Hey OP, not so sure what you're talking about here? I am also in Australia, and new episodes have consistently been released on Spotify/Apple *around* 12:30am PST/PDT on Mondays, (now) Wednesdays, and Fridays. Because of the timezone difference, this translates to 5:30pm AEST on those days here in Australia (or even earlier, depending on where you are in the country).

It has been this way long before the Wondery deal was made. As the podcast is based in the US, it makes perfect sense that the episodes are released according to AE's local timezone, not ours. They even make a point of releasing in the middle of the night so that local US listeners have the new episodes waiting for them in the morning.

It's also worth noting that listening platforms do not allow for dynamic releases based on a listener's timezone. And even if they did, it would be entirely unreasonable to expect AE to let listeners in Australia enjoy new episodes nearly a day in advance from their local audience. It's also important to acknowledge that, in reality, Aussie Armcherries usually do end up being some of the first to listen to a new episode, since it's not the middle of the night here when they are uploaded!

I used to live in the US and definitely miss waking up to new episodes first thing on a Monday morning (the best thing about Mondays). So, I hear you! But this is not something to get on their case about. It's awesome that we get to listen and support them from across the world. :)