Mike's Minute: What a week of angst it's been

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The Mike Hosking Breakfast 2 min 1 speaker 5 chapters transcribed 1 hour ago

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Why did the Sydney Sweeney ad campaign go viral and spark outrage over sexuality?

Mike Hosking 0:00

How about our week of angst, eh? Take your pick. Hot takes galore. You follow this Sydney Sweeney. She was the funniest. The ad agency who dreamed that up must be lining up for a bonus because the airtime it got in the end outweighed any actual cost by about 10 to 1, I reckon.

How does the “old sexuality card” continue to manipulate public reaction?

Mike Hosking 0:13

It went white-hot viral as millions raged about boobs and sexuality and insulting female athletes, all of which it did, of course, but that was the point. Did no one work out that... was the point. Get Sweeney partially naked, say sport, sport, sport. Cue the fury. Oldest trick in the book.

What happened in the Hyrox incident that led to rule changes amid public outrage?

Mike Hosking 0:30

Play the old sexuality card and we're all still falling for it unbelievably. High rocks. That was just plain weird. Unfortunate scenario mid-routine and the whole rule book gets changed. Bye. based on the outrage.

Why did Harry and Meghan’s school security issue become a global media frenzy?

Mike Hosking 0:41

The woman concerned didn't seem overly worried, having appeared on social media. She did apologise, I note, overnight, I suspect because she's truly over it. Harry and Meghan, I blame the media, mainly the British media, but their school upheaval went viral globally. Turned out the security issue for the kids was a bit of traffic, for God's sake. And once again... A reminder that these two are the worst sort of attention-seeking grifters, and I now genuinely feel sorry for the kids.

How did political conflicts affect Macklemore, Ed Sheeran, and their touring plans?

Mike Hosking 1:03

I mean, their mum and dad are buffoons, but given they don't know any better, and their attention obsession is seemingly incurable, maybe it's the media's job to step back and simply ignore them. Seems incredible that Gaga, a vastly bigger name than both of them put together, can vanish, give birth, and truck a reasonably well-developed child around, and no one knows about it or sees any of it unless she decides to let that happen. But the biggest and saddest of them all was, of course, Macklemore and the fellow travelling try-hards who decided to abandon their friendship with Ed Sheeran by dropping him in it after they, like so many of their lot, felt unable to keep their politics to themselves.

Mike Hosking 1:37

Sheeran is famously apolitical, a very smart move that served Dolly Parton well, and yet the musicians, some of whom you would have never have heard of if it wasn't for the Sheeran kindness and desire to promote new talent, left him with possibly no American tour at all after Macklemore got dropped and the rest quit in a fit of pique. Is it too much to ask to park your self-importance for a half-hour opening act and just play a bit of music? Oh, and to maybe be a decent person for the bloke who's giving you your break? So much outrage, so many causes, so much self-importance. Lucky the world is such a benign place, eh, and we've got nothing big to worry about.

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Chapters

5 chapters

1 Why did the Sydney Sweeney ad campaign go viral and spark outrage over sexuality? 0:00–0:13 2 How does the “old sexuality card” continue to manipulate public reaction? 0:13–0:30 3 What happened in the Hyrox incident that led to rule changes amid public outrage? 0:30–0:41 4 Why did Harry and Meghan’s school security issue become a global media frenzy? 0:41–1:03 5 How did political conflicts affect Macklemore, Ed Sheeran, and their touring plans? 1:03–2:22

Speakers

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Mike Hosking 2 min

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Topics in this episode

Dolly Parton 1 Harry 1 Ed Sheeran 2 Sydney Sweeney 1 Macklemore 1 Gaga 1 Meghan 1

Source

Recorded17 Sep 2026

Publisheromnycontent.com ↗

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Show notes

How about our week of angst? Take your pick, because there were hot takes galore. Sydney Sweeney was the funniest. The ad agency that dreamed up that campaign must be lining up for a bonus. Because the airtime it got in the end outweighed any actual cost by about 10:1. It went white hot viral as millions raged about boobs and sexuality and insulting female athletes. All of which it did of course, but that was the point. Did no one work out that was the point? Get Sweeney partially naked, say "sports, sports, sports" a lot and queue the fury. The ol' sexuality card is the oldest trick in the book and we're still falling for it. Hyrox was just plain weird. An unfortunate scenario mid routine and the whole rule book is changed out based on the outrage. The woman concerned didn’t seem overly worried, having appeared on social media seemingly making light of it. Then you've got Harry and Meghan. I blame the media, mainly the British. But their school upheaval went viral globally and it turned out the security issue for the kids was a bit of traffic. It's once again a reminder that these two are the worst sort of attention-seeking grifters and I now genuinely feel sorry for the kids. Their Mum and Dad are buffoons but given they don’t know any better and their attention obsession is seemingly incurable, maybe it’s the media's job to step back and simply ignore them. It seems incredible that Lady Gaga, a vastly bigger name than both of them put together, can vanish, give birth and truck a reasonably, well-developed child around and no one knows about it, or sees any of it, unless she decides to let that happen. But the biggest and saddest of them all was Macklemore and the fellow travelling try-hards who decided to abandon their friendship with Ed Sheeran by dropping him in it after they, like so many of their lot, felt unable to keep their politics to themselves. Sheeran is famously apolitical. It’s a smart move that served Dolly Parton well and yet the musicians, some of whom you would never have heard of if it wasn't for Sheeran's kindness and desire to promote new talent, left him with possibly no American tour after Macklemore got dropped and the rest quit in a fit of pique. Is it too much to ask to park the self-importance for a half hour opening act and just play? Oh, and to maybe be a decent person for the bloke who's giving you your break? So much outrage, so many causes, so much self-importance. Lucky the world is such a benign place and we have nothing big to worry about. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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