Stop Everything!
229 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 2 ratingsBenjamin Law and Beverley Wang host your end-of-week blitz on what everyone's watching and listening to right now. Featuring big-name interviews that go deep, and big thoughts on pop culture with your two smart friends — this is the show about how everything in your feed reflects – and affects – the world. Culture moves fast — so Stop Everything! and listen in.
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Episodes
Justin won MasterChef, but Kishwar won our hearts
July 16, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBThe epic season 13 finale of MasterChef saw WA youth pastor Justin Narayan completing all four rice crispies and clinching the title. But Kishwar “just at home” Chowdhury is the winner of our hearts, and isn’t that what matters? It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the “brain, it’s multifaceted; brawn, it’s one dimensional”. This binary will be tested in the new season of Australian Survivor and we’re gagging already. Finally — we sample some...
Stop Everything! It’s a NAIDOC Week takeover!
July 09, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBZiggy Ramo and Rhianna Patrick take over Stop Everything for NAIDOC Week. Rhianna Patrick, head of podcasts and audio for IndigenousX, speaks to Dr Margaret Harvey, theatremaker, actor, storyteller, and Jasmin McGaughey, writer and editor, about First Nations futurism, Torres Strait Islanders in pop culture and navigating protocol while sharing traditional stories. Christine Anu also gets a lot of love. Hip Hop artist Ziggy Ramo chats with model, a...
A lockdown care package for Australia
July 02, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBMillions of Australians are in lockdown, the national covid vaccine rollout is confusing to say the least — but we’ve got you, dear listeners! BL + BW have prepared a care package of highlight interviews from the first half of 2021 for a safe, no contact delivery in your audio feed. Crazy Rich Asians actor Remy Hii, veteran of three quarantines, shares some tips on surviving lockdown and shares his vision for what’s next in Australian storytelling....
Lin Manuel Miranda and Jon Chu’s colourism problem In The Heights
June 25, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBIn The Heights, from Crazy Rich Asians director Jon Chu and based on Lin Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Tony-award winning musical, is a slice of summer joy with a colourism problem. The glaring omission of Afro Latinx cast members in a film set in the New York neighbourhood of Washington Heights, which has a predominantly Dominican Republican population, has been called out as erasure. The filmmakers say they’re aware of it and discussed it...
Steven Canals on Pose, Billy Porter and the future
June 18, 2021 00:05 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBLive, werk, pose! Steven Canals, co-creator, executive producer, writer and director of Pose gets deep and meaningful with BL + BW, reflecting on the end of the award-winning series which has been hailed as groundbreaking for trans representation. Steven shares what it was like to be in the room when Billy Porter shared his HIV status with the cast and crew of Pose, and his view of the current TV landscape. Also, what do we think about the news that ...
Brian Moylan’s Real Housewives tell all
June 11, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MB“Everything Housewives becomes Housewives” is the mantra of Real Housewives recapper, scholar and journalist Brian Moylan. Brian’s New York Times bestselling book, The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives is drenched with detail. It answers fans’ burning questions and charts the rise of the Bravo television franchise. Brian joins BL + BW for an extended chat about table flipping, boat rides from hell and who pays for the trips? OK, s...
The one about the Friends reunion
June 04, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBIn the highly anticipated Friends reunion, the original cast gets together for just the second time since the hit sitcom ended in 2004. They were on a break! BW reflects on the seemingly random assortment of celebrity cameos who dropped in to talk about how much they loved Rachel, Ross, Monica, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey, and what, if anything, we learned from the whole episode. Spoiler warning. The Mare of Easttown finale left us feeling devastated, ...
Come on, Drag Race!
May 28, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBMalcolm Spellman, showrunner and head writer of the MCU’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier talks to BW about his approach to infusing contemporary politics into the superhero TV series. BW + BL read the entrails of Drag Race Down Under’s latest expulsions and surprise returns. No Mare of Easttown debrief this week, but BL + BW talk through Andrew Yang on Ziwe, the joy of Art Works on ABC TV Plus, and the third season of Master of None. Show notes...
Montaigne’s in Technicolour at Eurovision
May 21, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBMontaigne talks about working through the disappointment of the cancelled 2020 Eurovision Song Contest to come through with a new song, Technicolour, for the 2021 competition, and the process of competing via video from Australia. Happy 20th, Shrek, it’s time to celebrate millennial culture. Hannah Reich mounts an impassioned defense of the Academy Award-winning film in the face of unappreciative critics. Finally, BL reviews Underground Railway, the...
