Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to a Mumma mea podcast. Mumma Me acknowledges
the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast
is recorded on.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Hey, I'm Taylor Strano. This is Mummy's twice daily news podcast.
The Quickie. Yep, Big Brother is almost back in the house,
But should it be? As the show returns to its
iconic dream World house on Network ten, we look at
why the reality TV juggernaut keeps getting revived, the controversies
(00:43):
and cultural moments everyone's still talking about, and the big
question what happens to the real.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
People on the other side of the glass?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Plus forever chemicals could be hiding in your makeup bag,
kitchen and.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Even on your face.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
So what is it, why should you care? And what's
the breakthrough that might finally help get rid of them.
Before we get there, here's Claire Murphy with the latest
from the Quickie newsroom for Wednesday, September.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Ten, Thanks Taylor. Israel's military has launched an attack on
Hamas leaders in Qatar, where the Palestinian militant group has
its political base. Several blasts were heard in the capital Doha,
before plumes of black smoke were seen billowing from the
city's leg tifya petrol station. Next Door to the station
is a small residential compound that's been guarded by Katar's
Emi Regard twenty four hours a day since the beginning
(01:31):
of the Gaza Strip conflict. Qatar, which has acted as
a mediator alongside Egypt in talks on a ceasefire in
the almost two year old war in the Gaza Strip,
condemned the action as cowardly and called it a flagrant
violation of international law. Katar's Al Jazeira television is reporting
that the attack was aimed at Hamas Gaza Strip ceasefine negotiators,
the assault now possibly disrupting or even ending efforts to
(01:54):
reach a ceasefire. Two Hamas sources told Reuters that Hamas
officials in the ceasefine negotiating teams survived the attack, but
it was not immediately clear if anyone else was hurt.
Victoria has become the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce
treaty legislation to Parliament, paving the way for a formal
agreement between the state's indigenous peoples and the government. Under
(02:15):
the framework, an indigenous representative body will be made permanent
and granted decision making powers on initiatives and services relevant
to Aboriginal Victorians. They'll be able to propose name changes
for specified geographical features, provided they offer evidence of its offensiveness.
Public school students will be taught about Aboriginal experiences since
colonization based on the Yurok Justice Commission's official public record,
(02:39):
while a future apology to the state's first inhabitants in
Parliament was also agreed to. Britney Higgins has been ordered
to pay the bulk of her former boss's legal costs
after losing a defamation case. Linda Reynolds sued Miss Higgins
over a series of social media posts the ex senator
believes damaged her reputation. The Western Australian Supreme Court last
month finding the post's word defameatory and awarding damages of
(03:01):
three hundred and fifteen thousand dollars plus over twenty six
thousand dollars in interest to Miss Reynolds. Miss Higgins was
ordered to pay eighty percent of misas Reynold's legal costs,
which are yet to be determined. Prince Harry will personally
donate more than a million pounds to the BBC Children
in Need charity, one of the largest individual sums publicly
given by a member of the Royal family. The announcement
(03:23):
of the one point one million pound donation, the equivalent
of two point three million dollars Australian, came during a
visit by Harry to Nottingham, one of the first visits
to his homeland in five months and one of his
most high profile trips in stepping down from royal duties
in twenty twenty. Harry spoke about the city where he
and wife Megan visited on their first official engagement together
eight years ago, saying Nottingham has my respect, it always
(03:46):
has my commitment and a permanent place in my heart.
He went on to say that violence impacting young people,
particularly knife crime, continues to devastate lives, cut future short
and leave families in grief. He said he's been committed
to this work for over a decade and sadly the
urgency today is even greater than when he first began,
saying we cannot and must not and will not look away.
(04:08):
While the Royals charitable organized stations often donate millions and
individuals often privately gift to causes, these are not usually
publicly disclosed.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Thanks Claire.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Next, Big Brother is back, so game on Mools Big
Brother is always watching. No, that's not me being paranoid
about a shadow government, just.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Simply stating the facts.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
The reality TV show is returning to our screens later
this year. It's the social experiment that's outlasted just about
everything in OZI pop culture. But in twenty twenty five,
Big Brother returns.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
To its roots, dream World, the original.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
House, live evictions and promise of real people and classic confessionals.
Throwing a house full of contestants locked away from the
outside world, their support systems and Dangler cash prize in
front of them. What could possibly go wrong? Director of
the Australian Association of Psychologists Karlie Dova has a few ideas.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Describing those settings. Reminds me of COVID lockdown and that
was pretty disastrous for a lot of people's mental health
and wellbeing. Some people can flourish in those circumstances, the
majority of people will not. If you're actually competing and
you have to think about strategy, maybe that would support
people from not going a bit cuckoo.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
But that's also a big stressor as well.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Because you're giving up all this time you're being filmed,
you know, potentially in not your best kind of light,
you know, especially, we know that producers want drama, they
want excitement, they want something that keep people engaged so
that it's a stressor and it could also be a motivator.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
We've seen the highs Abum Dance, Tully and Drew's romance,
audience protest, and the notorious lows from the Belindagate scandal
to the two thousand and six Turkey slab incident that
triggered national outrage and a rethink of on camera boundaries.
