Culture Club - Bad Aura Karma, The Dystopian Enhanced Games & Are Artists “Purging” Fans？

00:00:00.000 Pete Davidson's messy breakup, are Harry Styles and Charli XTX purging fans, and what the

00:00:11.760 hell are the enhanced games?

00:00:14.180 I'm Maggie Zhao.

00:00:15.360 And I'm Jasmine Wallace, and you're listening to Culture Club, where two writers and editors

00:00:19.320 chat about pop culture, current affairs, the internet, and our lives.

00:00:23.680 today we're on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people of the Kulin nations we would

00:00:34.560 like to pay our respects to elders past and present and extend this to any aboriginal or

00:00:39.380 Torres Strait Islander listeners today

00:00:41.220 jazz can I tell you about a hit of karma I got this week uh yeah what happened my karma

00:00:51.320 works instantly like often I might say something snarky like literally the next second like

00:00:56.540 something will happen I'm like oh yes thank you for keeping me in check um so earlier this week

00:01:02.240 I told Tom I was like you know what gives such bad aura points and I want to say with my full

00:01:09.060 chest I've done this okay so don't worry like I'm not trying to hate on people but when people are

00:01:14.000 walking with a pram like with like a baby in a pram or they're walking a dog and they're fully

00:01:19.560 engrossed in their phone. You know what I mean? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Like we're guilty. Like I've

00:01:24.360 done that, but it just does not look good. I do that when I'm walking Teddy. Yeah. But you're

00:01:29.580 not giving a great aura, right? So I said that to Tom. Next day I'm walking my oldest sister's two

00:01:36.760 dogs. I'm sending you a text. What do I do? I fully sprained my ankle. I trip on the side.

00:01:43.580 Very embarrassing. And I like look around just to see if anyone's seen me. No one saw me,

00:01:48.340 but I was humiliated oh my gosh my my jaw was open so wide I don't know if you heard it just

00:01:54.460 cracked because it was open so wide that's so funny and like you're so right like if anyone 0.82

00:02:00.160 knows Maggie she is not snarky at all like Maggie does not bitch she does not gossip if it there is

00:02:07.240 gossip it's under the guise of like we're spreading information like this has happened but like we 0.55

00:02:11.320 have no you know takes on people because their business is their business and sometimes I'm like

00:02:15.880 Maggie just gossip but this is why you because you get instant karma yeah I do and then this

00:02:22.560 ankle has been shoddy for like that happened Wednesday uh it's been like four or five days

00:02:28.260 it's finally on the mend but I've been like limping everywhere and I've been feeling it so

00:02:33.240 I'll be careful what I say next about aura I didn't realize you were texting me as well

00:02:39.340 oh and it was so naughty I didn't need to because you were actually in a massage I was like Jazz

00:02:43.660 isn't even going to see this like it wasn't even timely oh no I um sorry I sound so Australian

00:02:51.280 then oh no I saw was that in your close friend story like you recording like content and you

00:03:00.020 were like limping towards the camera yeah I'm glad it's not too serious no it's really fine

00:03:08.620 guys like there was no bruising there was no swelling but it was still like it threw me maybe

00:03:14.900 because I'm not a sporty person so I don't get injuries much that's true yeah but tell us about

00:03:19.500 that massage because you were in that room for two hours okay guys I was going to gatekeep this

00:03:25.560 and then I remembered that I got invited as a press I got invited as press so I'm like it's

00:03:32.280 literally my job to talk about this okay I went to Body Works in North Fitzroy and it was unlike

00:03:38.520 any massage that I've ever had before they focus a lot on massage therapy so kind of looking at

00:03:45.020 like your whole body it's very holistic so like what's going on in your life do you have any like

00:03:49.880 physical ailments at the moment are you pregnant are you postpartum and I think the timing of it

00:03:56.260 with my PMDD journey was perfect I actually went there in my luteal phase and I was really nervous

00:04:03.240 about it because you know you're more sensitive and things that we've discussed on other episodes

00:04:09.580 and so I wasn't going to cancel it but I was like I know I'm just going to be like so teary and like

00:04:15.320 oh but I actually think it was like the perfect thing for my body in that moment Georgia the

00:04:21.200 founder she's the massage therapist that I had she's created such a beautiful space like the 0.89

00:04:26.720 space was just so relaxing there's like a little lounge she offered you a cup of tea we had a

00:04:31.060 little discussion about like what's going on in my life and my body and then it was a two-hour

00:04:35.400 massage full body I had a stomach massage too which I've never had before in that setting that

00:04:41.040 was incredible like even massages that we've had in Bali like they didn't massage the stomach