Kate Winslet is a Philly 40 in Mare of Easttown
May 14, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBCheesesteaks, vaping, wawa coffee and a Philly 40. Kate Winslet as gritty, grizzled, hard bitten grandma detective Mare Sheehan is out to solve a murder durdur, while juggling many commitments including a fling with hot Guy, Pearce. BL demonstrates his encyclopedic knowledge of RuPaul’s Drag Race queens AND hear from very special guest, Michelle Visage, RuPaul’s ride or die, and currently judging Drag Race Down Under. Let’s get loud because Bennif...
Live from the Sydney Writers’ Festival, baby!
May 07, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBA special episode of Stop Everything recorded live at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, in front of a real-life, 100% capacity crowd at Carriageworks. BL + BW appeared with two special guests: Carly Findlay, the editor of Growing Up Disabled in Australia, and Sam van Zweden, the author of Eating With My Mouth Open. We discussed the body, disability, fatness – and the medicalisation, language and politics around these things. If you need support or to ta...
Highlights: Rudi Bremer on Bridgerton | Flex Mami on Flex Mami
April 30, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBAudio producer, podcaster and romance aficionado Rudi Bremer talks us through the bodice ripping Netflix smash hit Bridgerton. Influencers, podcaster, entrepreneur, reality TV cast member and author Flex Mami talks to us about life as Flex Mami Show notes: What would Danbury Do? A Bridgerton podcast: https://www.bridgertonpod.com/ All about Flex Mami: https://www.flexmami.com/ Shonda Rhimes on Rege-Jean Page departure: https://www.vulture.com/202...
Shari’s Sebben Methods | Master Chef tears | Milkshake consent
April 23, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBShari Sebbens is a Sapphire, a Marvel Comics character and director of the Australian debut of Seven methods of killing Kylie Jenner, an award-winning play about Twitter, racism, and the hot mess of life online and irl. Shari talks to BW about how this Black British work resonates in the Australian context, digital blackface and more. Season 13 of Master Chef has us ugly crying into our congee and renewing our faith in humanity; BW + BL ponder what m...
Is Ja’mie still quiche? | Hot for Shtisel
April 16, 2021 00:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBWith Benjamin Law away, Hannah Reich steps in to put her body on the line for Stop Everything! Together BW and HR lay on the virtual railroad tracks of pop culture and sample Chris Lilley’s new podcast, Ja’miezing, delivered in the character of former Private School Girl Ja’mie King. Is it quiche? Listen to find out. Stop Everything Jewish correspondent Hannah Reich also helps BW understand Shtisel, the hit Israeli drama about a Haredi Jewish family....
Ramsay Street’s bad Neighbours | Remy Hii’s quarantine hacks
April 09, 2021 00:06 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBIt seems Ramsay Street may not be so neighbourly after all. Indigenous actors Shareena Clanton and Meyne Wyatt have gone public with experiences of racism and toxic behaviour while working on the set of Neighbours. Fremantle Media, which makes Neighbours, now says it has ordered an independent review of Neighbours and its production process. Actor Remy Hii (Marco Polo; Crazy Rich Asians; Aftertaste) joins BW + BL to talk about how he made it through ...
Highlights: Bluey’s music | Minari’s Youn Yuh-jung | Song Exploder’s Hrishikesh Hirway
April 01, 2021 23:06 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBBW + BL are taking the long weekend off to walk a mile in Lil Nas X’s custom ‘Satan Shoes’ so they’ve prepared a highlights show chockablock with sweet treats from the Stop Everything! vault. Composer Joff Bush takes us inside the creative process of making music for the hit children’s animated show Bluey; BW talks to Minari’s now Academy-Award nominated actress Youn Yuh-jung about her 50 year career in the Korean screen industry; and we dip way back...
Zack Snyder’s Justice League | Lizzy, Hoo Dis?
March 25, 2021 23:06 - 53 minutes - 73.6 MBDirector Zack Snyder’s new four-hour recut of Justice League rights some wrongs of the 2017 film, but does better mean it’s actually good? BW reports back. Live comedy is back in Australia with the return of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival after 2020’s COVID-induced pause. Comedian and writer Lizzy Hoo stops by to talk about her new live show, Hoo Dis? and the trials of doing stand up by Zoom. Also, a new cultural commentator has emerged...
Grammy wins, Oscar noms and WandaVision’s grief
March 18, 2021 23:06 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBHarry Styles’ boa, Meghan Thee Stallion’s wins, Beyonce’s record and Cardi B’s WAP were the talk of the 63rd Grammy Awards, broadcast in *unprecedented* fashion from Los Angeles with host Trevor Noah. BW + BL discuss the Grammys and the Oscar nominations, both out this week. “What is grief, if not love persevering?” BL + BW consider how this line from Vision to Wanda resonates through the series finale of the MCU’s WandaVision. Sticking with TV, they...
