T minus 20

Joe and Mel

The year is 2006.  We head to the hills and learn reality is scripted.  Your Sony cyber-shot uploads 462 blurry regrets.  A Facebook poke makes everything 'complicated'.  And Twitter's like, "Cool story. You've got 140 characters... Go!". T minus 20, rewind to this week in history 20 years ago with Joe and Mel.

  1. 6d ago

    The week Lance Bass reclaimed his story

    Rewind to 23–29 July 2006, when gossip blogs could make global headlines, Australians argued over drinking recycled water and apparently every second Neighbours actor fancied themselves the next pop star. 🎤 Lance Bass tells his story After years of rumours and relentless tabloid speculation, the *NSYNC star came out in a People magazine exclusive. We rewind to one of the defining celebrity moments of the 2000s, unpack the role Perez Hilton played and explore just how much has changed in the last 20 years. 🚰 Would you drink recycled sewage? Toowoomba became the centre of one of Australia's most memorable public debates, with 'Poowoomba', 'toilet to tap' and plenty of fear campaigns dominating the headlines. Looking back, it's a fascinating lesson in how language can shape public opinion. 🌈 When one sporting event became two The inaugural World Outgames kicked off in Montreal after a spectacular falling-out split the LGBTQ+ sporting movement. We revisit the history of the Gay Games, why they existed in the first place and how the conversation around inclusion in sport has evolved. 🥵 California's silent disaster One of the deadliest heatwaves in US history claimed more than 140 lives, many of them older people living alone behind closed doors. It's a sobering reminder that the most dangerous natural disasters aren't always the loudest. 🎶 Ramsay Street's latest pop princess Stephanie McIntosh released Mistake, giving us the perfect excuse to revisit the surprisingly long list of Neighbours stars who swapped soap scripts for recording studios. Kylie, Jason, Holly… was acting just Plan B? 👑 A crowning moment... then a collapse Miss Puerto Rico was crowned Miss Universe before fainting on stage moments later. We revisit one of the pageant's most memorable finales and look at how beauty competitions have transformed since Donald Trump owned the Miss Universe organisation. 🎧 Pharrell steps into the spotlight Before Happy conquered the world, Pharrell released his debut solo album In My Mind. We look back at the record that proved one of music's greatest producers was ready to become a star in his own right. Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

  2. Jul 15

    Criss Angel walked on water. And we bought it.

    Rewind to 16–22 July 2006, when reality felt increasingly stranger than fiction. A devastating tsunami caught thousands off guard, MySpace's biggest breakout star served up the ultimate kiss-off anthem, Criss Angel convinced us all that walking on water was totally plausible and Play School proved some childhood comforts never go out of style.  🃏 Criss Angel turns emo into a superpower Mindfreak premiered and suddenly every teenager wanted black eyeliner, leather wristbands and impossible magic tricks. Walking on water, hanging from fish hooks, setting himself on fire... if David Blaine was mysterious, Criss Angel was pure Hot Topic chaos.  🌊 Nature delivers another brutal reminder Just 18 months after the Boxing Day tsunami, a powerful 7.7 earthquake off Indonesia's Java coast triggered devastating waves that claimed more than 660 lives. Many people barely felt the quake, so they stayed on the beach, unaware a tsunami was racing towards them. It became another heartbreaking moment that reshaped how the region approached tsunami warnings.  🎤 Lily Allen smiles... while plotting revenge Smile shot to number one in the UK, introducing the world to Lily Allen's cheeky storytelling and proving MySpace really could create a pop superstar. It sounded like sunshine but underneath was one of the pettiest breakup songs of the decade. We absolutely ate it up.  💃 The coolest R&B song of 2006 arrives Cassie's Me & U landed with barely more than a whisper, yet somehow became one of the year's biggest hits. Minimal production, hypnotic vocals and effortless cool made it feel completely different to everything else on the radio. Twenty years later, it still sounds remarkably fresh.  📺 When live TV got a little too live Colin Farrell's interview with Jay Leno took an unexpected turn when an alleged stalker calmly wandered onto the set, hugged him and handed him a book before security stepped in. The audience thought it was a sketch. It definitely wasn't. Farrell, somehow, barely missed a beat.  🪟 Everybody had a favourite window Australia's beloved Play School celebrated its 40th birthday, reminding an entire generation that Big Ted, Jemima, Humpty and those iconic windows were just as important as anything happening on commercial TV. Slow TV, wholesome vibes and zero overstimulation. Imagine that. Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

