G’day Fearmongers,

It was a real thrill for Lewis and me to chat with a new voice in Australian satire: Henry Bretz.

For the past four months, Henry has been making the internet laugh with his uncanny, permanently furious impression of Karl Stefanovic’s Right Wing Nut Job era. He’s a fellow Queenslander, which only makes it sweeter.

By day he’s on Mix FM on the Sunshine Coast. The rest of the time he’s on TikTok and Instagram, taking apart the Australian political and media landscape. We can’t wait to work with him again.

Henry’s performing September 3rd at Good Chat Comedy Club in Brisbane.

And we’re on October 24th at the Cheerful Earful podcast festival in Melbourne. Line-up TBA — we haven’t booked anyone yet, so tell us who you want to see.

Cheers

Dan

NEW TO PATREON A RATIONAL CONVERSATION:

And for our climate heads who listen to A Rational Fear, on the Patreon we have an exclusive episode with Ketan Joshi. We are talking all things data centers. That is exclusive to Patreon, so chip in and have a listen. It’s a great conversation.

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

If you could pull any lever to make green electricity more affordable for renters and everyday people would you? What does a lever like that look like? Who gets to pull it?

Thom Woodroofe has spent his career in the cut and thrust of developing levers that government could push and pull to make make Australia’s energy transition cheaper for everyone — and he’s our guest in conversation this week.

Thom’s a longtime climate policy wonk and if you’re the kind of person that gets overly excited about climate policy frameworks that politicians are too scared to touch — this is a good episode for you.

Cheers,
Dan

BIG BBQ LESSON PLUG

This Sunday, June 7th, is the Big BBQ Lesson on the Central Coast. Break the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest every BBQ Lesson. They’ll be cooking up Veggie Burgers on Electric BBQs, all powered by Vehicle To Load via BYD Cars! This is awesome. Get a long if you live nearby:

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers:

We chat with journalist Michael West, who is being threatened by BHP’s lawyers.

If you’re a consumer of independent media in Australia — you’ll know Michael.

He writes punchy stories about corruption and power.

Australia’s biggest company, BHP, is taking him to court over his reporting on coal miner Simon Turner’s decade-long fight for compensation and unpaid wages.

It’s a super interesting conversation with some huge stakes for BHP — and with shares being invested through our superannuation, there are huge stakes for Australians as a whole.

Cheers,
Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round. And thanks to Ed who made it to the bunker.

G’day Fearmongers,

Next Thursday, in Melbourne I’m going to be hosting this super interesting panel on satire and civics with some great brains including — THE FOUNDER OF THE ONION!
Also on the panel is a technologist who worked on HBO’s Silicon Valley, and friend of the podcast John Delmenico from The Chaser.

First things first — yes it’s an #AllMalePanel — sorry, I’m not producing it but it is 2026 and Donald Trump is in power so have an open mind.

Second things second — I HAVE A DISCOUNT CODE — you get 30% percent off!

CODE: DILIC26BOCC

And third things third — if you have question for anyone on the panel for this show, leave it in the comments and I’ll do my best to get an answer for you!

BOOK HERE

Cheers,

Dan

G’day Fearmongers,

This week Ed Husic joined us in the A Rational Fear bunker to chat about the big diverging fault lines where Labor’s values meet Labor’s actions — Climate, Gaza, Iran War, but also how to work with those in opposition.

Ed was funny, and frank, and insightful on how things get done in parliament — and Lewis was testing his new legal eagle skills at putting Ed on the stand with the tough questions.

My one regret about this conversation is that we didn’t cover Lebanon in any significant way — but we will cover this topic properly in another podcast.

Cheers,

Dan Ilic

QUICK PLUG:

April 16th: I’ll be hosting this very interesting keynote lunch about democracy, satire, and why Scott Dikkers from the Onion won’t be allowed back into the United States. Andrew Nash was the technical adviser on Silicon Valley, and John Delmenico (friend of the show) is one of the sharpest brains in comedy in Australia — you know him and laugh at his work everyday on The Chaser’s socials.

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts |

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round. And thanks to Ed who made it to the bunker.

G’day Fearmongers,

There are some corporate shows that I host that no one should ever have to watch or listen to again — this was not one of them.

From understanding how fossil fuel groups are shaping digital media, to what regional voices for climate are up against, to how if the Liberal Party does preference deals with One Nation it will turn them into a micro party — forever.

Join me with Ed Coper (Populares), Kate Hook (Climate 200) and Malcolm Turnbull (Concerned Citizen) as we rip into a sparkling conversation with lost of jokes — highly appropriate for the A Rational Fear audience.

A great way to ease back into A Rational Fear for 2026.

Cheers,

Dan Ilic

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics and Climate 200 for allowing us to run this audio.

G’day Fearmongers,

What a great episode to end the year on.

It’s magic when the guests are good friends with time under their belts, joy in their hearts and stupidity in their mouths.

