Ed Coper’s new book Angertainment is the starting point for this week’s conversation about algorithms, outrage media and what it’s all doing to society. The book makes a straightforward case: social media doesn’t just reflect our worst impulses, it monetises them. Algorithms reward anger because anger drives engagement. That creates an ecosystem where rage-bait thrives and serious journalism struggles to compete.

Outlets like The Betoota Advocate sit comfortably in that ecosystem. Their "conservative rural news" that looks like a duck and quanks, is often circulated by people who don’t always check before they share. Funny, maybe. Harmless, no. When "conservative rural news" content spreads at the same velocity as real reporting, public trust in the whole media landscape takes the hit.

The deeper issue is what this does to how people relate to each other. When your information diet is curated by an algorithm optimised for outrage, your perception of the world, and the people in it, gets distorted. That has consequences for communities, for political discourse, and for democracy.

We talk through Coper’s framework and ask what, if anything, can actually be done about it. He then puts us in our box.

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Wendell Hussey and Errol Parker wrap up all the biggest stories from the week - live from the Desert Rock FM studio in downtown Betoota thanks to our friends at Dan Murphy's!

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Benny and Alex join BETOOTA TALKS to discuss their 5th and final album - what many critics are describing as a modern pub rock masterpiece, Ultra Dundee. After 15 years of gruelling tours, BAD//DREEMS have always been praised by the rest of Australia's long-suffering rock music scene for never mixing their words about the raw deal that artists receive from labels, streamers and venues. In this interview, the boys explain why they've kept at it. And how, while juggling families and real jobs, it has all been worth it when they pull together an album like this.

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Wendell Hussey, Clancy Overell and Errol Parker wrap up all the biggest stories from the week - live from the Desert Rock FM studio in downtown Betoota thanks to our friends at Dan Murphy's!

Subscribe to the Betoota Newsletter HERE

Betoota on Instagram

Betoota on TikTok

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One of the world's most renowned political commentators, Alastair Campbell, joins BETOOTA TALKS this week to discuss the similar paralells between One Nation and Reform UK. The former British Labour Press Secretary explains the roots, the enablers, and the masters of modern political populism. From Trump, to Scomo, to Boris, to Farage... What is it about these cowboy leaders that makes them so easy to vote for - even though you probably wouldn't take them fishing?

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Wendell Hussey, Clancy Overell and Errol Parker wrap up all the biggest stories from the week - live from the Desert Rock FM studio in downtown Betoota thanks to our friends at Dan Murphy's!

Subscribe to the Betoota Newsletter HERE

Betoota on Instagram

Betoota on TikTok

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Beloved friend of The Betoota Advocate, Concetta Caristo is an Australian radio presenter, comedian, and most recently a CELEBRITY. She joins Betoota Talks to discuss her whirlwind journey into becoming a household name. She's leaving Triple J and (The Betoota Advocate has decided) she's going to be an actor on Anne Edmonds and Kitty Flanagan's new TV series. She's also a very bad Italian because she's never been to Italy before... But that's about the change

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wendell Hussey, Clancy Overell and Errol Parker wrap up all the biggest stories from the week - live from the Desert Rock FM studio in downtown Betoota thanks to our friends at Dan Murphy's!

Subscribe to the Betoota Newsletter HERE

Betoota on Instagram

Betoota on TikTok

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.