Writing
Writing
As well as scripting and editing narrative documentaries, I like to write about a range of topics, including music, sports, history and culture. I also spend an unhealthy amount of time crafting the perfect email subject line and deciding whether a texted quip deserves a “haha” or a “hahaha”
Album Review: Patrice “9”
When German singer-songwriter Patrice (Bart-Williams) released his last full-length album of new material, Life’s Blood, in 2016, the world was a very different place. Seven years later, he returned with a simple, more minimalist aesthetic in 2023’s 9.
A punk of a certain kind
Steve Albini died earlier this year. He was 61. People will disagree about what his best work was. Some will say Nirvana’s In Utero. Others the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa. The Breeders’ Pod and Low’s Things We Lost In The Fire will have their fans.
How one doctor’s risky experiment paved the way for modern intensive care
Some anesthesiologists and intensive care physicians mark August 27 as Bjørn Ibsen Day — honoring the lives he saved during a polio outbreak 70 years ago.
Unplugged and Cleaning
The first thing I noticed was the eraser. The little cheap one. The kind you get from the discount bin at the end of the aisle at Officeworks, with the red-and-white cardboard squarepants…
(Still) Outside the Line
I used to write about cricket a lot. I used to write about cricket so much that I once took a semester off university to go to the Caribbean and write about cricket for a month and a half…
Painful, frustrating… and such small portions!
A meditation retreat is many things. It is, at times: gratifying, frustrating, painful, serene, boring, illuminating. Relaxing, however… it is not…
Who Needs Kids When You’ve Got The World Cup?
One of the trickier things about being an adult without kids is that life can often seem to pass you by, without anything solid to hold onto along the path…
Minor Plagal
I was jogging the other day, listening to Japanese Breakfast’s (excellent) recent album Jubilee, when a song came on that instantly perked my ears…
Things I Will Miss About Japan
A few months ago, I moved back to Australia after living in Japan for more than 2 years. When I left, I was planning to write a post about all the things I loved about the place and what I’d miss the most after leaving…
Wanna Make It Shine? Distort It
There are some deeply paradoxical things about recording and producing audio. For example, if you want to have a huge drum sound on record, you often need a drummer who’s able to lay back and play quite softly, in order to hit consistently…
The DAW as a Studio as an Instrument
Michael McDowell wrote an article earlier this year about the podcast industry’s reliance on Pro Tools, which sparked an online discussion on its gatekeeping role…
A Theory of COVID Peak and End
How will we remember COVID? What memories will linger with us in years to come? That might all depend on who “we” are in those questions…
Mini-Review # 2 - Girt
After the bland vanilla puree of Geoffrey Blainey’s A Shorter History of Australia, it’s nice to chew on the spicy meat platter that is David Hunt’s Girt…
Mini-Review # 1 - A Shorter History of Australia
It recently struck me how, in the more than two decades since I first moved to Australia, I had never read a book about the country’s history…
The Mindfulness of Hunting for Stories
When I first became interested in producing audio stories a few years ago, one of the biggest challenges I faced was where to find the damn stories…
Imperfect Tools or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love a Squier
One of the problems with moving around a lot, especially overseas, is that you can’t take all your toys with you…
Beware the Millennial Aussie Expert Voice
The word “millennial” has come to mean very little at this point. To many, it just stands for “young people”…
One Should Only Be So Lucky
If you’re lucky, while you’re at university, you might come across one professor who will change your life...
What Will Zoom Do To “Good Tape”?
Now that most people have become used to Zoom and other video conference platforms, the pool of available interviewees for podcasts has surely gone up…
Fortune Favours the Brave
As part of my New Year's resolutions (and post-Trump-era-lutions), I decided to refresh my podcast feed…