Culture Club - Opt-In Algorithms, Wimbledon Bans Influencers & Stella Lefty, Pop’s New Nepo Baby

00:00:00.340 I am a sample, long before I'm measured, long before I'm named.

00:00:05.500 Each piece of me has a message, a nuanced role.

00:00:09.100 When you look beyond the average, when you see where I belong, you see why I behave the

00:00:14.080 way I do.

00:00:15.160 When you start looking at my details, when you include my context, I start telling you

00:00:20.120 the truth.

00:00:21.260 I always had a story.

00:00:23.020 You just needed a way to hear it.

00:00:25.600 Every sample has a story.

00:00:27.060 Learn more at 10xgenomics.com.

00:00:30.000 wimbledon bans influences australia's opting out of social media algorithms and unpacking

00:00:40.540 the stellar lefty nepo popster drama i'm maggie zow and i'm jasmine wallace and you're listening

00:00:46.060 to culture club where two writers and editors analyze pop culture the internet and the art

00:00:51.440 today we are on the lands of the wurundjeri woiwurrung people of the kulin nations we would

00:00:56.500 like to pay our respects to elders past and present and extend that to any Aboriginal or

00:01:01.220 Torres Strait Islander listeners today. Jazz, you have a fresh haircut. Yeah. Yeah, it looks great.

00:01:11.240 You have a proper, like more of full fringe, dare I say, and then you've trimmed it. So it's like

00:01:16.020 top of boob. Top of boob is the official, official name for it. I went to the hairdressers

00:01:22.760 in Brisbane I was visiting my family and every time I get my hair cut there I get heaps off

00:01:28.080 because I just get really overstimulated by like my thick longer hair when I'm in like the heat

00:01:33.100 so I really was like let's go for it and she just kept cutting and thinning it out I swear she took

00:01:39.100 half my hair off but I think it was really needed I haven't had a good chop since like well before

00:01:43.520 the wedding and then the fringe was really grown out so I was like I normally have curtain bangs

00:01:48.480 so just like trim those and then she did make it much more of like a front fringe like front bangs

00:01:53.460 but I've had a few compliments on them one person even said like I think it suits you more than the

00:01:58.380 like long curtain-y fringe bit so whatever I'm liking it I feel like it's nice to have a

00:02:04.800 change for spring yeah I feel like I am actually growing up my hair so I am no longer part of the

00:02:10.860 bob club and that's been an identity shaker thank you as someone who's been in the bob club for over

00:02:17.340 decade I want to say but I'm growing it out just to see how it feels and if you're just listening

00:02:22.520 to this on an audio platform you're like I can't see you girls you can look at our YouTube channel

00:02:27.920 by the way we have video episodes up there which is linked below I love when it feels like it's a

00:02:33.580 new season and if it's like a new season in your life or you just find I don't know little bits and

00:02:39.100 pieces like music or fashion items and you're like oh I'm in like a new era and I found a song this

00:02:45.660 week that kind of made me feel that way, which is a lot of sense when you find one. And I found it

00:02:51.560 on TikTok. Classic, classic ecosystem for new music. Tell me about the song. I mean, I'm not

00:02:58.120 going to lie. I looked at our notes, but I had not heard about this until you dropped it in front of

00:03:02.320 me. Really? Yeah. Oh my God. Okay. I'm even more excited to talk to you about this now.

00:03:06.500 So I was scrolling on TikTok and I came across a video from the user Veronica is cool. Love her.

00:03:13.000 She's a Canadian, like, TikToker, comedian. 0.83

00:03:15.680 She does a lot of skit comedy where she's, like, very awkward.

00:03:18.820 She's, like, this beautiful blonde girl. 0.94

00:03:20.720 You would have seen her.

00:03:21.520 Like, if you're on TikTok, you've seen her.

00:03:23.020 And most notably, she's been on a lot of SNL in recent times.

00:03:26.900 She's, like, friends with Sabrina Carpenter.

00:03:28.700 Random.

00:03:29.180 Oh, yeah, we talked about that on the podcast.

00:03:30.940 Did we?

00:03:31.320 Yeah, they went on a getaway together and Emma Chamberlain was there as well.

00:03:35.000 Wild, guys.

00:03:36.160 Fever dream.

00:03:36.760 Can you imagine?

00:03:38.120 That's wild.

00:03:38.700 Yeah, so we're talking about Veronica is cool on TikTok,

00:03:41.080 but her real name is veronica slowakaska and yes as you said she is a cast member on snl at the

00:03:47.900 moment so i found a video of her dancing and miming to this song with her boyfriend kyle chase

00:03:53.960 her boyfriend is also her podcast co-host they had a podcast called never mind which launched

00:03:58.980 in 2023 he is also a fellow comedian skip comedian they do videos together i remember when they kind

00:04:04.880 of hard launched each other and because they used to do lots of like roommate kind of sketches and

00:04:09.920 they hard launch each other everyone's like oh my god i can't believe this is like real so i found

00:04:13.680 the song and i was like who is this it's so catchy because it was just a chorus click into it and i

00:04:18.540 did a little deep dive the song is called i don't know why i said that and the artist is me as a

00:04:23.640 girl and at the time of recording the song only has 427 posts on tiktok so it's not like it's like

00:04:29.420 a viral song blowing up everywhere in most of the videos it features someone who looks a lot

00:04:34.280 like veronica but in a bright blue wig god i love wigs i'm so glad they come i've always wanted to

00:04:40.380 go to a wig party so we're just putting feelers out there i don't own one i don't own one but i