00:04:45.660 so that was a new experience and I just highly recommend it for anyone who might be going through

00:04:52.260 a stressful time or feeling not in their body it's a very like grounding space to be in and

00:05:00.500 and it's made me reflect on a lot of things in my life and like my body and has made me realize

00:05:07.360 actually that I'm I need to take up yoga again like as a proper practice and not it's such like

00:05:12.980 a western view of things we were talking about this in the after the massage like such a western

00:05:16.820 view of like massages are a luxury in the western world because like they are more expensive and

00:05:22.300 also yoga I've like dropped off my yoga because I was seeing it as like an indulge indulging like

00:05:29.520 oh it's like you're not getting the workout that you get in like pilates or like doing strength

00:05:33.980 training so therefore like it's a nice to have but i think yeah i just learned a lot about my

00:05:39.880 body and what i need at the moment and how the body is you know the body keeps the score so i

00:05:46.260 highly recommend that experience you're so right about that and i actually had a massage at body

00:05:52.220 works a few months ago similarly a press invite and genuinely one of the best massages of my life

00:05:59.000 I've never had a massage experience stay with me for so long like I think back to it quite regularly

00:06:05.100 and one thing that really set it apart was it incorporates breath work so you use your breath

00:06:10.540 as a way to move through the practice it's not like a massage being done to your body but you

00:06:15.100 are a collaborator in that process and it was really just like it's something I've never

00:06:21.120 experienced before and I'm looking at booking in again like I can't get out of my head yes me too

00:06:27.100 yeah when she was like she kind of taught me how to like breathe through the pain and the

00:06:31.260 release of like my muscles it was really really interesting so if you're into that stuff we highly

00:06:35.460 recommend there's been a couple of popcorn music stories we want to get into number one olivia

00:06:51.380 Rodrigo released her second single for her new album and the song is called The Cure. This came

00:06:57.320 out Friday Australia time and I loved it so so much. I actually prefer it over Drop Dead. I did

00:07:05.740 like Drop Dead when it came out but it did sound really similar to things Olivia has done in the

00:07:09.680 past which is great. You know she has a great style but I really really love The Cure. The 90s

00:07:14.560 guitar riffs and don't you think the verse it sounds like ever long by the Foo Fighters. So you

00:07:19.560 put that in our notes and obviously I did not know the song so I listened to it

00:07:23.760 um and I don't get the connection as much but I trust you

00:07:27.080 Olivia has actually previously revealed that The Cure is her favorite song on the new album

00:07:33.840 You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love and she expanded on this on the Elvis Duran show

00:07:38.940 saying I'm really really proud of this song I absolutely love it and I'm really excited for

00:07:43.340 people to hear it I think it's like a new perspective that I haven't really had the

00:07:46.800 maturity maybe to express before in earlier albums we're definitely hearing more of the

00:07:52.920 breakup sadness side of her album that we speculated on she also performed on was it

00:08:00.460 Jimmy Fallon like um her new song begged and that's not available on Spotify yet but she did

00:08:06.400 a teaser of it and again it's like very mournful very much sad girl ballad I'm excited for the new

00:08:13.620 album now after hearing the cure after drop dead I was like yeah yeah like you are definitely a

00:08:19.300 bigger bigger Olivia fan than I I think I prefer Sabrina over Olivia if we're going back to that

00:08:25.340 famous like kind of comparison of the pop stars but I really really love this one other thing

00:08:31.220 that Olivia said in interviews that I really liked was I think editing is a really important

00:08:36.740 part of the creative process that I didn't really realize when I was younger when I was younger

00:08:41.480 making stuff. I was kind of just vomiting an idea and being like, let's put it out. And I think it's

00:08:46.460 really fun for me to go in and refine things and tweak things. I think there's something kind of

00:08:51.060 beautiful and artistic about that. I also feel like that's the way that I've read the music video.

00:08:57.120 I also think watching the music video in tandem with hearing the song for the first time colored

00:09:01.760 my interpretation of it. And it made me like the song more. The music video is so cool and it's so

00:09:07.800 tactile there's a lot of stop motion there's some felt art it's just so like I just want to touch

00:09:14.480 everything like it was very creative almost like paper doll like in many ways and I think to be

00:09:21.500 honest that does relate to her quote about editing because you know that's not the first idea that's

00:09:26.380 put on the drawing board for this music video like this is after refinement yeah and such beautiful

00:09:32.000 like almost stop motion animation too i was waiting for the credits to roll once the song

00:09:37.520 finished for the i was like who did the art i was gonna reference it on the podcast but they didn't

