Culture Club - Traylor's Proposal, AFL's First Queer Player & Should Celebs Promote Weight Loss Meds？

00:00:00.000 The engagement of the decade, AFL's first openly queer player, and Serena Williams'

00:00:11.980 controversial ambassadorship for weight loss drugs.

00:00:15.280 I'm Maggie Zhao.

00:00:16.560 And I'm Jasmine Wallace.

00:00:17.920 And you're listening to Culture Club, where we chat about pop culture, current affairs,

00:00:22.340 the internet and our lives.

00:00:23.880 Today we're on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nations

00:00:31.900 We would like to pay our respects to Elders past and present

00:00:35.680 and extend this to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander listeners today

00:00:40.000 We are back in the studio and back for a pop culture episode

00:00:47.700 It feels like it's been so long

00:00:50.060 Well of course, last week we were on your hands Jazz

00:00:53.780 in Bali I still can't get over it it does feel like a dream now that we're back it actually feels

00:00:58.500 like a dream I feel like everyone says that when they go on holiday but this genuinely feels like

00:01:02.680 a dream it feels like for just a week I was asleep and like in this tropical paradise it was so so

00:01:08.600 lovely did you have the best time it did it was like exceeded my expectations so if listeners

00:01:14.880 listen to my solo wedding ep I shared that we were going to Bali and I was so grateful to have

00:01:22.040 friends who basically convinced me to go to Bali because I was like, let's just go for a weekend

00:01:27.020 away within Australia somewhere. And it was like, well, we could do that. Or like we could go to

00:01:32.800 Bali for like basically a little bit more money for a week. So it was really nice to have that

00:01:37.520 like space and time and actually have a holiday. I don't know if I've ever had a holiday where

00:01:41.920 it's been like kind of resort style or just like hanging out. Like there was a little bit of like

00:01:48.180 markets and like sightseeing but it wasn't really like we're doing cultural like things every single

00:01:52.980 day it was a little mix and match um and quality time with friends always fills the cup yeah I

00:01:59.120 went in because it was like such a hectic period beforehand I will share as well I actually quit

00:02:03.380 my job yes a lot wait wait let's get to that soon but I just want to dig more into the Bali trip

00:02:10.860 because give me a highlight like what was your favorite kind of day or activity

00:02:15.320 all of it that's such a cop-out to say but I was lucky enough to have like an actual hen's day

00:02:23.000 so it was on the Tuesday our first full day with like all the girls my friend Paris was like she

00:02:29.020 knows you so well she's like oh do you want to just get a coffee I heard you've been waking up

00:02:31.660 early since you've been here let's go get a coffee together and I dead said didn't think anything of

00:02:35.320 it like I knew there would be one hen's day I was like oh yeah that's nice she's like I want some

00:02:38.980 quality time with you and then got coffee but then I came back and opened the door to our villa we

00:02:44.280 staying in and you were like no no no like we're not ready yet and uh yeah I got walked to the room

00:02:50.520 and then when I came out you guys had like decorated everything with streamers and there

00:02:55.840 was like scrapbooking supplies and breakfast like hated breakfast it felt like a dream and like

00:03:03.120 yeah I was so overwhelmed I still feel so overwhelmed by just like the love and care

00:03:09.420 that went into it I shed a few tears multiple times across the week just being like I'm so

00:03:13.660 lucky to have seven friends who would like do this like go out of their way and share their

00:03:19.700 love languages in different ways so I think that like is the overarching highlight but then just

00:03:24.460 like being in a different culture like I've never been to Asia before staying in Ubud in the like

00:03:29.440 right in the center for the first couple of days as well was really cool to you know see monkeys

00:03:34.460 just like in the street and we went to this amazing yoga class like 90 minute vinyasa flow

00:03:39.380 I was kind of like living up to a few stereotypes but it was really fun to just like embrace that

00:03:44.000 and yeah I mean it's funny because I don't know if you know how much thought was put into like

00:03:51.360 small things about the planning right so when you're like Paris like took me out um for coffee

00:03:56.240 like unexpectedly we had like a group discussion about that the day before and then even when you're

00:04:00.500 like when I came back there were streamers we had discussions being like okay should we just

00:04:04.320 surprise her with like the streamers and the breakfast now or should we put the scrapbooking

00:04:07.460 supplies out as well and then like you know your sister was like I think we should wait for that

00:04:11.920 later on like don't want to overwhelm her and we planned like every single thing and it was so

00:04:18.220 lovely it was a group of eight of us all together and it was just so fun god I miss those massages

00:04:24.440 oh my god yeah massages like I wanted to do it every day but I think I ended up doing it every

00:04:29.440 second day I could feel the love I think on the last night we went around the table so wholesome

00:04:35.740 went around the table did like the whole what's it called rose uh thorn bud and then we also do

00:04:41.760 sexy gardener which is something unexpected we're doing all that and then when i did mine

00:04:48.020 i started blubbing being like i know like this isn't everyone's love language to do these like

00:04:53.820 acts of service but i can see like all the effort that went into it and all of you guys like didn't

00:04:59.440 like most people knew each other but not everyone is like best friends it's not like we're a group

00:05:03.440 from high school or something so that was very very special and I feel very loved and very rested

00:05:08.360 and relaxed um even though we're like back to rainy Melbourne relaxed but you've also as you

00:05:15.080 just mentioned started a new job so can you give us a little bit of info on that I quit my job back

00:05:21.260 in July it's been a long time coming so I was at pedestrian for four years as a few of you may know

00:05:28.040 and I'll be honest like on the mic I was people managing for the last 12 months so that means

00:05:36.420 that I was leading like the branded content team at Pedestrian I had four staff in my team and it

00:05:43.080 was a really good experience and I kind of like naturally progressed into that role 12 months ago

00:05:47.400 but I think over the past few months I was like I really miss like the writing and the creating

00:05:53.120 and being the person on the tool still rather than the person just overseeing stuff yeah yeah