  3. Jul 8

    When MySpace ruled the web

    Rewind to 9–15 July 2006, when your Top 8 could end friendships, everyone suddenly had an opinion in 140 characters and celebrity reality TV decided skating on knives sounded like a great idea. 🌐 MySpace officially wins the internet Move over Yahoo! Mail. MySpace became the most visited website in America, proving we'd happily spend hours tweaking glittery profiles, choosing the perfect autoplay song and stressing over who made the Top 8.  🐦 Twitter enters the chat A tiny new website asked one simple question: ‘What are you doing?’ No hashtags. No retweets. Just 140 characters that would eventually change news, politics and how often strangers argued with each other online. 🎬 Captain Jack rules the box office Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest stayed number one, Davy Jones' CGI blew everyone's minds and that ending left an entire generation impatiently waiting for the next movie. ⛸️ Australians discovered ice is slippery Dancing on Ice glided onto Channel Nine with celebrities, sequins and an alarming number of injuries. It was reality TV at its wonderfully unhinged mid-2000s peak and somehow ballroom dancing suddenly looked like the safer option. 💥 Mumbai rocked by coordinated bombings One of the week's biggest news stories saw seven bombs explode across Mumbai's rail network during peak hour, killing 189 people. It was a devastating attack that reshaped railway security and remains one of modern India's defining tragedies. 🤘 Sepultura turns a page Founding drummer Igor Cavalera was officially replaced, marking the end of one of metal's most iconic line-ups. Fans were split but the band kept marching on. 📚 Stephanie Plum was back on the case Janet Evanovich's Twelve Sharp topped the bestseller list, serving up murder, mayhem and yet another reason readers couldn't quit Team Ranger versus Team Morelli. Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

  4. Jul 1

    The week the internet beat TV

    Rewind to 2–8 July 2006 🌐 The internet officially won A UK survey revealed young people were now spending more time online than watching TV. We weren't doomscrolling TikTok just yet — we were busy on MySpace, MSN Messenger, Habbo Hotel and YouTube when it was still the new kid on the block. Turns out this was the moment the internet quietly took over our lives. 🚀 Houston, we have... confidence again NASA blasted Discovery into space on the only Space Shuttle launch ever to happen on US Independence Day, proving the shuttle program could still fly safely after the Columbia disaster.  🎾 Wimbledon gets cheekier Forget the forehands — Centre Court was briefly stolen by a streaker who cartwheeled (!) across the grass during Maria Sharapova's quarter-final. It was peak mid-2000s ‘look at me’ behaviour, back when viral fame required a lot more commitment... and a lot fewer clothes. 🦸 The Man of Steel returns Superman Returns soared into cinemas with a blockbuster budget, a brand-new Superman and enough nostalgia to make Christopher Reeve fans misty-eyed. Warner Bros. was already talking sequels... which makes hindsight a cruel thing. 🎤 The Silver Fox reigns Fresh off his American Idol win, Taylor Hicks debuted at No. 1 with Do I Make You Proud. For one glorious moment, landline voting could launch you to superstardom overnight... even if the fame didn't quite last. 🚽 Innovation or crime against bathrooms? After Joe’s revelation that he renamed the ‘technology’ segment to ‘technology and innovation’, Mel has doubled down on the innovation component… We dive into the wonderfully unhinged world of Innovations, where leopard-print toilet seats and over-the-loo storage cupboards were somehow being marketed as must-have home upgrades. The storage unit? Surprisingly practical. The leopard loo? That's a commitment. Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