00:09:42.460 come up and then they weren't in the description box on youtube either so i'm keen to like dig

00:09:46.840 further and be like who was the creative director who was the artist the felt artist of this we

00:09:52.600 actually posted some bts photos from her music video and they were by the producer of the music

00:09:59.020 video whose name is Brandon Paul Robinson and in their posts about it they list all the credits

00:10:04.420 there are so many names in the credits I just did a quick count and it was almost 50 and that's why

00:10:09.280 they should have actual credits on the YouTube video after the song ends imagine some beautiful

00:10:14.560 credits like made in that beautiful felt of the music video I don't know just in the age of where

00:10:19.540 like we want to see actual artists getting the work and we don't want AI I'm not accusing Olivia

00:10:25.220 of using AR here but I think if she's used artists like shout it from the rooftops and include them

00:10:31.220 in the credit like give them some credit. Yeah Leve always does it because her sister Yunia is 0.90

00:10:36.940 her creative director and I always love seeing her credits there so I think people want to connect

00:10:41.860 with what's like the creative process that brings something to life. In other music news Harry Styles

00:10:47.700 Together Together tour has kicked off in Amsterdam for a run of 10 shows and some fans are not happy.

00:10:53.880 Yeah, when I was seeing this on social media, I was seeing a lot about the stage design and the stage layout and how a lot of people's views were obstructed.

00:11:05.780 So according to concert goers, some views from the pit were obstructed by this massive stage.

00:11:12.280 And for context, the stage features three meter tall walkways that are circling the stadiums.

00:11:18.000 So to paint a picture, it looks like an athletic track.

00:11:21.060 Yeah.

00:11:21.320 And there are some really good bird's eye videos of like Harry like sped up going around and it

00:11:25.960 looks like he's just running laps. And I'm like, babes, we get it. You did a marathon.

00:11:32.340 Even Harry isn't immune from like, you turn 30 and you start running marathons.

00:11:37.580 Yeah. Or go to Japan. It's one of the two.

00:11:41.240 The tour's official representative told BBC Newsbeat that the floor concept was designed

00:11:47.160 to quote give fans freedom and then in a statement on instagram harry styles team also confirmed that

00:11:53.240 they are quote actively working on making adjustments to improve visibility essentially

00:11:58.060 the pit layout was meant to give fans the ability to experience the show from different positions

00:12:04.040 rather than being confined to one fixed viewing angle and they also said that open free-flowing

00:12:09.420 floor experience has always been an essential part of harry's live shows okay i want to counter that

00:12:15.020 because is that not just your regular GA experience

00:12:19.440 when you go into a pit?

00:12:21.320 Technically, there is no fixed exact vantage point

00:12:25.000 that you were promised when it's in GA,

00:12:27.120 but you are afforded this like massive space

00:12:29.780 and then you pick a place, right?

00:12:31.400 That's why people are left of stage, right of stage,

00:12:33.800 like from behind or at barrier.

00:12:36.400 Am I being nitpicky?

00:12:37.920 No, I agree.

00:12:39.240 I'm like, what are you trying to do here? 0.93

00:12:41.380 if he's trying to be like a dj in berlin he's just not like he's harry fucking styles he needs to 0.91

00:12:51.760 like i don't know i think he's we're gonna get into this a bit later but i do think this kiss 0.67

00:12:57.540 all the time disco occasionally usually people the older they get the more like into themselves

00:13:03.240 they get like as in like they know who they are they know what they're trying to do they know the

00:13:06.500 message they're trying to send out and I do think that I'm a huge Harry Styles fan we love him like

00:13:12.360 love the album I know all the words but I do feel a bit confused by this new era and people that's

00:13:19.440 what people are saying too they're like saying that it doesn't feel authentic but then like maybe

00:13:23.820 this is Harry's true authentic nature like maybe this is who he truly is and that and like the love

00:13:29.340 on tour stuff wasn't real and I'm saying people can change of course like as you get older you can

00:13:34.820 change and you can be really into like feather boas and glitter one year and then you're in

00:13:39.760 business casuals a year after but I don't know what do you think I feel like that confusion is

00:13:46.080 part of it for sure to be honest I haven't been following this discourse that closely but I have

00:13:51.340 seen people being like disgruntled by it and I do agree that Harry feels like he's in this

00:13:56.680 liminal space where he's still figuring himself out I think you are so right about that and it

00:14:02.020 is interesting to see as a man in his early 30s and yes people can experiment but I feel like

00:14:09.960 is it some disconnect between who he is and the image he's trying to put out and fans perception

