The Middle

Andy and Roger
  • 1.0 (1)
  • Society & Culture
  • Updated Weekly

In a world where only the extreme get their voice heard... How do we know where the middle is? Join us on our search for the middle. https://www.instagram.com/the_middle_podcast/

  1. 3d ago

    #206 - Changing minds

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 206 – Changing minds Andy returns from Sydney with a new appreciation for public transport and, more surprisingly, the Toyota Camry. From there, Andy and Roger ask a question that sounds simple until you actually try to answer it: when was the last time you genuinely changed your mind? The conversation moves through belief, identity and contrarianism, as Roger reflects on growing up religious, sincerely believing in God, and eventually leaving those beliefs behind. Andy considers his own Catholic upbringing and whether the same instinct that makes someone question religion can also make them more willing to challenge the prevailing view. Naturally, an attempt to talk about religion eventually becomes another discussion about Israel and Gaza. Andy and Roger debate responsibility for the war, Hamas and the October 7 attacks, Israel’s military response, civilian suffering, hostages, radicalisation and what any realistic path towards long-term peace might involve. They disagree over where responsibility should fall, whether diplomacy was given enough of a chance, and how Gaza could eventually be rebuilt and governed — arriving, somehow, at KPMG consultants and the Toyota Camry. Hashtags:
#ChangingYourMind #Religion #Belief #Contrarianism #IdentityPolitics #IsraelGaza #Israel #Gaza #Hamas #MiddleEast #October7 #PeaceProcess #PoliticalDebate #MoralResponsibility #Radicalisation #Indoctrination #AndyAndRoger #PodcastDiscussion #AustralianPodcast #TheMiddlePodcast Engage with us on social media: Website:
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    #206 - Changing minds

  2. Sep 26

    #205 - Is it rael?

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 205 – Is it rael? Roger goes to the pub, has a few too many drinks and somehow ends up taking the Israel-Palestine conflict home with him. From there, Andy and Roger unpack what happens when political disagreement stops being about competing interpretations and starts being about whether people can agree on the basic facts at all. They discuss the polarisation surrounding Israel and Gaza, October 7, the Hannibal Directive, accusations of genocide, civilian casualties and the increasingly fraught question of Israel’s legitimacy. The conversation also turns to antisemitism in Australia following the Bondi terror attack, shifting attitudes among younger people, the politics of the United Nations, Zohran Mamdani and Benjamin Netanyahu, and the reluctance of political tribes to condemn abuses committed by their own side. Andy and Roger also wrestle with competing claims to the land, colonialism and indigeneity, whether history offers any useful moral clarity, and the uncomfortable reality that Israelis and Palestinians ultimately have to find a way to live alongside one another. There are no neat answers, although relocating a second Jewish state to the Northern Territory does briefly enter the discussion. Hashtags:#IsraelPalestine #IsraelGazaWar #Gaza #October7 #MiddleEast #BenjaminNetanyahu #ZohranMamdani #Antisemitism #Bondi #AustralianPolitics #USPolitics #UnitedNations #PoliticalPolarisation #Geopolitics #TwoStateSolution #Hamas #Israel #Palestine #AndyAndRoger #PodcastDiscussion Engage with us on social media: Website:http://themiddle.site/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/the_middle_podcast/ YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@themiddlepodcastandyroger Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Middle-Podcast/100089236832534/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/TheMiddlePC Email:the.middle.podcast.au@gmail.com Sign up to our subscriber email list: Visit our website:http://themiddle.site/ Or click:https://forms.gle/4qATmU2yiHgjZrej8

    #205 - Is it rael?

  3. Sep 19

    #204 - Mackle No More

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 204 - Mackle-no-more Apparently the safest way to survive a pop tour in 2026 is to say absolutely nothing — although even that can now get you into trouble. Andy and Roger start by asking whether “peak woke” really is over, looking at the growing profile of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), dissatisfaction with mainstream politics, and why more radical political movements can become attractive when people decide the status quo is no longer working. The conversation then turns to a reported controversy involving Ed Sheeran and Macklemore, after Macklemore used a support slot to promote the Palestinian cause and criticise Israel’s actions in Gaza. Andy and Roger debate celebrity activism, whether an Ed Sheeran concert is the place for political campaigning, the difference between criticism and cancellation, and the pressure on public figures to take a position — including the increasingly familiar argument that silence itself amounts to a statement. They also wrestle with the complexity of Israel, Gaza and Hamas, the limits of slogans such as “Free Palestine”, and whether political advocacy becomes less persuasive when it leaves no room for the agency or responsibility of the other side. Along the way, P!nk, Robert Kraft and Roger Waters enter the discussion, as does Macklemore’s past controversy involving a costume criticised as a Jewish stereotype. Hashtags:
#CancelCulture #EdSheeran #Macklemore #CelebrityActivism #FreePalestine #IsraelGaza #GazaWar #PoliticalActivism #DSA #DemocraticSocialistsOfAmerica #WokeCulture #CultureWars #FreedomOfSpeech #MusicPolitics #Antisemitism #RogerWaters #AndyAndRoger #PodcastDiscussion Engage with us on social media: Website:
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    #204 - Mackle No More

  4. Sep 12

    #203 - Armageddon

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 203 – Armageddon Andy and Roger ask the reassuring question of whether humanity might be heading for Armageddon, and whether all those reassuring statistics about the world getting better are missing the bigger picture. Starting with Steven Pinker’s case for human progress, they move quickly into AI, technological risk, political instability and the possibility that civilisation can be improving on paper while becoming considerably less comfortable in practice. The conversation turns to whether AI has already passed the point where governments can meaningfully control it, what happens to inequality when machines can replace more human labour, and whether the next generation of “AI natives” will leave the rest of us looking like someone’s dad trying to open an email attachment. Andy and Roger also debate whether smartphones and algorithms are fundamentally anti-human, why modern life keeps becoming more complicated, and whether opting out of the race is really possible. Finally, they make some predictions about what we may soon outsource to AI: jobs, friendships, massages, medical examinations and, inevitably, podcasts. Which raises an uncomfortable question — how do you know you’re not listening to an AI podcast already? Hashtags:
#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #FutureOfAI #Technology #ChatGPT #AIAutomation #FutureOfWork #AIJobs #SocialMedia #Smartphones #Humanity #ExistentialRisk #TechCulture #Automation #DigitalLife #AndyAndRoger #PodcastDiscussion #ArtificialGeneralIntelligence #FutureOfHumanity #AIRevolution Engage with us on social media: Website:
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the.middle.podcast.au@gmail.com Sign up to our subscriber email list: Visit our website:
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    #203 - Armageddon

  5. Sep 5

    #202 - Bali-ache

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 202 – Bali-ache Roger returns from Bali having finally discovered the appeal of doing absolutely nothing in a five-star resort, before Andy drags him back to the less relaxing world of workplace politics. In this episode, Andy and Roger tackle a listener question about the colleague who is much better at looking competent than actually being competent. They explore the dark arts of managing up, why perception and influence are genuine workplace skills, and whether confronting someone who leaves everyone else cleaning up their mess is ever worth the political cost. The conversation expands into office psychopaths, toxic colleagues, bullies, favouritism and the uncomfortable reality that businesses do not always reward the hardest-working or most deserving person. They also discuss why some difficult personalities still get results, the difference between competence and aggression, and how quickly workplace power dynamics can change. Roger finishes with a story from his graduate days involving a notorious office bully, a name badge and an unexpectedly effective observation about the man’s chest. Hashtags: #WorkplacePolitics #OfficePolitics #ManagingUp #ToxicWorkplace #WorkplaceCulture #CareerAdvice #Leadership #OfficePsychopaths #WorkplaceBullying #CorporateCulture #CareerGrowth #Management #WorkplaceDrama #Influence #ProfessionalDevelopment #AndyAndRoger #PodcastDiscussion #FakeItTillYouMakeIt #ToxicColleagues #BusinessCulture Engage with us on social media: Website: http://themiddle.site/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_middle_podcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themiddlepodcastandyroger Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Middle-Podcast/100089236832534/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMiddlePC Email: the.middle.podcast.au@gmail.com Sign up to our subscriber email list: Visit our website: http://themiddle.site/ Or click: https://forms.gle/4qATmU2yiHgjZrej8

    #202 - Bali-ache

  6. Aug 29

    #201 - No, we’re not wiser

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 201 – No, we’re not wiser Two hundred (and one) episodes in, Andy and Roger ask the obvious question: are they older and wiser? Older, certainly. The rest remains open to debate. Continuing their trip down memory lane, they revisit two of the biggest and most divisive topics they’ve covered: Donald Trump and Israel-Palestine. Looking back at their earlier discussions of Trump, Andy and Roger consider where their views have converged, where genuine differences remain, and how much of their old disagreements came from Roger playing devil’s advocate. They discuss distrust of institutions, Trump’s appeal as an anti-establishment figure, the alternatives offered by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and whether the Trump era has permanently changed political engagement and the culture wars. The conversation then turns to October 7, Gaza and Israel’s response, where agreement becomes considerably harder to find. Andy argues that the humanitarian cost in Gaza is unacceptable and questions whether Israel’s actions have damaged its long-term security and international standing. Roger stresses the security threats facing Israel, the role of Hamas and the difficulty of identifying a realistic alternative response. They debate civilian casualties, deterrence, Iran, Hezbollah, international support for Israel and whether the events of the past few years have strengthened or weakened the Palestinian cause. After 200 episodes, it seems some arguments remain very much alive. Hashtags: #DonaldTrump #Trump2024 #USPolitics #KamalaHarris #IsraelPalestine #IsraelGazaWar #Gaza #October7 #MiddleEast #BenjaminNetanyahu #PoliticalPolarisation #ForeignPolicy #Geopolitics #CultureWars #AndyAndRoger #TheMiddlePodcast #PoliticalPodcast #Israel #Palestine #CurrentAffairs Engage with us on social media: Website: http://themiddle.site/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_middle_podcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themiddlepodcastandyroger Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Middle-Podcast/100089236832534/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMiddlePC Email: the.middle.podcast.au@gmail.com Sign up to our subscriber email list: Visit our website: http://themiddle.site/ Or click: https://forms.gle/4qATmU2yiHgjZrej8

    #201 - No, we’re not wiser

  7. Aug 22

    #200 - Are we any wiser?

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 200 – Are we any wiser? Two hundred episodes in, Andy and Roger are older, slightly more injured, and not obviously wiser. Roger opens proceedings with a mysteriously sprained hip and an aggressive encounter with a physiotherapist, while Andy recounts an equally painful experience with a GP, an administrative form, a urine sample, and a doctor who warns him that AI can hallucinate while apparently failing to follow perfectly straightforward instructions. From there, the pair mark episode 200 by revisiting some of the biggest themes from the podcast’s back catalogue and asking whether their views have changed. They return to racism and white privilege, the rise and retreat of woke culture, pronouns, acknowledgements of country, Me Too and the workplace culture wars. They also look back at Australia’s Voice referendum, what its failure says about political campaigning and identity, and their continuing frustrations with the ABC. Trump and Israel-Palestine are saved for part two, proving that even after 200 episodes they still haven’t learned how to keep things brief. Hashtags: #Episode200 #TheMiddlePodcast #AndyAndRoger #CultureWars #WokeCulture #Racism #WhitePrivilege #AustralianPolitics #TheVoice #VoiceReferendum #AcknowledgementOfCountry #MeToo #ABC #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Healthcare #AustralianCulture #PoliticalCommentary #IdentityPolitics #PodcastMilestone Engage with us on social media: Website: http://themiddle.site/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_middle_podcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themiddlepodcastandyroger Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Middle-Podcast/100089236832534/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMiddlePC Email: the.middle.podcast.au@gmail.com Sign up to our subscriber email list: Visit our website: http://themiddle.site/ Or click: https://forms.gle/4qATmU2yiHgjZrej8

    #200 - Are we any wiser?

  8. Aug 15

    #199 - Artificial thought

    🎧 NEW PODCAST EPISODE Episode 199 – Artificial thought In this episode, Andy and Roger ask a fairly modern question: if ChatGPT is writing your messages, planning your holidays and settling your arguments, at what point are you no longer doing much of the thinking yourself? Prompted by a listener who worries that outsourcing everyday mental work might be making him slightly dumber, they debate whether AI is simply another useful tool—or a very convenient crutch. Roger also discovers that Andy has been filtering some of their WhatsApp exchanges through AI, which goes about as well as you’d expect. The conversation moves through authorship, confidence, communication and whether polished AI-generated language still feels like it came from a real person. Andy and Roger then put AI through a series of practical tests: planning holidays, diagnosing medical problems, helping children learn, giving relationship advice, reviewing contracts, picking stocks, fixing broken appliances, writing university assignments and researching major purchases. They finish on the harder question of whether some things—like wedding vows or a parent’s eulogy—matter precisely because you have to do the work yourself. Hashtags: #ArtificialIntelligence #ChatGPT #GenerativeAI #AI #CriticalThinking #FutureOfWork #DigitalLife #AIWriting #Technology #HumanConnection #Education #RelationshipAdvice #AIEthics #Productivity #University #Communication #AndyAndRoger #PodcastDiscussion #TechCulture #FutureOfAI Engage with us on social media: Website: http://themiddle.site/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_middle_podcast/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themiddlepodcastandyroger Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Middle-Podcast/100089236832534/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMiddlePC Email: the.middle.podcast.au@gmail.com Sign up to our subscriber email list: Visit our website: http://themiddle.site/ Or click: https://forms.gle/4qATmU2yiHgjZrej8

    #199 - Artificial thought
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In a world where only the extreme get their voice heard... How do we know where the middle is? Join us on our search for the middle. https://www.instagram.com/the_middle_podcast/

Information

  • Creator
    Andy and Roger
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    213
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Andy and Roger
  • Show Website
    The Middle