Best Neutral Lens Podcasts (2025)

On episode 306, Katie, Nick and Lottie discuss the Australian federal election and how they'll be voting. We cover: our love of politics being put to the test, Glutton versus Albo, the Greens under Bandt compared to Di Natale and some of the micro-parties. How Lottie is voting: House of reps - Wills 1. Sue Bolton - Socialist Alliance 2. Samantha Ra…

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Belle Gibson, Apple Cider Vinegar, Influencers and Grifters 59:44

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8M ago59:44

59:44

On episode 305 we discuss "illness influencer" Belle Gibson and the TV series Apple Cider Vinegar (Netflix). We also cover broader themes of "conspirituality" (drawing on Naomi Klein's book Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World), evidence-based versus non-evidence-based medicine, influencers and grifters. Additional links/sources covered: The …

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Call Me Queen! Reddit Stories through a Social Justice Lens 49:57

10M ago49:57

49:57

On episode 304 Nick is joined by Hayden to discuss Reddit stories covering a wide range of topics, including: chosen names, religion, work, class, dogs, sexuality, gender and cheating. Happy Holidays! This show is a 3CR Summer Special – we encourage everyone to listen to and support 3CR Community Radio! https://www.3cr.org.au/ A note to listeners t…

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The Democrats have to offer something beyond "Trump's Bad" – the US election with Jason Brownlee 1:09:05

12M ago1:09:05

1:09:05

On episode 303 Nick is joined by politics professor Jason Brownlee who informs Nick of everything he has missed by just learning about US politics through Late Night with Seth Myers, which Katie watches constantly! More specifically, the discussion covers: Reflection on Biden's presidency including the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Will…

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Binging Fox News: Getting a Gutful of Gutfeld! 39:11

1y ago39:11

39:11

On episode 302 we discuss the time we watched a lot of Fox News – particularly the show Gutfeld! This is a Right-wing alternative to more liberal late-night talk shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. We use this example to talk about broader issues of caricatures of the Left, political comedy and satire, fre…

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Feminist Pranks? Intention Versus Impact 1:15:01

1y ago1:15:01

1:15:01

On episode 301 Lottie and Nick do a deep dive into a prank gone wrong from The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers in collaboration with Clementine Ford, Antoinette Lattouf and Yumi Stynes. We discuss the politics of pranking and comedy, focusing on intention versus impact and call in versus call out culture. We also reflect on some of the pra…

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300 Episodes Of Generic Interviews To Kill Time While You're On The Train 39:39

1y ago39:39

39:39

We're back to keep the Progressive Podcast Australia brand alive with our 300th episode special! The show covers a wide range of topics with a bunch of pop culture stuff, a little bit of politics and some meta podcasting about podcasting. We discuss the books Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World Book by Naomi Klein and How We Love by Clementi…

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Capitalism is a Pyramid Scheme! Exploring Anti-Capitalist Alternatives 50:15

2y ago50:15

50:15

On episode 299 Nick is joined by Meg and Lottie to discuss anti-capitalist alternatives, focusing on socialism and anarchism. This show is a Summer Special from 3CR Community Radio – you can hear this discussion with the music included on the Freedom of Species page on the 3CR website: https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode/capitalism-pyra…

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Let's Talk Hockey! Sport, Pride and Palestine 2:02:41

2y ago2:02:41

2:02:41

On episode 298 Nick is joined by Claire to discuss the politics of ice hockey, including theme nights; Pride tape; race and class in the NHL; vegan ice hockey equipment and much more! We also touch on other sports, such as cricketer Usman Khawaja's stand for Palestine and the AFL and the Voice to Parliament. This discussion is also available in vid…

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Staying Neutral on the "Moving Train" of Palestine and Israel? 46:38

2y ago46:38

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On episode 297 Nick and Lottie critique the idea of wanting to stay neutral on the "moving train" of Palestine and Israel - to quote Howard Zinn! Lottie also recommends a bunch of actions that you can take for Palestine. You can see all of the actions she mentions on this episode and more in this Google doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13jT9…

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Stop the Collective Punishment of the People of Gaza! 51:45

2y ago51:45

51:45

On episode 296 we play speeches from the Palestine Rally: Keep standing with Gaza, stop the genocide of Palestinians by Free Palestine Melbourne. We also discuss the recent developments and history of the issue, focusing on the Australian media coverage and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Addition…

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Voting on the Voice to Parliament 39:02