  5. Jun 24

    Axl Rose bites security guard

    Rewind to 25 June – 1 July 2006 💰 Buffett drops the biggest tip jar in history Warren Buffett announced he was giving away most of his fortune, pledging more than US$30 billion to the Gates Foundation. In a world obsessed with getting rich, the Oracle of Omaha casually decided to give it away instead. It was the biggest charitable donation the world had ever seen and kicked off a new era of billionaire philanthropy.  ⚽ The Phenomenon strikes again Brazil's Ronaldo silenced the critics and broke the all-time World Cup finals goal-scoring record with his 15th goal. If you spent June 2006 waking up at ridiculous hours to watch football on SBS, this one felt huge. Frosted tips, dodgy sleep schedules and peak World Cup fever.  🎵 Meet me in the mall... Yung Joc's ‘It's Goin' Down’ was climbing the charts and helping Atlanta's snap music takeover go mainstream. Finger snaps, ringtone rap and simple hooks were becoming the blueprint for the next generation of viral music. TikTok trends before TikTok existed.  🌹 Axl Rose bites back. Literally. After a concert in Stockholm, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose was arrested following an altercation with a hotel security guard. The detail everyone remembers? He allegedly bit the guard on the leg. Chinese Democracy was still nowhere to be seen but Axl was keeping the headlines alive anyway.  📺 The Adam Sandler movie that made us cry Click arrived looking like another goofy Adam Sandler comedy about a magic remote control. Then halfway through it blindsided audiences with an existential crisis about ageing, family and wasting your life. Nobody rented this expecting feelings.  🏡 Neighbours hits 5,000 episodes Ramsay Street celebrated its 5,000th episode and somehow still had plenty of drama left in the tank. Plane crashes, kidnappings, amnesia and Paul Robinson plotting his latest scheme. Australian television institutions don't get much bigger than this.  📚 Dad fiction goes feral Dean Koontz's thriller The Husband had readers hooked with kidnappings, ransom demands and enough landscaping references to apparently upset half of Goodreads. Critics complained about all the plant descriptions. Defenders pointed out the main character was literally a landscaper. Fair.  Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

  6. Jun 17

    The week Taylor Swift’s origin story began

    Rewind to 18–24 June 2006, when Pluto got some new friends, a teenage country singer quietly launched a global empire and everyone suddenly learned what drifting was. 🤠 Taylor Swift starts the long game A 16-year-old Taylor Swift released her debut single, ‘Tim McGraw’. It was a clever country song about hoping someone remembers you when they hear a favourite artist. Turns out the real story was that nearly 20 years later, the entire world would remember her.  🌌 Pluto's glow-up era Pluto officially named its two newly discovered moons, Nix and Hydra, turning our favourite tiny planet into a full-blown mini solar system. Scientists were celebrating, school posters still had nine planets and nobody realised Pluto was only weeks away from one of the biggest demotions in science history.  🐢 Goodbye Harriet Australia said farewell to Harriet the Galápagos tortoise, who died at the incredible age of 176. She'd lived through six British monarchs, possibly met Charles Darwin and spent her final years becoming an unlikely Australia Zoo celebrity.  🕺 Shakira breaks the planet "Hips Don't Lie" was absolutely everywhere. The horns hit, millennials activated and Shakira's already-finished album suddenly became one of the biggest success stories of the decade. School discos, weddings, sporting events — there was no escape.  🚗 Tokyo Drift confuses everybody The Fast & Furious franchise ditched most of its cast, moved to Japan and started talking about drifting. Fans weren't sure what was happening, but they were about to spend the next six months putting giant body kits on virtual cars and pretending they understood JDM culture.  ⭐ America's Got Talent begins the chaos NBC launched a talent show where singers, magicians, comedians, ventriloquists, dancing dogs and people making questionable life choices could all compete for a million dollars. Reality TV had officially entered its ‘anything goes’ phase Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

