benjamin law

We're ushering in Drag royalty and their champions.

Local legend Kween Kong stops by to talk about how life has changed since being a finalist on the second [and best] season of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under.

And Fenton Bailey was a queer kid coming of age in the UK in the seventies. Television changed his life, inspiring him to move to New York and start a production company with co-founder Randy Barbato: World of Wonder.

From there, World of Wonder worked with Britney Spears, Carrie Fisher and Tammy Faye Bakker but their most enduring collaboration is of course with RuPaul Charles. In 1993 they shot the film clip for RuPaul's 1993 hit, Supermodel (you better work) which became a staple on MTV, and in 2008 they produced season one of RuPaul's Drag Race.

We're getting the inside story on a new documentary about legendary YA author Judy Blume and spending time with disability inclusion advocate Sinéad Burke

How did Sinéad Burke go from teen fashion blogger to two-time British Vogue cover model with over 200,000 instagram followers? Sinéad shares her story with Stop Everything! and talks about why inclusive design is important to everyone.

And at 85, global bestselling author Judy Blume is a living legend who's long overdue for celebration. Filmmakers Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok are directors of the feature documentary 'Judy Blume Forever' that takes stock of the life and legacy of the beloved groundbreaking author.

We're learning about managing fame, making mistakes and the art of forgiveness.

Celebrity chef, cookbook author and millennial influencer Alison Roman takes BW + BL behind the scenes of her YouTube Home Movies and shares her biggest regret of 2020.

And Ronald Gladden, star of Jury Duty answers all our burning questions about his experience on the mockumentary series and how his life has changed since its release.

We're talking happily-ever-after with Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton romance novels.

With its multiracial (and hot) casting and steamy sex scenes, Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series found new and enthusiastic audiences via Shondalands's hit screen adaptations for Netflix. BW and romance correspondent Rudi Bremer talk to Julia about collaborating with Shonda Rhimes on the new Queen Charlotte series and novels, and what she's learned about writing non white and queer characters.

And BL and BW hear from the director and cast of Rye Lane, a British romcom that sends its leads on a colour-saturated caper through the landmarks of South London.

We're going behind the scenes and in front of the cameras of documentary series Alone Australia.

Alone Australia, SBS's version of the international series hit our screens and our hearts as ten contestants battled and embraced the elements on the West Coast of lutruwita/Tasmania.

BW + BL spoke to Producer Riima Daher about everything from training participants how to use camera gear in the wilderness to where they poop.

And after 67 days surviving solo, Alone Australia winner, Gina Chick packed her possum skin coat and left her home. Gina shares how she packed on the kilos to prepare for the show and why she kept the camera rolling as she grieved her late daughter Blaise.

Stop Everything! It's a big one this week.

It's our final show before we break for summer, and we're wrapping the year in pop culture with two of our favourite members of the Stop Everything! cinematic universe: comedian, author and Drag Race Down Under judge, Rhys Nicholson; and broadcaster, film and tv critic and Stop Everything! fill-in cohost, Wenlei Ma.

And — we are farewelling co-host Benjamin Law, who's stepping back from Stop Everything! After SIX years, so he can focus on some big exciting and non-disclosable projects in 2024. BW and BL tell their Stop Everything! origin story, laugh through a classy selection of bloopers and hug it out as they close the book on a very special era of the show.

We're sad but we're also excited! Because Stop Everything! continues in 2024 in a new format, with BW hosting solo and welcoming a rotating roster of guest critics each week to talk all things pop culture.

Award-winning director Corrie Chen takes us behind the scenes of The Artful Dodger, a re-envisioning the Dickens classic, Oliver Twist, set in 1850s colonial Australia. Corrie talks about directing an all star cast and how she coped with all blood and gore of the series many surgery scenes.

BL has a religious experience watching Beyoncé's Renaissance tour film, and BW and BL trawl through the pop culture news of the week: Former US Congressman George Santos' Cameo-powered pivot; Billie Eilish's coming out story; and how the Dutch translation of a new book about Harry and Meghan put names to bombshell disclosures made during the couple's 2021 Oprah interview.

Nineties supermodel Linda Evangelista isn't dating because she doesn't "want to hear somebody breathing" — and frankly, we're into it! With that quote, Evangelista joins a pantheon of unbothered older women (Whoopi Goldberg, Kim Catrall, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters) who dgaf what you think about them.

And we're getting on the blower for a phone call with writer, humourist, and New York City icon Fran Lebowitz! Fran talks about her resistance to the digital age, playing a judge on Law and Order and how she's getting ready for her 2024 tour of Australia.

Also: BW watches 3+ hours of Faraway Downs, Baz Luhrmann's six-part recut of his 2008 epic, Australia, to find out what's new, and the answer is — more ham; BL reports back on Bottoms, a hectic, genre bending queer high school comedy starring The Bear's Ayo Edebiri and The Idol's Rachel Sennott.

Dr Kate Adams is here to spill all the behind-the-scenes beans about The Real Housewives of Sydney. Dr Kate talks about the drama of #FurGate, explosive arguments and why she said yes to joining the cast of RHOS.

In other drama, BW and BL gossip about the shock firing and sudden rehiring of Open AI CEO Sam Altman; and what they think of reality competition show Squid Game: The Challenge and spooky true crime podcast Ghost Story.