Big Brother first aired in two thousand and one, capturing
attention as a twenty four to seven social experiment. Followed
(06:10):
was twenty class years of love lolls, drama and controversy,
voting scandals, on air protests, Allah Merlin's Free the Refugees moment,
from its two thousand and four eviction, and spinoffs embracing
everything from wild party games to late night adults only content.
The show has bounced between networks and revised its rules
(06:30):
countless times, but never really stayed out of the headlines
for too long. For contestants, though, the experience isn't just
fun in games, the emotional toll of total surveillance, claims
of manipulative producing tactics, and the pressure of fame it
can play havoc with mental health. Each new reboot swears
lessons have been learned, but critics keep asking is it
(06:51):
possible to protect contestants, keep it ethical and still deliver
the reality that viewers want. Carlin says probably not. I
asked her what she'd do differently if she was calling
the shots, I would.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Say, do everything differently, I guess I would probably. I
think if we're thinking about it from priori and mental
health perspective and not an entertainment perspective, I would say,
give people access to their friends and family, let them
leave the compound, you know, at least a couple of
times a week, if not once a day. They're probably
the things I would start. And also have a room
(07:25):
that people can go to where they won't be filmed,
you know, so if they want to cry or if
they want to you know, talk to someone and have
not be recorded or not have other people listen in.
Those are the two biggest things I would say.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So in an eraror obsessed with privacy and wellness, is
Big Brother's return a nostalgic master stroke or just straight
up damage being done in real time. To break down
the shows evolving legacy, were joined by Mum and Me,
a senior entertainment writer and Big Brother super fan Tara Watson.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
Tara, is Big Brother going to work in twenty twenty five?
Speaker 5 (07:55):
I really really hope so, so I adore Big Brother.
It was like literally my gateway into reality TV. But
the thing with Big Brother and this and this is
the stripped back authentic Channel ten Big Brother is it
is a slow burn. So it is a show that
it takes time to get to know the people, to
be invested in their stories, and in twenty twenty five,
(08:19):
I don't know if viewers have the patience for that
slow burn.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
So you've revealed to me that you're a bit of
a Big Brother super fan.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
I want to hear from you.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
What are some of the most iconic moments or some
of the most important pieces of Big Brother.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Law Where to begin?
Speaker 5 (08:36):
So I'll think I'll start with season one because I
think season one a Big Brother was the creation of
the Australian influencer because these people on season one, they
literally were influencers. So Sarah Marie, she released a line
of pajamas, Jemma released a line of lip glosses afterwards,
and Blair was cast on Neighbors. These were our celebrities. Sorry,
(08:59):
that is the most two thousand and one answer. Pajamas,
lip gloss and a casting on neighbors. Literally, but yeah,
like this just would never happen. Imagine that happened with
like maths can Like it just wouldn't happen. These were
huge celebrities. And but my favorite part of Big Brother
was like the silly moments. I love, Like we talk
(09:19):
a lot about the controversies and the darker stuff, and
they definitely had a lot of that, but they also
had like silliness and like, for instance, the Logans.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
There was Logan.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Greg and Logan David, and they were allegedly identical twins,
but they really weren't that identical, and they were sent
in and they had to pretend to be one person,
so one would like be in the house and then
the other one would be dropped in and eventually the
housemates were like, what's going on?
Speaker 6 (09:46):
You keep looking different different, Like one housemate, this guy Tim,
was like, wait, you look different today, Because they weren't
identical and they spoke differently and they had different personalities,
So I like that this like and they also like
they sent him like two strangers and they made them
pretend to be like married for a week even though.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
They didn't know each other, so they didn't know anything
about each other. And that was just Dade and Drew.
So I love like the sillier moments. I also loved
the love stories. I was very invested in all the
love stories. The most famous has to be Jess and Marty.
He was a country boy, she was a city GwL
and they met.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
He actually had a girlfriend at the time, which no
one talks.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
About, but anyway, they met, they fell in love, and
then they had a televised wedding. I mean, their marriage
didn't last very long, but they were still like a
cherish couple. And then there was like the big controversial
couple that was Tally and Drew, which was a huge
scandal because Talie went into the house.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
She already had a partner.
Speaker 5 (10:45):
Although it's interesting that she got a lot more hate
than Marty did when he had a partner going into
the house.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I want to hear about some of those controversial moments, though.
Can you run us through maybe one or two of
the moments that we couldn't stop looking at, even though
we probably should have. When it comes to Big Brother,
did they learn from them?
Speaker 5 (11:03):
There's nothing more controversial than the Turkey slab. I mean
that got the Prime Minister of Australia involved them in.
John Howard at the time literally said we need to
take this show off the air. So this was this
like disgusting sexual assault that happened to Camilla on one season.
There was two men involved. One was named John, one
was names Ash and they essentially pinned her to a
(11:25):
bed and sexually assaulted her. They said it was a joke,
but obviously it was not.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
It was not a joke.