00:04:45.840 want one i feel like your hair's thin enough that you could like put a wig on easily that feels like

00:04:50.860 an insult it's not an insult of thin hair yes it is it's factual no no no i know but that's the same

00:04:56.040 as we could get into this and i wish it wasn't like this but you know how tall and short have

00:05:01.840 connotations skinny and fat have connotations even though they're just descriptors they should

00:05:05.720 be neutral oh my god it's neutral in our franchise okay sorry let's skip the wee combo tell me more

00:05:13.040 about her music i'm getting hot and bothered so one video when i was searching through was from

00:05:17.460 the australian triple j presenter abby butler we love abby was questioning if the project was

00:05:22.540 veronica or if she was a featured artist and one follower wrote her boyfriend at kyle for now is a

00:05:28.600 producer and by his comments I'd assume it's a Veronica artist project cool hey yeah because

00:05:34.060 you then sent me an Instagram reel of her lip syncing to the song in the bright blue wig and

00:05:40.360 it's very much like she is the girl in it she's not like a background character she is the main

00:05:47.100 star the pop so I feel like I didn't even question I was like yeah surely it's her yeah yeah also

00:05:52.260 Carl's actually been in some of the accounts comment section um saying things like love this

00:05:57.960 new artist and need this on streaming um and now that the song is out like we do have um

00:06:04.580 confirmation that he has been credited as the producer one person on youtube wrote did not

00:06:10.140 expect veronica slowakowska to gag me with an addison ray meets carly ray jepson meets hyde

00:06:15.800 debut single but okay and i think that's how i feel i'm like oh my god this song is so good it's

00:06:22.100 So it's like almost like dream pop, kind of like 2000s pop

00:06:26.600 that's really popular at the moment, kind of like after vibe

00:06:31.620 if you know that band from the US as well. 0.91

00:06:34.140 Doesn't this just remind you of Meg Stolter because she released music

00:06:37.720 earlier this year, Prettiest Girl in America.

00:06:39.900 And if you can't recall Meg, she is a comedian, an actress,

00:06:44.240 like an internet personality.

00:06:46.140 And she was in Lena Dunham's TV show Too Much.

00:06:49.100 She was the starring leading lady.

00:06:51.340 but yeah she released a song and people were like not sure if it was a joke or not like is this a

00:06:56.940 serious endeavor and i feel the same about veronica this feels a little more serious also

00:07:02.200 because meg's song the prettiest girl in america it felt almost like a a parody song and in it's

00:07:08.320 like um in the marketing around it i feel so i didn't like really get into that as much

00:07:14.760 yeah this one feels quite earnest interesting i don't know if it feels earnest if she's got

00:07:19.360 massive blue wig on I'm like then you would just own it no I think that's just like a I don't know

00:07:27.020 maybe it's an artistic thing right like you can have alter egos and different personas

00:07:31.380 but it just feels like I don't know I don't take it that seriously I don't know I'm taking it

00:07:37.160 seriously because this is not the first time that Veronica has released music so this isn't me as a

00:07:41.600 girl's first single the first came out in November 2025 and it was called when you had me you ran

00:07:47.000 away and then it was followed by a four song ep it's all possible in march but this is the first

00:07:52.380 time that she's revealed her identity but then back in 2020 she released a single so many lies

00:07:58.880 under her own name and that was to promote the heartland series becoming alex and there was also

00:08:03.860 a follow-up single called homesick released in 2021 then today when i was searching youtube for

00:08:11.100 because i couldn't remember the artist's name i just remembered like it was veronica's song and

00:08:15.340 it was called I don't know I said that and it wasn't coming up um but I did find something

00:08:19.920 that proves that she has been like grinding at this singing thing for a long time I discovered

00:08:26.080 this video clip from 2013 when Veronica would have been 18 and I want to play it out loud to

00:08:32.120 Maggie my biggest fear people discovering things from like 2013 I could be the one to make you feel

00:08:38.480 that way i could be the one to set you free oh my god amazing yes and for people following along

00:08:48.000 that is like shot on her computer's webcam she's on like a office chair her brows are very like

00:08:54.500 2013 she looks like kind of like an all-american i know she's not american like girl um love the

00:09:01.280 earnestness i do wonder if it is okay i mean why am i so cynical today why are you being cynical

00:09:06.320 about Veronica

00:09:06.880 no because I'm like

00:09:07.800 if you were taking it seriously

00:09:09.020 why not use your name

00:09:09.880 like why are you

00:09:11.460 because it's like a

00:09:13.100 like a size project

00:09:14.260 I guess

00:09:14.660 yeah I guess

00:09:15.380 wait why am I like this

00:09:17.560 why

00:09:17.860 good on her 0.56

00:09:18.420 why isn't your name

00:09:19.520 in

00:09:20.080 yeah this is called

00:09:21.380 the Maggie and Jazz show

00:09:22.680 no

00:09:25.020 I'm a big fan of her

00:09:26.200 I don't actually know

00:09:27.100 what's happening

00:09:27.560 I'm a big fan of her

00:09:29.540 actually

00:09:30.120 so

00:09:30.680 it's fine

00:09:31.660 like

00:09:32.000 good on her

00:09:36.320 So two names I didn't think would be saying in the same sentence, Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth

00:09:49.340 Holmes. They are essentially making a documentary together. It's been announced that Nathan is making

00:09:56.460 a documentary about Elizabeth Holmes and that is called You Can See Everything and that's created

00:10:01.800 alongside Lance Oppenheim. You probably remember the name. Elizabeth Holmes was the founder of the