00:05:58.220 I decided to quit it was a long time coming but I am now freelance which is crazy to say

00:06:04.300 but freelance with a contract um at another media company called Vinyl and so they represent um

00:06:13.340 they publish I should say Vinyl 29 Australia, Rolling Stone Australia, New Zealand, Variety

00:06:19.320 Australia concrete playground and a few more but those are the ones I'll be working across so going

00:06:24.360 back to the beloved refinery 29 which is crazy amazing so we're doing that and then that also

00:06:28.920 means more time for the podcast more time for writing for other publications as well which I'm

00:06:33.180 super excited to get back into like pitching and writing features and writing stuff that isn't

00:06:37.480 branded because like I kind of fell into that role um but I do miss like organic writing so

00:06:44.220 yeah career update career update she's updated the linkedin give it the support button smash

00:06:51.740 that support button follow me on linkedin and you've also been traveling as well i feel like

00:06:58.720 every time we're in person in studio we're like okay where have you been but you were in vietnam

00:07:03.600 yes i was in vietnam for 12 days before your hands and genuinely had the best time i think

00:07:09.280 that's definitely one of my favorite countries I've visited I just had the time of my life I

00:07:14.700 actually went with Intrepid so it was a gifted trip but it wasn't sponsored and it was a southbound

00:07:19.700 tour of Vietnam and it's actually the most popular tour and I get it now I just think it's like such

00:07:25.840 a good mix I got like a good dose of like culture of like adventure of like the local living just

00:07:32.500 everything it was so fun so I really want to go back already which is so silly but yeah I had like

00:07:38.820 the best time there. Yeah. And what do you recommend the most? Oh, like which city I went

00:07:45.080 to or something? Yeah. Like if someone was going to do a trip to Vietnam, what would you recommend?

00:07:48.280 Oh, I find that so hard. I actually think because I love the experience of being like up north in

00:07:53.640 the centre and south of the country. And I think definitely get a feel of all the different parts

00:08:00.440 because it's so varied and they have such a complex history as well. So it was really

00:08:05.220 interesting to learn more about that and the impact of like the US and the Vietnam War and

00:08:09.880 yeah the food was probably like my favorite thing as well it's so well there um but yeah I love it

00:08:16.200 and it's pretty close to Australia so how long's the flight like nine-ish hours okay so yeah not

00:08:22.640 too bad not too bad well that's our little catch-up we should get into some pop culture news

00:08:27.540 we were publishing a few of our interviews which was super exciting to have that some of those

00:08:33.740 names on the pod. So if you want to catch up, we interviewed Jessica Mowboy and Indie Yelich,

00:08:39.840 who's also a singer-songwriter. So catch up on those if you haven't,

00:08:43.800 but we're going to do some pop culture news.

00:08:48.900 Now it's time for Culture Quickie, where we run through some of the biggest news stories

00:08:52.980 of the week, starting with Sabrina Carpenter's new album, which has dropped the morning of our

00:08:59.220 record. I have listened to this three times this morning. I was just driving here. I was like

00:09:03.980 getting all, yeah, I'm like playing in my head right now. It's so catchy.

00:09:07.560 Oh my God. Yes. Well, Man's Best Friend has dropped. And of course this is an album that's

00:09:12.420 probably garnered the most controversy even before it launched because of its album art.

00:09:18.280 I love this interview she gave with Gayle King, famously Gayle King back on earth,

00:09:23.140 Gayle King, a day before the album dropped. She said, the album is not for any pearl clutches.

00:09:29.220 Yeah. And I felt that. I started listening to Tears.

00:09:31.880 Yeah. Some of these words.

00:09:33.740 The second song on the album because Manchild was first.

00:09:37.480 I was like, yeah, I've been there, done that. Let's listen to Tears.

00:09:39.660 I was like, oh, this is so funky.

00:09:40.900 Like, yep, she's saying like she loves men who respect her.

00:09:44.520 She loves men who are organized and responsible.

00:09:46.680 The chorus lyric is, and tears run down my thighs.

00:09:50.120 I was like, oh, okay. Okay, Sabrina, here we go.

00:09:53.060 Yep, we are strapped in.

00:09:54.760 What is your favorite song so far?

00:09:56.080 I would guess, but like I just feel like I haven't listened to it enough to guess yours.

00:09:58.760 I feel like that's quite tough to get straight away.

00:10:01.220 There's a standout for me that I'm like, oh, after listening to it like twice,

00:10:04.560 I'm like, oh, I want to listen to that again.

00:10:05.840 Like it was an instant save.

00:10:07.220 House tour.

00:10:07.940 Yes.

00:10:08.320 Me too.

00:10:09.160 So good, right?

00:10:10.320 So fun.

00:10:11.300 I love the production on it.

00:10:13.060 Agreed.

00:10:13.460 It was so fun.

00:10:14.220 I feel like this album feels really like in line with her evolution.

00:10:19.100 And there's like, she's playing with a lot of different styles,

00:10:21.000 like disco, country.

00:10:23.620 Like straight up bubblegum pop as well.

00:10:25.640 100%.

00:10:26.080 So, like, some songs were giving me, like, Ariana Grande,

00:10:28.880 other songs, Dua Lipa, other songs, Miley, and Lana even.

00:10:33.040 Ooh, really?

00:10:34.480 I couldn't remember which one.

00:10:35.500 There was definitely a song that reminded me of Lana.

00:10:37.520 There's a lot of samples as well.

00:10:39.980 I really want someone to do an article on, like,

00:10:41.560 all the little samples.

00:10:42.960 There was definitely, like, a Janet Jackson one that I identified.

00:10:45.680 But, yeah, it's a really well-produced album, I think.

00:10:49.480 But I do feel like it is just, like, short and sweet part two in a way.

00:10:53.260 Which I guess it technically is.

00:10:54.960 but I don't know if it has the lyrical gravitas that emails I couldn't send.

00:11:02.260 Yeah, that's still my favourite.

00:11:04.460 That's still my favourite.