Speaker 5 (11:31):
It was sexual assault. So they were eliminated from the
house and I think kim Milla did get some you know, therapy,
but it was, you know it really it shook the
whole country. It was a huge controversy. Other than that,
there was a lot of just like little controversies. On
one season, season four, they sent in this gorgeous model, Miriam,
(11:53):
and the house was kind of challenged to discover that
Miriam was transgender because at the time she was this
stunning reality star that was on this show called There's
Something about Miriam and that that show was literally about
outing her as true gender, and then they did it
in the Big Brother House.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
They made people like look at.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Her and judge her and it was absolutely disgraceful. So,
looking back on hindsight, that should never have happened.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I remember watching on as a child during what was
an Australian federal election year and the two prime ministerial
candidates did a video pitch to the contestants because of
course they still had to cast their votes in the
federal election.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
Oh yeah, remember that that was wild.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
This is how like, you know, huge this show was.
It was it was a cultural moment.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
It was a cultural moment, Tarr. But we must not
forget that there are people at the center of this show.
We've spoken with psychologist Carlie Dober about what some of
the effects that something like being on Big Brother can
have on a person.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
But you've actually.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Spoken to a whole bunch of past contestants. What happens
to them after they leave Big Brother? What have you
found by speaking to them?
Speaker 5 (13:04):
I mean, I think it depends on like their edit
and it depends on what they went through. So so
for instance, I spoke to Brie Ama she came runner
up on season four. She got a great edit because
you know, she's a largely on unproblematic person. She also
became a bit of a hero in her season because
she was incorrectly eliminated and then said.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Back into the house. So she was a real.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Underdog, and she told me, you know, she was really
grateful for her edit. So like after the show, it's
not like she had all this hate to come home too.
But I think she's had a pretty smooth ride, and
then she's got into work in entertainment radio and now
she's actually she's an efficient for like wedding ceremonies. Bit
of a pivot. But then on the flip side of that,
you've got people that got a more divisive edit. So
(13:51):
I spoke to Tully, who I've mentioned before. So Tully
was in this big cheating scandal. She also just didn't
get the greatest of edits, and I think viewers sometimes
thought she was a little bit over dramatic. After the show,
she really really struggled with the trolling, with the online
vitrio that she was getting, and it took her a
long time to kind of stop being so hard on ourselves,
(14:13):
because when she's been told constantly that she's a bad person,
that she's made bad decisions, that that starts to kind
of infiltrate and she had to kind of almost like
forgive herself because all these voices coming from all directions
were really like affecting her.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
It's interesting to see the real world impact that happens
when you leave the Big Brother house. In saying that, Tara,
what are you thinking we'll see when this new season
comes to air.
Speaker 5 (14:38):
I'm hopeful they've cast like a wide array of diverse people,
and it seems like from everything I've heard from Channel
Tanna and what they're looking for, it seems like that's
what they're doing. They really do want a mix of ages, races, backgrounds,
political beliefs. We want the whole scope because that is
the heart of Big Brother. That's how like this Big
(14:59):
Brother started as this like reality experiment. As she started
in the Netherlands in nineteen ninety nine, this has been
going for a long time. It should be in an experiment.
What happens when you all these people with different opinions,
different backgrounds in a house together and what are they
going to talk to? What are they going to talk about.
What are they going to fight about? Are they going
to fall in love?
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Like?
Speaker 5 (15:18):
These are all the questions. So that's what I want
from the show.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Will we get that? It just depends if.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
People are patient enough to stay with it.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
The worst case scenario for me would be.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
If they just cast a bunch of like young hotties,
because that's kind of what Big Brother became as the
years went on. It was just like Love Ireland but
in a house, which I mean is fun, but it's
just it's not big rubber.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
They're invisible, hard to pronounce, and could be living on
your skin every day. They're called forever chemicals for a reason.
Pfas or per and polyflor aalcol substances are a group
of nearly fifteen thousand human made chemicals found in everything
from waterproof mascara and stale day foundation to nonstick pans
(16:04):
and even some water resistant clothing.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
They loved for being durable and staying proof.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
That indestructibility means they don't break down, building up in
our bodies and the environment over time. Some of the
most notorious prefafs were used in firefighting, foam and teflon.
While many are now banded or being phased out, plenty
are still working in common products. That's a worry because
studies have linked pfas to everything from hormone disruption to.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Elevated cancer risk.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Now that doesn't necessarily mean that if you use waterproof
of scar that's happening to you, but it is worth noting.
But here's the spark of hope. Researchers in Adelaide have
developed a promising you way to fight back, using metal
sulfide power and UV light to essentially zap prefas and
break their stubborn bonds. The science is still a few
years away from real world use. Bart tesque on contaminated
(16:54):
soil and water have shown impressive results, including breaking down
real life prefas, not just live samples.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
So what can you do now?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Choose prefas free, beauty and kitchen products where you can,
and keep an eye out breakthroughs fighting forever chemicals are
finally on the horizon. Thanks for taking some time to
feed your mind with us today. The quickie is produced
by me Taylor Strano and Claire Murphy.