00:10:08.060 medical tech company Theranos. She is one of the most kind of famous grifters, scammers of the 2010s

00:10:15.660 and Theranos promised to revolutionize blood testing. This ended up landing her in prison 0.99

00:10:21.840 though on fraud charges. She was also famously portrayed by Amanda Seyfried in The Dropout in

00:10:27.580 2022 and that earned Amanda an Emmy for her performance it was amazing side note if you

00:10:33.720 allow me I watched Jennifer's Body for the first time over the weekend and my god Amanda Seyfried

00:10:39.340 is just amazing this woman like just seeing her go from that to like mamma mia it's like back to

00:10:45.640 Elizabeth Holmes she's like amazing so this trailer really just dropped out of nowhere didn't it like

00:10:51.320 I think I saw it on my Twitter feed and I was like wait what the hell Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth

00:10:56.620 homes firstly is she out of jail why is she on a couch then we later find out that this was filmed

00:11:01.800 back in 2023 36 days before elizabeth reported to prison in texas she hadn't given an interview

00:11:09.320 in a decade but decided to let nathan of all people and his crew into her san diego home where

00:11:16.100 she lives with her boyfriend billy evans who's also the father of her two children i read that

00:11:20.880 Nathan even lived in the home with them so really had like the inside scoop into the home's family

00:11:27.900 yeah the trailer is very disquieting and unsettling it is one extended scene and it's like them like

00:11:37.740 face to face on a couch and Elizabeth's face is her eyes are like the widest they could ever go

00:11:44.580 I've never seen eyes wider and like she's gently kind of like nodding and also rocking her baby

00:11:50.160 with like the baby's cradle with her foot so it's just this like really eerie video it also really

00:11:58.420 doesn't feel like a documentary I know a lot of commentary has been like oh like this actress

00:12:03.880 that they cast really looks like Elizabeth because at first you don't realize it's her I didn't

00:12:09.400 realize it was her it's also really nicely like color graded and there's like a lot of like wide

00:12:14.320 shots and he slowly pans in and it feels like a drama it's like yeah and then I'm like it's

00:12:20.140 and you can also see nathan like kind of being like oh my gosh i've met my match with this kind

00:12:27.200 of like uh intense personality so if you don't know nathan's previous work he is not your average

00:12:34.980 documentary maker he's really known for his blur between reality fiction and comedy and uses his

00:12:41.180 awkward persona to get really close to his subjects so his previous work includes the

00:12:45.180 Comedy Central series Nathan For You and The Rehearsal which is like a more updated version

00:12:50.140 and then you also start in the drama The Curse with Emma Stone have you seen any of Nathan's

00:12:54.880 work before? Unfortunately not I get his place in like the culture and I see so much like talk

00:13:01.100 around him but I haven't personally I don't love him like watching secondhand embarrassment

00:13:05.660 but I should watch him like I feel bad you? So I'd never seen him before similar to you had heard of

00:13:12.720 him knew his importance respected him I respect it um and Laurie he put on Nathan for you and I

00:13:22.660 kind of was like half watching and then I got really sucked into it and it's actually really

00:13:27.000 heartwarming like you because I'm the same I don't really love secondhand embarrassment or

00:13:31.880 people being like pranked or whatever but there are really heartwarming moments throughout where

00:13:38.500 it's about like humanity and uh people coming together and trying to see the best in people

00:13:43.560 so give it a go I think okay back to this doco there have been some critics who have been able

00:13:50.160 to watch an early release of this and there was this piece in Vanity Fair written by Rebecca Ford

00:13:55.120 who was talking about it and she says quote the unusual to say the least documentary

00:14:00.820 appropriately titled you can see everything which runs nearly three hours is unlike any

00:14:07.200 I have ever seen in terms of pure access these people appear to hide nothing and then later on

00:14:13.860 in the piece she talks about how you know this took three years to make and it was like Nathan

00:14:19.460 Fielder has put out some really like weird quotes about the experience he says I really am struggling

00:14:26.360 to this day to understand exactly what I experienced and one of the things I'm genuinely

00:14:31.360 excited about is for this movie to come out and for people to help me understand what I experienced

00:14:36.380 truly to this day I don't quite know what I went through like what does that mean well I can imagine

00:14:43.300 like being in a house with one of like the most famous liars essentially of the 21st century would

00:14:52.520 be such a disconcerting experience especially being invited into a family home like you see

00:14:56.280 the kids you're hanging out with them and it's like what is real what's not so when will this

00:15:02.600 be released? Well, A24 says that this will be released in theatres in October, but they haven't

00:15:08.660 specified whether that's for Australia yet, but I reckon it'll be this end of the year for sure.

00:15:24.300 There's been some influencer controversy over at Wimbledon recently. They are allegedly

00:15:30.420 banning influencers or kind of yeah Wimbledon have announced that their media accreditation

00:15:37.140 will no longer include fields for influencers or content creators plus they can and may prohibit

00:15:45.700 items that can cause interference during games so things like tripods and ring lights and this

00:15:51.960 has come about because currently the US Open is on and there's been a few influencer controversies

00:15:58.000 have you been seeing this? I saw a few of Naomi Osaka's comments and I saw a video on TikTok of

00:16:04.980 the said influencers who were like waving around a light and like in a big group making a bit of

00:16:11.220 noise. Yeah during the game so that was kind of the big upset like during the game of tennis so

00:16:16.480 these influencers in a box filming and like just being loud during a match and tennis famously lots

00:16:22.460 of rules you have to be so quiet in between which is which is fair enough I think. These

