The Osher Günsberg Podcast

Lucy Durack is a singer and actress from Australia who came to prominence as Glinda the good witch in the Australian production of Wicked. Lucy's method for creating the life she desired is astonishing.  You can follow Lucy on Twitter @lucydurack (https://twitter.com/lucydurack)  Her story of how she manifested her dream role, how she stayed ready for when the opportunity came her way - is incredibly inspiring.   I can't wait for you to hear this.  You can see Lucy perform in Wizard Of Oz,  which just wrapped its run in Sydney but is heading to Adelaide and Melbourne in the coming months.   I won't lie - there's some nerdy musical theatre stuff on the way, but that's ok. I'll not apologise for loving musicals. I feel they're a wonderful form of storytelling that transcend the generations.  ​So take a big breath in, let a big breath out - and prepare to bask in the glow of the radiant energy of the fabulous Lucy Durack.

Hilary Innes is an Executive Producer at Network Ten, and she oversees the shows that I work on, including Bachelor, Bachelorette and the soon to be seen Bachelor in Paradise.   Hilary is a legend of the Australian TV industry, and we talk all about her time working closely with Ray Martin during the heady days of the Midday Show on 9 - and yes, the famous Normie Rowe/Ron Casey punch-out segment was one she produced and she tells the whole story in this conversation.   Hilary went on to be the Head of Entertainment at Nine, and from there left the network to become Head of Entertainment at ITV studios Australia, a production company that makes such massive shows as I'm a Celebrity, and The Voice - so she went from making a bunch of huge shows from different production companies to making a bunch of huge shows for different networks.    Coming back into the broadcast side of things, Hilary is now an Executive Producer at Network Ten - where she oversees and steers from the Network side of things various shows in their line up, including the ones I work on.   Full disclosure, I adore working with Hilary and you can tell that as we speak.    She has such an incredible depth of knowledge and experience and her career is truly remarkable both in the legacy of the shows she's made and the time she's been a major influence in Australian Television. Hilary also has a magnificent sense of style, and my team I work with on Bachelor are always commenting about how incredible her jacket is, or my goodness look at that scarf. She's brilliant.   When we recorded this we'd just wrapped up Bachelor in Paradise, so she and I do talk about that a bit, and as you can tell - we're both very excited by it.   There is another side to Hilary which I am very grateful she opened up about. At the same time as having a career that anyone would envy, at home Hilary is dealing with her partner of over 20yrs slowly succumbing to Multi-System Atrophy, a degenerative neurological disease that is fatal and has no cure.     Listening to the way Hilary talks about their relationship, even in the face of this extraordinary challenge, will move you beyond measure. I'm so grateful Hilary came to my apartment back in December so that we could talk.  

I wanted very much to bring you this conversation with Peter FitzSimons. You can follow him on Twitter @Peter_Fitz.  Peter is the Author of over 30 books, mostly focused on Australian historical figures and historical moments.  He's an absolute authority on what it has meant and what it now means to be Australian.  He's also the Chair of the Australian Republic Movement - a group of Australians dedicated to having an Australian as our head of state.  Peter is also an International Rugby Union player, who ran onto the field representing our country many times all over the world.  He writes a regular column for the Sydney Morning Herald where he doesn't hold back on his progressive views.  I wanted to talk to Peter about January 26th because it's a difficult day for many Australians. I should say, I'm proudly an immigrant to this country, I willingly took citizenship of this country and I will do whatever I can to make this country an incredible place for everyone that lives in it.  And that's where January 26th is a problem for me.  But where to? And why?  Well that's where Peter FitzSimons comes in.  As Chairman of the Australian Republican Movement, he has a solution that could be a way out of this debate that we keep having.  We met in his family home in Sydney, and I can't thank him enough for taking a precious hour out of his day to make it happen.  You can follow Peter on Twitter @Peter_Fitz (https://twitter.com/Peter_Fitz), he's quite active there and loves an exchange if you let him know you heard him here.  I'll say this now - Peter gave me the best level check I've ever had in 218 episodes of this show, I asked my producer Andy to leave it in - here's my chat with Peter FitzSimons.

