Weirder Together with Ben Lee and Ione Skye

Kate Moss, Nirvana Unplugged & Why AI Music Misses the Entire Point 17.08.2026 36m

This week: moving stuff out of our LA storage and crying over a broccoli pan, Ione’s first visit to Phoenix Central Park, and a young band called Mouseatouille doing something genuinely exciting.We talk about Kelly from Camp Cope’s book “It’s Not For You” — about female musicians in Australia — and what it made us think about fighting for sensitivity in a cutthroat industry. Then a big conversation about masterworks vs. process: is the pressure to make your definitive statement actually just a marketing construct? Why Phoebe Bridgers is a genius of timing, why Fugazi understood something most artists don’t, and our primary argument against AI music.And then there are the Kate Moss stories. Nirvana Unplugged. The airport with Naomi Campbell. The ecstasy at Max Fish with Evan Dando. What Kate actually said.Also big recommendations this week are Johanna Samuels’ album “Sorry Kid” and Whitmer Thomas’ comedy special “Terminal Crew of Dudes”.Plus: Ben’s Australia and Japan tour with Georgia Maq (tickets available now), the condom misunderstanding that nearly destroyed our marriage, and the woman at dinner who had met every celebrity, billionaire and king — and was impressed by none of them.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Listener Question: Memories of Jill Sobule? 13.08.2026 5m

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2charm's Horny Show, Stassi's Comeback & What Cancelled People Never Learn 10.08.2026 38m

This week we’re back together after Ione wraps filming her mysterious Melbourne movie. We talk about the impossible position the music industry puts beautiful women in (you need the looks to get in the door, then you get dismissed for them), the incredible 2charm show at the Enmore Theatre — think Pet Shop Boys if they took peptides — and what Stassi Schroeder’s comeback show gets right that Drea de Matteo and Ariel Pink completely missed about their own cancellations.Plus: Ione accidentally texts her friend that her holiday “looks expensive,” and Ben gives a talk at APRA AMCOS about originality and why the “stay in your lane” era is finally over.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Listener Question: What Have You Had To "Unlearn"? 30.07.2026 7m

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Australian Drug Slang, The Odyssey & A Clockwork Orange 27.07.2026 35m

Ben issues a formal apology for confusing his Pingers from his Nangs from his Yippers after an uproar in the comments section — the Australian drug slang correction nobody asked for but everyone needed. Ione reveals she was once hurt not to be invited to do cocaine on the set of a famous movie — connected to why dating Anthony Kiedis put her off drugs entirely. We also discuss Zooey Deschanel claiming she's never even seen cocaine, and why we believe her completely. Then: Ione's review of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey — loved it, even without IMAX — including the film's quietly radical political message about who the real invaders are, and a shout out to Welsh actor Andrew Howard who plays Matt Damon's sidekick. A deep dive into A Clockwork Orange after a family outing to the Dendy revival screening (yes, with the 16-year-old, yes, with grandma), the original optimistic ending Anthony Burgess wrote that Kubrick never filmed, and why 70s cinema made audiences grapple with their own morality in ways films rarely do anymore. Plus: Chloe Sevigny and the Grateful Dead, why punk and jamming have a complicated relationship, Ben and Georgia Maq prepping for their joint tour (learning "Junkie Logic" by Spikefuck), Japan tour tickets on sale with Shonen Knife on the Osaka bill, the Wile E. Coyote Will Forte movie Warner Bros killed for a tax break, and what it's actually like to see a real Tasmanian Devil.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Listener Question: Chaos Agents vs Stabilisers? 16.07.2026 10m

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Girl in Red Called 'Say Anything' an "Old Movie" 13.07.2026 35m

This week: Ben drives five hours to the Snowy Mountains with 17-year-olds, visits the Yarrangobilly Caves — and completely freezes when the punk rock tour guide turns off the lights and says "if anyone here is a singer, this is your moment." We also get into: Ione discovering Girl in Red wrote a song called "Say Anything" named after her iconic film, but describes it as "an old movie your mom showed you." The night at the Unholy Playhouse — a historic Sydney church turned queer performance venue — and why Catholicism and queer nightlife were always going to end up together. The Otherworld Zine Fair in Glebe, including the "Hotness Review: 80s Australian Newsreaders" zine. King Street Crawl — why it might be the most important day on the Australian music calendar. Tropical Fuckstorm live at the Enmore Theatre, Zia from the Dandy Warhols, and why Gareth Liddiard is the best songwriter in Australia. Ben's Japan tour announcement — Tokyo and Osaka shows on sale now, with Shonen Knife on the Osaka bill. Plus: Ione working on a secret project with John Goodman, and how they resolved a morning fight at the Marrickville markets while Ione's mum hovered nearby.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Listener Question: The Secret to Long Term Relationships? 09.07.2026 10m

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Robin Byrd, Why 90s Artists Were Terrified of Success & Ninajirachi's Victorious Homecoming 06.07.2026 33m

Before TikTok, before OnlyFans, before anyone used the phrase "sex positive" — there was Robin Byrd on New York public access cable. Sarah Jessica Parker just produced a documentary about her called Bang My Box on Max, and it's worth your time. Ben and Ione break down why Robin Byrd was genuinely radical and why she was impossible to put down.Also: why 90s indie artists were culturally forbidden from wanting success (and how that's completely changed), the Miles Davis quote that explains every artist's journey, Ninajirachi’s victorious homecoming and why the horror film Obsession is better than it has any right to be.

