Thorn in Your Side

m* celebrates his TIYS episode milestone by bringing things back to where they started - a trip to interview his comrade, Peter Perkins. Lots of TIYS reflection, analysis of the world, and what is to be done. That is, what might be done to make this podcast even better! Oh yeah, and the whole revolution thing too... Link: ACTU Inquiry into price gouging and unfair pricing practices (actu.org.au) Music used in episode: "Lobo Loco" - Bella Hayes

m* and John talk about hot topics surrounding WWE and pro-wrestling in general - watching "The Iron Claw" movie, the Vince McMahon scandal, and what makes pro-wrestling a sellable item (i.e. getting in the political discussion). Will this lead to a dedicated political pro-wrestling channel? Let us know! Link: The US legal complaint putting Vince McMahon under serious doubt as a human being (content NSFW): WWE_complaint.pdf (wsj.net) Looking at the 'mega-corporations': Breaking Down The Big 7 Tech Players' Outsized Roles | Nasdaq Music used in episode: "Lobo Loco" - Bella Hayes "When You Leave Me" - Sero

Something old and something new this episode - m* checks in with the latest news regarding his health status, and also dabbles in some world news. Namely, the catastrophe on the Gaza Strip and the rich white man catastrophe that is Vince McMahon. Hopefully this formula works moving ahead to future TIYS lone wolf episodes, feedback is welcome! Link: Guardian article discussing the political climate within Europe: Crises have split European voters into five ‘tribes’, survey suggests | European elections | The Guardian Music used in episode: "A Song of Peace" - Finlandia "Dopey Cat Strikes Back" - AK-Fru "Escape from Reality" - Denis Kasatkin "Sub Lime" - AK-Fru

m* reflects over what has amounted to be the toughest year of his life, and what is the state of play in the world. The usual light fare to see out the year. Music used in episode: "Slow Motion" - Benjamin Tissot "Winning Elevation" - Hot_Dope 

m*'s first attempt at a news-of-the-day discussion panel, where things went not-so-much to plan logistics-wise, but he was still able to get out a recording of what was talked about. On the panel with m* is Kate, a community worker who returns to TIYS, and Josh, another community worker who makes his TIYS debut. So, a royal flush of community workers! Links: Recent Commonweath ADHD report: Assessment and support services for people with ADHD – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au) David Marr's new book on the Native Police: Killing for Country by David Marr | Black Inc. (blackincbooks.com.au) m*'s Claymore journal article: (40) Working Together in Claymore: An Examination of Long-Term Community Works Between Local Services and Residents. | Michael Thorn - Academia.edu NDIS reform statement by Oz Government: Co-designing reform | NDIS Music used in episode: "Through Mountains and Valleys" - Flint

John and m* get in on the cultural phenomenon known as the Barbenheimer viewing, the viewing of two concurrently released movies at the cinemas known separately as Barbie and Oppenheimer. John and m* analyse what all the fuss was about. Spoiler alert: m* is still left wondering about this.... Music used in episode: "Cyberabad" - AK Fru "Hope And A Future" - Edgar Hopp "What Are You Doing Here?" - Michele Nobler "What Floor?" - idokay  

m* and regular contributor John take on the difficult assignment of comparing two X-Men films both attempting to adapt the infamous Dark Phoenix Saga comic book storyline. The first film, X-Men: The Last Stand, made the first attempt at adaptation in 2006 while the second attempt happened in 2019 with the screening of Dark Phoenix. While it was unsurprisingly found that both films pale in comparison to the comic storyline, what is surprising is the wealth of political critique to be gained with this unique nerdy retrospective. Score! Trigger warning: Themes raised in this episode regarding mental health, PTSD, domestic violence and sexual assault.  Music used in episode: "Dopey Cat Strikes Back" - AK Fru "Escape From Reality" - Denis Kasatkin Useful references: Handy explanation of The Dark Phoenix Saga comic book storyline: Dark Phoenix Explained: The Real Story Behind the X-Men Classic - IGN 2006 review of X-Men: The Last Stand: X-Men: The Last Stand | Culture | The Guardian. 2019 review of Dark Phoenix: X-Men: Dark Phoenix review – mutant franchise fizzles out forgettably | Film | The Guardian.

