Breaking: Brett’s hot takes
I was a guest on a high-rating radio show, and here’s some of what I had to say
I had the privilege of being a guest (for the third time this year!) on Spencer Howson’s Saturday morning show on ABC Brisbane this weekend.
Along with AAP journalist Jennifer Dudley Nicholson, I was asked for my opinions on some of the big stories of the past week.
Here, according to the audio record (it starts around 3:53:00 here), Notebook LM and the best of my recollections, is a summary of what I had to say:
I dislike the word “woke”, believing it has been hijacked and turned into a negative term.
I noted that I caught the bus to the studio and commented positively on the diversity of the passengers, where “nobody else looks like me”. “Everybody’s on the bus together... We’re all the same.”
Asked about the federal election result, I said it was baffling that the apparent solution some conservatives propose is to go further to the right, whereas the “obvious solution would be to come closer to the centre”. I suggested that there is some common ground where “we can all agree” and noted that there are good and altruistic people on all sides of politics.
Repeating something I wrote in my previous Mister Brisbane post, I said I thought the ibis (“bin chicken”) would be a mascot for the 2032 Olympic Games — although I expressed concern about the venues being ready on time and on budget.
Asked about moving rough sleepers from Musgrave Park, I described it as a “short-term solution to a big and long-term problem”.
On the subject of when it is appropriate to email or message your child’s teacher, I said that, barring an emergency, it was never acceptable to do so outside their working hours because “everyone’s entitled to their time off”.
I gave a plug to my website at thewrinkle.net, noting it’s aimed at “Generation Jones” — people born between 1955 and 1965.
Mister Brisbane is free to read, but if you appreciate what I’m doing here, and/or
at The Wrinkle and Radio Bert, you can buy me a coffee.