“We were taught that it’s all about the guest. It’s not about you – you’re only there to throw a really specific short question and I think we don’t get to see the more personal side of a lot of these artists these days at all. You just get a snapshot of what they are doing and that’s what they are there for. We know much more about the hosts themselves.”
Today I’m joined by broadcaster Sandy Kaye. Sandy has built up an impressive reputation as a journalist in both radio and television in Australia and recently embarked on a new venture as a host of A Breath of Fresh Air which is a radio show featuring conversations with legends in pop and rock music. What started out as a Covid project is now a weekly, hour-long show that is broadcast on radio stations right across the world and as a podcast on all the leading podcast platforms. Sandy took some time out to chat with me about her life, her stories as a journalist in Australia, and her fast paced radio show, so I hope you are sitting comfortably and happy to stay with us.
Our chat kicked off with Sandy discussing her radio show and how it came to be (01:00), meeting her heroes (05:19), and some stories behind the interviews (07:00). We then talked about how the art of the interview seems to have been lost (13:07), how Sandy got started in journalism (20:13), and who her most enjoyable interviews were with (28:05). Our next topic was how Australian media seems to not ask hard questions anymore (31:35), its similarities with Irish media (33:30), and where Australian media gets its influences from (30:35). Towards the end of our chat, we looked at Australian TV and in particular soap operas (38:45), regional radio and how podcasting using a radio format can go (41:33). Last but not least, Sandy tells me what she is reading and watching at the moment (47:55).
- A Breath of Fresh Air podcast
- Sandy on Twitter
- For more, hear my conversations with Carole Coleman, Eimear Ní Bhraonáin and Mat Kaplan
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The Comfortable Spot Podcast 
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