NewsBite

Streaming

This Month

Three of the best US podcasts, as nominated by the New York Times: Critics at large from The New Yorker, Cement City and The Nameless Man from Pushkin.

The best (US) podcasts of 2024

From chat shows to true crime, here’s a pick of the 10 best Americans series released this year.

  • Reggie Ugwu
A still from the HBO TV series based on Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend.

The best TV shows of 2024

The New York Times picks English Teacher, My Brilliant Friend, Shogun, Babylon Berlin and Somebody Somewhere among the series that stood out this year.

  • Updated
  • James Poniewozik, Mike Hale and Margaret Lyons
The Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix went down well with Coles CEO Leah Weckert.

What our top CEOs read, watched and listened to in 2024

From business books to crime thrillers and podcasts, here’s what our CEOs did in their spare time this year.

  • Anthony Macdonald and James Thomson
Tom Holland, left, and Dominic Sandbrook, hosts of The Rest is History podcast.

The podcast all of federal parliament is obsessed with

Australia’s political leaders have ambitious reading and streaming plans for the summer break, but one audio program is winning bipartisan support.

  • Tom McIlroy
Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall (with Colin the dog) in season two of Colin From Accounts.

Our streaming reviewer’s top picks for a holiday binge

The best Australian comedy series in years, Larry David’s swansong and reboots of classic source material like Fargo and The Watchmen will keep you submitting to the “play next episode” option this holidays.

  • Terry Pontikos
Advertisement
Ted Danson in A Man on the Inside.

Ted Danson’s new show is less ‘Cheers’, more tears

The veteran sitcom actor’s new series “A Man on the Inside” mixes laughs with a serious look at how society views ageing.

  • Terry Pontikos

We check into the next White Lotus resort

The third series of the streaming hit is set in the exclusive Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. Here’s what it’s like.

  • Ute Junker
Lachlan Murdoch has put Foxtel up for sale. DAZN is one company that is taking a look.

Foxtel’s UK suitor calls in Bank of America for advice

The group, backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, is understood to be working with BofA’s telecommunications and media team.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
It’s oh so tempting to settle for the algorithm’s choice.

Bugger Spotify, I’m going to make my own playlist

Even by the internet’s grim standards, Spotify Wrapped is a wretched gimmick.

  • Tom Gatti
Cate Blanchett with Charles Dance and Denis Menochet in Rumours.

Cate Blanchett swears she’s not Angela Merkel in zombie movie

She’s played a monstrous maestro, elf queen and bounty hunter – now the Oscar-winning actress is taking on our narcissistic world leaders.

  • Julia Llewellyn Smith

November

Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in a scene from the upcoming second season of Squid Game.

How the world’s most popular TV show is made

Hwang Dong-hyuk wrote Squid Game, the biggest Netflix series ever, in the depths of despair. He’s back for season two. What can we learn from its success?

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Colin Farrell in The Penguin.

The Penguin makes Batman’s world get real

The waddling villain gets new depths of characterisation in this gritty HBO spin-off from Matt Reeves’ 2022 Hollywood blockbuster.

  • Terry Pontikos
David Tennant as Lord Tony Baddingham in Rivals.

Why screen villains always play golf

Short of kicking a puppy, there’s no more reliable signifier of utter rottenness than a man – and it is always a man – playing golf.

  • Peter Swain
David Tennant as Lord Tony Baddingham in Rivals.

Rivals is the bingeable bonk-fest we need right now

The elite of Thatcher’s Britain behave very badly in this Disney+ series based on the salacious novels of Jilly Cooper.

  • Terry Pontikos
A rapid downshift in the economy and advertising market is hurting The Guardian.

The TV watching habits of Australians (in three charts)

The way Australians consume media is changing – these three charts show how.

  • Edmund Tadros
Advertisement

October

Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters spent months with an executive coach to train him to co-lead the world’s biggest entertainment company.

Netflix’s co-CEO says it’s ‘impossible’ to run the $500b giant alone

Greg Peters once wanted to be an astronaut – now he’s leading a company worth more than Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery combined.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
The shooting episode is spot on. David Tennant as Lord Tony Baddingham in Rivals.

What the new hit ‘bonkbuster’ series Rivals gets right about posh life

I reckon almost everyone I know has seen at least some of the show, adapted from Dame Jilly Cooper’s racy 1988 novel. But how accurate is it, exactly?

  • Sophia Money-Coutts
Sherry-Lee Watson as teenage runaway Robyn in Dylan Rivers’ Thou Shalt Not Steal.

This outback comedy-drama is an instant classic

If you’ve ever wondered what the baby of Wake In Fright and Pulp Fiction would look like, look no further than new Stan series, Thou Shalt Not Steal.

  • Terry Pontikos
Jeff Goldblum camps it up as Zeus in Netflix’s KAOS.

Jeff Goldblum’s not dead, he’s immortal in Netflix’s Kaos

Once famously declared deceased by TV host Richard Wilkins, Jeff Goldblum has now transcended earthly bounds, playing Zeus in this wildly original series.

  • Terry Pontikos
The Brumbies’ Ryan Lonergan speaking to Stan Sport earlier this year.

Nine mulls adding advertising to Stan in search for new revenue

Streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video were once entirely commercial-free. Now almost all services have a cheaper ad-backed plan.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/streaming-62b