00:14:18.200 of him like it's all kind of jarbled I just want to flag what you said about like he's in his early

00:14:23.860 30s but he's still trying to figure himself out I don't know if there's like an end point where

00:14:28.260 you ever stop figuring yourself out so i don't think it's fair so true for us to be like god

00:14:34.900 he's in his early 30s like you better figure it out quickly i guess that's what i meant at the

00:14:39.700 top of like usually the older you get the more you are more comfortable in yourself but again

00:14:44.740 harry has lived a very unnormal life and i had a theory i was thinking about it yesterday

00:14:50.280 a theory of like why is he in this freaking business casual vibe i'm like is it because

00:14:56.380 he yearns for like normal core like he yearns to have a job in an office and to like go to the

00:15:03.120 football on the weekend and have pints with his friends and like now he's engaged and he's gonna

00:15:07.380 live in freaking i don't know north london somewhere and go to the farmer's market like

00:15:11.760 that is that what he actually wants and so then people like okay you're just wearing like business

00:15:16.720 casual on stage i also think it could be he's really inspired by the likes of david bowie and

00:15:21.660 david byrne from the talking heads and so he is trying to emulate that but it's not giving the

00:15:29.040 same thing that's an interesting theory like i see some legs for it i don't know if he's craving

00:15:35.300 normalcy in that way because i don't think he's embarking on a world tour if he is but perhaps

00:15:40.240 like some part of him self-conscious subconsciously like wants that regular life yeah that's what i

00:15:47.420 people have been also saying like his heart isn't in it and like he must be in debt because

00:15:53.580 he's like he doesn't seem like himself it's really really interesting to watch but i do wonder

00:15:59.100 if harry is trying to purge some fans post love on tour but why would he want to do that if i feel

00:16:06.760 like we've got so many um theories that are at odds with each other one saying oh he's in debt

00:16:12.280 he needs it to a more the other one's saying he needs to he wants to lose fans yeah yeah i don't

00:16:19.120 think he's in debt and needs the money i think yeah he did have a great time making and recording

00:16:24.800 um kiss all the time disco occasionally but i agree with the purging fans theory and people

00:16:30.580 also said the same for taylor swift post eras tour like she was the biggest pop star in the world

00:16:35.240 she made life of a showgirl and she's kind of been in her flop era but i know of a few people

00:16:40.500 who've been kind of like yeah i'm done with taylor for a while like i'm only listening to

00:16:44.760 folklore and evermore and stuff and people are also saying the same thing about charlie xcx

00:16:50.680 post brat so love on tour era's tour and brat tour you can't deny that those are the three

00:16:57.080 biggest tours in the world they gave them millions of fans people want to be a part of something

00:17:03.660 and so maybe lukewarm fans or fans who haven't ever seen them live before were like i want to

00:17:09.500 be a part of this one because it looks so fun and this isn't about gatekeeping either everyone can

00:17:14.280 join but i think it's the artist then being like whoa there's like too much attention on me especially

00:17:19.940 charlie like too much attention there's so much pressure interesting um what am i gonna do now

00:17:24.100 and it is true like what do you do after an era's tour what do you do after a love on tour where he

00:17:27.600 like toured around the world how do you go up from there and so is this them being like i'm going to

00:17:33.640 be more authentic and create these albums even if people don't like them and then people because

00:17:39.340 it's such a switch up people have been like oh I'm not into this anymore I'm not therefore not

00:17:44.140 gonna go to Harry Styles like you haven't bought tickets for Harry Styles yet have you yeah but

00:17:48.520 I'm looking at getting resale I with this point I can see where you're coming from especially for

00:17:55.580 Charlie and I think that's very much because we saw her mockumentary the moment as well where she

00:18:01.060 does kind of tackle this head on with Harry and maybe even Taylor I'm not convinced and I also

00:18:08.560 feel like as a veteran One Direction fan this type of like speculation has been around for so long in

00:18:15.300 terms of just fans essentially thinking so much about themselves I think we're thinking too much

00:18:20.500 about the fan or the audience experience I don't think they are like they as in the artists are

00:18:26.320 sitting there being like I'm gonna do this and the fans might not like they're not gonna like it and

00:18:31.440 I don't care like I just I think dare I say in some ways it's not as deep as that and I'm the 0.76

00:18:37.880 queen of deep you can say it's not that deep but I do wonder if this is necessary in the TikTok age

00:18:43.940 where we live in a monoculture now so back in the day I'm not going to sit here and explain

00:18:48.960 algorithms to everyone but back in the day like you'd have you'd go to the store and you'd pick