We’re gossiping about the end of the actors strike; Fellow Travellers, a new series that blends history with horny sex scenes; and that Vogue photo shoot of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and fiancee Lauren Sanchez.

And Kelsey McKinney and Alex Sujong Laughlin, co-creators of Normal Gossip, take us behind the scenes of their hit podcast that trades in low stakes, high drama gossip about normal people.

Britney Spears' long-awaited memoir delivers the goods — from Justin Timberlake's betrayals to details of the conservatorship that ruled the pop star's life for 13 years. BW read the book in one day and has lots of views.

And live from Kaurna Country — Stop Everything's show from In Other Words at Oz Asia Festival! Cookbook author and MasterChef fan favourite Sarah Tiong and author and restaurateur Durkhanai Ayubi on everything from how they like to eat their feelings to why you should pay $30 for Bánh mì

Friends fans of all ages are mourning the death of Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the long-running sitcom. But is Friends what Perry wanted to be remembered for?

Hasan Minhaj has clapped back at a New Yorker article that found inaccuracies and embellishments in stories he's told in comedy specials. Minhaj published a 20-minute fact check video of The New Yorker's fact check of him — and we're wading through the entrails.

And hear from Jessica Yu, director of Quiz Lady, a new comedy starring Sandra Oh, Awkwafina and Will Ferrell; and Xavier Ho, ABC Top 5 Arts resident, who's got gaming tips for non gamers.

Are you a Linda, Christy, Cindy or Naomi? The 90s served us legendary supermodels, but how are the women who conquered the fashion world looking back on that era in their new Apple TV+ series?

Admit it, you have questions about our AI future. Is generative Artificial Intelligence here to help you with tasks you don't want to do? Or is it more likely it's going to take your job and threaten the existence of humanity itself?

In this special episode, author and screenwriter Simon Rich joins us. He happens to have the inside track on super intelligent AI that already exists — and the technology makes ChatGPT look like the dumbest kid in class.

BL and WM also discuss the new action movie The Creator, a story about a former American soldier who's tasked with stopping an AI weapon which happens to take the form of a doe-eyed child.Show notes:

We're all guilty of loving problematic faves. Is it still OK to read Harry Potter or watch Woody Allen movies? How do you reconcile your love for murky pop culture with the ethics of being a good person?

In this special episode, Benjamin Law and Wenlei Ma confess to their problematic faves and attempt to determine whether it's still OK to declare their loyalty to them or if it's something to be disavowed.

We also chat to Karyn Moynihan and Anna Carey about Double Love, a podcast which recaps and re-litigates the blockbuster 1980s teen publishing phenomenon, Sweet Valley High.

Cancellations! Price rises! Too many services! Streaming was supposed to be a pop culture utopia where audiences could pay $10 for everything they ever wanted to watch.

A decade on, viewers are forking out for multiple services and their favourite shows are being canned. Journalist and streaming expert Dan Barrett joins us to wade through the mess and forecast what the future holds for the industry and audiences.

Speaking of mess, BL and WM discuss the muddy disaster of Burning Man and whether festivals will now always be at the mercy of climate change. Plus, how people reacted to the Venice Film Festival's inclusion of Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Luc Besson.

And, we take a look at the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and the enduring power of a thoroughly silly (in the best ways) franchise.

Everywhere you look, there's a cultural bin fire. The flames of disaster are burning down the house and we can't stop staring.

First there's the shameless comeback of the Fyre Festival, the disastrous party that never was. Then there's Disney scuttling a super expensive streaming series it's already finished filming and may now never see the light of day.

And, of course, there's the calamitous Sex and the City revival And Just Like That, which finished its second season with an anticipated cameo and a narrative whimper.

Plus, Australian authors Jenna Guillaume and Will Kostakis drop in to chat about all things Young Adult books, TV shows and movies, and how to walk the tightrope of the culture wars.

If Taylor Swift's nemesis Scooter Braun is having a bad week, is it a pretty safe assumption that TayTay is having a good one? So, why is everyone talking about Braun right now?

Plus, Real Housewives superfan Ben mounts a spirited defence of the reality TV juggernaut and tries to convince non-believer Wenlei to give it a go.

And, actor and comedian Matt Okine stops by to chat about his bold adventure, a remake of iconic Australian series Mother and Son while BL and WM wrestle over the Bradley Cooper "Jewface" controversy.

The internet is blowing up over the bedroom antics in queer rom-com Red, White and Royal Blue, but is it actually sexy? And is mediocrity what's been missing in LGBTQI+ representation?

BL and WM discuss the messy, QAnon-adjacent controversy that's engulfed box-office barnstormer, child sex trafficking movie Sound of Freedom.

Plus, authority on all things comics Maria Lewis stops in to talk about her new book, Mockingbird: Strike Out, and the state of play in the world of superheroes.

Already proclaimed as one of the best films of the year, Past Lives is a stunning drama that hits you right in the feels. There will be tears.

Past Lives writer and director Celine Song drops in to talk about her semi-autobiographical movie, reinvention, and destiny as a pick-up line.

BL and WM discuss the blazing Australian success story that is horror flick Talk to Me, and the tragedy of its ban in Kuwait. Plus, the frothy and melancholic delights of Only Murders in the Building.