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After 12 years and over 100 episodes, ‘Chicken Shop Date’ host/creator Amelia Dimoldenberg has announced the iconic YouTube series is coming to an end, but she’s promised us “a few final dates,” coming soon. As we prepare to farewell this charmingly awkward, hilarious, one-of-a-kind format, I implore you to revisit one of the most iconic Chicken Shop Dates of all time. The Andrew Garfield ep, obviously.
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the week
“Due to the rise of aggressive autograph hounds I won’t be signing anything or doing photos out the front of hotels or at airports at all anymore... I wasn’t that passionate about it before but they’ve started using kids which I think is all kinds of wrong.”
Tame Impala, aka Australian musician Kevin Parker, in a post to his Instagram stories this week.
Stat of the week
$AU3.33 billion.
How much Spider-Man: Brand New Day has earned at the global box office, surpassing Titanic to bump the 1997 James Cameron classic out of the top five highest-grossing films of all time.
Photo of the week
You’re looking at an aerial view of a sinkhole which collapsed the driveway of actor Nicolas Cage’s home in Malibu, California this week. (RIP to that portaloo I guess.)
Image by Ethan Swope via AP Photo
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The group chat TL;DR
The 40th anniversary of Burning Man has been marked by tragedy with the deaths of three attendees. Tens of thousands made the pilgrimage to Black Rock City in the Nevada desert for the week-long event, which calls itself “a global arts and cultural movement”. Pershing County sheriff Jerry Allen told media while Burning Man averages one death a year, “we have had two so far this year within the confines of the festival and I have received information regarding a third who died in transit to a hospital”. The deaths are not being treated as suspicious. It comes after the first known murder in Burning Man’s history last year, when a 37-year-old male attendee was fatally stabbed. Police are yet to identify a suspect, according to local newspaper the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Apple has unveiled a foldable iPhone called Duo, which opens into a horizontal 19cm screen, with prices starting from $3,499. Folded, it shows a smaller front screen, and when open, it's Apple's thinnest phone yet, the company said. Duo is being called the biggest overhaul of Apple’s flagship product since it removed the iPhone X’s physical home button in 2017. The iPhone brought in just over half of Apple’s sales last year, $US209.6 billion ($AU290b). Apple unveiled Duo and a suite of other products overnight, in the first launch event under new CEO John Ternus. Shares fell 1.8% by the end of the presentation.
Wimbledon has announced an influencer ban after a chaotic 2026 US Open, where around 100 content creators were given accreditation. The strategy was criticised after an influencer’s ring light shadow forced the umpire to halt play during Naomi Osaka’s first-round match, with players including Osaka and Coco Gauff publicly calling out disruptive crowd behaviour. Two influencers said their access was revoked after posting photos of their credentials online. In response, the All England Club (which runs Wimbledon) confirmed it will not give special accreditation to influencers next year, and will also confiscate equipment like ring lights that could interfere with matches.
I’ve got 1 minute
Your Emmys cheat sheet
Hollywood's most prestigious TV awards, the Primetime Emmys, will be held in LA on Monday, hosted by Mariska Hargitay. Experts predict the night will belong to emergency room drama The Pitt, though several races remain tight.
Context
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences oversees several ceremonies each year, honouring achievements across news & documentaries, international TV, daytime TV, and technical and creative excellence. The big one, however, is the Primetime Emmy Awards.
Nominations are split across three key categories: Drama, comedy, and limited series. Shows that aired between 1 June 2025 and 31 May 2026 are eligible for this year’s awards, with The Pitt leading the pack with 25 nods.
Nominations
While The Pitt has dominated in the drama categories, Pluribus (from the creator of Breaking Bad) impressed here with 18 nominations. Both will go head-to-head for the top Emmy prize of best drama. The Diplomat, The Gilded Age, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Paradise, Slow Horses and Your Friends and Neighbours are also nominated in this category.