00:18:53.460 out an album that you like and now because of the internet we are all kind of yes we're in

00:18:58.320 different echo chambers but we are all being fed like the same music essentially so maybe this is

00:19:03.980 a new era for artists to do this because it's like okay I'm like number one on the algorithm

00:19:08.860 right now and I need to like shirk off to get back to what I want to do I need to shirk off

00:19:14.200 this like attention so let me like do something completely different one way that people have

00:19:20.840 described especially Charlie fans is other newer fans coming on and being quote-unquote tourists

00:19:27.540 so one comment on charlie's new song ss26 said i know the brat tourists are gonna hate this but

00:19:34.560 i'm actually so obsessed that's so funny i kind of yeah and this is all to do with fandom too

00:19:41.480 it's like that gatekeeping fandom thing that's like well i'm an angel i'm not a brat i'm an

00:19:47.620 angel which is like charlie's original like fans called themselves girl we did this when we were

00:19:54.120 In year eight, the One Direction thing, if you're a carrot,

00:19:56.680 you're, like, a fake fan.

00:19:57.780 Like, we've been here.

00:19:59.260 We've been here.

00:20:00.860 Nah, I just think it's, like, it's almost like a cringy approach, right?

00:20:05.160 Like, imagine you being, like, oh, I'm, like, I'm an angel

00:20:09.140 but you're a tourist.

00:20:10.760 Like, that's just.

00:20:11.620 Yeah, no.

00:20:12.400 I agree with that.

00:20:14.980 And I do have to remember that, like, people commenting on things

00:20:18.580 can be 14 years old.

00:20:20.340 We've discussed this before.

00:20:21.480 It's, like, the people who are, like, hectic into fandoms,

00:20:23.980 like they might be 15 14 so there's that i have another question though what do you think of rock

00:20:31.120 music and ss26 charlie's new two new singles i will i'll put on the record i'm actually not the

00:20:38.160 biggest charlie fan like i don't listen to her music that much i only heard rock music for the

00:20:42.440 first time playing in a car yesterday can you believe i know and i haven't even heard ss26

00:20:47.860 so i actually cannot provide any proper comment i'm so sorry but what do you think of them i like

00:20:54.920 them they definitely took a bit of time um to warm up for me post i obviously was a huge fan of brat

00:21:03.260 as well like when von dutch came out it was like life changing yeah rock music i was like oh i see

00:21:08.440 what she's trying to do not my fave song ever i do like ss26 they feel very different in themselves

00:21:13.560 as well like one from the other even though it's going to be similar album so or same album i think

00:21:18.500 this theory has some legs about purging fans and like people artists taking like real detours

00:21:25.960 because of like tiktok algorithms i think there's something in it so i'm curious to see if any other

00:21:32.660 massive massive stars who are in the same league as taylor harry and charlie will do the same

00:21:43.560 pete davidson is in the middle of a very messy breakup with his ex elsie hewitt they share a

00:21:54.740 five-month-old baby girl called scotty rose together this relationship is pretty new uh

00:22:00.360 the first dating rumors were just actually in march last year and then their baby girl was

00:22:07.020 born in december of last year so if you do the maths that means that they got pregnant you know

00:22:13.380 a couple one two months into their relationship but last week elsie posted a tiktok saying that

00:22:19.820 she's essentially taking care of the baby alone we'll play the tiktok here i have a baby to take

00:22:25.800 care of and i also have to work and make money um and i'm doing it on my own which is hard

00:22:38.900 also on that same day she actually posted on her instagram stories looking for

00:22:44.860 assistance in raising her child so she wrote i'm currently trying to find an assistant slash

00:22:51.080 mother's helper slash nanny type basically a right-hand person apply here if qualified and

00:22:57.680 serious only looking at responses with resumes she added that it's a paid job and she included

00:23:03.620 her email the internet kind of blew up over this because pete davidson is a comedian he's a actor

00:23:11.080 he has been known as well for having a few messy relationships over the years most famously he

00:23:18.340 dated ariana grande and they got engaged really really quickly he also dated kim kardashian for

00:23:23.360 a little while and people when elsie got pregnant and it was announced people really were like oh

00:23:28.720 wow he's like growing up and he got all his tattoos removed and it was like he's settling

00:23:33.400 down it was that was the vibe and so I think people like the internet as well have been a

00:23:38.440 bit more shocked by this because it was like he's on this one path oh no now they've broken up okay

00:23:44.200 what's going on yeah and people were quite I guess optimistic about this relationship it came out

00:23:49.560 that their daughter was named in honor of Pete's late father who was a firefighter who died during

