My week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 January 2026 was wet, particular in the second half. However I did produce a podcast, I had an extensive medical screening for a vaccine trial, and we resumed apartment-hunting for the new year in between Saturday’s pouring rain.
Indeed, in the 24 hours to 9am today, Sunday, there was 200 mm of rain in Katoomba, and it’s still raining. The photo is from Saturday, when I was on a rail replacement coach on the M4 motorway, and rain started leaking in through the air conditioning.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Unnatural Act with a Pig with Patrick Stokes, recorded on Wednesday and posted on Thursday evening. This conversation was great fun.
The 9pm Edict and Another Untitled Music Podcast are supported by the generosity of you, their listeners. Please consider supporting them. You can to throw a few coins into the tip jar directly or subscribe for special benefits. There’s also some specific benefits for supporting AUMP.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #100. Nations start banning Grok AI, Australia’s hastily-conceived antisemitism and hate crime bill looks set to fail, Victorian schools data gets hacked, and more.
Photos, Videos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Some Interesting Links
- A remarkable story from Slate: You’ve heard about who ICE is recruiting. The truth is far worse. I’m the proof.
- Photos capture the breathtaking scale of China’s wind and solar buildout, and yes there’s some striking examples here.
- Please be having a few sketches from comedian Sam Campbell from 2019: Get Real Dude for Channel 4, and How To Truly Say You’re Sorry for the BBC.
- I enjoyed the conversation that flowed from my Bluesky post about a 1960 food menu from the Uni of Melbourne’s International House, a student residential college.
- And you might enjoy this game, Antidepressants or Tolkien?.
- This week’s suggested follow: J Draper, a London tour guide who posts well-researched and entertaining history videos.
The Week Ahead
There will probably be another summer series episode of The 9pm Edict this week, but I have yet to confirm a guest. I’ll also sort out at least a temporary hosting provider for Another Untitled Music Podcast. And there’s some client work to do too, but none of this has been allocated to specific dates.
On Friday it’s The Weekly Cybers as usual. On Saturday I’ll be in Sydney looking at apartments again. And Sunday should therefore be a day of rest. It’s also a long weekend, because Monday is Australia Day. I’m not sure whether this will change anything.
Further Ahead
And — would you believe it? — there’s still nothing 100% locked in yet.
[Photo: The rain-drenched view from a rail replacement coach on the Sydney’s M4 motorway, on the very wet 17 January 2026.]