00:16:27.620 influences in the hospitality suite were making so much noise that umpires made several remarks

00:16:32.780 asking the audience to be quiet which if you've yeah like you said attended a tennis game you know

00:16:38.600 it's like a cardinal sin to talk yeah and I don't know how I feel about that I know before I was

00:16:44.360 just like yeah I guess it's like part of the game but it's very uptight and especially

00:16:49.780 and especially Wimbledon where players still have to wear like the white sets and everything

00:16:54.360 like it feels very elitist energy you think yeah i think it's nice to have rules about something

00:17:02.320 in like a world that we don't really have kind of social etiquettes oh so jasmine's nanny state

00:17:08.860 no i think it's important to like respect certain things like respecting the craft of tennis players

00:17:16.940 who have trained their whole lives for this moment and need to concentrate.

00:17:23.980 You wouldn't say the same thing.

00:17:24.960 You're going to the ballet tonight.

00:17:25.780 You would not say it's okay to talk during a ballet.

00:17:27.680 This is only, only a thing in tennis.

00:17:30.500 For any other sport, it's actually encouraged to like cheer

00:17:33.440 and to make noise and to have this.

00:17:35.740 It just feels like why are we like,

00:17:38.220 like we definitely do put sports players on a pedestal,

00:17:41.520 but it's like, oh, we must be quiet around them so they can think.

00:17:43.880 Like if a baby cries, like they can't concentrate or whatever.

00:17:46.940 sometimes I'm like they take it okay I think it's taken a bit too seriously but obviously

00:17:51.460 it's professional sport this is like part of it but I also think it's nice to respect the

00:17:58.000 the history and the culture of something yeah but when that history is like I don't know like I

00:18:04.040 I don't know what am I trying to say I don't know so right why I'm hesitating it's because I don't

00:18:10.560 know that much about like the actual history of tennis I just know as a very sweeping generalization

00:18:16.240 it's a sport geared towards wealthy affluent people because it's a sport that actually

00:18:20.760 needs so much space to play as opposed to you know other ones um that isn't so I'm like

00:18:25.820 just feels very hoity-toity vibes interesting but I think it's yeah important to I think in a world

00:18:33.300 where certain social contracts are crumbling it's nice to be in a space with people like

00:18:41.320 respecting something like whether it is sport or culture or something or listening to someone's

00:18:47.520 speech or something like that where it's like we're all in this room together participating

00:18:51.540 in this experience as people like we went to the Oz Open recently and there was people

00:18:56.880 in the influencer like suite where we were um who were just like scrolling the whole time when they

00:19:03.120 were like players were playing and so I don't know I think it's like nice to yeah enjoy an

00:19:07.840 experience with other people and part of that is respecting it totally I do also wonder because

00:19:14.860 like attending tennis is traditionally quite again like an affluent activity I would say

00:19:20.320 if this does feel like a gatekeeper-y thing because a lot of the creators that we're talking

00:19:24.820 about the people of color it's people from backgrounds who might not have gone to tennis

00:19:29.360 traditionally so is it people wanting to kind of gatekeep and be like oh it's gonna like we want

00:19:36.060 the same type of people to go to tennis bringing it back to the general influencer discussion

00:19:40.340 there is a lot of like fatigue and frustration and eye-rolling at influencers like people don't

00:19:46.960 want them there but sometimes I gotta ask it's like well who do you want there then like what

00:19:52.600 type of people are right quote-unquote I think that's a fair question the American tennis player

00:19:57.720 Coco Goff said in a press conference I definitely think it's cool to have a new demographic and I

00:20:02.960 definitely think it helps grow the sport it could be a good thing for people to make the sport of

00:20:07.540 tennis popular to their specific audience but I think it has to be managed a lot better especially

00:20:12.080 in the situation like my first round match overall I think there are huge positives you want people

00:20:17.420 to continue to grow the sport I just think it has to be in a way that everyone knows the rules and

00:20:21.840 the etiquette yes I also want to clarify that I don't think it was cool that the influencers were

00:20:27.840 causing a ruckus during the match. It is interesting that in the US, open this year,

00:20:34.380 the official company gave accreditation to 100 content creators. And that's on top of

00:20:40.920 traditional journalists and broadcasters. That's up about 50%. Last year, they had about 50 people

00:20:47.660 come. And then when we look at Australia, we're kind of at the top of the influencer wave. So

00:20:54.920 we actually had 200 content creators at this year's Australian Open according to the Herald Sun

00:21:01.240 and there was even a creator lounge at Melbourne Park. Were we there? I think we were there.

00:21:06.940 I remember during our open season we were like it's fine everyone just calm down like now we're

00:21:12.840 having a debate because it's kind of gone a bit global but I think it's true and also when you

00:21:16.920 think influencers and content creators people have a very specific vision of what that is,

00:21:21.720 a stereotype what that is but there are a lot of content creators who make sport specific content

00:21:26.320 whose platform is social media so are you like ruling them out and they're the ones who are like

00:21:31.500 like it's their field that's I think a different conversation as well I also think like from

00:21:37.920 these organizations point of view I'm like why are you so upset upset sorry because these are

00:21:44.980 the influencers who are growing your sport who are essentially making you money who are reaching

00:21:49.060 you to new audiences that is a lot of my intake when I'm not at the Australian Open physically

00:21:54.620 I'll be like watching other people's experience on my phone and it feels like you can't have the

00:21:59.880 best of both worlds where you benefit from like content creators content but then also like