00:23:55.320 the 9-11 attacks so insiders have claimed that the relationship faced several pressures particularly

00:24:00.600 adjusting to parenthood so early into their relationship an insider told us weekly they

00:24:06.460 tried to make it work but there were different stresses including having a baby together as two

00:24:11.320 people who didn't yet know each other that well they're both trying to make it work and have made

00:24:15.980 accommodations in their schedules for the baby oh my god i feel like that quote is so telling like

00:24:21.720 they didn't know each other that well like they're getting to know each other while creating life

00:24:26.320 together so back to that day where elsie posted that tiktok and those instagram stories a source

00:24:33.840 close to pete actually rebuked this saying quote pete has made himself extremely available and has

00:24:40.820 provided full financial support pete is actually covering all scotty cots and more he is hoping

00:24:47.020 elsie has good health and success for the sake of their daughter i'm glad to hear this because

00:24:51.520 i think the shock came from people being like what the hell why would you not financially like

00:24:56.220 help the person who is who gave birth who created and gave birth and is raising your child it is

00:25:02.400 also kind of a he said she said or at least she said and his source said situation so it is kind

00:25:09.440 of like murky at the moment as well i really feel for elsie because we know that postpartum is one

00:25:16.400 of like the most insane incredible life-changing identity altering things that a person can ever

00:25:23.320 go through and to be going through that when your partner like you when you separate from your

00:25:30.160 partner and you don't have someone in the house with you maybe maybe you're doing it alone and

00:25:35.120 then you have like the eyes of the internet on you too like another layer it must be really hard

00:25:40.180 but also she was the one who made that TikTok I'm not saying like she shouldn't talk about it

00:25:45.700 because she can do whatever she wants but that adds another layer of like oh my gosh the pressure 0.66

00:25:50.760 of it all it's actually a really sad situation and i was hoping for the best for them parasocial

00:25:56.580 vibes but still i agree i think elsie should have the right to share her side of the story of course

00:26:02.920 but i do think if you're posting in a public forum like tiktok i think it's understandable

00:26:09.460 to expect this kind of public response replying to you almost so hopefully she's got that support

00:26:16.140 coming from her family and friends and her group chats as well but this is making news because

00:26:21.300 you're putting it out there it's now time for culture shock and in a hunger games turn of events

00:26:36.620 this weekend sees the inaugural Enhanced Games take place and it's one of the most controversial

00:26:42.560 sporting events we've ever seen. I was shocked when I heard about this first learned in a 7am

00:26:48.960 podcast episode. It really feels like something out of a dystopian storyline not something that's

00:26:55.100 actually taken place by the time that this episode is out it would have happened over the weekend

00:26:59.300 actually taking place in Las Vegas. So the Enhanced Games is a privately funded competition

00:27:05.660 and it's the first one in history to openly permit encourage even performance enhancing drugs so

00:27:13.720 performance enhancing drugs in terms of like what that includes and that doesn't include the athletes

00:27:19.360 can only use substances that have been approved by the u.s food and drug administration and they

00:27:24.500 have to have been prescribed by a doctor so potentially this could include things like

00:27:30.180 testosterone, antibiotic steroids, EPO and growth hormones. So illegal recreational drugs like

00:27:38.740 cocaine and heroin won't be allowed. So the Enhanced Games are a one day event taking place

00:27:44.820 in Las Vegas. As Mag said, the Killers and the Norwegian DJ Alan Walker will perform. I am so

00:27:51.800 disappointed in the Killers for this. What the actual hell? I love the Killers so much. I feel 0.97

00:27:57.460 like this really just showcases perhaps they're like political beliefs or kind of where their

00:28:02.940 values are which is making me sad so what is actually taking place at the event there will be

00:28:08.640 seven men's swimming events two women's swimming events men's and women's 100 meter sprint

00:28:15.020 weightlifting events and a deadlift competition there's also a heap of prize money up for grabs

00:28:20.840 so if you break a world record in the 50 meter freestyle or the 100 meter sprint you will be

00:28:26.220 paid us 1 million dollars or 1.4 million australian dollars other world records pay a quarter of a

00:28:33.560 million usd and winners of each event will also pocket that quarter of a million usd there's also

00:28:41.100 very generous pay packets for second third and fourth so on organizers say that the total athlete

00:28:47.260 compensation for the games could be up to 25 million usd this is like the biggest prize pool

00:28:54.620 we've ever seen for sporting events like this sadly these games are close to home because they

00:29:00.060 were actually founded by the melbourne-born businessman aaron de souza other investors

