episode-header-image

Dec 2024

34 m

Is it ok to make fun of Raygun?

About this episode

The Raygun Musical was shutdown before it even began, so is it ok to make fun of celebrities? How much do people in the public eye get to control their image? And if we can recreate dead celebrities with A.I., who controls that story?

Also Syria is back in the headlines as Syrians across the globe celebrate the end of fifty years of the Assad regime. Jules and Jez take a closer look at what's happened and what it means for the Middle East.

SHOW NOTES

The Celebrity Machine Never Dies https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/12/ai-dead-celebrity-estate-profit/680873/

Jules' pick: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/us/fake-bear-insurance-fraud-charges.html

Jez's pick: https://www.smh.com.au/national/one-of-the-worst-people-i-know-got-an-oam-so-i-ve-decided-to-act-20241129-p5kujr.html

Up next

Trump's fact-free world

From labour figures to museums, Donald Trump has started a war on data and Julia Baird (and fill in host) Chas Licciardello have been thinking about what it means for the US and the world. And is everyone just getting angrier and meaner? Jules and Chas are looking for the brighte ... Show More

Is anything off-limits in public debate?

Jules and Jez love a good debate, but can you debate anything? Is a debate featuring sexist or fascist views a good idea? Or does it just give airtime to offensive opinions? And will a robot write the next book you read? The Productivity Commission has been looking at AI and it c ... Show More

Red carpets and bridge marches

Police say 90, 000 people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday, calling for peace in Gaza. So do protests make a difference? And on the same day, the TV Logie Awards were held and Jez was there. In a room full of "tv stars" he was amazed by the humility of so many pe ... Show More

Recommended Episodes

Is democracy in Syria’s future?

Bashar al-Assad’s reign over Syria ended this week after 13 years of contentious civil war. Rebel forces captured the capital city of Damascus, freed prisoners from detention facilities, and ousted Assad from his palace. As Syrian citizens celebrate the end of Assad’s regime, Pre ... Show More

What role will QAnon play in the upcoming US election?

QAnon first appeared in 2017 and quickly flooded the internet with conspiracy theories from child trafficking cannibal celebrities to suggestions JFK faked his own death and was returning to run for office. Observers say QAnon has gone strangely quiet. So what are they working on ... Show More

Inside The Fall Of Syria’s Brutal Dictator

Syria has been controlled by one family for more than half a century who ruled by repression, devastation and violence.But about two weeks ago, the regime began to falter, and then over the course of one night, it collapsed.Carlotta Gall, a senior correspondent for The New York T ... Show More

Syria: The Rise and Fallout of the House of Assad with Sam Dagher

After eight years of civil war in Syria, with hundreds of thousands of its citizens dead and millions more fleeing the country, one question looms large: how did things get so bad? During those early days of peaceful protest, what prompted a shoot-to-kill order from the highest l ... Show More

Hour 1: 96 Days Of Misery

Spending the next 3 months obsessing over one election. Demoralizing enough people in a society. We can’t conserve anything, we must be the counter culture revolutionaries. What we can’t afford to happen. The 9/11 terrorists dodge the death penalty and if Americans are lucky they ... Show More

Why some are celebrating the death of Iran's president

Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi and the foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahain have both died during a helicopter crash earlier this week. What do these untimely deaths mean for the power structure in Iran, and to relations in the middle east? And why are some people happy to s ... Show More

Did the Left Fail Syria? | Two Outspoken

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit zeteo.com Syria is carving a new path forward after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. While the country’s future remains uncertain, Mehdi Hasan and Owen Jones have a brutally honest and outspoken conversation in London ... Show More

Breaking: Assad Regime Falls

Tommy and Ben discuss the breaking news that Bashar al-Assad has fled Syria after rebel factions took over Damascus in a stunning sweep after 13 years of Civil War. They talk about the speed with which it all happened, what could come next as Syrians decide their own fate after d ... Show More

What Syria's Political Future May Look Like | Emma Beals

As a journalist who covers international humanitarian crises, I'm accustomed to seeing masses of refugees fleeing their homes for safer locations. But in Syria over the last several days, the reverse has happened. Thousands upon thousands of displaced people are now returning hom ... Show More

Is Trump a “fascist”? And do Americans care?

We have an interview with Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of Alexei Navalny - the Russian opposition leader murdered in prison earlier this year by Putin's government. Why did he go back to Russia after his poisoning? And what did Putin make of his death? But we start in America with K ... Show More

Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami