According to @usc.edu data reported on @james.crid.land's @podnews.net, 64% of the most popular US podcasts were hosted by men. Such shows are far less diverse than the top movies, TV or music. Worst gender gap? Business & tech shows: men host 92% of 'em! More stats here: podnews.net/update/woefu...

Six people died from tampered Tylenol and the company pulled 30 million bottles off the market. ChatGPT is accused of urging seven people towards suicide, and OpenAI just assures us they’re still working out the kinks. Billions in investment, zero accountability.

At Sydney's only full-time Mexican bakery, you'll find coffee spiked with horchata (it's creamy, cinnamon-sweet & delicious!), an ancient hot chocolate that predates Euro-style cocoa by thousands of years and other rarities. Here's my write-up on Pancho Bakery: www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...

Taylor Swift releasing (needing?) 30+ variants of her new album in 1 WEEK to knock off Adele’s sales record feels cynical. Should a billionaire really squeeze her fans this way? @defector.com on how ‘good art doesn’t come from greed’ is the BEST piece I’ve seen on TLOAS defector.com/taylor-swift...

If you have a ‘difficult ethnic name’, you might know this feeling. Do you give your real name for your takeaway order - only for it to be misspelt or butchered? Or do you give a fake name for convenience: a “coffee name”? I've wanted to write this for YEARS! www.theguardian.com/food/2025/oc...

The NSW edition of Good Food Guide comes out next week. This is a pretty big development. www.smh.com.au/business/wor...

I once read just 4 books in a year. In 2025, I’ve read more than 60 – a lifetime record for me! Recreational reading has declined throughout Australia, but I hope this story might inspire people to turn some pages. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

FYI, FBi radio's supporter drive ends soon – if you can support it, that'd be amazing. It's been showcasing Sydney's music, arts & culture scence for 20+ years (it played The Kid Laroi and Flume when they teens; I recall playing Flume's demo as Harley when he was 15)! www.fbi.radio/support

I'll never understand how companies who use AI tools in recruitment to 'streamline the process and increase efficiency' are complaining that applicants are also doing the same www.theage.com.au/national/nsw...

I wonder how many protesters at the recent anti-immigration rallies knew that the colony was saved by Indian food? This is from a story I wrote for Gourmet Traveller in 2022. Even from the earliest days of settlement, Australian food wasn’t as bland or monocultural as you’d first think.

The tahini at Al Amara is freshly milled and "could be measured in ripples: it drips rapidly and is always in escape mode". It's spectacularly nutty and "has more complexity and character than entire bookshelves". I wrote about this Iraqi bakery for Good Food: www.smh.com.au/goodfood/syd...

"Maybe you will build those toxic – emotionally, spiritually, environmentally – simulacra engines and suck up all the water and tank the energy grid w/ the demand for the worst art ever made." @squigglyrick.bsky.social takes on AI slop (unlike AI slop, it's ace) rick-morton.ghost.io/crumbs-at-th...

83% of people killed by Israel in Gaza are civilians, according to the Israeli military's own data. This "is extremely high for modern warfare, even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, including the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars" www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

From Engadine Maccas and beyond: I talked to Gary He about his acclaimed McAtlas book. He's visited McDonald's in 50+ countries, including Australia (home to Melbourne's Art Deco Maccas, the McCafe, the infamous Engadine site & the worst thing he ate on his trip, LOL) www.smh.com.au/goodfood/eat...

Returning on the train from the Sydney March for Humanity, Free Palestine protest and they are still turning people back on the bridge

Me: "So which country should @aoc.bsky.social go back to?" Mick Mulvaney: "She's an American citizen." Me: "So why did Trump tell her to go back to her country?" I asked former Trump WH chief of staff Mulvaney if he ever challenged his then boss on his racist tweets. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wolq...

A group of journalists working at AFP said this week that “without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die”. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

“Musab al Dibes is 14 years old, but looks like a small child … His weight has dropped from 40 kilograms to 10 … The Gaza Strip is suffering from a major catastrophe in terms of food. There is no food, no milk, no meat, no fish, no legumes, nothing” www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

Israel blocking aid from Gaza is creating ‘chaos and death’, say humanitarian groups www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Last year, I wrote a Sydney dining guide for Gastro Obscura's Feast. The series covered 9 cities (from Lagos to Penang) and has just won a James Beard media award for Dining & Travel! Congrats to @dianahubbell.bsky.social, Anne Ewbank and Sam O'Brien on the win! www.atlasobscura.com/articles/whe...

BTW, @dremmabeckett.bsky.social & @emantzioris.bsky.social are on this show, where Dr Evangeline makes this ace point: "The word diet in Greek actually comes from the word diaita, which actually means the way you choose to live your life. It's not about just the food." www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Chocolate: romance aid, dog poison and … health food? In France, the royal pharmacist treated Marie-Antoinette's headaches with chocolate. So is it 'good' for you? I explore this, cacao's 4000-year-old Mexican history and much more on the new season of my SBS podcast! www.sbs.com.au/audio/podcas...

Thank you Kristin! Loved getting the chance to do a second season of the Culinary Archive podcast with the Powerhouse Museum about Australia’s food history - and future. omny.fm/shows/culina...

I like best-of lists: they're a backdoor into the year that's gone, except now with all the shortcuts, cheat codes & greatest hits revealed. On my Patreon newsletter & podcast, I've just covered the best podcasts I've heard & my fave dishes and food experiences of 2024 www.patreon.com/leetranlam

I have 274 podcast episodes in my ‘to listen to’ feed (some have been there since 2021!), so I only recently got to @sweetsnbitters.bsky.social’s show on saving the craft of soy sauce in Japan. It came out last September, but it’s one of the best podcasts I’ve heard this year. pca.st/tdtaxa45

My mum, in the decades I’ve covered food, has only liked ONE restaurant I’d taken her to (Yan, a suburban gem we revisited last night). This low success rate inspired my story on how migrant elders are tougher restaurant critics than professional reviewers: www.theguardian.com/food/2024/no...

OMG. Matt Berry did the “succulent Chinese meal” line on the latest “What We Do In The Shadows” episode! Give him the Order of Australia right now!

Every time I walk past Petersham Reservoir, I think of Royal Headache's 'High' album cover and @chrisrichards.bsky.social's electrifying @washingtonpost.com review from July 2017: "On Friday night, Royal Headache was the greatest band in the world." www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...