00:29:05.120 include the billionaire peter thiel who is the founder of palantir the winklevoss twins of

00:29:11.320 facebook fame the biotech investor christian angemeyer and donald trump jr through the venture

00:29:18.600 capital firm 1789 capital so this is really sounds like a list of like evil men coming together to

00:29:26.840 like create this drug-fueled weirdo sports competition yeah and I think we specifically

00:29:34.420 wanted to lay out the money involved the people behind it because you might be asking why the hell

00:29:40.980 is the enhanced games even being put on well a major part of it is that this is essentially a

00:29:46.480 big marketing business exercise right and actually one of the main goals of this event

00:29:53.300 is to actually sell supplements and enhancement related products online to the viewers at home

00:30:00.140 when i heard that on the 7 a.m podcast i was so i was shocked but i was also not surprised because

00:30:07.220 i do think this is the society that we are living in at the moment we are in the age and culture of 0.99

00:30:14.020 the grifter people are just trying to sell sell sell all the time people used to be embarrassed

00:30:20.780 about cheating and lying but in this post ai world it does feel like it's just every man for himself

00:30:27.220 it doesn't matter how you get there whether it's you know cheating or not or how you're influencing

00:30:33.040 young people like we haven't even talked about young people sitting at home like hopefully they

00:30:36.800 aren't watching at all i haven't really seen much advertised especially in australia but we spoke

00:30:43.120 about it on the manosphere episode and the clavicular episode that young people are so can

00:30:48.340 be so impressionable to this power and money and fame and all that matters in your life is how you

00:30:55.080 look and what money you have and I think this is just such a great example of the age of the grifter

00:31:01.200 I also think one of my biggest gripes with this is that double standard between the barring of

00:31:08.500 trans athletes in traditional sporting event spaces versus these athletes who are using these

00:31:15.640 drugs for recreation and personal gain not out of medical necessity but because they can and they 0.93

00:31:22.980 want to especially the use of testosterone in the spaces like this it just it just infuriates me

00:31:29.260 again this is essentially a marketing exercise for the tech billionaires who are influencing

00:31:37.160 the culture at a staggering rate at the moment rather than a love of sport or the love of the

00:31:42.680 human body or like you know in the episode they do say the podcast episode it's referenced like

00:31:47.000 we're pushing the body to like the limits like what can we do what can the human achieve all

00:31:52.500 that stuff but it's just I think it's like cheating basically if you're using performance

00:31:58.060 enhancing drugs to get this end result then that's not really the end result is it it becomes

00:32:03.720 an entirely different competition i think it's not really about human performance it's about

00:32:09.820 drug enhancements that's not even to talk about the health and safety implications of this

00:32:16.200 in the 7am episode they speak about the fact that it's only a matter of time where someone might die

00:32:22.700 from taking substances like this and i would like to point out the irony that the killers are

00:32:28.800 performing but also for people at home it's like the shopping network they're sitting at home

00:32:34.660 watching these like athletes on drugs do these events and then it's like buy this vitamin buy

00:32:40.400 this testosterone inject yourself with peptides like it is the peptide conversation as well

00:32:45.240 unregulated at home on your sofa what the hell is going to happen to people's bodies in 10 20 30

00:32:51.080 years or even instantly heaven forbid so it's a mess and i am glad that you pitched this for

00:32:57.140 culture shock because I hadn't heard of it I do feel like it's going under the radar but

00:33:01.080 the rumbling of it you know the intersection of it in the manosphere

00:33:05.160 is very interesting and a sign of the times

00:33:09.040 it's now time for bookmarked where we bring you a recommendation from the week

00:33:23.600 Jaz, what do you have for us?

00:33:25.580 Laurie and I are watching Rivals season two at the moment.

00:33:29.640 I did speak about this on the podcast last year for season one.

00:33:33.180 Remind me, what is Rivals again?

00:33:35.340 Rivals is the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel of the same name.

00:33:40.400 Jilly Cooper was a writer in the 80s and she is known for kind of pioneering smutty books.

00:33:48.040 So Rivals is set in the English countryside and it follows a few different families.

00:33:54.980 There's two rival TV networks.

00:33:57.100 It stars Alex Hussle as Rupert Campbell Black, who is this MP.

00:34:02.620 Aidan Turner as Declan O'Hara, who is an Irish TV presenter.

00:34:07.760 David Tennant is Tony Battingham, who is the owner of this TV network.

00:34:13.560 So it's all set in the 80s and it's all quite spicy.