Listener Question: Will Ione Ever Direct a Feature Film? 02.07.2026 5m

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Eve Babitz Wrote About Ione Skye, Baz Luhrmann's Perfect Dogme 95 Comeback 01.07.2026 36m

Ione is about to shoot a new film. Ben is thinking about covering Georgia Maq’s “Joe Rogan” song on their upcoming Australian tour. We found a 1990 Elle magazine article where legendary LA writer Eve Babitz profiled Ione and her brother (attached in full below), which includes a birthday party guest list featuring Robert Downey Jr., Sarah Jessica Parker (before anyone knew her), Adam Horovitz, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.Also: Lars Von Trier once challenged Baz Luhrmann to make a Dogme 95 film. Baz’s response is perfect. Plus — why the Hal Hartley clip went viral on film Instagram, Sofia Coppola and Zoe Cassavetes competing over a French director, and Ben’s theory about how Baz Luhrmann changed the way every film gets edited.Dive deeper into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Listener Question: Should I Take My Art "Pro"? 25.06.2026 6m

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Olivia Rodrigo's Festival, Wham!'s 40th & The German Croc Warning 23.06.2026 36m

Dive deeper into our world + tour ticket presales at https://weirdertogether.substack.comBen's back from 60 shows around Australia (and avoided all crocodiles). Ione has been nursing a six-foot baby. And we have a lot to catch up on.This week: Olivia Rodrigo just announced Daisy Chain Fields — an all-female festival with Bikini Kill, Stevie Nicks, Mitski, Chappell Roan, Karen O, and more — and we get into why it matters, what Lilith Fair got right and wrong, and why the 90s community ethos feels more radical than ever in 2026.Also: it's the 40th anniversary of Wham! breaking up, and Ione has a memory involving a gay music promoter on her childhood street, early vinyl promos, and George Michael not yet being out. Plus: why Hal Hartley is the most underrated director of the American indie film era, the troll who called Ben a "soy boy," and Ione's lifelong crush on a boy who wrestled a crocodile.

Listener Question: The Songs You Couldn't Write? 18.06.2026 9m

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DTF St. Louis, AI Music & Why You Need a Normie Friend 15.06.2026 30m

This week we got completely sucked into DTF St. Louis on Max — and we have thoughts. David Harbour plays the most likable character in a show about suburban kinks, male loneliness and consensual weirdness, and we can't stop thinking about two middle-aged men tenderly dancing in their tighty-whities. Also: a woman yelled "you're my hall pass" at Ben during his Richmond show, and we're noticing a trend.Plus: the AI music backlash is real — Suno just raised $400 million and yet the public has definitively decided they do not want AI-created music. The Spotify CEO thinks bands should just drop a song every month. Reese Witherspoon is doing "let them eat cake" AI ads. And we explain exactly why tech platforms fundamentally do not understand creativity.Also: Seth Rogen's New York Times interview is essential listening, Ione had her first art show (get the painting at Vamped Vintage in Newtown), and we make the case for always having at least one normie friend in your life.

Listener Question: Favorite Movie Soundtrack? 11.06.2026 8m

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Tasmanian Devils, Butthole Surfers & Charli xcx 09.06.2026 36m

Ben and Ione are fresh off Ben's Tasmanian tour — and they have opinions. They break down their first encounter with actual Tasmanian devils (terrifying, zombie-like, cannot be explained), rave about Woolworths Flu Shot (a six-piece punk band from Hobart who just might be the best new band in Australia), and dissect the Butthole Surfers documentary The Whole Truth and Nothing But — asking the bigger question: is transgressive art always rooted in personal trauma?Plus: Richard Pryor's bisexuality and what it meant to be that openly queer as a Black performer in the 70s, Phoebe Bridgers' no-phones tour as a stroke of marketing genius, and a full decode of the Charli XCX Music Fashion Film album cover — what does choosing John Cale, Martin Scorsese, and Marc Jacobs actually say about where she's headed?Also: Ione reveals the four fictional characters she most identifies with (one of them is Woodstock from Peanuts), and Ben has early intel on Folk Bitch Trio, the Australian band about to blow up internationally.Take a deeper dive into our world at https://weirdertogether.substack.com

Listener Question: Finding Courage to Try New Things 04.06.2026 6m

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Swifties Picked the Wrong Bitch: Joan Baez, Jay-Z's Freestyle & Kylie's Hidden Masterpiece 01.06.2026 33m

Joan Baez suggested pop stars should be more politically active. Swifties went on the attack. Ben and Ione have thoughts — including why picking a fight with someone who marched alongside Martin Luther King might not be your best move.Also this week: Jay-Z showed up at the Roots Picnic and did a 10-minute acapella freestyle attacking Drake, Kanye, Nicki Minaj, and Dame Dash. Ben breaks down why a whole generation just knows Jay-Z as Beyoncé's husband — and why that matters.Ben makes the case that Kylie Minogue's Impossible Princess is her Pinkerton — the misunderstood record that history will eventually get right. Pitchfork agrees. Nick Cave does not, and Ben has some words about that.Plus: The Backrooms movie at the Dendy, Rachel Ward's regenerative farm, Sparks at the Opera House (how gay is a Sparks crowd exactly?), and Ione's weekend at a Chanel-funded literary showcase for diverse female writers.—Weirder Together is hosted by Ione Skye and Ben Lee.New episodes every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.

Listener Question: Desert Island Stuff? 28.05.2026 4m

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