Well humans, your favourite podcaster has had a lot going on lately. And - whoever that is - so have I! (boom-tish, tip your hostess, try the veal)
I had an enchanted evening with Richard Dawkins, which you will soon hear as a special episode of Uncomfortable Conversations. It was surreal catching up with him before a sold-out City Hall crowd, and being reminded of the depth of his humility and grace:
But seriously folks. He is a genuinely sparkling sport:
Weโre Launching Live Zoom Cocktail-Chatter Hangouts with yours truly for our โHeroes of Sanityโ Subscribers.
If you signed up for the top tier - a โHero of Saintyโ - then your first cocktail chatter is now officially on the calendar.
Join me for a 9:00 A.M. Sunday coffee on March 26th (Australian east coast time). In the U.S., thatโs Saturday at 3:00 P.M. Pacific & 6:00 P.M. Eastern. For our European friends, itโs 10:00 P.M. in the U.K. and 11:00 P.M. on Saturday C.E.T.
Weโll email you the Zoom link in advance. Please respond to confirm your attendance.
We wanna keep this small and intimate - there will be fewer than 20 of you, so you can get to know me, and each other.
Come along armed with some stuff you wanna talk about. Questions, thoughts, talking points, suggestions. Bring it, baby.
For those of you who pre-subscribed and are entitled to a special video event too, stay tuned. Your event will take an exciting different format and will take place in May.
If youโd like to get coffee with me in our exclusive virtual video hangout in two weeksโ time - and every month going forward - you can upgrade your subscription to become a Hero right now.
And the radio keeps playing. Hereโs what Iโve been up to on Arvos.
Can you control your thoughts?
How do you think about your own thoughts? Can you control them? Joel Pearson, the Director of the Future Minds Lab at UNSW, joined me to 'thinkย about thinking about thinking about thinking.'
What was the feature on a car that impressed you the most?
What is the car feature that you most loved when you first got it? The little bell or whistle that made you feel your car was fancy? Maybe it was something you didnโt expect youโd need in your life and now canโt live without.ย Freelance motoring journalist Peter Anderson joined me to discuss.
Did Uber really price-gouge stranded train commuters?
Thousands of Sydney commuters were stranded when the rail network ground to a halt. One option for getting home was an Uber - but fares went up hundreds of dollars as demand surged.
What is surge pricing? How does it work? When does it become price gouging?
Do you really want an apricot tagine?
Do you cook with fruit? Not sweet, bakery, fruity somethings, but real savoury cuisine with fruit in it? Kelly Eastwood from Eastwood's Cooking School in Bermagui joined me to enrich you with some fruity culinary ideas.