Kirsten Drysdale’s new YouTube show is crushing it, she reviews creators on the internet — The Internet Reviewed

Sami Shah you can find weekly on Patreon making podcasts and thoughtful posts — News Weakly

This week we cover a deeply important threat to democracy as we know it; The US State Department calling the Calibri font woke, we cash in on politician entitlements, and we try to decipher who 36 Months are and what they really want. Cam Wilson at Crikey.com.au has done some great work over the last year on the teenage social media ban — and this 36 Months story is developing fast. It’s worth a sub to Cam and Crikey to follow it as it unfolds.

There’s also and end of year quiz, and for some reason we talk about Jimmy Fallon and tech bros.

There’s a lot going on — but it’s a fun 45minutes hanging with funny friends.

Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a road trip.

Happy Christmas to you all — we’ll be back after Australia Day with some more A Rational Fear episodes, and perhaps the odd secret gig. To find out more — sign up to the Patreon .

PLUS there’s a prize this week for NEW paid Patreon & Substack supporters — you can win yourself a bottle of Evil Ray sunscreen.

Lewis’ sister is a founder, and we agreed that if we could convince enough of you to sign up to Patreon or become a paying subscriber on Substack this week — we’ll send you a bottle.

Cheers

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

SPONSOR SKETCH:

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

Two of Australia’s great brains join us on the podcast. The ultra-brilliant Grace Tame and the editor of The Chaser John Delmenico.

We sling satirical barbs about Spotify, satanic worshipers with an undesirable side hobby, the bad essay that tried to start a culture war, and do a quick drive by of the photos release from Epstein’s Island.

And for new Patreon & new paid Substack supporters this week — you can win yourself a bottle of Evil Ray sunscreen.

Lewis’ sister is a founder, and we agreed that if we could convince enough of you to sign up to Patreon or become a paying subscriber on Substack this week — we’ll send you a bottle.

Cheers

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

SPONSOR SKETCH:

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

Back to regular programming.

Alice Fraser and Aleks Milinkovic join us this week for one of our classic format shows. 3 Stories in the news, lots of jokes. Fast and fun.

And Lewis Looses It™ — which to be honest is great to see the guy show some emotion. The poor fella needs an outlet.

We talk about Melbourne’s warrantless pat-downs, X’s About This Account Tool, and Pauline Hanson’s week of multiple stunts in Parliament.

It’s a fun show.

Follow Aleks Milinkovic on Instagram to keep track of when his special is launching next week.

And follow Alice Fraser everywhere (but mostly Patreon) to keep track of her many shows including a live Bugle this weekend in Brisbane!

Cheers

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

SKETCH: Move over Accenture there’s a new F***ed consulting group in Canberra.

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

On the podcast this week we speak with Richie Merzian who is live on the ground in Belem for COP30, he is big climate nerd who is deep in the civil society movement to bring COP31 to Australia.

This conversation was recorded on Tuesday so it’s a little out of date. Sadly — we found out this morning that Australia will not be hosting COP31 in Australia. Rather Türkiye will host with COP31 with Minister Chris Bowen as the President of COP with a leaders meeting pre-COP in a Pacific Island nation to be determined.

I’m a little disappointed today — it was going to be such a great moment for Australia to promote South Australia’s efforts to decarbonise, to put the Pacific front and centre, and have an international spotlight on Australia as a major exporter of emissions, and put pressure on the government to change that.

Anyway — sorry Adelaide — we’ve cancelled our COP live show, but maybe we’ll be down for festival season.

Cheers,

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

Athena Kugblenu joins us this week to help us answer the question of the year “What the hell is wrong with UK Labour?”

They shouldn’t be failing, they should be thriving, but somehow, UK Labour is sh*tting the bed.

Athena, a long-time connoisseur of cowardice, tells us as quickly and as poetically a she could why UK Labour is sinking faster than carbon fiber submersible.

Enjoy this cathartic conversation.

Cheers,

Dan Ilic

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

So much fun this week to have Jenny Yang joins Lewis and I on A Rational Fear.

Jenny is a Los Angeles based comedian, writer, director, podcaster and community organiser. She’s spent a huge amount of time in local politics. She painted us a picture of what it was like this week when Zohran Mamdani won City Hall in New York City.

We discuss what it means for grassroots politics in the US moving forward.

Even thought it’s only a mayoral seat, it felt like a seismic shift in American politics.

AND if you’re an AACTA Member — our web series “Long Head” is up for an AACTA nomination, please consider making us your #1 choice.

Cheers,

Dan Ilic

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

To prove how good we are at doing live shows, here’s one of our favourites from the Brisbane International Science Festival.

If you like the sound of this live show, A Rational Fear is avaliable to riff and ridicule and bring joy and catharsis to any subject.

Book us for your corporate event.

We’ll rip into your industry, roast the CEO, and have merciless fun with your competitors and very competitive prices.

We can book the biggest comedians in Australia or the world, if your corporate credit car will allow — or we can do a small show with just Lewis and I, a laptop and a couple of beers.

What we’re saying is — we’re selling out! Dirty, filthy, slightly under-employed sellouts.

Book us dan@arationalfear.com or hit up Creative Representation

Cheers,

Dan Ilic

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

Sorry this episode was late to the substack — not that you need excuses from me, but it was my 1st wedding anniversary this weekend, so it was not a trip bring my laptop on.