2y ago39:02

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On episode 295 we discuss how we're voting in the Voice to Parliament referendum, focusing on the Yes campaign versus the Progressive No. These final thoughts on the Voice build on a previous episode we did on the topic, 'Voicing Concerns on the Voice to Parliament', which featured speeches from the 2023 Invasion Day rally: https://progressivepodca…

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Nick Ruins Katie's Favourite TV Shows 48:16

2+ y ago48:16

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On episode 294 we discuss portrayals of the monarchy and the military in the TV shows Bridgerton, Riverdale and Good Trouble. We also discuss Dylan Alcott and representation of people with disabilities, plus the documentary Disclosure (Netflix) on trans representation in pop culture. For more on trans issues and feminism, see this article: https://…

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Learn Respect: I Think You Should Leave Class of 2023 41:17

2+ y ago41:17

41:17

On episode 293 Nick, Lottie and Hayden discuss their favourite sketches from I Think You Should Leave, series 3 (Netflix). The sketches that we cover are: purple feather, doggie door and banana breath. We also discuss the politics of series 3, our ITYSL emoji game and Nick's reviews for the swayzine store on Etsy. For more ITYSL series 3 interviews…

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Long Live the King? Debating Harry and Meghan's Politics 34:27

2+ y ago34:27

34:27

On episode 292 we discuss the Coronation and the monarchy, as well as debating Harry and Meghan's politics. We look into Harry's book Spare and the documentary Harry and Meghan (Netflix). For more on some of the critiques Nick raised on this episode, check out the Revolutionary Left Radio episode Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity P…

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Myq Kaplan on Belonging with other Genre-Fluid Weirdos 1:07:54

2+ y ago1:07:54

1:07:54

On episode 291 comedian Myq Kaplan joins us between albums to discuss his new album Live in Between Albums! We also cover: fitting in versus belonging, normalos and weirdos, and punk rock. This discussion is also available in video form on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbPQGxVIMRQ You can listen to Live in Between Albums here: https://ww…

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Who Sold Out Now? Cars, Veganism and Disability 52:35

2+ y ago52:35

52:35

On episode 290 we discuss no longer being car-free but still believing cars are the number one enemy, individual and structural actions for sustainable transport and food systems, and visible versus invisible disabilities. In discussing how effective different actions are in tackling climate change, we refer to the article The climate mitigation ga…

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Feeling Okay About What You're NOT Doing: Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity 57:41

2+ y ago57:41

57:41

On episode 289 Nick and Dilan discuss the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. We cover: what drew us to Getting Things Done (GTD), how it has benefitted us, some tips from the book and finally critiques of GTD. For more on the GTD book and methodology generally, see: https://gettingthingsdone.com/ This disc…

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Voicing Concerns on the Voice to Parliament 44:25

2+ y ago44:25

44:25

On episode 288 Nick and Lottie play speeches from the Melbourne Invasion Day rally, discuss factions within social movements and the radical flank effect, and finish by clearing up some misinformation spreading around social media regarding why January 26 is celebrated in Australia. The audio of the speeches from the rally is from 3CR Community Rad…

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15 Years of Veganism: Exploring Veganism Then and Now 52:52

2+ y ago52:52

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On episode 287 Katie celebrates her 15 year veganniversary and we discuss how we transitioned to veganism, veganism becoming more popular in recent years – overtaking vegetarianism in many ways, Happy Cow's top 10 vegan-friendly cities in the world and finally, challenging ableism within activist movements. This show is replayed from Freedom of Spe…

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Questioning Trickle Down Identity Politics 1:00:10

3y ago1:00:10

1:00:10

On episode 286 Nick and Lottie discuss what journalist Naomi Klein refers to as trickle down identity politics. This form of identity politics, typified by people such as Hillary Clinton, prioritises achieving a more diverse range of people in positions of power, with the argument that if more people from marginalised groups get into positions of p…

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What Do You Mean By Identity Politics?? Exploring Leftist Debates on IDpols 59:56

3y ago59:56

59:56

On episode 285 Nick and Lottie evaluate different arguments about identity politics going on within Left/progressive/environmental movements. We do this drawing on the following articles that Nick has written for our blog: What Do You Mean By Identity Politics? https://progressivepostings.wordpress.com/2020/09/04/idpols/ Do You Identify Or Are You …

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Complaining about the Rule (XR's 3.5% Rule) 1:04:55