00:22:05.820 like hate them behind their backs as well so I think we're in a really weird point where there's

00:22:11.400 a lot of tension and there's always a lot of tension between like traditional media and

00:22:14.940 influences but it's like what do you want people to do you want traditional media to make content

00:22:20.080 and to like spread the word but then that doesn't apply for content creators I don't know but I

00:22:27.080 guess the issue like the reason this is in the news why we're talking about it right is the whole

00:22:30.660 like disturbance so it's like if people are going and promoting it having a time boosting the

00:22:37.480 economies of these like tennis matches whatever and the cities that they're in

00:22:41.480 but it's about like yeah being respectful maybe that's a general um issue as well because this

00:22:49.160 was a weird storyline in this year's Oz Open like um one of the tennis players had to stop the match

00:22:54.300 because she could smell someone smoking weed oh really yeah they're like it's too strong so maybe

00:22:59.020 it's a general etiquette thing but I don't know why influencers always have to be like

00:23:03.000 the poster child for that I don't know why I'm defending influencers so much I guess it's um

00:23:09.500 hit a nerve in world breaking news Australia might be the first to switch off social media

00:23:25.560 algorithms this was huge news this week yes if this passes every Australian will be able to

00:23:33.880 choose whether they want their social media content to be served under algorithms or not

00:23:39.160 and this is under a federal government proposal the labor government will seek support for an

00:23:44.520 opt-in opt-out system where your platforms like tiktok instagram facebook would be required to

00:23:50.760 send users push notifications asking them to decide if they receive recommended content

00:23:57.280 this is huge huge news i can't believe it even passed to be like well it hasn't passed but i

00:24:04.580 can't believe it's like a proposition and it's by the advocacy work from the youth-led not-for-profit

00:24:10.680 teachers consent and that is spearheaded by chanel contos who we interviewed on the podcast

00:24:15.500 a good few years ago now if you want to go back and listen to chanel's interview we'll link it

00:24:20.160 in the show notes below i agree because when i saw this news i was like what we can like ask that

00:24:24.520 yeah I was like okay like the government can ask that wow I feel I sound really dumb saying that

00:24:30.020 but sometimes I think you do forget that you can or as in like the government like can make a

00:24:36.000 difference at um in front of these massive big tech corporations sometimes it does feel hopeless

00:24:42.580 you're like well this is the app that's on my phone and I guess I have to use it that way

00:24:46.880 but I like that we're kind of switching away from that mindset and I think Australia is really

00:24:51.120 leading the charge in this like we saw the under 16 social media ban which was global news as well

00:24:56.600 and now this so it's kind of exciting to live in a country where at least the government is like

00:25:03.340 questioning things and being like well what is healthy what's not versus I don't know another

00:25:09.620 country where these tech companies are from who are just like this is the way it is and it's like

00:25:14.840 very authoritarianism and I'm so just I feel very proud that teachers consent were behind this

00:25:20.700 will read out some of their Instagram posts announcing this.

00:25:24.380 In December 2025, we launched the hashtag Fix Our Feeds campaign

00:25:29.000 in response to social media algorithms

00:25:31.240 systematically pushing extreme misogynistic content

00:25:34.580 to young men and boys.

00:25:36.900 After mammoth community support and months of steady campaigning,

00:25:40.720 the Albanese government committed to the policy ask

00:25:43.400 behind the campaign, bringing opt-in algorithms

00:25:46.380 to social media platforms.

00:25:47.880 the specifics and detail of the legislation which we're yet to see will determine its success

00:25:54.300 so yeah i don't want to be like go government like you rock like this is a great first step

00:26:00.220 but we'll actually see how it's rolled out and if it is the communications minister annika wells

00:26:05.400 made an interesting point which i kind of did think as well when i saw the headline

00:26:09.680 which is that many australians do appreciate the algorithm and will want to keep it

00:26:14.120 and she argues that big tech should offer people the choice in the first place but I do think that

00:26:20.140 are you can tweak it I got a push notification the other day like when I was in Instagram using

00:26:25.440 the app it was like your algorithm is like this and I had all these little tags it was like

00:26:29.380 eldest daughter like all these like algorithm things that I know I'm on those certain algorithms

00:26:34.160 and I could like remove things or add things so it gave me like a little kind of are you happy

00:26:40.180 with this moment which I thought was interesting but I am a little devil's advocate with the

00:26:46.580 algorithm sometimes I totally understand the harm I totally understand why it's targeting you know

00:26:52.440 right-wing content it's targeting young boys with really misogynistic content but I appreciate my

00:26:57.920 personal algorithm I know it's an echo chamber I know like when we talk about trends on the podcast

00:27:02.380 we're like it's trending and some people probably listening are like I've never seen this or heard

00:27:06.200 of this so I understand the issues with it but I think it's really nice when you get served

00:27:12.360 something that's like exactly what you're going through it kind of freaks you out a bit but it's

00:27:16.820 also like whoa like my digital habits are so transparent and like what I'm talking about with

00:27:22.680 my friends and I'm understand that's like surveillance state stuff but something in me

00:27:27.420 makes I don't know it's like when you're served when your friend is like oh this is so you and

00:27:32.840 you're like I am someone no I completely hear you because it's a bit of me which is like oh it will

00:27:41.200 feel weird saying goodbye to that algorithm I'm so used to it like it's a good companion kind of

00:27:46.120 like what you're saying yes I love when you get like house oh I get like house interiors and I

00:27:52.800 start following people who I never would have found without the algorithm um who are making

00:27:57.620 really good content or who are making cool things yeah I do wonder it does remind me of that

