The Internet, Reviewed.

This is a review of one of the internet's most-beloved (and most-successful) independent / alt-media news channels: Channel 5 with Andrew Callaghan. For more information and links to interviews quoted in the review, check out the blurb at my YouTube channel.

I'm sure you've noticed that immigration is a very hot topic right now. And I'm betting that you're seeing a lot of Very Bad Content about it in your feed - I know I am.That's by design: big tech algorithms are designed to keep us on their platforms as long as possible. Dumb, loud, and angry wins out over calm and considered every day of the week online.Which is frustrating, because it's not like there isn't good content out there - there is! If you burrow through the muck you can find quality journalism, intelligent commentary and analysis. Content that’s informative, doesn’t spin things to suit a predetermined position, is grounded in facts and reality, and discusses the issues around immigration with nuance and humanity. So here's some human curated content instead. A few examples of things that I've seen, read or heard and found valuable. Stuff that made me think, instead of feel.You might disagree with my picks, or have some of your own to add to the list. Please, feel free to do so - respectfully - in the comments section. Or email me directly: [email protected] NB: This episode was published at my YouTube channel on 10 Aug 2026The Links:‪@realcarrickryan‬ Carrick Ryan "We Need To Talk About Immigration" -    • We need to talk about immigration   David Dennison ("Aged Well" at Substack) - "BREAKING: Different Cultures Produce Different Values" https://dennisonwrites.substack.com/p...‪@josephnoelwalker‬ The Joe Walker Podcast Immigration Series https://josephnoelwalker.com/australi...Martin Parkinson    • "We've built an economy that requires 2 mi...  Mark Cully    • "Migration has made Australia larger and d...  Mike Pezzullo    • Immigration, Integration, and National Sec...  &Abul Rizvi - Inside Immigration Policy -    • Abul Rizvi — Inside Immigration Policy [Au...   The New Daily - The Stats Guy: We rely on migrant workers more than you might think (Simon Kuestenmacher) https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/opinio...

There's a fellow by the name of Francis Yang, from a company called Aha Creator, who has been plaguing the email inboxes of content creators for some time now. So when I recently received an email from him, inviting me to join their platform for a "paid collaboration" with an AI-clip-generator, I thought I'd take them up on the offer. Sadly, it turned out I wasn't the "high-intent match" for that opportunity, after all.This video goes out to anyone frustrated by the rise of incompetent AI agents and chatbots replacing humans, or sceptical of some of the claims being made by AI hype merchants, or dismayed by the rise of short-form video content.It's a journey very relevant to tech journalist Cory Doctorow's commentary on "enshittification" and "reverse centaurs".NB: This episode was published to my YouTube channel in June 2026.#enshittification #AI #aiagents #contentcreators

Earlier this year, the Australian Financial Review reported on a $49,500 personal political donation from cryptocurrency exchange company Swyftx to Labor MP Andrew Charlton, made during last year's federal election campaign.Charlton's office "declined to comment" on the story, while the Swyftx CEO responded to it directly in a LinkedIn post, where he defended making the donation and explained it was part of a lobbying "long game" and "education process". (Worth noting here that after the election, Charlton was appointed assistant minister for the digital economy, and went on to be a key driver of the new legislation that regulates cryptocurrency.)That donation was originally disclosed on the Australian Electoral Commission's transparency register (which is how the AFR was able to report on it), but when I went to find it there, it had disappeared. It turns out that donation disclosure has since been "amended" to reflect the fact that the money actually went to NSW Labor. (Even though Swyftx clearly thought they'd given it to Charlton.)It also turns out, these sorts of donations - and subsequent "amendments" - happen *quite a lot*.Donors don't realise the money they are "giving" to individual major party candidates is actually going to the party itself. We usually don't get to see it, because it's all 'tided up' before donation disclosures are made public. (Independent candidates, on the other hand, have many donations disclosed next to their names, because they don't have a party machine behind them.)This one, for whatever reason, slipped through. And as an added bonus, we got to hear directly from the donor about their motivations.

When YouTubers start claiming to have "exposed" something that the mainstream media has been exposing for years, ya gotta say something!YouTuber Pete Zogoulas and online political activist Drew Pavlou appeared on Karl Stefanovic's new podcast yesterday to discuss their Nick-Shirley-inspired video about fraud in the NDIS.I have a few thoughts on their video, and their conversation with Karl, and why I think we've maybe been a bit too harsh on mainstream media lately (which absolutely has its flaws!).