In a development sure to prompt about 50,000 comment pieces about out-of-touch inner-city elites, ABC chair Kim Williams’ least favourite podcaster, Joe Rogan, is Australia’s favourite.
The Joe Rogan Experience was the number one podcast for Australian listeners on streaming app Spotify, which just happened to have an exclusive megabucks deal with the American dude.
Joe Rogan finishes the year on top, despite ABC chair Kim Williams’ lack of appreciation.Credit: Digitally altered image. Artwork: Marija Ercegovac.
Rogan, for the uninitiated, shoots the breeze over several hours with a wide variety of guests such as Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Bernie Sanders, Edward Snowden and Elon Musk, not to mention former ABC presenter Josh Szeps.
Williams said his inbox was flooded with hate messages last week after he criticised Rogan at the National Press Club, likening him (mistakenly in our view) to other right-wing commentators in modern media.
“They prey on fear, they prey on anxiety, they prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society … They entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as being a normal part of social narrative,” Williams said.
Rogan’s two-“word” response on social media – “LOL WUT” – took the interaction global, revitalising the conversation about new media versus legacy media and the influence “manosphere” figures, including Rogan, have on culture and politics.
CBD has a respectful solution. Given The Joe Rogan Experience is just about the only platform Williams is yet to grace with his thoughts on the ABC and the future of public broadcasting, we humbly submit that he should be booked as a guest. Both men, and the audience, might be pleasantly surprised.
Prime Minister for Aussie music
Speaking of the streaming giant, Thursday’s Spotify Wrapped day gave Prime Minister Anthony Albanese another chance to flex his “Aussie music guy” bona fides.
The PM’s top five was an all-local affair – the number one was quite literally Australia by G Flip.
Albanese performing a DJ set during an event in his electorate in Marrickville in 2017.Credit: James Alcock
But CBD couldn’t look past track five on Albo’s playlist – Get Me Out by Yolngu rockers King Stingray. A cry for help after a rough few months? Or an aspirational wink at a quieter, post-political future in his $4 million clifftop home? We’ll leave you, dear readers, to be the judge of that.
Yarra Christmas Grinch
The Grinch That Stole Christmas has been found alive and well and living in the City of Yarra IT department.
Council workers at the famously progressive council centred around Collingwood and Richmond thought they were getting an early Christmas present after receiving an email promising a bonus gift card this week. But the link instead sent them to a training course about online scams.
Jim Carrey in a scene from the 2000 movie The Grinch.
The emails were sent to staff on Monday afternoon with the subject line: “Bonus eGift Card from Yarra City Council!”
“Yarra City Council appreciates your hard work and contributions throughout the year. As a token of our gratitude, we are pleased to announce a one-time Christmas bonus for you this year,” the email read.
“Attached is an eGift card as part of your bonus. Wishing you a Merry Christmas! Yours Sincerely, Yarra City Council.”
But it was anything other than merry for staff who clicked on the link and were told: “Thank you for participating in a phishing campaign. You were recently assigned training courses because you fell prey to a phishing message, which was part of an internal phishing campaign.”
Yarra mayor Stephen Jolly was not immune from the council Grinch.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Even the new mayor, socialist independent Stephen Jolly, was not immune from the council Grinch.
“I got sent one too. I found it very strange,” he told CBD.
“The best way to educate people about scamming is open education rather than tricks.”
Jolly said he did not have foreknowledge of the plan, but apologised. He said that he preferred to treat people like adults.
Council workers were appalled and felt humiliated, Australian Services Union deputy secretary Zoe Edwards told CBD.
“Workers at Yarra City Council are struggling with cost of living; this was a very cruel attempt to exploit that desire for a Christmas gift voucher for low-paid workers.
“They genuinely thought council was offering what would have been a cost-of-living measure.
“It would be honourable for Yarra Council to honour what they have floated.”
Staff would have needed to look pretty closely to observe that the email used a fake address purportedly from the “internal.coms” unit at “YarraCity-vic.com” instead of the “yarracity.vic.gov.au” address.
The reply email stated: “This is an email for training(s) assigned by your security team. You have training course(s) to complete that should take 7 min(s).”
Staff were given until January 3 to complete the ransomware training course – the first day back from holidays for many people.
When contacted by CBD, the council did not apologise.
“The intent of the email was to closely mimic the increasingly sophisticated emails sent by scammers that cost organisations and individuals in Australia more than $35 million a year,” a spokesman said.
“The City of Yarra and its employees are not immune to these scams, and the email was part of the regular education and training we provide our staff to ensure they remain alert and aware.”
Not on strike
Guardian Australia staff have never met a strike that they didn’t like.
Except seemingly the action their British colleagues took this week. The leftie rag’s UK journalists went out on a 48-hour strike to protest the proposed sale of its 233-year-old Sunday paper The Observer to upstart Tortoise Media.
But their Australian and American comrades will be working through it. Of course, Australia’s industrial relations laws would make it unlawful for any Guardian staff to actually put down their pens spontaneously. But they can request anonymous bylines.
So the best they could offer was a brief statement from the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance members at the local publication, noting that they “stand in solidarity” with their British colleagues.
“We urge management to respect the skill and experience of journalists; to listen to the concerns of staff, contributors and readers on this matter and seek solutions to the issues they are raising,” the union’s statement said.
Comment is free, as the Guardian slogan goes. So too is solidarity.
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