It’s 2035… and things aren’t great Downunder. Mass homelessness, pollution ruining beaches, teenagers facing slave labour and everything, including euthanasing the elderly, has been privatised by a corrupt libertarian government in cahoots with Empyrean Industries, a shadowy corporation busy mining the moon.
An underground terrorist movement called Swag Sting is mobilising but wracked by infighting. Crowd control measures include giant, deadly robot kangaroos. As our protagonists battle for humanity's essence, we uncover an alarming future that lurks uncomfortably close.
THE NEXT 5 MINUTES is not just a podcast—it's a movement, a deep, dark, truthful mirror reflecting a future we must avoid. Every. Second. Counts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It’s 2035… and things aren’t great Downunder. Mass homelessness, pollution ruining beaches, teenagers facing slave labour and everything, including euthanasing the elderly, has been privatised by a corrupt libertarian government in cahoots with Empyrean Industries, a shadowy corporation busy mining the moon.
An underground terrorist movement called Swag Sting is mobilising but wracked by infighting. Crowd control measures include giant, deadly robot kangaroos. As our protagonists battle for humanity's essence, we uncover an alarming future that lurks uncomfortably close.
THE NEXT 5 MINUTES is not just a podcast—it's a movement, a deep, dark, truthful mirror reflecting a future we must avoid. Every. Second. Counts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Orphaned teenage sisters make it to the city to find work as indentured “Pigironers”, carrying beach tourists on their backs so they avoid the acid surf. Zilch is connected to her older sister Pronto via telepathy. Everything is set to change after they meet a charismatic stranger at a waterhole who turns out to be a recruiter for the underground resistance group Swag Sting. The encounter with Space will change their lives forever.
CREDITS
THE NEXT 5 MINUTES is written and directed by Ian Walker, based on the 1990s unpublished novella - Australia Who by Joanne Burns.
Starring Eleni Schumacher as Zilch. Aileen Huynh as Pronto and the Pig Ironing Boss Lady. Nic Starte as Space. Jaslyn Hall as Rufa Rapdog. Tommy Steele as German tourist and Russian wrestler. Ian Walker as Stoned Guy.
You also heard Dani Torresan and Lauren Hamilton-Neill.
Our sound designer is Martin Gallagher. Music written and performed by Elina Godwin. Podcast art by Lauryn Evans. Executive Producers are Bronwyn Mehan and Pariya Taherzadeh.
The show is a co-production between SPINELESS WONDERS, ECHIDNA AUDIO and EAR CANDY MEDIA.
Big thanks to Create NSW, Petria Wallace, Elizabeth Kulas and Fyona Smith.
Follow us on Instagram: @earcandypresents
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.