After a period of self-care, m* is back into the TIYS project with this lone wolf episode. m* discusses and reflects on his time off, and podcasting prospects moving forward. A fun nerdy fact is that m* has discovered how to do multilayering when editing episode recordings, so enjoy the music track backing the commentary! Also a trigger warning here: Themes raised in this episode regarding mental health and more specifically the topic of PTSD. 

An end of year review featuring m* and usual suspect John as both look back on key TIYS episodes such as Slapgate and Dackgate, topical events of the year, and what may arise in the year ahead. Or, if we are indeed still to remain stuck in 2020. m* also kicks off this episode by disclosing some lived experience regarding neurodiversity and complex mental illness, so a trigger warning as some of this discussion involves covering trauma themes. Article of relevance to this episode: LIV Golf: Why Greg Norman divides opinion (smh.com.au) - wherein a journo plucks up enough courage to square up and refer to Greg Norman as a confirmed dickhead.   

m* chats with his US guy, Jason, regarding recent political events in the US, and including some views on sports relations between Oz and the US. m* has been tardy getting this episode up within the window of topicality (probs wasn't a good idea to talk about World Cup matches at time of recording lol), but hopefully issues retain resonance. At least there's still pop culture references to get things over the line! Links of note: Recent article Jason has written on the US midterms and how Trump is still lurking about - Why the Trump Era Isn't Over - by Jason Tebbe (substack.com) Article on the Nobel Peace Prize winner through contributions to evolution and anthropology - Discoveries about Ancient Human Evolution Win 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Scientific American The soon-to-be Major League Cricket US T20 competition - Major League Cricket

m* catches up with two ardent lefty westie activists familiar to TIYS audiences (Fred and Carlo) to discuss all current contentious matters relating to Football. As the group finds, 'The World Game' is also an inherently political and class-conflicted game. m*, Fred and Carlo are all Western Sydney Wanderers fans, so no prizes for guessing which topic takes up most of the time this episode! Links of note: Clip that gives a good account of the Wanderers 'golden years' - Is This The Greatest Underdog Story In Football? This is Western Sydney Wanderers - YouTube. Clip covering the A-League active support protests that happened during the 2010s in response to lack of supporter rights within the FFA (now known as the FA) - Football Fans Fight Back in Australia - YouTube. While this story has moved on a little bit since this episode was recorded, here is a full account of the aftermath of the fascist activity witnessed during the Australia Cup final held last month - Sydney United 58 Fans Convicted For Nazi Salute at Australian Cup Final - YouTube Aussie footballing pundit and activist Craig Foster talks about the upcoming World Cup in Qatar and the associated problems with taking part in the event - Craig Foster explains why he's still taking part in the Qatar World Cup | SBS News - YouTube. While not immediately related to this podcast episode, while there is reference to Megan Rapinoe's stance on equal pay for womens' football within FIFA, thought to also add another clip here where Rapinoe also makes a stand for women footballers experiencing sexual assault when playing the game - Megan Rapinoe says she is 'exhausted' after horrifying NWSL abuse report - YouTube.

m* introduces Tim, a comrade keen on being a regular TIYS guest. Both talk about general lefty things, and with the occasional sports reference. Namely, the contradictory qualities of The Left as it engages and grapples with the contradictions of capitalism. Do both contradictions exist to cancel each other out? Listen and find out! Links of note: The Ecology of Freedom | The Anarchist Library - The seminal text written by Murray Bookchin How Rafael Nadal has OCD and is also one of Tennis' GOATs - Rafael Nadal Top 10 Superstitions/Tics That He ALWAYS Does (HD) - YouTube and Rosol knocks over Rafa Nadal's bottle - Wimbledon 2014 - YouTube.    