00:28:04.960 argument where people who are for algorithms are like no I love um how how do they say it like I

00:28:11.400 love targeted ads because then I will like I'll buy what they serve me like that's what I want

00:28:15.340 right and it is this push and pull of like convenience versus I don't want to say friction

00:28:20.800 but convenience versus perhaps finding things yourself and like I'm like for instance I like

00:28:28.160 I use Spotify a lot I use their day list which is their like algorithm driven playlists that

00:28:33.800 refresh every few hours like I use that a lot and I'm someone who's like spoken out against

00:28:38.460 that sort of music algorithm so it's like a bit it feels like it's a it's like a test a challenge

00:28:46.880 like if I was to turn it off and you can toggle it I think that's the thing that they're kind of

00:28:51.120 saying those push notifications will be served like regularly it's not like a once off that's

00:28:56.060 good um I do miss seeing my friends post yeah I'm like my friends not posting like people who

00:29:02.280 aren't content creators in the space are they just not posting or am I genuinely just not seeing

00:29:07.040 people's stuff because it's buried by like things that the algorithm likes yes and I'm also just

00:29:13.300 thinking um and i guess this is from my perspective as a content creator but also um in many ways the

00:29:19.360 algorithm can um prioritize my content in some ways but also not in other ways like we know 0.80

00:29:24.720 traditionally it's like thin white um non-disabled bodies are the ones that get pushed up so it's

00:29:30.580 like i wonder how this will affect um like just sorry selfishly like my content you know yeah um

00:29:37.200 people who work in social media more generally as well, it would be a massive change. I can't

00:29:44.000 tell if that's for the better or worse though. So Jaz and I were actually on a little girl's

00:29:57.780 trip up in Cairns recently with our friend Ali Daisy King, who is also in the media space.

00:30:02.680 and I felt so behind in the algorithm speaking of because there was this name that you guys

00:30:10.080 were talking about I was like who is this Stella Lefty like what is that name yeah Ali and I were

00:30:16.100 both shocked that you hadn't heard of Stella Lefty and I know there'll be some listeners who'll be

00:30:21.120 like Maggie as if you haven't and others being like who yeah so I'm standing in for the who

00:30:25.980 stella lefty whose real name is stella lefkowski is a 24 year old singer from illinois in the u.s

00:30:33.820 and her country pop song boston has gone super bonkers viral and as a result it's brought a lot

00:30:39.620 of attention to a couple of things people have quickly discovered that her most popular song

00:30:44.880 boston sounds a lot like stick season by noah khan and secondly that her father is a multi

00:30:52.340 billionaire. According to Forbes, his net worth is around $4.8 billion US dollars,

00:30:58.300 which makes him one of the 1,000th richest people in the whole world.

00:31:04.000 Wow. Yeah, he is the founder of Groupon. That's massive. Yeah. So this is kind of what I

00:31:11.440 understood from your conversation. So this is like Nepo pop star that isn't very good, 1.00

00:31:18.340 or like people are like confused about where they stand on her there's plagiarism allegations like

00:31:23.520 you just said that's kind of what I understood about her I knew she was like this nepo pop star

00:31:28.500 and that people weren't like big fans of her I know you're saying that one of her songs has

00:31:32.900 gone super viral but I heard like plagiarism allegations like you said and then also I saw

00:31:38.840 a live performance of her on TikTok and like apparently her microphone was like pitch correcting

00:31:43.820 and people were like and it was giving like bad karaoke that was a cover of the song i should say

00:31:49.560 yeah so the plagiarism is probably the biggest criticism of her at the moment putting aside

00:31:55.540 being a serious nepo child so noah khan's team actually reached out to stella about the

00:32:01.640 similarities between boston and stick season and stella then retroactively gave noah a writing

00:32:07.340 credit on the song which is super interesting but then she told vanity fair quote when i was

00:32:11.900 writing the song i wasn't thinking about noah khan i was literally thinking about nothing at all

00:32:16.540 i don't want to say sorry i don't want to step on anybody's toes so i'm like if this sounds like

00:32:22.460 that whatever all good that would that statement could have been fine but clearly she's a fan of

00:32:29.920 noah and this song because listeners were quick to point out that she has covered publicly

00:32:34.440 stick season dozens of times online like dozens dozens of times so this you know made people be

00:32:42.960 like girl like clearly you maybe you listen to that song so much that it was subconsciously in

00:32:48.960 your you know psyche and then you made a song that sounds similar but it really does sound

00:32:53.560 like stick season this then led people to point out other similarities in her songs so a few of

00:32:59.460 the most kind of popular at the moment are Misery, which allegedly sounds like A Million Dreams from

00:33:05.980 The Greatest Showman soundtrack. Why Wouldn't We has been heavily compared to Blake Shelton's

00:33:11.420 I'll Name the Dogs. That one for me will like link in the show notes, the TikTok that like

00:33:15.860 compares the two. That for me was like the most obvious, like, oh my gosh, this is a direct

00:33:19.940 hit. And also what the lyrics are about are similar as well. They're both about like domestic

00:33:25.720 duties then some of you are mine has an approved interpolation which means that it reworks a

00:33:31.500 recognizable element of a song but it's not a direct sample of part of a song the interpolation

00:33:37.020 is of the chicks there's your trouble so at least her team acknowledged the similarities of those

00:33:42.620 two interestingly as well in the song 7-eleven the first kind of bit of the chorus sounds like 0.94

00:33:48.700 teenage dirtbags like her name was joelle that's what it sounds like and in a video for the song 1.00