00:11:06.380 But it's really fun.

00:11:08.320 I think there's going to be lots of hits from it.

00:11:10.260 So first impressions are good.

00:11:12.380 The first listen through I was a little bit disappointed to be honest

00:11:14.960 but now I listen to it again and again I'm like, okay, yeah,

00:11:17.520 there's some standouts for sure.

00:11:19.300 Speaking about new music from artists I love that I might have been

00:11:22.720 a little bit disappointed by.

00:11:24.200 Yeah.

00:11:24.500 Leve's new album.

00:11:26.140 I can't believe you're saying that.

00:11:27.540 Really?

00:11:28.300 Okay, I need to keep listening.

00:11:29.600 Her new album, A Moment in Time, has come out.

00:11:32.660 I'm a big Leve fan.

00:11:33.880 For those who don't know, she's like an Icelandic jazz pop singer,

00:11:37.120 songwriter, musician, and you really like the album?

00:11:41.640 No, I just, I haven't listened to it enough,

00:11:43.280 but like I know that you're a huge fan.

00:11:45.220 And also I would like to clarify, it's called A Matter of Time,

00:11:47.860 not A Moment.

00:11:48.900 Yeah, some of the songs felt almost too like Disney-ish

00:11:51.880 And I feel like she might be pandering to a younger teen audience

00:11:56.300 with some of, like, the balladness of it.

00:12:00.140 But anyway, this might be way too undercooked of a take

00:12:03.780 to be putting on mine, but I am.

00:12:05.380 So I'm going to keep listening because obviously I'm a massive fan of her.

00:12:09.280 Well, she has such a huge, like, young demographic

00:12:12.440 when we saw her in Melbourne.

00:12:13.900 We were like, whoa.

00:12:15.600 We were like, oh, like the Crypt Keepers.

00:12:17.980 And they all had their little bows in as well, which was super cute.

00:12:21.440 I listened to one song yesterday and I liked it,

00:12:23.200 but I was also working at the same time, so I wasn't fully listening.

00:12:26.100 I'll listen to it on the drive home.

00:12:27.540 Also, I mean, this is a positive, but it's so inspired by Taylor Swift.

00:12:32.680 You can tell when I was listening to it with Tom,

00:12:34.580 he thought it was Taylor.

00:12:35.360 No way.

00:12:35.660 Some of the songs, yeah.

00:12:37.380 Wow.

00:12:38.160 Next up on our culture quickie is that Harry Styles

00:12:41.520 and Zoe Kravitz were spotted arm in arm together in Rome.

00:12:45.400 I am so mad about this.

00:12:46.860 Tell me why.

00:12:47.680 Like mad, proud mad.

00:12:50.020 also like how can someone be so beautiful and have all these amazing men like I'm just jealous

00:12:58.640 I'm sorry I'm just jealous of I literally was like who's she gonna say because this

00:13:02.740 sentence applies to both of them it just feels like what was it the tweet that was like this

00:13:08.180 is the greed they spoke about in the bible like get it girl get it but yeah this is kind of crazy

00:13:14.960 She was engaged to Channing Tatum and then it was speculated

00:13:18.340 that she was with Austin Butler because they're co-starring

00:13:21.220 in a movie but, like, is that kind of debunked now

00:13:24.000 because it's like, oh, they're co-stars.

00:13:25.400 Well, I don't know about this.

00:13:26.400 So you're right.

00:13:27.240 So they're starring in a movie together.

00:13:28.860 It is called Court Stealing.

00:13:30.900 And literally a week ago her and Austin were spotted, like,

00:13:35.460 cozying up in a Parisian bar together and the pics looked pretty intimate, right?

00:13:40.120 Like they looked like they were kind of, like, drunk

00:13:41.560 and, like, it didn't look like a PAP, like, planned PR moment.

00:13:47.440 Less than a week later, she spotted arm in arm.

00:13:50.140 And arm in arm, is that, like, holding hands or linking arms?

00:13:52.720 They're, like, linking-ish, right?

00:13:54.160 Because last night at the event, you and I were linking arms

00:13:56.300 and, like, imagine if that was PAP, like, you know,

00:13:59.060 like what I mean is, like, platonic friends can also do that.

00:14:01.980 That's true.

00:14:02.800 But, yeah, I've looked at the photos again, fact check.

00:14:05.700 Like, she's, like, holding onto his, like, full arm.

00:14:08.080 Like, that's pretty, that's pretty cut-believe.

00:14:11.080 Yeah.

00:14:11.920 I don't know.

00:14:12.460 I don't know what to believe.

00:14:14.160 Me either.

00:14:14.820 All I know is Harry Styles needs to like get back behind the microphone.

00:14:18.640 I'm over it.

00:14:19.560 He's spotting.

00:14:20.340 He's just been spotted with many women this year.

00:14:23.800 Last relationship we have kind of confirmed was that back in May 2024,

00:14:28.480 he broke up with Taylor Russell.

00:14:30.660 That was according to people.

00:14:32.460 And they'd been together for like under a year.

00:14:34.360 Yeah.

00:14:35.020 That was the last like confirmed.

00:14:36.440 And then we saw the kiss at Glastonbury.

00:14:37.900 I know.

00:14:38.280 Oh, my God.

00:14:38.640 this, this podcast is literally like a Harry Styles, like HQ fan. Like where is he update

00:14:44.960 podcast now? In our next culture quickie, we will not be breaking this news to anybody listening.

00:14:51.540 Like you would have to have been offline for the last week to not know this. But of course,

00:14:56.480 Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey are officially engaged. Okay. This news is wild because I woke

00:15:02.480 up to this it like from a message from a group chat and then I was like and then I was like I

00:15:08.540 woke up Tom and I was like it's happened I was like Taylor Travis I couldn't even get the words

00:15:12.980 out if I felt like I think I saw a tweet like this was like I felt like I was ringing a bell

00:15:17.320 through the town town square being like citizens like it's happened the marriage has happened

00:15:23.000 truly it was like Beauty and the Beast or something like they're getting married I had a

00:15:27.300 similar thing Laurie had like gotten up he was like making us coffee and do like getting ready

00:15:32.240 for work and I was snoozing away in bed and then I checked my phone obviously first thing go on

00:15:37.300 Instagram and I saw it and I said to Laurie oh Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey are engaged he's

00:15:41.720 like yeah I saw but I didn't want to wake you up I was like you should have woken me up it was like

00:15:47.120 it didn't even feel real it was just like I don't know and like the first thing as well like your

00:15:51.580 eyes are still blurry and you're like what flowers Travis Kelsey is like kneeling on the ground

00:15:55.500 but it was uh very beautiful and it turns out that those photos and the engagement happened

00:16:03.240 after the taylor swift travis kelsey podcast i saw that but i hate that why what i saw about that

00:16:10.400 was like oh my god her hair is dented from her podcast mic the headphones that she was wearing

00:16:15.260 there was like a little dent in her hair what so sorry they filmed a podcast together and then he

00:16:21.820 like took her out to the garden and proposed. So Travis Kelsey's dad, Ed Kelsey, told a news source

00:16:28.400 that the proposal was, oh, maybe two weeks ago, not quite two weeks ago. He was going to put it

00:16:34.480 off till this week. I think she was getting a little antsy, but then they're about to go out

00:16:39.740 to dinner and he said, let's go out and have a glass of wine. They got out there and that's when

00:16:44.320 he asked her and it was beautiful. So apparently, you know, the timing of it, people are saying that

00:16:50.040 it was after the podcast and when I saw the hair thing as well I was like come on guys like surely

00:16:56.000 her hair is just like a little bit indented but yeah his dad confirmed that it was like two weeks

00:17:00.320 ago which was like around the time of the podcast. I just feel like that's so funny like recording a

00:17:04.360 podcast to get them like babe let me take you to the garden and then the proposal happens but

00:17:09.360 anyway I thought it was actually a really cute caption until I saw everyone else ripping it

00:17:14.400 apart so the caption is your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married and I was

00:17:18.880 like oh that's cute and then nobody likes that actually actually it's an incorrect opinion of

00:17:25.940 mine it's just taylor right which is very like millennial and like that's what people love about

00:17:32.080 her she's cringe and she embraces it it's not even that cringe but i love people pointing out being

00:17:37.460 like wait she doesn't even refer to herself as like the music teacher yeah it's the lyrics but

00:17:42.800 why do i feel like that's a caption that you would put if you got engaged like something cute like

00:17:47.260 that yeah i don't mind i'm like that's cute to me like not like we want to announce that we're

00:17:51.580 getting engaged it would be something like yeah yeah besties getting a game or something like

00:17:55.680 cute like that yeah no i agree it was cute at the time of recording the post has received 33.8

00:18:01.340 million likes does that seem low to you that's like just a little bit more than the population

00:18:07.320 of australia i mean when we get into like millions in terms of numbers it all means nothing to me

00:18:12.680 Do we think this is like the parasocial moment of the decade though? Because, you know, we've seen

00:18:18.240 our fave celeb couples like Dua Lipa and Callum Turner get engaged and Zendaya and Tom Holland

00:18:23.620 earlier this year. But why does this proposal feel different? I think it's just the star power that

00:18:30.220 they both hold and the fact that they cross over into so many industries and the fact that people

00:18:35.700 have so many opinions about them as individuals and as a couple. Their relationship has been

00:18:40.840 quite divisive from the get-go so yeah that's why I think everyone's talking about it yeah and her

00:18:48.260 career is nearly 20 years old and majority of her songs are love songs so I think people are also

00:18:53.460 like you know referring back to old lyrics there's a lot of invisible string theory with the two of

00:18:58.640 them as well I'm just so happy that I engaged at the same time I'm like reposting all the TikToks

00:19:05.780 like yep engaged and also the bachelorette we had last week same time as selena gomez oh and sorry

00:19:11.300 and same time as the episode of the summer i turned pretty bachelorette party so that was amazing

00:19:16.000 it's like my disney kid is like loving this i think i actually really loved the photo shoot

00:19:21.380 as well and i like the ring as well i feel like it was a very sweet moment yeah no hating here

00:19:26.440 would love to know her wedding budget though 0.94

00:19:28.700 oh my god mine would be like 50 cents compared to hers

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00:21:51.260 Of course, this isn't considered medical advice, so please speak to your trusted medical

00:21:56.400 professional to see if this is right for you and for more in-depth discussions on fertility.

00:22:04.580 This week, former West Coast Eagles defender Mitch Brown made history as the first ever

00:22:10.020 AFL player to come out as queer in an exclusive to the Daily Oz.

00:22:14.800 Oh boy, I'm actually so glad we're talking about this story because in the sport's 129

00:22:21.040 year history, no past or present player has ever publicly come out. That's so wild. You think the

00:22:29.420 number of men that go through the AFL leagues each year, each decade, each century, it is a really

00:22:37.520 big moment because statistically there would have been people, statistically, but like no one has

00:22:43.900 felt comfortable enough to do that in such like a male dominated homophobic sport. And so it's a

00:22:49.140 really big deal. Yeah. This year alone, there are 800 players in the AFL. So if you add those

00:22:55.100 numbers up, it's tens of thousands, if not almost, you know, hundreds of thousands of men. And if

00:23:00.680 you talk to anybody that's close to the AFL or distant to the AFL, they will tell you that they

00:23:05.180 know of queer players. It's just so shrouded in so much homophobia. Can I actually tell you when

00:23:12.180 this news came out, I was like, oh, like cute. He's the first bi man to come out. I didn't realize

00:23:18.080 that no man had ever come out in AFL before I thought that had already been done no it was

00:23:24.900 really big news in Australia this week so Mitch played AFL for 10 years and retired in 2016 he

00:23:32.020 said I remember two people having a conversation around how they would feel having a shower next

00:23:36.840 to a gay man and one of the players said I'd rather be in a cage full of lions than have a 0.93

00:23:41.500 shower next to a gay man? Actually, just like horrific. And like, even though I'm expressing 1.00

00:23:48.180 such like shock, like the fact that nobody else has ever come out, like it's so understandable

00:23:53.660 why. And I think especially AFL has such a like torturous relationship with this. This

00:23:59.620 news comes out very closely after an Adelaide player. His name's Isaac Rankin. He has become

00:24:06.720 the sixth AFL-listed player in the past only 18 months to be suspended over a homophobic slur.

00:24:13.760 So despite AFL's like, you know, corporate commitments, like their pride rounds and

00:24:20.840 whatnot, I think like the homophobia is so deeply entrenched. And like, this just goes to show why.

00:24:29.720 It was a great exclusive for the Daily Oz. And I remember when I saw the headline, I thought like,

00:24:33.420 oh this is going to be massive like there's going to be so many like I don't know AFL teams coming

00:24:38.840 out like not literally coming out sorry but like standing up and like you know talking about the

00:24:44.600 importance of this and like what a moment it is but it felt like pretty not silent but just a bit

00:24:50.280 like oh okay and this is something that Bridget Hustwaite wrote about for Missing Perspectives.

00:24:58.040 Yeah before we get into Bridget's piece I was also shocked to find out this was from the Daily

00:25:03.080 Oz, that until this moment, the AFL was the only major professional sporting league globally that

00:25:09.980 has never had a single male player, past or present, publicly identify as gay or bisexual.

00:25:16.020 Like this is not just a masculinity problem. It's an Australian masculinity problem. And I think

00:25:21.420 this is what was so like even more shocking to this. But interestingly enough, there have been

00:25:27.780 a few more Australian like male sporting stars who have come out as queer. For instance, Josh

00:25:33.460 Cavallo, who is from Adelaide United in the A-Leagues and Isaac Humphries, who is part of the

00:25:39.940 National Basketball League for Adelaide 36ers. So in Bridget's article, she wrote that out of

00:25:46.460 the league's 18 clubs, only five, so West Coast, Western Bulldogs, Port Adelaide, Fremantle and GWS

00:25:54.360 shared standalone grid posts on Instagram expressing support.

00:25:59.360 And that was within the first 24 hours of Mitch coming out.

00:26:03.840 After this, there have been more grid posts that have come out.

00:26:08.000 And I think that is because of public pressure.

00:26:10.000 But it's kind of wild to me that it's taken like two or three days

00:26:13.940 where, you know, these teams have social media teams

00:26:16.740 that react really fast and use.

00:26:18.480 They could have done it much faster.

00:26:20.360 What Bridget pointed out also was we're not just putting

00:26:23.640 like the heat on clubs, but it's other people in the footy industry. And this outraged me. So

00:26:30.520 she pointed out that some of AFL's like biggest podcasters and content creators were notably

00:26:37.360 silent. For instance, Dylan Friends was posting snowboarding adventures. Dan Does Footy was

00:26:43.740 promoting his grand final party and reacting to Gold Coast's thrashing of Essendon. Kick It Forward

00:26:48.720 were sharing how to avoid paying at a parking complex. Like none of them were posting about

00:26:53.460 Mitch. She did give a shout out to the footy with Broden Kelly, who's urged fans to quote,

00:26:59.720 go and give this legend all the love you got. And also at the time of Bridget's writing,

00:27:03.760 only one current AFL player, the Fremantle captain, Alex Pierce, publicly acknowledged

00:27:10.500 the moment on his Instagram story, writing, this game should be one that respects and provides a

00:27:16.020 safe environment for everyone. Mitch's example should help us continue to grow as a sport.

00:27:21.360 This is what's most sickening to me, right? It's like out of the, you know, 800 players currently,

00:27:26.940 only one of them could speak out. It's like Mitch has done the brave thing. He's gone out and come

00:27:32.100 out yet. Essentially, I want to call them cowards. These cowards couldn't even put up like any like 0.98

00:27:37.380 scary of support. It's not asking for that much. Maybe it is. I understand like, oh, you don't want 0.99

00:27:42.960 to be seen as an ally or you don't really associate it with queerness. That's actually

00:27:47.540 just homophobia. I don't know. I can't make an excuse for that. Sorry. That's just homophobia.

00:27:53.280 Do you think that if Mitch had come out in maybe 2020, 2021, this would have been different? Do

00:28:01.120 you think that this is like a reflection of the like more right wing culture that we're leaning

00:28:06.540 towards in Australia because of the US is like political impacts and trickle down that people

00:28:12.620 and brands and you know um corporations once again feeling that thing that we had like 10 20

00:28:19.100 years ago of like oh it's all a bit political like are we going to be able to like should we

00:28:24.300 say something should we not whereas like it feels like I don't know 2017 to 2023 maybe everyone was

00:28:31.780 very like open and proud and like corporations I'm talking about here specifically that's

00:28:38.280 interesting I actually hadn't thought about it like that I just feel like surely as AGO progressives

00:28:43.680 we can become more progressive but that's obviously not the case and I think especially

00:28:48.760 with AFL like we have been seeing more headlines about homophobia and other kind of like racially

00:28:53.820 motivated um like slurs and things like that so yeah maybe we are like maybe you're right I've

00:28:59.760 gotten into AFL in recent years and it just makes me sad sometimes where I'm like this is like an

00:29:05.340 inclusive ish sport like it's Australia's sport and especially in Melbourne like it's such a

00:29:11.060 cultural thing and there's just these moments where I'm like oh my god like it's still such 0.89

00:29:15.620 a boys club it's still so white it's still so like outdated I think there's more that they could be

00:29:24.420 doing to make this like impact and change because they have so much influence on Australian culture

00:29:30.220 No, I completely agree. I'm trying to be less cynical about sport because I notoriously don't

00:29:36.360 really care about it, but I understand it means a lot to a lot of people and I'm trying to get

00:29:40.700 around it more. But when things like this happen, it just squashes any faith and trust I have in

00:29:47.060 these institutions. We'll end on Bridget Husswaite reading us an excerpt from her piece in her own

00:29:54.880 words. This is a historic moment that has the capacity to shift culture and change lives. Surely

00:30:01.460 it deserves permanence on one's grid rather than a 24-hour story post before vanishing into thin

00:30:07.360 air. By giving it a lasting place, we set a tone and a standard for the future. It becomes not only

00:30:14.120 a symbol of ongoing commitment to the LGBTQIA plus community, but also a reminder to ourselves

00:30:20.600 and others of the values that the AFL choose to uplift. When clubs and players use their platforms

00:30:26.460 to speak up, they don't just make a statement, they create safer conditions for fans, players

00:30:31.840 and future generations. They show that the game is serious about inclusion. But beyond making a

00:30:37.980 statement, we have to show up publicly and visibly on social media. We have to show Mitch that it was

00:30:44.800 worth putting himself out there like this, that his courage is seen, valued, and supported by

00:30:50.920 the community he's helping to change. Silence, whether intentional or not, creates space for

00:30:57.440 bigotry to breathe. US tennis champion Serena Williams has made headlines this week after she

00:31:06.100 spoke to People magazine about her weight loss. In this exclusive interview, she praised this

00:31:11.800 weight loss drug called GLP-1 and said that it helped her lose 14 kilograms. This drug is short

00:31:19.400 for glucagon-like peptide one receptor agonists, which works in the brain to impact how full

00:31:24.780 someone feels. So popular brands include Ozempic and Monjaro. Serena told people, I feel great.

00:31:31.980 I feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally. She said that

00:31:36.660 her struggle with this weight loss came after the birth of her first daughter, Alexis Olympia in

00:31:41.460 2017, and then had similar struggles postpartum with her second daughter, Adira River. She said,

00:31:49.220 I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I

00:31:53.820 trained. It was crazy because I'd never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard,

00:31:59.080 ate so healthy and could never get down to where I needed to be at. But in this interview, Serena

00:32:03.620 didn't just credit the GLP-1 for her weight loss. It turns out that she's actually a spokesperson

00:32:09.380 for the direct-to-patient healthcare company, Roe, and it was revealed that her husband,

00:32:14.480 Alexis Ohanian, is an investor in Roe. Yeah, so this has made big news this week,

00:32:21.080 and it's been quite a controversial topic. And I was actually quite hesitant to talk about this

00:32:26.580 because I was like, this is like quite complex. And I don't know, you know, for many reasons,

00:32:31.360 like personally, if I feel equipped to speak about it, weight loss is obviously something

00:32:37.720 that's very personal. And then we're also talking about like a medical drug that's used in different

00:32:43.640 kind of for different illnesses and different reasons. And to chop it all off, there's also

00:32:49.220 been conversation about, you know, Serena being like a victim of misogynoir and the struggle she's

00:32:55.260 had as a black woman in the spotlight and like the body shaming she's experienced throughout her

00:32:59.640 whole career so with all that in mind like this is quite a like hard to talk about topic it's quite

00:33:06.600 layered I think yes so the first criticism I saw of Serena being a spokesperson for GLP1 was from

00:33:15.160 advocate and actress and commentator Jamila Jamil who made an Instagram text post saying quote the

00:33:22.400 thing I feel most uncomfortable about here is that celebrities have access to doctors most others

00:33:27.660 don't have access to. These miracle weight loss drugs come at a price. If things go wrong,

00:33:33.220 you don't have a billion dollars to fix it. That's why I don't like celebrities pushing drugs with

00:33:37.760 such drastic documented side effects. And she also went on to talk about the many side effects that

00:33:43.740 these drugs can have on your body, including, you know, gastrointestinal issues, high blood

00:33:50.020 pressure, et cetera. Locally, Cheek Media also posted a take that a lot of people had issues

00:33:57.400 with. So in their text post that they've wrote, Williams is entitled to make a personal health

00:34:03.300 decision, but being paid to promote drugs, which have particular medical uses and serious side

00:34:08.100 effects is dangerous. This 23 time grand slam winner taught girls that strength was something

00:34:13.720 to aspire to only to turn around and hold up a tape measure to. When I first saw that text post,

00:34:20.020 I agreed with it. I was like, yeah, yeah, I think that is like, it makes me sad a little bit that

00:34:29.020 she is such an amazing athlete and she's retired now. And now she's like telling other women to 1.00

00:34:38.200 lose weight. Some of the comments on the post were interesting and they were kind of claiming

00:34:46.040 that Cheek Media shouldn't speak on this because their CEO, Hannah Ferguson, is a slim, tall, 0.99

00:34:54.700 white woman who's able-bodied. There was a lot of comments from people saying that, 1.00

00:35:00.100 you know, how GLP ones have helped them and that we need more nuance around this topic,

00:35:04.840 which I agree with. But I think it's interesting the way the tide has turned. Like,

00:35:08.740 I feel like 12 months ago when we were talking about weight loss drugs, it was very like

00:35:12.620 taboo and the side effects were spoken about more. And now that it's become more normalized

00:35:19.780 and maybe more accessible to people in Australia, there are a lot of comments from people saying

00:35:25.680 like how it's helped them. And like, there's no disputing that those weight loss drugs have

00:35:31.980 helped people. But I think it's when it's like a celebrity endorsement, like, I don't know,

00:35:37.620 it feels like the line is really blurry still.

00:35:40.160 My opinion for this is like, I feel like it can be pretty clear cut, right?

00:35:44.120 It's like, my issue is a celebrity promoting weight loss drugs.

00:35:49.800 It's not about a celebrity using it, but it's about actually getting a financial incentive

00:35:54.220 to promote something like this, especially when, you know, a lot of the comments are

00:35:58.580 like, oh, like this has really helped me for my medical condition.

00:36:01.440 Serena's not talked about that.

00:36:02.780 It's purely for weight loss for her.

00:36:04.860 Like that's, that's what's happening here.

00:36:06.300 So people aren't saying like, don't take it for your medical condition, but if it's being

00:36:12.720 advertised to you as a purely weight loss technique, I think that's maybe what's being

00:36:18.840 called into question. This is my stance for a lot of like, what's it called? Like body altering

00:36:24.960 things. So like if I ever got some sort of plastic surgery or whatever, it's like, I'm not saying

00:36:30.540 that I'm not going to do it, but I'm never, never is a strong word, but like, I'm not going to do

00:36:34.940 that as like a partnership or like a advertising thing. Like you make your own decision. I just

00:36:40.140 don't think it needs to be like an ambassadorship. That's also what threw me about this. Like no one

00:36:48.020 is saying that people can't make their own decisions about their body and their weight

00:36:53.000 loss and how they feel about their body. Serena referenced her joints and joint pain a lot in the

00:36:58.820 people interview and it's also not about having a shortcut to weight loss I think a lot of people

00:37:05.740 also have been saying that like weight loss drugs are an excuse or like they're cheating

00:37:10.660 and I don't think it's saying that either I just think it's like advertising this when there's still

00:37:16.740 not a lot of evidence around the impacts of it that's what scares me because I have thought

00:37:25.080 about this myself. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome. And one of the main symptoms of that

00:37:30.740 is weight gain. Um, it's blood sugar problems. It's, um, insulin resistance, all of which can

00:37:38.600 contribute to weight fluctuation, which I've had like my whole adult life. And I've always been

00:37:45.820 like a size fluctuating between a 12 to 14, but I see it in certain photos. I'm like, okay,

00:37:51.440 my face is more puffy because of the sugar I ate two days ago like things like that that I

00:37:58.660 have body issues around even seeing myself like on camera in the podcast I'm like that's not my face

00:38:05.380 but it is so and then when more and more people are on it or you have people saying like I am on

00:38:10.480 this weight loss drug like go talk to your doctor about it it's so tempting and I've actually looked

00:38:16.140 into Juniper and I did like a kind of questionnaire thing but then I chickened out because I was like

00:38:21.940 I don't know what that's gonna do to like my my body like okay yeah you'll lose weight but what

00:38:27.820 if it like means that I get stomach problems or like some other thing that in five years they'll

00:38:34.980 be like this causes this and like I took it based on the information that I had and I've actually

00:38:40.500 like hurt myself like that's what is stopping me from doing it and I know it's like helped so many

00:38:44.440 people but there's just still that hesitation where I'm like I just don't know if this is like

00:38:49.580 being studied enough for specifically weight loss I'm not saying diabetes or anything like that but

00:38:57.080 specifically weight loss that gives me hesitation but the pressure is there and then I think when

00:39:01.940 you have people like Serena Williams saying like this has made me lose 14 kilos like because you

00:39:07.420 know as a woman you think like all right if I just lost 10 kilos like I would look the way I want to

00:39:11.180 look a lot of women like think in that way which is very sad in itself but like when you already

00:39:18.540 have those thoughts and then you have someone like Serena Williams who's a professional athlete

00:39:22.140 whose body is like her career being like I wasn't losing weight despite doing all these things and

00:39:28.860 like I just want to look this way and feel this way it makes you be like oh well like if Serena

00:39:35.000 Williams is going to do it then maybe I should do it too even though you can't really compare

00:39:39.340 off to an athlete, but. But that's what they want. Like that's literally what she's trying to do.

00:39:43.000 And that's why this partnership has taken off at the crux of this as well, I think is just fat

00:39:48.100 phobia. I think it's promotion of thinness at all costs. And yes, as we've discussed,

00:39:53.420 this medicine can be like vital for people with different medical conditions. But I think like

00:39:58.220 if we peel back the layers, I think it's selling weight loss at its core.

00:40:02.900 When I was researching this segment and reading the People magazine article as well,

00:40:07.700 I just found myself really confused by what Serena was saying so she's lost 14 kilos she's feeling

00:40:13.540 really good about it she's saying like it's due to this weight loss drug and exercise and food

00:40:17.240 but she says weight loss should never really change your self-image women often experience

00:40:22.500 judgment about their bodies at any size and I'm no stranger to that so I feel like you should

00:40:26.660 love yourself at any size and any look I've never felt that pressure to maintain a certain appearance

00:40:32.620 but then on the flip side she is saying that she didn't love her body and she didn't love the way

00:40:37.440 she looked and she didn't love the way she felt and that's why she took the drugs it's just very

00:40:40.660 contradicting to me like it's confusing messaging I think for women especially to be like you should

00:40:46.920 love your body and like love yourself at any size and don't judge your body but also like I felt so

00:40:54.100 shit after I had my kids and so I took this drug and now I feel amazing that's like a contradiction

00:41:01.140 straight up read between the lines I mean this other quote she gave was but the size I was before 0.99

00:41:06.040 there was nothing wrong with it. It's just not what I wanted to have. I just knew that I wanted

00:41:10.520 to be where I personally felt comfortable. I think we can all be grown up enough to be like

00:41:16.680 most women experience body image issues. We live in a fat phobic society and people can like take 0.98

00:41:22.780 drugs like this to make themselves feel better, whether that's physically, emotionally or whatever.