00:34:16.260 season two is just picking up where we left off because it's based on a book so it's literally

00:34:21.660 like the book was cut in half and now we're up to season two not all episodes are out yet but I am

00:34:27.280 recommending it just because it's such a great piece of escapism it's really beautiful to look

00:34:34.840 at like the shooting of the countryside is lovely it's rich people getting up to mischief there's

00:34:41.380 political scandal there's affairs there's like the business network side of the drama as well

00:34:49.120 and the guardian has given it five stars which i feel like is a big review for uh a kind of smutty

00:34:57.840 naughty disney show so i'm really loving it at the moment the guardian said it's fabulous escapism

00:35:04.680 and beyond earthly praise i was late to the party recommending season one last year so i was like

00:35:09.720 I'm going to be on it and recommending season two, Rivals on Disney+.

00:35:13.420 Great.

00:35:14.440 That feels like it's got a bit of everything in it.

00:35:16.360 It really does.

00:35:17.460 And Maggie, what do you have on your list for us this week?

00:35:20.240 I'm recommending a movie I watched last night that I don't think it's talked about at all

00:35:25.620 because I'd never heard of it.

00:35:26.780 Have you heard of the 2007 movie Watching the Detectives?

00:35:31.380 I've seen Cillian Murphy in it.

00:35:34.080 Like I've seen snippets of it.

00:35:35.200 You know how your Instagram reel will, like, give you, like,

00:35:38.220 little clips of movies and videos?

00:35:40.480 I've seen it on there.

00:35:41.860 I'm, like, really smug about the fact that mine never –

00:35:44.900 I don't watch any, like, snippet of movies or TVs on my social media.

00:35:48.980 I'm better than you.

00:35:51.660 It just serves it to me.

00:35:54.000 Maybe I must linger on them.

00:35:56.120 Yeah.

00:35:57.640 Well, I like it because it helps me find movies that I might not have watched,

00:36:02.000 like watching The Detectives.

00:36:04.300 Correct.

00:36:04.740 but you haven't even seen it so don't do much so yeah this is a rom-com starring Cillian Murphy

00:36:11.160 and Lucy Liu and I was like how have I not heard of this before and I ended up really enjoying it

00:36:19.360 it's so off kilter it is wacky and it essentially follows Cillian Murphy's character who is the

00:36:25.480 owner of like an indie video rental store and Lucy Liu is this very kooky femme fatale

00:36:33.380 manic pixie dream girl girl and it kind of follows their I would say abnormal relationship

00:36:42.580 where there are a lot of like pranks and surprises I don't know I don't obviously don't want to spoil

00:36:49.160 anything I feel like it's similar ish to the tone of Scott Pilgrim versus the world

00:36:54.700 and I just think it was very well done it's not rated very well online but I think for what it is

00:37:03.060 and the genre and like the story and the characters it has it's done almost like perfectly for what

00:37:08.900 like for what they're trying to do i think okay love that and what can you watch it on uh it is

00:37:13.420 on prime video here in australia okay yeah adding to my list of underrated rom-coms another underrated

00:37:20.280 rom-com i watched this week was dan in real life which i was like i should make a list of underrated

00:37:25.220 movies from like the 2000s that are like so quaint and sweet and then you just don't see

00:37:32.740 movies made like that anymore maybe I haven't seen that that was also released in the same year 2007

00:37:37.900 and another fun fact when I was younger like 10 or 11 years old I used to think that the year 2007

00:37:45.980 had the best like content released in terms of like music and movies I was literally eight years

00:37:52.980 old in that year but I was like they've done something really good here and this is just

00:37:56.860 solidifying that the aura of 2007 yeah and i'm like that's not a good year that wasn't a good

00:38:04.600 year for most people so like recession recession on the verge going back to watching the detectives

00:38:10.780 i would say it's a very good relationship for like a hetero relationship like i feel like it's

00:38:16.160 a good hetero movie night watch so something for you and the boo to enjoy thank you thank you so 1.00

00:38:23.740 much maggie nearly spit her tea out everywhere just sent all over her microphone on that silly

00:38:30.820 note we will leave you to your weeks thank you so much for listening to culture club today

00:38:36.600 we love chatting with you and if you enjoyed this episode maybe share it with a friend maybe give us

00:38:43.240 a little apple review written review spotify review because it really helps more people find

00:38:48.080 us and we do have a few new friends here with us at the moment so thank you so much for joining

00:38:53.460 Culture Club. We love you all and we're so grateful that you're here and we can't wait

00:38:58.680 to be back in your ears very soon. See you later. Bye.

Culture Club - May 25, 2026

Bad Aura Karma, The Dystopian Enhanced Games & Are Artists “Purging” Fans？

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