However to make up for it being late, I'll also publish the video for Patreon supporters.

In this conversation Lewis and I get into the weeds on COP31, squaring the circle on emissions reduction hypocrisy, the challenges of being a target from both sides of politics especially SkyNews uncles. Chris also took a victory lap over the Cheaper Home Batteries program, and we him about the Government’s position on Gaza.

This is a great conversation, covering as much as we could in the time we had.

We’d love to do more conversations like this — but they are expensive to turn around and we need your help on Patreon to make it happen. Chip in for ad-free versions of the show, and for an episode like this, you even get to put your questions to our big guests.

Cheers,

Dan Ilic

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round. And the team at Chris Bowen’s office who made it happen.

G’day Fearmongers,

Konrad from Punters Politics has had enough of being cut out of the lobbying game so he's raising money to join them.

He wants to be the punters' lobbyist on the hill!

Lewis and I take it upon ourselves to grill him to make sure he has the chops to represent us in Canberra.

Hear about his plans for a big fundraiser dinner, and how it plans to get the big political names in the room with regular punters.

To chip in to help Konrad wield influence in Canberra — you can donate anonymous black money through his Chuffed page here: https://chuffed.org/project/134297-fund-australias-first-punter-powered-lobbyist

Cheers

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

This week we have one of my favourite comedians and tv producers walk us through the CBS decision to axe the Stephen Colbert Late Show.

Was it financial or something more sinister? At several points in this conversation— he blew our minds.

W.Kamau Bell is one of the smartest TV creators and comedians and he’s got the silverware to prove it, 4 Emmys and a Peabody. Kamau has even hosted his own tonight show which is why we’re talking to him this week.

📝 You can read his very thoughtful analysis of the Colbert moment on his substack Who’s With Me.

🎟️ And you can book to see him live on tour around the US later this year.

If you enjoy A Rational Fear, chip in to the Patreon.

ALSO In two weeks we have a Federal Minister on the show and on Patreon, you will be able to pitch your questions directly to them - but I’ll only take them for Patreon.

Cheers,

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

And special thanks to Simon Kennedy for his incredible Trump impression.

G’day Fearmongers,

We have two special guests this week!

Firstly, from the International Intrigue newsletter this week, co-founder and editor, Jeremy Dicker. It's a great daily read. I highly recommend subscribing. Kind of like Morning Brew for #Geopol.

We cover a couple of big internationally intriguing headlines from Albo's trip to China and why the US Department of Defense is buying a mining company in Nevada.

AND Guest #2. James Blackwell gives the Federal Court a spray about this week's decision that the Australian Government doesn't have a duty of care to Torres Strait islanders… and thereby... all Australians.

We’re also launching A Rational Fear Corporate. We will come to your conference to hold a panel show about your industry—that is guaranteed not to be boring.

To book A Rational Fear corporate shows hit me up on the email: dan@arationalfear.com

Cheers

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen: www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

And special thanks to Simon Kennedy for his incredible Trump impression.

G’day Fearmongers,

Fan favourite Alice Fraser is back on the podcast this week. How do we know she’s a fan favourite? You told us in the big survey we ran last year.

She’s also one of our personal favourite too.

And if you’re near Caloundra, QLD — you can pop along and see Alice Fraser tonight for the final date in the Passion for Passion book tour.

On the podcast this week we chat AUKUS, Lobbying and AI — and we have some big news that will mean A Rational Fear will live on in perpetuity (at the tax payers expense).

Cheers,

Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen. www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

We're back — it's been a minute since the Federal Election. To be honest I was burned out and couldn't get myself to make more content. But now I'm ready to burn again.

And besides — the last month has been quiet in the news — no much to talk about really. Everything is really calm and okay.

This episode Lewis and I are joined by the great Julia Zemiro — we talk about Creative Australia's re-instatement of Khaleb Sabsabi to represent us at the Venice Biennale, Justin Hemmes' spidery web of dodgy business, and Donald Trump dumping funding for satellite tracking of hurricanes. What could go wrong?

We're back in black, and back on track!

Thanks for listening and supporting A Rational Fear, in these tricky media times.

Cheers

Dan

Cheers,
Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen. www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.

G’day Fearmongers,

There’s only 48 hours left of this election — soon our national nightmare will be over.

On the podcast we’re joined by the hosts of the new media and cultural podcast, Lamestream. Scott Mitchell and Osman Faruqui are a couple of smart media operators who have been inside big corporate media, and politics, and know lots about how the sausage is made.

In this episode we chat about how the fourth estate has covered this election. Right wing vs progressive ecosystems, and how the major parties are trying to reach younger audiences.

ALSO for lovers of wacky news clips — Dylan Behan has given us his Australian election edition of News Fighters.

Cheers,
Dan

PODCAST LINKS:

Apple Podcasts | PocketCasts | YouTube

PATREON 💸:

If you enjoy our podcast, emails and important climate change conversations, chip in here like a good sovereign citizen. www.patreon.com/arationalfear

Thanks:

Big thanks to our Patreon Supporters, RØDE Mics, and Jacob Round.