3y ago1:04:55

1:04:55

On episode 284 Nick is joined by Harley to investigate Extinction Rebellion's claim that once 3.5% of the population of a state is mobilised in sustained protest, success is guaranteed. We also discuss the implications for the environmental movement and animal activists. Harley was active with the group Animal Rebellion in the UK over the last few …

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Bullshit Jobs and Privilege: Katie vs Nick 54:57

3y ago54:57

54:57

On episode 283 we ask: do you have a bullshit job? What about a shit job? We explore David Graeber's book Bullshit Jobs, specifically the point that younger generations are sometimes told by the Left that they can't complain about "trivial" things like meaningless work because of privilege, many people have it worse. Our earliest experiences with p…

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Two Russian Bots on Ukraine 41:00

3y ago41:00

41:00

On episode 282 Katie is back on the show and we reflect on the media coverage of Russias invasion of Ukraine, discussing cancel culture, violence and accusations of Russian disinformation on social media. This includes discussing Sasha Gillies-Lekakis being kicked out of QandA by Stan Grant for asking a question that was supportive of Russias invas…

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Triples is Safe: More ITYSL, featuring Thats a Chunky! 1:01:14

3y ago1:01:14

1:01:14

On episode 281 Nick and Lotties I Think You Should Leave addiction is enabled and encouraged by Kevin, Jared and James from Thats a Chunky podcast (an ITYSL show). We focus on representations of gender in ITYSL, with the show punching sideways on gender, challenging the behaviour of other men. We focus on how gender is portrayed in the sketches: In…

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We Have Doubles of I Think You Should Leave Episodes (This is Fiiine!) 1:05:33

3y ago1:05:33

1:05:33

On episode 280 Nick and Lottie continue their obsession with I Think You Should Leave, a sketch comedy show on Netflix. We discuss some of our favourite sketches from series 1 and 2, creating and/or listening to political versus apolitical podcasts and some of our contributions to the ITYSL fandom. Lotties memes cover pinkwashing (specifically corp…

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What is this Reggie? The Politics of I Think You Should Leave 57:11

3y ago57:11

57:11

On episode 279 Nick is joined by fellow super-fan Lottie to discuss the sketch comedy show I Think You Should Leave (Netflix). We discuss the politics of the show, focusing on Lefty politics in the fandom, gender and representation. We also cover some of our favourite sketches from Season 2, including Cant Drive (our biggest disagreement in our ran…

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Who are you Voting for in the Australian Election? Its Illegal for you to ask me that 1:23:55

3+ y ago1:23:55

1:23:55

On episode 278 we are joined by our friend Lottie to break down the Australian federal election, going from major parties to minors to micro-parties to Independents. More specifically, we discuss Labor failing to challenge the Liberal partys trickle-down economics, positive changes from the Greens regarding an increased focus on addressing cost of …

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Challenging the Erasure of Indigenous Voices in the Environmental Movement 52:50

3+ y ago52:50

52:50

Episode 277 features Sarah, a Maori wahine living on Dharawal Country, and Criminology researcher, on Indigenous critiques of the movie Dont Look Up (Netflix) and why Indigenous knowledge is so important in creating effective responses to climate change and environmental problems generally. This episode is also available in video form on Youtube: h…

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Is the Environmental Movement Promoting the Most Effective Individual Actions for the Climate? 58:59

4y ago58:59

58:59

On episode 276 Nick is joined by Adam Cardilini to discuss the movie Dont Look Up (Netflix) and compare individual actions for the climate commonly promoted in the environmental movement with scientific research on the most effective actions. We do this by discussing the actions promoted on the website https://www.count-us-in.org/en-gb/project/ and…

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Dont Look Up. Actually You Probably Should! Re-Engaging with the Climate Crisis 58:25

4y ago58:25

58:25

On episode 275 we discuss the movie Don't Look Up (Netflix), putting our energy back into climate action after the movement has lost momentum during the pandemic and avoiding burnout when coping with the reality of the climate crisis. This show is a 3CR Summer Special we encourage everyone to listen to and support 3CR Community Radio! https://www.3…

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10 Ears of Making the Same Jokes (including this one) 1:02:23

4y ago1:02:23

1:02:23

On episode 274 we reflect on 10 years of our podcast, including how our politics have changed and progress for social movements since we started the show. A slight rebrand of our podcast. The movie Don't Look Up (Netflix) and responding to climate change. The artists weve played the most on the show. Thanks so much to everyone for listening to our …

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This Episode is Problematic! Cancel Culture and Disposable People 31:57

