Lynch. And happy birthday, Becky Lynch, who's not very popular with the hunters at the moment because she keeps saying terrible things because she's a heel, but that's kind of part.
Of her job. Look, that's what they're supposed to do.
Goes with the territory. Yeah. Anyway, that's it. That's it for this week. You know, so I'm looking forward to Starfleet Academy. I hope it starts pretty soon. But in the meantime, you can come and find us on the socials. We'll be back with another episode next week. I think. What have we got? Any big ticket items?
We've got Super Bowl O'clock. It's Super Bowl XL, Super Bowl extra large. It's probably the biggest Brittany Yu news of 2006 as well.
It's pretty early days. It's only January.
Oh, Cheney accidentally shoots someone.
Oh, Dick Cheney shot someone. I remember that story. I can't wait to unpack those stories and more next week on T-minus 20. In the meantime, come and find us on the socials and thank you. Thank you, our fifth year of T-minus 20 for joining us and listening to our podcasts and downloading them. You mean the absolute world to us. I don't know I say it all the time, but I really do mean it. Don't do it unless you listen to it. You are the lifeblood of the show. So thank you. It's very much your show, not ours. And we do appreciate you. And we will see you with more love and appreciation next week.
See you.
Thanks for taking the time to rewind. Join us next time for another week that was 20 years ago. In the meantime, come and reminisce on the socials. Search for T-minus 20 podcast on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.