January 2024

Hey there Caddyshackers! 

A bit like the December 2023 blog did a repeat of the 2022 good news wrap to finish the year, we thought we would also repeat the formula for the this blog by giving you some of our favs as seen in the Jan 2023 blog. We will include our fav book, movie, series, documentary, music, podcast and artist.

Let’s get started!

OUR SUMMER FAV BOOK

We know, we did a shameless plug for the What We’re Reading section of our website in the September Blog.

But here is some more Summer reading with this book as our first fav. Honestly it was a toss up... do we mention The Daily Australian (TDA) as the podcast fav or as the book fav? Book won, as it was published in September 2023.

TDA is run by Zara Seidler and Sam Koslowski, two twenty-somethings who decided they’d make a business out of explaining the news to their friends. TDA are completely independent and are not owned by any larger media company.

Spiel from a book launch event at the University of NSW in 2023: The way we consume news is changing and traditional media is struggling to keep up with our forever online lifestyles. The Daily Aus is changing that – and fast.

TDA has cracked the code on resonating with young people, distilling the big news stories of the day into accessible, bite sized pieces. From fearless journalists to savvy entrepreneurs, witness the rise of a new generation that's leaving a lasting imprint. Zara Seidler and Sam Koslowski, sat in conversation with editor and podcaster Clare Stephens, and unpacked the big business of youth-focused news and reveal how digital platforms are transforming the news landscape.

Back story: (cause ya know we love those): When Sam Koslowski and Zara Seidler started uploading news breakdowns on Instagram for their family and friends in 2017 they couldn’t predict that four years later it would become a trusted news source for hundreds of thousands of young Australians.

Product Description of the book No Silly Questions from Goodreads:

Understand the news stories that matter. Be part of the important conversations. And feel confident - whether you're walking into a date, a work event or a voting booth. From the creators of the phenomenally successful news service The Daily Aus comes your ultimate playbook for how the world works.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the news cycle and a bit lost without the background to everything that's going on? You care what's happening in the world - but you can't help feeling you missed the part where the key stuff got explained. What's a budget deficit? How does voting actually work? What's the deal with the UN? And what does net zero mean again?

Thankfully, No Silly Questions is here to lay out the facts and principles behind the day's headlines. Zara Seidler and Sam Koslowski, creators of The Daily Aus - Australia's leading social-first news service - are like your super well-informed mates who you can rely on to quickly bring you up to speed.

They will plug your knowledge gaps with jargon-free explainers on everything from emissions trading and crypto to interest rates and human rights, so you can avoid the anxiety of asking the 'silly' questions and get on with your day feeling more knowledgeable and assured.

OUR SUMMER FAV MOVIE

I mean, kinda obvs, but we just cannot go past THIS movie as our fav. What A Ride! Pure Joy! Saw it three times on the big screen just to soak it all in. We want to read the script like they're lyrics.

We have watched and read about the making of, behind the scenes, bloopers & meta film references. Everything. The soundtrack, the wardrobe, the messages, the emotion and That Set.

And helloooo much of the Brit cast of Sex Education in there too! (More on that later with Season 4).

We are totally judging you, based on how much you liked this movie and what you understood it to be about.

At the time of writing this blog 1.34 Billion at the box office cant be wrong. Produced by Lucky Chap Entertainment which was co founded by Margot Robbie.

OUR SUMMER FAV DOCO

Speaking of what a ride, how about The Tillies in 2023! We can't woooo enough for that experience! So our fav Doco is Matildas: The World At Our Feet

Read Kathryn Madden’s entire article “The Matildas a modern love story” in Instyle Australia here.

An excerpt:

We’ve fallen for Sam Kerr’s wry humour and cool-as-a-cucumber demeanour, even when devastatingly injured and stuck on the bench.

We’ve fallen for Mackenzie ‘Macca’ Arnold’s don’t-f#@k-with-me courage in front of goal, crowning her our new Defence Minister.

We’ve fallen for Mary Fowler’s gloves; for Hayley Raso's ribbon; for coach Tony Gustavsson’s poignant Ted Lasso-isms; for Katrina Gorry’s baby Harper; for the team friendships, TikTok dances and anthems (Strawberry Kisses is giving like it’s 2001 again).

As The Betoota Advocate joked early on in the tournament, “Local woman actually enjoys watching sports now that messy buns and people being nice to each other on the field exists.”

Without reducing their extraordinary athletic ability and fierce competitiveness, the Matildas are pure joy and inspiration.

OUR SUMMER FAV SERIES

Thrilled that there was a fourth season of Sex Education, but sad that it was the final.

Late to this party? What are we talking about? Set in the U.K. at Moordale Secondary School, the show's central character is an awkward 16-year-old virgin named Otis, whose mother is a sex therapist.

Along with his friends Maeve and Eric, Otis opens a clinic and begins offering sex and relationship advice to his peers. Starring the inimitable Gillian Anderson as Otis’s Mum.

