Karl's Melbourne Cup Day sermon promised "no jargon, no spin" and just the truth. So Burndog checked his numbers. The vibe's right. The stats aren't.

A quick solo bonus while Julie's busy with the US election. On Cup Day, the same day the RBA lifted rates for the fifth time this year, Karl Stefanovic posted six and a half minutes from the kitchen table of the soul: 15 claims, one rosary and a request for fishing spots. Burndog goes through them one by one. The pain is real: the rate hike, Foodbank's hunger numbers, the oil shock, small business insolvencies. But the abyss, the doubled mortgage, the politicians' pensions and the divorce wave don't survive the fact-check.

In this episode:

- The rate hike to 4.85% and Foodbank's 37% of middle-income households

- "Not everyone has that choice": Karl's year of sackings and a seven-figure contract

- The "global excuse" that was a war, the Strait of Hormuz and $3 diesel

- A trillion dollars of debt: growing hole or absolute abyss?

- AI, and whether our kids really are the first generation worse off

- Taxpayer-funded pensions for politicians, which closed to new MPs in 2004

- Mortgages "doubled in real terms" (they're up 83%, before inflation)

- Farmers, "I see you", and Miss Helena from Romper Room

- The divorce wave that isn't, and productivity: behind the top half or among the worst?

- Check on your mates (genuinely good advice) and tell Karl where the fish are biting

We're a podcast, not your doctor (or your financial adviser). If money stress is getting on top of you, the National Debt Helpline is free on 1800 007 007 or ndh.org.au. If you're doing it tough, Lifeline is on 13 11 14, any time.

Support the show and the search for Karl: patreon.com/karlstefanogriftshow

Clips nightly on Instagram (@karlstefanogriftshow), YouTube Shorts (Karl Stefa-no Grift) and TikTok (@thekarlstefanogriftshow)

Sources:

- RBA, Monetary Policy Decision (3 November 2026): https://www.rba.gov.au/media-releases/2026/mr-26-30.html

- Foodbank Hunger Report 2026: https://www.foodbank.org.au/hunger-report-2026-media-release/

- Productivity Commission, The fraying generational bargain: https://www.pc.gov.au/media-speeches/speeches/generational-bargain/

- ABS, Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2025: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/marriages-and-divorces-australia/latest-release

Griftober's over and Karl's back with a Sydney restaurateur who wants more migrant workers, not fewer. Mario nails the visa rules. The numbers are another story.

Fresh-cut Karl. Karl Stefanovic sits down with Mario Libertini, 46 years in Sydney restaurants, to talk staff shortages, visas and why young Aussies supposedly don't want hospitality jobs, all kicked off by the Australian Hotels Association's AI-generated "big red button" ad. Burndog and Julie check the claims: Mario goes four from four on the visa rules, but some of his statistics don't survive a fact-check, and the best answer to Karl's big question comes from his own guest.

In this episode:

- The AI ad imagining Australia without migrant workers, and where the parties stand on migration numbers

- The working holiday ballot: 57,000 qualified, 45,000 places, and it isn't law yet

- The six-month employer cap, student work hours and the new onshore student visa rule

- The Remaining Relative visa: Mario says ten years, Home Affairs estimates around 26

- Do 60 to 70 per cent of restaurants really close in their first year?

- Junior apprentice pay, the minimum wage, and why stacking supermarket shelves can pay more

- A payroll compliance ad read, right in the middle of a chat about pay

- The claim that students are "rigging the system", and what international student fees mean for our universities

- Melbourne vs Sydney: food, coffee and the flat white

- GST on food, tipping, and Office Space: The Nation

We're a podcast, not your migration agent. If a visa change affects you, check with Home Affairs or a registered migration agent.

Support the show and the search for Karl: patreon.com/karlstefanogriftshow

Clips nightly on Instagram (@karlstefanogriftshow) and YouTube Shorts (Karl Stefa-no Grift)

Sources:

- Home Affairs Minister, migration reform and the working holiday ballot (17 September 2026): https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/TonyBurke/Pages/migration-reform-end-rorts-bring-skills-australia-needs-strong-economy.aspx

- ABC News, backpacker ballot numbers: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-17/farming-tourism-backpacker-concerns-federal-immigration-changes/107150350

- Home Affairs, Remaining Relative visa queue and processing estimates: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-processing-times/visa-processing-priorities/other-family-visas

- Fair Work Ombudsman Hobart food outlet inspections (Hospitality magazine): https://www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au/surprise-inspections-uncover-more-than-120000-in-underpaid-wages-in-hobart/

Pete Evans is back on Karl's show: a water filter code, a seagull, a solar panel and a retreat for sale. Griftober ends here.

Health Griftluencer October, week five: the finale. Karl Stefanovic's second sit-down with Pete Evans skips Big Pharma for a lifestyle chat about tap water, sunshine, seagulls, bare feet, trees and a property listing. Burndog and Julie play Griftober Bingo, sort the real kernels (eat less from packets, get outside, rest) from the leaps, and hand out the first Griftober Awards.

In this episode:

- What's really in the water? Fluoride, IQ and what the reviews actually found

- The full, full shill: a discount code, a water filter and magnetised water

- Creatine, asked and never answered

- The seagull problem with "species-specific" eating

- Glyphosate, scab guts and some very beautiful gastroenterologists

- Humans as solar panels, in a country where two in three people get skin cancer by 70

- Earthing, tree hugging and Kelly Slater at 54

- Evolve Sanctuary: eye colour in 48 hours, five-day fasts, and the green womb back on the market

- Breathwork, trauma as "dis-ease", Wi-Fi routers and salt lamps

- The Griftober Awards, and a message to Karl

We're a podcast, not your doctor. Thinking about a long fast, cutting out whole food groups or ditching sunscreen? Talk to your GP first.

If fasting, food or body image is hitting close to home, the Butterfly Foundation is on 1800 33 4673 or butterfly.org.au.

Support the show and the search for Karl: patreon.com/karlstefanogriftshow

Clips nightly on Instagram (@karlstefanogriftshow) and YouTube Shorts (Karl Stefa-no Grift)

Sources:

- NTP fluoride review: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/research/assessments/noncancer/completed/fluoride

- JAMA Pediatrics fluoride and IQ meta-analysis (2025): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2828425

- WatersCo's own fluoride filtration claims: https://www.waterscoaustralia.com.au/pages/fluoride-filtration

- Glyphosate and the gut microbiome, Gut Microbes (2023): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38099711/

- Cancer Council, skin cancer causes and risks: https://www.cancer.org.au/types-of-cancer/skin-cancer/cause-symptoms-risks

- Domain, Pete Evans relists Byron hinterland retreat: https://www.domain.com.au/news/pete-evans-relists-byron-hinterland-wellness-retreat-after-second-sale-fails-to-settle-1520617/

- ARPANSA on the WHO mobile phone and brain cancer review: https://www.arpansa.gov.au/who-review-finds-no-link-between-mobile-phone-use-and-brain-cancer

- ICBE-EMF critique of the WHO review: https://icbe-emf.org/scientific-flaws-of-the-who-review-on-cell-phone-radiation-cancer-risk/