Prince Harry and Meghan spill the royal tea
March 11, 2021 23:10 - 53 minutes - 72.9 MBWe get deep into the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s sit-down interview with Her Royal Highness, Oprah Winfrey, Queen of Television. From bombshell revelations of conversations about baby Archie’s skin colour, to Meghan’s mental health and Harry’s awakening to the reality of racism BW + BL cover it all, plus the aftermath that saw Piers Morgan walk off breakfast television — potentially forever — having chosen his hill to die on: disbelieving Meghan, i...
The Golden Globes are a "scam" (but they’re still important)
March 04, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBWhile hosting the Golden Globes, co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler told the world that awards shows are “stupid” and “a scam”. Then Fey said, “even with stupid things, inclusivity is important.” That was their way of addressing the fact that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the Golden Globes, has not had a Black member for 20 years. BW + BL discuss the "scam" awards. Six years ago, Lillian Ahenkan, aka Flex Mami, started an Instagr...
Allen v Farrow | Test Kitchen cooks Gimlet | JWong’s Happy ‘Niu’ Year
February 25, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBBL + BW discuss Allen v. Farrow, a new HBO documentary series reinvestigating claims of child sexual abuse against director Woody Allen, who has continuously denied the accusations since they were raised in 1992, amidst an ugly and highly public breakup with Mia Farrow. The series was made with the cooperation of Dylan Farrow, who at age 7 accused Allen, her adoptive father, of abuse. We’re recapping new developments on Reply All’s Test Kitchen minis...
UK Hun? Facebook’s Aus news ban | Bon App’s Test Kitchen pain | Minari’s scene stealer
February 18, 2021 23:05 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBMark Zuckerberg’s not playing. If you needed a reminder that Facebook isn’t a web browser - the social media giant’s world-first decision to ban stories from Australian news sites sent that message loud and clear. What happens on a fact-free Facebook? BW + BL discuss. BW reports back on the first two chapters of Reply All’s The Test Kitchen, the podcast’s series investigating the 2020 implosion of Bon Appetit (aka ‘Bone App’) over structural inequal...
Framing Britney | I’m not a cat | We are Cooked
February 11, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBFraming Britney, a New York Times documentary investigating pop star Britney Spears’ unusual conservatorship arrangement has ushered the fan-based #FreeBritney movement from the margins to the mainstream. “I’m here live, I’m not a cat.” Viral video of a Texas lawyer who connected to a zoom-based court hearing with a kitten face filter, then valiantly declared he was prepared to go on with proceedings - as a kitten - has brought joy to the world. An...
Randall Park didn’t just punch Keanu Reeves, he hugged him too
February 04, 2021 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.2 MBRandall Park generously shares this sensual memory with Stop Everything! as he discusses WandaVision, the new genre bending MCU Disney+ series in which he reprises the role of FBI Agent James E Woo. Park, also known for playing ‘Asian Jim’ on The Office, Marcus in Always Be My Maybe and Gov. Danny Chung in Veep, reflects on how opportunities have opened up for Asian actors in Hollywood since Fresh Off the Boat, which he starred in for six seasons. Wh...
Bana and Bridgerton
January 28, 2021 23:00 - 53 minutes - 73.5 MBWe burn for Bridgerton: The Shonda Rhimes-executive produced period romance is officially Netflix’s most-watched series, ever. Think Pride and Prejudice meets Gossip Girl, with lots of sex and Julie Andrews narrating. Our in-house romance novel expert Rudi Bremer (Awaye!, Little Yarns) knows all things Bridgerton and (spoiler alert), talks us through the series, including that controversial sex scene between Daphne and the Duke. Stop Everything also...
Black is King, Briggs' children's book and Jenny Odell
December 31, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBBW + BL explore Beyonce's visual album Black is King with artist Atong Atem, contemplate how to do nothing with Jenny Odell and how to do kids' books, with rapper and new author Briggs.
Crossbread podcast, Dear Prudence and #Alive
December 24, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBMegan Washington talks to BW and BL about the ABC comedy podcast Crossbread. Plus agony aunt Daniel M Lavery and the South Korean zombie-plague Netflix hit #Alive.
We survived 2020! With BenDelaCreme and Nat's what I reckon
December 17, 2020 23:05 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBWe're pretty sure we're going to survive 2020! BW + BL are walking the hard rubbish of 2020 to the nature strip, thanking it three times and saying goodbye. To celebrate, they're diving into the pop culture that made us happy in 2020. Featuring listener tweets, e-mails and voice memos sharing the podcasts, music, tv and social media stars that soothed, cheered and brightened their days, plus a few special guests: internationally renowned drag performe...