A lone-wolf episode where m* recovers enough from covid to reflect, analyse and complain about current affairs. So did covid make m* cranky, or did covid just help express the innate crankiness of m*? Let the audience be the judge! Plus, there are pre and post-episode grabs from material from up-and-coming YouTubers 'The Auralnauts', done because m* watched the holy Gandalf out of their material during covid-iso and thought they were hilarious! Look 'em up! Article referenced greatly in this episode - Quiet Quitting Is Trending On TikTok To Reject Hustle Culture (junkee.com)

In this first group-based TIYS episode, m* speaks with TIYS regular John and westie activist Fred Fuentes on reflections of last year's Greater Sydney lockdown and implications for lefty politics into the future. It was a very cathartic experience for m* as he got to unload on The Left, with the explicit wish from m* that said conglomeration at least knew what a Campbelltown or an Emerton is, let alone demonstrate some prevailing evidence-based political analysis on what actually happened in Western Sydney while this lockdown unfolded. m* uses the swears to get his point across. Episode link: Platform workers get industrial rights - Uber strikes landmark deal on worker rights and pay with Transport union (smh.com.au)

Both m* and John go into serious reflection mode - both seeing where things have gone regarding the Oscar Slap earlier this year, the aftermath of the Oz Federal Election (it seems ScoMo may as well have had an accident in Engadine as his defeat became inevitable either way), and discussing the rise of the curious pop culture phenomenon known as the 'legacy sequel'. All the above, and when you also find some time in the episode to actively compare Tom Cruise to the Ultimate Warrior you know this is an episode covering some ground! Associated episode reading: Legacy Sequels explained: Examining Hollywood's Growing Obsession With Legacy Sequels | Den of Geek. How an orgy of misogyny overtook the Oscar Slap story: The Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial was an orgy of misogyny | Moira Donegan | The Guardian The post-election Saturday Paper article where a Lib politician refers to ScoMo as a fuckwit: Coalition loss: ‘The transphobe thing was an absolute disaster’ | The Saturday Paper.       

A lone wolf episode where m* explains a turbulent personal couple of months, but it also being a time of great self-discovery and sifting of some home truths. All encapsulated through coming across a journal article discussing a psychological phenomenon coined as 'The Batman Effect'. Is m* Batman? Listen and find out! Episode link: (PDF) The "Batman Effect": Improving Perseverance in Young Children | Stephanie M Carlson - Academia.edu - The journal article underpinning this episode.

In the most best-timed TIYS episode yet, both m* and TIYS regular John explore the Engadine Maccas legend ie Dackgate. Did the legend truly happen, and whether or whether not it did, how much does this even influence the upcoming Australian election? As m* and John go down this absurd rabbit-hole, they both find it actually matters a great heap. Episode links: What happens if I catch COVID in election week? How is phone voting going to work? - ABC News A Brief History Of Scott Morrison Flip-Flopping On His Favourite Sports Teams (junkee.com) The Game, A Portrait of Scott Morrison by Sean Kelly | 9781760643119 | Booktopia - the book informing many of the claims in this episode.  

m* and TIYS regular John embark on a Gramscian analysis of the Will Smith incident presently breaking the Internet, and why such an analysis is merited in these ongoing COVID times. Plus this is actually an episode of TIYS that is talking about something reasonably topical, so strap yourself in! Trigger warning: PTSD and trauma-related commentary. Links: Did John Wayne Try To Pull Sacheen Littlefeather Offstage at 1973 Oscars? | Snopes.com Opinion | Roxane Gay: Will Smith Was Wrong, but Being Thin-Skinned Is Not - The New York Times (nytimes.com) I will not be lectured on violence by these women - Chelsea Watego - IndigenousX

After an unplanned break from podcasting here is a lone wolf episode about trying to get back to the world of TIYS, including reasons for said break. Trigger warning - COVID lockdown mental ill-health themes.  

m* brings in TIYS regular John to talk about the new(ish) phenomenon of streaming services and what this means for pop culture entertainment in general. Because this is an episode of TIYS, the advent of streaming services of course has high political implications! Links: How one might get their WandaVision fix: Watch WandaVision | Full episodes | Disney+ (disneyplus.com) How one might get their Mandalorian fix: The Mandalorian | Disney+ Originals. You Tube page for Emergency Awesome: Emergency Awesome - YouTube The Living the Dream episode (I think) where Dave Eden speaks a lot about his idea on the Cosmic Right: Living The Dream with Acid Communism and/or Acid Corbynism (podbean.com)