00:41:30.400 But I just feel like when we try to like cloak it in these like flowery terms, it doesn't really

00:41:35.320 help anybody? That also makes me not believe it. Like, yeah, very contradicting. In an interview

00:41:41.640 with Sydney Morning Herald, the co-executive director of the Embrace Collective, Dr. Zali

00:41:46.500 Jaeger, says that this could become an issue when the focus is on marketing the drugs in ways that

00:41:52.940 aren't about health, but are about selling fitness at all costs. Dr. Zali said, this kind of

00:41:58.840 messaging inadvertently tells most women that their perfectly healthy, normal bodies are not 0.98

00:42:03.900 okay. And it normalizes medical interventions for appearance reasons, as opposed to medical 0.96

00:42:09.220 necessity. When people are made to feel shame about their bodies and their weight, this is

00:42:13.840 linked to depression, eating disorders, and a whole lot of negative physical and mental health

00:42:18.060 outcomes. Great. That's exactly what I wanted to say. And that's why we should listen to the

00:42:22.100 experts in situations like this, because at the end of the day, as you mentioned at the top,

00:42:27.860 like these high end, essentially weight loss drugs are really only affordable to a small

00:42:33.200 minority of people but these issues of widespread body image and you know eating and and such that

00:42:40.180 that affects the majority of people so I feel like if we keep that in mind

00:42:44.140 this is what really can happen this is what Dr Zali is saying.

00:42:50.260 Now it's time for Bookmarked where we bring you a recommendation from our week that we've enjoyed

00:42:55.100 reading watching or listening to. Do you want to go first Jaz? Yeah I'll go first. I'm recommending

00:43:00.980 heartburn by Nora Ephron. So this is a book from 1983. It's not a very current read, but it's just

00:43:08.880 my favorite Nora Ephron read. And I think it's nice for like this end of winter period. Um,

00:43:14.140 if you're just wanting something quite quick to read as well, it's under 200 pages. So it tells

00:43:19.020 the story of Rachel Samstadt, who is seven months into her pregnancy when she finds out that her

00:43:24.480 husband Mark is in love with another woman. Rachel writes cookbooks for a living and in between

00:43:30.400 trying to win Mark back and wishing him dead,

00:43:34.060 Rachel also offers some of her favourite recipes.

00:43:38.060 Did you know that this is actually an autobiographical novel

00:43:40.920 and it's based off Nora Ephron's own cheating experience

00:43:44.620 and divorce from her second husband, Carl Bernstein?

00:43:48.240 Wow, I didn't know that.

00:43:50.440 So it draws inspiration from Carl's affair with Margaret Jay,

00:43:55.160 who is the daughter of the former British Prime Minister James Callaghan.

00:43:59.060 Oh, my God, that's so messy.

00:43:59.920 Fun fact. There's also a movie version of this. It stars Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. I've not

00:44:05.180 seen the movie, but Heartburn is a book that I just go back to probably once a year. Again,

00:44:10.560 being under 200 pages, it's just when I don't know what to, I'm overwhelmed with like my TBR

00:44:15.000 shelf, then I'll go back to Heartburn. So recommend it for just like a nice pick me up.

00:44:22.460 And Nora Ephron, of course, amazing writer. And the cover's really beautiful as well. You can get

00:44:27.400 it at all bookstores, even though it's like 40 years old. So good. And I can't believe I haven't

00:44:33.440 read it, but it's such a classic. So I'd love to. What about you? I am recommending a book as well.

00:44:41.180 This is actually our book club pick that just has a notch. But hopefully this inspires you to pick

00:44:49.320 it up later on because I really love this book. It is called Wild Dark Shore and it is written by

00:44:54.720 Charlotte McConaughey. It was released earlier this year and this book falls under the category

00:45:01.820 of like eco-thriller, eco-dystopian, which not necessarily genres I'm overly familiar with,

00:45:08.980 but I realize I think I really love them. Like I really love this genre. So a quick synopsis of

00:45:14.840 this book, it follows this dad called Dominic Salt and his three children and they're caretakers of

00:45:21.760 Shearwater, which is like a tiny island not far from Antarctica. They're there to take care of

00:45:28.140 the world's largest seed bank. And, you know, once upon a time, not that long ago, but Shearwater was

00:45:34.800 home to a lot of researchers who were like trying to keep these seeds alive. Essentially, a seed

00:45:40.840 bank is like where you have seeds from every like species to like, you know, in case the world goes

00:45:48.020 to crap and then you can use them. Anyway, that's a terrible definition of that. But they're a real

00:45:54.180 thing. I actually hadn't heard of them before. But with sea levels rising around Shearwater,

00:45:59.920 the salt family is like, they're now the only inhabitants of the island. And they're trying 0.99

00:46:05.000 to pack up all the seeds before they leave the island and back to their home in Australia.

00:46:09.960 What happens though, is that a mysterious woman washes up on their shores.

00:46:14.700 alive alive and then things happen I don't want to say things happen I really enjoyed this book

00:46:22.460 oh my goodness I think it captivated me hooked me with the story but also with just how like

00:46:28.680 beautiful the like nature-driven writing was it's very much one of those books where like

00:46:33.860 the scenery is another character and even though it's set near Antarctica because the family

00:46:38.940 and characters are Australian there's like this nice connection to back home as well

00:46:43.560 I really enjoyed it I ended up giving it like a 4.5 stars I would say near the ending like some of

00:46:50.240 the plot line not my favorite that's why I didn't give it five but overall such a such a nice read

00:46:57.040 very powerful and evocative especially like in the face of the climate crisis like probably one

00:47:02.140 of my favorite reads this year that is big a big call we were debating which book we should read

00:47:09.520 book club. And there was an Emily Henry option. And obviously I knew we were going on this on the

00:47:15.340 hens in August. So I was like, guys, we need a holiday read. And then we chose this eco dystopian

00:47:20.660 book. And I was like, I'm not going to read an eco dystopian book on my trip. But Grace was

00:47:24.780 reading it next to me and she was really enjoying it. Yeah. I don't know why I would not take this

00:47:28.660 to a beach read. Yeah. I was like, guys, please. It's a perfect winter read because it's set a very

00:47:33.920 cold place that's all for this episode of culture club thank you so much for hanging out with us

00:47:41.280 this week if you enjoyed this episode please feel free to give us a star rating on spotify

00:47:46.740 or apple or even tell a friend about us in real life we'll talk to you next time bye bye

Culture Club - September 01, 2025

Traylor's Proposal, AFL's First Queer Player & Should Celebs Promote Weight Loss Meds？

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