We survived 2020! With BenDelaCreme and Nat's What I Reckon
December 17, 2020 23:05 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBWe're pretty sure we're going to survive 2020! BW + BL are walking the hard rubbish of 2020 to the nature strip, thanking it three times and saying goodbye. To celebrate, they're diving into the pop culture that made us happy in 2020. Featuring listener tweets, e-mails and voice memos sharing the podcasts, music, tv and social media stars that soothed, cheered and brightened their days, plus a few special guests: internationally renowned drag performe...
Saved by Noni and Yael
December 10, 2020 23:05 - 53 minutes - 73.8 MBThirty years since his death - Roald Dahl's family apologises for the beloved childrens author's antisemitic views. How and why was this done? As screen and theatre gigs have dried up during the pandemic, Australian actors have been finding new opportunities in podcast audio fiction. Noni Hazlehurst and Yael Stone co-star in Winding Road, an Audible mystery drama set in Queensland. Finally, BL + BW discuss two teen reboots, Saved By The Bell (2020)...
Sampa The Great, Dolly Doctor and Mario Luigi internet folklore
December 03, 2020 23:05 - 53 minutes - 72.9 MBSampa The Great on making her award-winning album, comedian and broadcaster Aamer Rahman, the wisdom of Dolly Doctor, plus Mario Bros under the lens.
Stop Everything: the big 20 pop culture quiz
November 26, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBStop Everything! presents "The Big 20 pop culture quiz". Benjamin Law dons the quizmaster cape and Beverley Wang, AFLW star Darcy Vescio and comedian Zoë Coombs Marr on the buzzers. Journey through the last 20 years in television, music, Internet culture and tech trends and see how much you remember about the last two decades.
Celebrity chefs go Nazi, Aunty Donna goes Netflix
November 19, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.3 MBJust for a change of pace, we're talking about THE OTHER MAGA-hat-wearing, Covid-denying conspiracy-theorist, social-media-loving, mainstream-media-hating former reality TV star: Australia's own Pete Evans. The celebrity chef turned conspiracy theorist hit a shocking new low this week when he shared a cartoon depicting the sonnenrad – black sun – a sun wheel design that first originated in Nazi Germany, and widely employed by neo-Nazis, white supremac...
Stop Everything! Pass the mic
November 12, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 74.2 MBBW + BL pass the mic to First Nations creatives from music, screen, comedy and podcasting. Writer and podcaster Jack Latimore interviews rising hip hop star Birdz. And show business couple -- Kodie Bedford, Mystery Road screenwriter, playwright and filmmaker -- and Bjorn Stewart, actor, comedian, writer and director -- interrogate each other about their pop culture passions. Show notes Birdz drops new single for Looky Looky here comes Cooky Tak...
Rehabilitating breakfast TV
November 05, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MB"Votes cannot be cast after the Poles are closed." This is one true and factual statement tweeted by the US President, Donald Trump, as the world awaits US election results. Here in Australia, our existence in the future is doing nothing to help us glean who will win in this knife-edge race. So instead we do what Australian media does best, fish for an Adjacent Australian Angle ™ with thanks to The Chaser and Ronny Chieng. Big Mob Brekky is here to ...
A very Borat Halloween
October 29, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MB2020 is haunted: As if this year hasn't been terrifying enough, BL and BW invite horror lovers Rhianna Patrick and Joel Meares to share their recommendations for a scary movie night just in time for Halloween. Rhianna Patrick is an ABC broadcaster on secondment to IndigenousX, and has written a listicle of Indigenous horror on TV and film, and Joel Meares is Editor-in-Chief of the film review site Rotten Tomatoes. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Very ni...
Stop Everything celebrity memoir book club: The meaning of Mariah Carey
October 22, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBIn the debut of Stop Everything's Celebrity Memoir Book Club, BL, BW and special guests discuss The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the long-awaited, NY Times bestselling memoir written by pop diva Mariah Carey and Michaela Angela Davis. Mariah Carey super Lambs: Maria Lewis, author, screenwriter, broadcaster and possessor of deep cut Mariah knowledge and a Mariah Carey tattoo, and fellow lamb and celebrity memoir aficionado, Nick Bond, entertainment editor ...
Emily in Lovecraft Country
October 15, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBBL and BW discuss how #TheFly overshadowed the entire US VP debate and the memes it rapidly inspired; run through some Aria nomination headlines AND chat with composer Dan Golding, who's been nominated for an Aria for his soundtrack to the hit Melbourne-made game, Untitled Goose Game. It's the first time in the Arias' history that music from a game has been nominated for an award. Travis and Texas De Vries of the Broriginals podcast have 80,000 years...