Side note: Gillian co authored a book called We: A Manifesto For Women Everywhere. We read and reviewed it here.

Another side note: Three decades ago Gillian starred in the cult classic show the X Files. Her character’s name was Dana Katherine Scully. The Scully Effect is the name given to a phenomenon where the number of women starting careers in typical STEM (Science / Technology / Engineering / Mathematics) professions saw a noticeable increase following the airing of the X-Files in the early 1990s.

OUR FAV SUMMER MUSIC

Because it's hard to pick one song, one album or even one soundtrack for that matter, we are covering many bases here by featuring Triple J’s Hottest 100 Like A Version as a fav.

The idea of Like A Version is pretty simple. They invite a musician or band into the Triple J studios, tell them to bring their instruments along, stick microphones in front of them and ask them to play one of their own compositions as well as a song they love by someone else.

We spent many lunch times discussing our votes for the Hottest 100 of Like A Version.

Also massive shout out to Budjerah Julum Slabb born 17 March 2002, known mononymously as Budjerah, is an Aboriginal Australian singer-songwriter from Fingal Head, New South Wales. He is a Coodjinburra man from the Bundjalung nation. His debut single "Missing You" was released in October 2020. Thanks Wiki.

Have a listen here.

Our Summer Fav Podcast

Gee there are a lot of podcasts out there! In fact over 5 million podcasts with over 70 million episodes between them as of 2023!

But in our section of the world, here in Australia, we take the time to listen to Big Small Talk with hosts Hannah Ferguson and Sarah Jane Adams

Description: So you want to know what’s happening in parliament, but you also want to know the latest in pop culture? Good, as you should.

From the front page to your newsfeeds, no story is too serious, stale, funny or frivolous. Because, if you haven’t realised, loving pop culture doesn’t mean you don’t understand politics. Knowing all your sh*t? That’s hot.

A review that sums it up: Incredibly witty and intelligent women take on an excellent balance between the sugary pop stories to world leaders and global politics. Makes me feel educated and relaxed at the same time. Can’t wait to listen to future episodes!!

We are big fan girls of Hannah and thought wouldn’t it be amazing if she could be a guest speaker for On The Couch in 2024, but really she has absolutely exploded, so we guess she would be too B&I (bizzy and important) in a good way, for our humble webinar series. Wouldn’t hurt to ask though right!

Keep reading to find out more on Hannah.

OUR SUMMER FAV ON THE GRAM

OK we’re going out on a little bit of a limb here as working for NSW Health, in Australia, we need to remain publicly apolitical. Cause ya know, we’re from the government and on the King’s Dime.

But we just have to say how much we love Hannah Ferguson who co-founded Cheek Media Co. in 2020, which quickly established itself as the go-to platform for daring feminist opinions on everything from right-wing politics to overcoming taboos around sex and pleasure.

Hannah Ferguson is the powerhouse behind Cheek Media Co. She is the CEO, CFO, Marketing Manager, and more. She decided to venture out into the business world with an idea every single person has had before us: to get paid to write/ talk/ think about sex toys, political meltdowns, the best nacho recipe, and everything in between. Hannah lets everyone know that she’s 6’2, doesn’t trust anyone who could compete in an onion-eating-competition and thinks her affinity for odd looking men is a personality trait. She’s also a law graduate, with a Masters in Communications. See more on her Instagram.

Hannah also published the book Bite Back in 2023 (read our 3 word review on What We’re Reading). In it, she turns her sharp, progressive perspective on the issues that matter. Her bold ideas will provoke you to think, spark important conversations and inspire meaningful social change.

Hannah also went down such a massive fan rabbit hole during the Soccer world cup like we did!

OUR SUMMER FAV ARTIST

Ok down to our fav artist. More back story. We have a resource page on our website offering free external & internal condoms, pens, oral dams, health promotion style postcards and stickers which allows services in the Illawarra & Shoalhaven to order items for their clients, groups and events.

Our goal with the resources, is to provide positive content and normalise conversations of sex, sexuality and sexual health and to reach services and organisations to support and build their capacity along with reaching and engaging young people (aged 15-29), parents and carers to empower and build confidence around sex and sexual health topics. Sounding a bit formal here we know!

To this end, we use social media to share sexual health and sex positive channels, books, podcasts, resources, websites, services and by disseminating accurate and reliable sexual health information and resources including STICKERS.

Always looking to expand what we offer, in 2023 we collaborated with Sydney based artist Jeff McCann after seeing some of his design work at World Pride. Jeff’s artistic ethos is to create inclusive works that encourage audience involvement and fun.

The trio of stickers on one sheet depicts a van, laptop and demonstration banana, which are all components of our work. Jeff won the 2023 ACON Honour Award: Cayte Latta Memorial Award for visual arts and we were thrilled for him and to be able to share his work.

You can order some of these fab stickers here.

We hope you enjoy some of our favs as much as we do.

We have a fantastic line up of guests for the On The Couch in 2024 as well as some big blog plans.

We will see you back here soon!

Peace, Love & Protection

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