Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb are treasured Australian icons of tv, journalism and political reporting. They started a podcast in 2014 to discuss books, food, theatre, movies and other things they were up to (but definitely no politics! that’s for work hours!) and quickly amassed a bit of a cult following. The ‘fan club’ has its own social media community which now boasts around 50 000 members in Australia and beyond and is one of the most kind and caring online communities I’ve ever been a part of.
The book contains a lot of the ‘best bits’ of the podcast along with lists of favourite things like ‘Top 10’ books and musicals. It also explains the back story of certain motifs and turns of phrase recognised by ‘Chatters’ (fans of the show) as well as the mystical (strange, by some standards) podcast name.
Central to great Aussie mateship is the ability to hang shit on each other and have a laugh at yourself and these two do it in the funniest way while also trying to outdo each other with baked goods. They are thoroughly modern, hilarious, definitely not up themselves, witty, and possess an impressive vocabulary. As a casual listener I was inspired after reading the book to go way back to the start and listen to every episode in order. Their recommendations will definitely cast a heavy influence on next year’s books and reviews – watch this space for lots of Helen Garner, Tim Winton and Ian McEwan on my review list for 2022.
If none of this makes any sense look up their website (just don’t blame me if you end up with ‘Crack Wax’ or a ‘smug Bundt’ brooch).