Some hot takes on a cold day
I was on the radio again on the weekend. Here’s some of what I had to say.
Scene: Saturday, June 21, just after 9am. I’m at South Bank Parklands and on air on 612 ABC Brisbane, ABC Wide Bay, Northwest Queensland and Western Queensland, with Sally Rope for the Hot Takes segment alongside producer, writer, performer and journalist Natalie Bochenski.
First up in our dissection of the week’s news was an article that’s been doing the rounds online, stating that “nearly half of Gen Z are unprepared for adulting”.
Like Sally, I hate the term “adulting”, but we left that to one side to discuss this research that listed the things many Australians aged 18 to 30 supposedly hadn’t mastered: from paying bills to mowing lawns and doing the laundry.
First, if 30% of young people haven’t mowed a lawn, it means 70% of them have. And, given that many people live in apartments, is mowing the lawn even a core skill these days?
Natalie also made a good point about the timeless nature of older people complaining about younger generations, going all the way back to Aristotle.
While I did counter with a quote attributed to George Bernard Shaw that “youth is wasted on the young”, I don’t think we should necessarily be denigrating Gen Z (or any other generation for that matter).
Just because circumstances — including a cost-of-living crisis that has kept many of them at home with their parents rather than living in their own homes — mean some of young people haven’t done certain things we associate with being “grown up” doesn’t make them useless or irrelevant as a group.
As a journalist, my immediate thought was the provenance of this research. And, to nobody’s great surprise, it turned out to be commissioned by a major electrical appliance company that offers an “adulting hub” for young consumers.
Further fuel for my theory that nobody ever commissioned and then published market research that didn’t promote their own interests.
Next, the conversation turned to festivals, particularly the Brisbane Festival lineup. I’ve already published my thoughts here, but this was a chance for me to say on air that while I respect the current festival, I want to see the return of the Warana parade.
At the risk of being a fuddy-duddy wanting to “wind back the clock” to Warana (which ended in the early 1990s and, as Natalie pointed out, is now seen by some as a moment of cultural cringe), I reiterated my support for a return to true community involvement in the city’s festival.
The Warana street parade may have been a little cheesy, but it allowed people to take some ownership in the celebration of their city in a way that I believe the Brisbane Festival does not.
Although centrally organised, it saw businesses and community groups express themselves through fancy floats and colourful costumes — doing their own thing.
Natalie correctly pointed out that the current festival does include some community involvement, such as the Common People Dance Project, but I argued that that’s not entirely the same thing.
As worthwhile, and fun, as it may be to invite people to participate in a project, it’s not the same as allowing people to generate something of their own.
While there may be practical barriers, such as corralling volunteers and getting insurance, they are clearly not insurmountable because community street parades remain a thing in other cities here and overseas. Even Adelaide, with its “arty” reputation, has a Christmas parade that gives people from across the community the chance to let their hair down.
Saying there’s no money for it ignores the fact that the Brisbane Festival only exists because the budget from Warana was diverted towards it back in the day.
You can hear the audio of the discussion here, starting around 3:04:00.
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Queenslander!
A photo I took from the bus travelling into the city along Ipswich Road the other day. Can you spot the cat?
Sign of the times
Rupert Murdoch used to call them the “rivers of gold”, but it’s been a long time since classified advertisements have been a significant revenue-earner for newspapers.
If you doubt it, check out the two-page classifieds section of the Sunday Mail (pages 64 and 65). More than one and half of those two pages is taken up with filler “house” ads for the Newscorp-owned buysearchsell website.
Oh I do love me a meaty story commissioned by a clever PR department. Unless you're in the biz, you wouldn't know. So consumers, beware and be aware of where your "the latest research shows" type of stories. As for the Warana Festival, I'd love to see it return. I have fond memories of Melbourne's Moomba Festival as a kid. I agree with you Brett, give the community a chance to promote their organisations and show off their creative skills. It could also address current environmental issues by suggesting floats be made of recycled materials. It adds a little ingenuity and conveys an important message - reduce, reuse, recycle. I'm a dog person myself but love your cat photos. 😁