00:33:54.160 where she's promoting it in TikTok she wears a shirt that says my lawyer can beat up your lawyer

00:33:59.460 which to me I'm like that is playing into these kind of allegations of plagiarism if it's like

00:34:06.420 all right come for me artists like my lawyer can beat up your lawyer if you accuse me of

00:34:10.880 plagiarism it just feels like a weird rocky start to build your musical career on I think for me

00:34:17.960 the quote I keep getting back to is like I was literally thinking about nothing at all in

00:34:23.120 reference to her songwriting I mean one of the lyrics is I like it when you're nice to me and

00:34:29.400 some people have been like yeah the bar is on the floor I like it when you're like when you're nice

00:34:34.260 to me okay sure but you know people are being critical we're probably on the side of the

00:34:38.500 internet that's being a little bit more yeah critical of Stella but she's really really

00:34:44.580 popular her monthly listeners on Spotify have doubled to 15 million in May I'm sure that's

00:34:49.880 up even more now boston is climbing in the hot 100 and she nabbed two vma nominations whoa and

00:34:56.900 released an album so she's had a big year and i think that's where people are coming back to the

00:35:01.920 nepotism thing of if you have the resource to you know get in a studio and make an album right like

00:35:09.420 has she been gigging around has she like played little dive bars probably not she's gone straight 1.00

00:35:14.260 to like number one basically. Kelsey Weekman for Yahoo said this is a massive summer for someone

00:35:20.640 who wasn't signed by major label until earlier this year. This all happened in 10 months. She

00:35:26.900 was signed by the label in 10 months and now is like dominating the charts. I think it would be

00:35:31.880 interesting to know how far she would have gotten if her father wasn't one of the 1000th richest

00:35:37.200 people in the world. Totally. She's actually going to be in Australia next month. She's got a few

00:35:42.680 gigs around and i'll be curious to see if she does any local interviews as well and how she's

00:35:47.840 perceived here where is she playing in melbourne in um other howler in brunswick okay that's like

00:35:53.040 a smaller yeah smaller venue yeah not straight to rod labor arena no yeah and i don't want to be

00:35:58.840 like tearing down women and young women who are like trying to follow their dreams you can't

00:36:06.040 choose who your parents are but i think that's why people are being very critical of her which i think

00:36:11.700 in this world that we're living in at the moment with tech oligarchs etc I think it's valid

00:36:17.900 criticism and I hope that she proves them wrong and us wrong and you know shows that she cares

00:36:25.560 about her songwriting and cares about her career and artistry. I think for me as someone who

00:36:30.780 actually hasn't listened to her music okay so have that on the record but I just have not much time

00:36:36.620 for someone like this who yet doesn't care who has actually just said really with her quotes that

00:36:40.840 She doesn't care about songwriting.

00:36:42.640 There are so many other talented, hardworking people in the music industry

00:36:47.180 who are trying to make it, who I just prefer to give my time to.

00:36:51.340 Yeah.

00:36:51.760 As a quick correction as well, her Melbourne venue was upgraded

00:36:54.380 to the Prince Band Room in St Kilda.

00:36:57.120 Okay.

00:36:57.860 I'd say that's like middle.

00:36:59.120 Okay, still kind of a medium-sized venue for Melbourne,

00:37:03.540 not straight to the stadiums, which is a good sign.

00:37:06.940 The Guardian actually gave her a pretty scathing review recently.

00:37:10.840 her new album they give everything a scathing review like they gave her two out of five stars

00:37:15.040 not that bad honestly honestly with their metric but the headline was pretty rough yeah boston

00:37:22.140 singer's debut is bland boilerplate and beyond banal i want to read some laura snapes writes

00:37:28.260 it's hard to tell what her usp is her huge hit boston sad so much like noah khan's stick season

00:37:34.420 that she had to add a retrospective credit her writing has none of his introspection or regional

00:37:39.220 specifics nor the wry country literacy of a close competitor ella langley in lefty songs she's often

00:37:46.140 catching some guy's eye at the bar maybe they get together but then she runs because she always does

00:37:51.840 but maybe this time she doesn't she knows it's good when he's nice to her or they look good in

00:37:57.060 photos props whiskey neon lights bar stools it's relatable right right it's wallpaper for made for

00:38:05.500 Netflix movies, beach bars and get ready with me videos. All in all, she's a fine inheritor of the

00:38:11.640 knockdown family business. Ouch. I feel like that kind of encapsulates like all of the criticism 1.00

00:38:17.980 that she's been getting. Like it talks about her songwriting, it talks about the plagiarism and it

00:38:21.860 talks about the nepotism in like one big paragraph. Interested to see where she goes from here

00:38:27.420 because clearly she's got heaps of fans. Her US store is sold out and she's charting and her songs

00:38:33.300 are freaking catchy. When we were in Cairns, I kept walking around the hotel singing the chorus

00:38:37.100 of Boston. Like once we'd finished talking about it, it really is an earworm. So we'll have to see.

00:38:52.820 Maggie, it's time for Bookmarked. What have you loved watching, reading, or listening to

00:38:56.980 this week? I've got a TV show recommendation that people might have heard of, Sterling Point.