  7. Jun 10

    The week Google became a verb

    Rewind to 11–17 June 2006, when Google officially became a verb, Nelly Furtado completed her glow-up from folk-pop darling to dancefloor queen and Pixar convinced an entire generation that a talking race car could have emotional depth. 🔍 Google wins the internet This week, Google was officially added to the dictionary. That's right — a company became a verb. We look back at the moment Google conquered search, compare it to today's AI boom and ask the important question: if we used to Google everything, what are we calling it when we ask ChatGPT? 🚂 The most stressful POV footage ever Long before dashcams and TikTok fails, a freight train collision in California became one of the first major accidents captured from the driver's perspective. The footage is terrifying, the town is called Kismet — literally means fate — and somehow this all feels very early YouTube. 🎸 Nostalgia for nostalgia Sandi Thom's I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker topped charts around the world despite being a song about wishing you'd lived in a different decade. Which is funny, because now we're nostalgic for the song itself. The nostalgia cycle is complete. 🔥 Nelly's rebrand era Promiscuous lands and suddenly the ‘I’m Like a Bird’ girl is gone. With Timbaland behind the controls, Nelly Furtado launches one of the biggest pop reinventions of the 2000s and gives us a song that still sounds like 2006 in the best possible way. 🎤 Touch this Busta Rhymes scores the only number-one album of his career with The Big Bang, powered by Touch It — a song that was on every club playlist, every ringtone chart and eventually remixed with what felt like every rapper on Earth. 🚗 Ka-chow! Cars races into cinemas and introduces the world to Lightning McQueen. Critics thought it was good, kids thought it was the greatest thing ever made and parents were about to spend the next decade stepping on tiny die-cast cars in the dark. 🔧 Welding, shouting, television Monster Garage comes to an end after proving that almost anything can become a TV show if you add power tools, impossible deadlines and enough confidence. Peak Discovery Channel. Peak 2000s. Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

  8. Jun 3

    When Nelly Furtado got promiscuous

    Rewind to 4–10 June 2006… 💃 New era, who dis? Nelly Furtado drops Loose and flips her entire brand overnight. Gone is the floaty ‘I’m Like a Bird’ era, in comes full Timbaland-produced main pop girl energy. It’s wall-to-wall hits and suddenly she owns the clubs, the charts and your iPod.  🚓 Small town, big feelings After 12 years, Blue Heelers signs off and a nation quietly spirals. Mount Thomas felt like home, the characters felt like neighbours and we’re still not over Maggie Doyle. The finale marks the end of ‘everyone watching the same thing at the same time’ Aussie TV energy. ☄️ The sky literally goes boom Somewhere in Arctic-adjacent Norway, a meteor explodes mid-air like a surprise jump scare from space. Windows shake, people wake up convinced it’s the end times and scientists later confirm: yep, just a casual airburst. No crater, no damage - just a reminder the universe can absolutely humble us at any moment.  🧱 This could’ve been an email In Bristol, a suspected WWII bomb shuts down the city centre… only to be revealed as a chunky bit of concrete. Full evacuation, bomb squad, peak chaos — all for what is essentially aggressive pavement. To be fair, the UK doesn’t mess around with bomb scares… but still.  💔 Rom-com but make it… uncomfortable The Break-Up hits #1 and tricks everyone into thinking it’s a cute love story. Instead? A painfully real look at a couple who break up but refuse to move out. Passive aggression, petty fights and one iconic lemon rant later, audiences are like… wow, that hit a bit too close to home. 📸 Reality TV but with zero HR The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency premieres and immediately chooses chaos. Janice is yelling, models are crying and the line between tough love and are we okay with this? is… blurry. Peak 2000s reality TV where being unhinged wasn’t a bug, it was the format. Send us Fan Mail Hang with us on socials to chat more noughties nostalgia - Facebook (@tminus20) or Instagram (tminus20podcast). You can also contact us there if you want to be a part of the show.

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About

The year is 2006.  We head to the hills and learn reality is scripted.  Your Sony cyber-shot uploads 462 blurry regrets.  A Facebook poke makes everything 'complicated'.  And Twitter's like, "Cool story. You've got 140 characters... Go!". T minus 20, rewind to this week in history 20 years ago with Joe and Mel.

Information

  • Creator
    Joe and Mel
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    258
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 T minus 20
  • Show Website
    T minus 20

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