Is social media now a more powerful force reshaping Australian democracy than any politician, party, or policy?
Why has Pauline Hanson spent thirty years in the political wilderness only to emerge as the country's most potent electoral force in 2026?
Can the anger-entertainment industrial complex explain everything from One Nation's surge to the Voice referendum's collapse — and if rage bait is more engaging than porn, what hope does civility, truth, and evidence have in the modern political arena?
Ed Coper, author of Angertainment, joins Mark and Marija to unpack how social media algorithms have weaponised our ancient neurochemistry, why the internet's promise of a global village became a gladiatorial arena, and whether anyone can still win politics by appealing to hope.
Listen here: Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify
Ed Coper is a pioneer of politics in the digital age. A leading political communications expert and authority on the internet and democracy, he built the global blueprints for modern advocacy. He grew Australia's first online political movement, GetUp, and launched Australian Labor’s first digital presence before exporting these techniques across six continents. He has been behind the scenes of many of the last two decades’ most prominent social movements, and has advised high-profile changemakers ranging from Malala Yousafzai and Greta Thunberg to Sir Richard Branson and Shakira.
Dr Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.
Prof Mark Kenny is the Director of the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the Australian National University after a high-profile journalistic career culminating in 6 years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.
Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.
This podcast is produced by The Australian National University.