00:39:03.300 uh this is a prime video um tv show and i remember like what it came out at the start of august and

00:39:10.080 i heard buzz about it but loki i was like oh is this for me i don't know what it's about i was

00:39:14.420 like is this another sport like an ice hockey show which i do love but i was like i don't know

00:39:19.180 if i need another ice hockey show right now it is not that friends and while we were in cans we

00:39:24.660 watched the first episode together and essentially very top line it follows a 17 year old called

00:39:31.100 annie jacobson she's raised in new york with her twin brother um and then like family drama

00:39:37.680 comes to the surface and she ends up exploring this beautiful canadian island and um meets a

00:39:46.620 bunch of people that is so vague i just feel like it's best you don't know but it's essentially like

00:39:52.120 a family drama but what i loved so much about this show is how very real and gen z the writing felt

00:40:00.400 like I said I stopped myself at real because this is a very unbelievable show it's very like

00:40:06.080 soap opera almost in some ways and they're like a very rich people in this cast but there's

00:40:13.280 something about like the quirks of Gen Z writing and humor and friendships that felt really nice

00:40:20.560 and relatable and nice to see on screen shout out to Ella Rubin who is a main actress she is just so

00:40:26.860 stunning shout out to her face um she plays anne hathaway's daughter in the idea of you that pop

00:40:33.900 star that's where she's from we yeah we obviously watched first episode together and i didn't

00:40:39.980 recognize her yeah and then her brother is played by mark ruffalo's son who mark ruffalo is one of

00:40:46.820 my favorites so that's really cool um to be honest i've got one episode left to go i preferred the

00:40:53.680 first half of the series i think he was more fun when he was more like upbeat and fun and now it's

00:40:59.160 more like serious soap okay but it's still good like i still i still really like it and it was

00:41:04.340 written by megan park right yes we love that and it was an original um tv premise not like from a

00:41:11.760 book thank you which is great what about you what are you recommending today i'm recommending the

00:41:17.380 movie, Tony, which is an A24 movie about Anthony Bourdain. And it's just one summer where he is

00:41:24.260 out of high school and about to start college. It's a coming of age movie and it was written

00:41:28.640 and directed by Matthew Johnson. And it took me by surprise because got invited, brought Laurie

00:41:36.240 along. I have seen a few of Anthony's documentaries. I haven't read his books yet.

00:41:42.660 Laurie has them at home though he has like four Anthony Baudin books so I knew his legacy I knew

00:41:48.660 his like mysticism as well he's obviously a legend but I hadn't really like deep dove into

00:41:55.520 anything and I thought Tony would be more I didn't realize it was only about one specific summer I

00:42:01.100 thought it'd be more about his early career but I also like the fact that it's just an you know

00:42:06.140 two hours of this one summer story so a little about the plot it's 1976 and the 19 year old

00:42:12.840 Anthony Bourdain who's then known as Tony he wants to become a professional writer but he

00:42:18.220 fails to get into the college's writing fellowship so he follows a girl down to Massachusetts

00:42:24.180 Provincetown and when things kind of take a turn he gets a job as a kitchen hand in a Cape Cod

00:42:32.140 restaurant he learns under the tutelage of Ciro who's a Brazilian born chef and restaurateur he

00:42:37.860 is played by Antonio Banderas such a beautiful performance amazing like definitely the highlight

00:42:43.820 of the movie for me oh hell yeah definitely the highlight because he's getting older now and like

00:42:48.600 I don't know he was getting like dad granddad energy in that movie and it just like breaks

00:42:53.660 your heart a little bit but it's a really really great story Anthony is played by Dominic Sessa

00:42:58.680 and then it also stars Leo Woodall as his kind of like I guess sidekick someone who leads him down

00:43:06.140 a different path character but all in all I would highly recommend it not even if you're an Anthony

00:43:12.520 fan like obviously if you're a fan watch it but if you just want to watch a good movie like you

00:43:17.560 don't need to know everything about him to understand the premise and it starts off with

00:43:23.940 the quote which i think sums up the thesis of the movie which is from anthony's book kitchen

00:43:28.780 confidential which was released in 2000 and it says i was to be frank a spoiled miserable 0.98

00:43:35.180 narcissistic self-destructive and thoughtless young lout and badly in need of a good ass kicking 0.94

00:43:40.780 so that is that comes up on the screen at the start and it's definitely like the thesis so 0.98

00:43:46.540 there you go i've been really wanting to watch this like at the cinema it's one of it's high

00:43:52.240 on my list right now

00:43:53.180 and I'd only really

00:43:54.480 seen the poster

00:43:55.100 and for some reason

00:43:55.900 he kept looking like

00:43:56.660 somber to me

00:43:57.560 yeah I do

00:43:58.580 you see that

00:43:59.340 I see that

00:43:59.880 and at first I was like

00:44:01.120 oh it's a big job

00:44:02.540 to play such like

00:44:03.500 a legendary character

00:44:04.560 like Anthony Bourdain

00:44:05.560 but in the end

00:44:07.000 I was like yeah

00:44:07.980 that it got me

00:44:09.080 like I think

00:44:10.020 Dominic did a really

00:44:10.920 good job

00:44:11.300 that brings us to

00:44:12.120 the end of the episode

00:44:13.280 thank you listeners

00:44:14.420 for tuning in today

00:44:15.560 we have really enjoyed

00:44:16.860 having you here

00:44:17.600 if you want more

00:44:18.500 Culture Club

00:44:19.020 you can follow us

00:44:19.660 on Substack

00:44:20.540 maybe leave us

00:44:21.400 a rate and review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And of course, follow us on TikTok and Instagram

00:44:26.760 as well. See you next time. Bye.

Culture Club - September 14, 2026

Opt-In Algorithms, Wimbledon Bans Influencers & Stella Lefty, Pop’s New Nepo Baby

Episode Stats

Transcript