Hacks’ fifth and final season earned 24 nominations – the most any comedy has ever received in a single year – but faces a strong challenger in Widow’s Bay (19 nods). Both standouts compete against Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, and Shrinking for the coveted best comedy prize.
Australian Sarah Snook is up for two Emmys for All Her Fault, including lead actress, though Carey Mulligan (Beef) and Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story: JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette) are favourites. As an executive producer, Snook could also win for outstanding series, but experts are tipping Beef or DTF St. Louis.
Winners
You’d be forgiven for thinking the Emmys have already happened, given how many awards were handed out at this week’s two-night Creative Arts Emmys – which have traditionally honoured technical and behind-the-scenes television achievements. However, in an effort to preserve a somewhat acceptable runtime for the Primetime Emmys broadcast, the Creative Arts Emmys has expanded to include more and more categories.
The big Creative Arts winners this year were Widow’s Bay (eight awards) and DTF St. Louis (six). Rob Reiner was honoured posthumously with the Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy for his performance in The Bear. Bad Bunny won his first Emmy for his Super Bowl halftime show, while Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film missed out.
You can stream the 78th Emmy Awards live on Binge on Tuesday 15 September from 10am (AEST).
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
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I’ve got 2 minutes
The Govt’s social media algorithm shakeup
The Federal Government has announced a bill to make “recommendation-based” algorithms opt-in only on social media, following pressure from groups like youth-led charity Teach Us Consent, who argue the current default exposes users to harmful content.
If the proposed changes pass, non-compliant platforms could face fines of up to $109.2 million.
Here’s the latest.
Background
Early social media algorithms showed content from people you follow, in chronological order. Today's algorithms rank content by behaviour (by tracking watch time, likes, shares). A 2024 Dublin City University study found it took just 23 minutes for TikTok and YouTube Shorts to start recommending misogynistic content to teen boys' accounts.
In November 2024, then-Communications Minister Michelle Rowland first flagged the idea of a legislated “digital duty of care” after an Online Safety Act review recommended shifting responsibility onto tech companies.
The proposal was modelled on similar rules in the EU, where the world’s biggest platforms must offer a non-algorithmic feed option.
“Fix our Feeds”
Teach Us Consent launched its "Fix Our Feeds" campaign in December 2025, arguing algorithms systematically push misogynistic content to boys, linking this to rising adolescent sexual violence.
An open letter to the PM drew over 15,000 signatures, including from Malcolm Turnbull, Senators David Pocock and Sarah Hanson-Young, and MP Allegra Spender.
Teach Us Consent polling showed 71% of respondents supported an opt-in policy to recommendation algorithms.
Draft legislation
PM Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells announced the bill on Tuesday. Under the reforms, platforms would have to notify users and offer them a choice: opt in to a personalised, algorithm-recommended feed, or opt out and see only followed accounts, in posting order.
“The digital duty of care will ensure online service providers… step up and do more to keep Australians safe,” Wells said.
The duty of care would also require platforms like online games, apps and AI chatbots to protect under-18s from addictive design features and content that promotes eating disorders, misogyny, pornography, crime or dangerous stunts, or causes serious mental health distress including abuse and bullying.
Response & next steps
Teach Us Consent welcomed the announcement, with its CEO and founder Chanel Contos saying: “This is a great first step, and we’re proud to have put it on the agenda”.
The Greens also welcomed the news, while the Coalition has raised concerns about free speech.
The Government is seeking feedback from platforms, industry bodies and advocacy groups. After the consultation period, the bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament this year.
Reporting by Elliot Lawry.
Recommendation of the week
TDA Editor in Chief Billi wants you to read ‘London Falling’ by Patrick Radden Keefe.
“I just finished 'London Falling'. It was brilliant. It’s a true story of a 19-year-old boy in London who supposedly died by suicide in 2019, and the journey his parents go on to understand what led to that night. The story will shock you at every turn of the page, and stay with you long after you finish it.”
TDA asks