4y ago31:57

31:57

On episode 273 we weigh into the debate on cancel culture, including discussing the links adrienne maree brown makes between cancel culture and prisons, with the common factor being disposable people. You can hear adrienne maree brown discuss this on Politically Re-Active podcast: https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/politically-re-active-with-w-kamau-b…

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Finding Time for Ice Cream among the Broccoli with Comedian Myq Kaplan 1:09:48

4y ago1:09:48

1:09:48

Episode 272 features advice from comedian Myq Kaplan on finding time for ice cream (things you want to do) among the broccoli (things you have to do). He discusses how he makes time for the things that are important to him, including creativity, activism and much more! This discussion is also available in video form on Youtube: https://youtu.be/rSY…

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Melbourne is Exploding. COVID, Lockdowns, Protests and Earthquakes! 47:01

4y ago47:01

47:01

On episode 271 we discuss Melbourne exploding with COVID, ongoing lockdowns, protests from construction workers and earthquakes! For more on these protests and concerns about police brutality, check out this article by Josh Taylor on The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/23/arrest-footage-and-teargas-raise-concerns-about…

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The Government Says You Better Be Having Sex! Lockdown Rules and Loopholes 1:00:17

4y ago1:00:17

1:00:17

On episode 270 Nick is joined by Lottie to discuss political and social issues around lockdowns, as well as some media recommendations. Lockdowns and vaccinations, civil liberties, health and business. Social aspects of lockdowns including single bubbles, intimate partners and dating. Nick and Katies list of things we can still enjoy despite lockdo…

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The Biloela Family and Progress for the Refugee Rights Movement 37:26

4+ y ago37:26

37:26

On episode 269 we discuss the Biloela family, who came to Australia from Sri Lanka due to the persecution of the Tamil people. We also discuss refugee law, as well as the state of the refugee issue and refugee rights activism in Australia. We finish the episode by promoting the upcoming Rally for Refugee Rights: Permanent Visas not Discrimination. …

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Bo Burnham, Performance and Content Creation. Part of Me Needs You 1:53:19

4+ y ago1:53:19

1:53:19

On episode 267 Nick is joined by Nic from Pynk Spots for a DEEP dive into Bo Burnham's musical comedy and what content creators (which is just about everyone in the age of social media!) can learn from his work. We mainly discuss his latest Netflix special Inside but also touch on his previous specials Make Happy and What? Both of these are also av…

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Everyday Anti-Capitalism with Nic from Pynk Spots 51:02

4+ y ago51:02

51:02

On episode 266 Nick is joined by Nic from Pynk Spots to discuss what capitalism is and why we are anti-capitalists, as well as subtle ways we try to disrupt capitalist logic in our everyday lives. The discussion features analysis of capitalism and pop culture, as well as challenging the capitalist idea we have to constantly be productive, including…

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Disrupting An Ableist, Capitalist Mindset Within Social Movements. Featuring Two Nics 52:03

4+ y ago52:03

52:03

On episode 265 Nick is joined by Nic from Pynk Spots to discuss the importance of including a wide range of ways to make change within social movements, to reduce burnout and challenge ableism. This discussion is also available in video form on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O04433QEoJI Make sure you subscribe to Pynk Spots on Youtube and…

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Positions: Won't Somebody Please Think Of The Landlords? 50:56

4+ y ago50:56

50:56

On episode 264 we look beyond individual ethics to explore the role of various positions in society and how these different positions shape the worldview of those who hold them. The role of landlords, or as they are now known in Victoria, rental providers. The roles of the police, military and the employing class. Our trip to Queensland and Trump s…

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Light Footprint, Heavy Pay Load. US Wars Before and After Trump 1:19:43

4+ y ago1:19:43

1:19:43

Episode 263 features politics professor Jason Brownlee on his article Shadow Wars and Corporate Welfare, which is on what to expect from Bidens foreign policy. You can read this article here: https://catalyst-journal.com/vol4/no4/shadow-wars-and-corporate-welfare The Capitol Hill riots and is the fascist label appropriate for Trump? Trumps foreign …

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Reevaluating and Recommending During the Pandemic 43:27

4+ y ago43:27

43:27

On episode 262 we discuss the phenomenon of people re-evaluating their work, where they live and their lives generally during the pandemic. We also cover the way that class and gender has impacted peoples experiences of the pandemic and lockdowns. Check out Nicks article Do You Identify Or Are You Identified? https://progressivepostings.wordpress.c…