The white house is a hot spot
October 08, 2020 23:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBBL + BW cruise down a freeway of dreams, satire and the politics of oversharing vs. unveiling on social media. The US President, true to form, tweets health updates via Twitter, Jim Carrey steps into his first 2020 Presidential debate on SNL, and his former advisor, Kellyanne Conway guest stars on her daughter's TikTok. TV personality Chrissy Teigen shares the raw grief of her and husband, John Legend's recent miscarriage on instagram, drawing suppor...
Explode everything!
October 02, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBBL + HR explode music and politics with musician, composer and creator of the hit podcast and new Netflix series, Song Exploder. They decode the Closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics with Emmy award-winning artistic director David Atkins and deconstruct The Rock's decision to throw his weight behind the Democratic nominees in the upcoming US election.
Schitt's sweep
September 25, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBOne show truly dominated the 2020 Emmy Awards and that was Schitt's Creek, which took out best comedy and swept all four comedy acting categories. Benjamin Law and drop in host Hannah Reich analyse why the sixth and final season has been such a hit with viewers and Emmy voters. Plus Journalist and self-described “(retired) veteran of the wellness industry” Sarah Wilson connects the links between QAnon and wellness communities and celebrating Wong Kar...
Freeman makes us feel #Alive
September 18, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.5 MBBW + BL dip into the pop culture news barrel, pulling out controversy, drama and a biopic announcement. They tune their walkie talkies to discuss #Alive, a South Korean film about an airborne zombie cannibal plague and take us trackside at the 2000 Sydney Olympics to Cathy Freeman's triumphant golden run that had a nation on its feet.
Is Liu Yifei's Mulan a girl worth fighting for?
September 11, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBBL + BW break down the Academy Awards' new diversity requirements for Best Picture, before going all in on the new Disney remake of Mulan, made for USD$200 million, how does the film stack up against the 1998 classic?
Wakanda Forever
September 04, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBBL + BW discuss actor Chadwick Boseman's legacy with filmmaker and journalist Santilla Chingaipe. Facebook Vs. the Australia Government: The Social Network threatens to stop users from posting news stories on FB and insta if an Australian government code of conduct requiring tech companies to pay for new content becomes law.
Category is: Man of Green Gables
August 28, 2020 00:05 - 53 minutes - 49.2 MBBW and BL chat about Canada's Drag Race. Featuring new judges, less RuPaul, and a slate of proud Canadian queens, the show is freshening up the competition franchise like a zamboni on ice. Kpop specialist Andy Trieu shares his expertise on Korean supergroup BTS' new hit single, Dynamite and comedian Craig Quartermaine shares how lockdown has taken the edge off his stand up fighting fitness and regular jousts with hecklers. ...
What are you looking at?
August 21, 2020 00:05 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBA picture is worth a thousand words of ... offense? protest? explanation? We talk about *that* Johannes Leak cartoon of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in The Australian and the controversy it's kicked off. As a chaser - let's go to New York City and catch up with renowned Australian photographer Anne Geddes, whose ubiquitous photos of babies as peapods, bumblebees, sunflowers and other adorable imaginings became part of the zeitgeist in the 90s and earl...
Vogue: Challenged
August 14, 2020 00:05 - 53 minutes - 49.1 MBChris Pang is a diplomat: The Melbourne International Film Festival ambassador and Crazy Rich Asians star discusses his upcoming new Amazon series On the Spectrum and why so many talented Australian actors of colour still struggle for opportunities and recognition at home, even while breaking through with big successes overseas. Vogue: Challenged. Glossy magazines are contending with how to address calls for more and better representation of minoriti...
Black is King/ Nothing is good/ Swan is meme
August 07, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBBW + BL explore Beyonce's new visual album, Black is King with artist Atong Atem, contemplate how to do nothing with Jenny Odell and rate themselves on a scale of bemused to exasperated on the "Which Jonathan Swan are you today?" mood board
My rights as a living woman
July 31, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBBL + BW explore 28 days of white supremacy with Layla F Saad , author of Me and White Supremacy and decode Taylor Swift's surprise album drop, Folklore with writer and self confessed Swiftie Kaitlyn Blythe
Let's talk about biodata and Indian Matchmaking
July 24, 2020 00:05 - 54 minutes - 49.6 MBBW + BL check the board game cupboard for signs of a pandemic and collate the biodata on Netflix's new hit dating show Indian Matchmaking with ABC Life Editor Bhakthi Puvanenthiran and writer and campaigner Tarang Chawla.