My guest today is Jan Fran. Find her on twitter @Jan__Fran . Jan is the co-host of the nightly SBS news show "The Feed". She's an incredibly skilled journalist and documentary producer who's covered stories in places you'd be to frightened even fly over.Her recent work is available to see online at https://www.sbs.com.au including her documentary "America's first climate change refugees" which we talk about at length in this conversation. Jan speaks three languages, but because I only speak one we did this podcast in English. Her story is inspirational, and it made me happy - because as the world careens to ever more critical problems that will only be solved with a global decision making process, Jan will be there to help us make sense of whatever is going on. This conversation does cover some pretty grim subject matter, so when you hear us talking about her time working in Africa if you're feeling a bit sensitive to stories of kids in hardship you can skip forward about ten minutes and you'll be safely on the other side. This is a long one, but it's worth ever moment. Please enjoy this rigorous and fun conversation with the incredibly talented Jan Fran.

Maz Compton is a well-known broadcaster from Sydney who for years was all over the TV when she worked on MTV, and later all over the radio, culminating in her Stint on the high-profile breakfast shift on 2Day FM in Sydney.  That life is mostly behind her now, however she did write a book about her experiences which you can at https://www.mazcompton.net or on Amazon.  Maz is a great chat, an inspiring woman, and I'm so grateful she came by the apartment to chat on a lovely Sydney afternoon.  Ladies and gentlemen, Maz Compton.  

James Mathison is an Australian TV Presenter, writer, father, activist and now politician.  James and I worked together for many years on Australian Idol, and before that we worked together on Channel [v]. I've known Jim since 2000 and he's still one of the most clever people I've ever met.  He'll read a paper cover to cover every day, read a book a week, and still find time to be a brilliant father to his two wonderful girls.  James came around and we shot the breeze at my old place back in Bondi about 18 months ago, so this chat is a little dated but it's worth listening to because this guy has a brain the size of a planet and he has this ability to calm me down about things I get fired up about.  Y'see when I'm still mad that the Polar Bears are dying and we're still burning coal, Jimmy is calm and considerate and thinking about alternatives that both sides of the political spectrum can get behind.  You can let him know you heard him here on Twitter @jamesmathison (https://twitter.com/jamesmathison)  He's a very smart man, and a very funny man, and I'm sure you'll love this conversation with James Mathison.

My guest today is Adam Richard.  He's a standup comedian, writer, TV Guy and all 'round wonderful human.  We recorded this before Australia enthusiastically voted YES to marriage equality, so you'll notice that there might be a bit of chat in there about the plebiscite - but I wanted to leave it in as a memory of what we as a country went through.  Find Adam on Twitter at @adamrichard (https://twitter.com/adamrichard) and let him know you heard him here.

My guest today is a giant amongst men. He's a man by the name of Quentin Kenihan. @qkenihan on Twitter. We've known each other about fifteen years, and I'm glad he's a mate. He was born with brittle bone disease, which basically means if you hug him too tight, you'll break him. The last time he told me, he'd counted 662 broken bones in his life. That number has probably eclipsed that number by now. Quentin has been told by too many doctors to count that "this could be it" and "you might not make it", and yet - his drive, persistence and passion for life keep going and his perspective where we can all learn from gets higher and higher. Quentin's been in a wheelchair his whole life - and he lives in Adelaide with his excellent dog Patchy. Find him at https://twitter.com/qkenihan and https://www.instagram.com/qkenihan/, let him know you heard him here. I'm glad you're here. Merry Xmas. Enjoy getting to know Quentin Kenihan.

Chris Raine is the founder and CEO on the not-for-profit "Hello Sunday Morning" you can find him on Twitter by following @ckraine.  And if you like, you can download that app daybreak. Downloaded from wherever you download me.  Hello Sunday morning is all about creating a healthy relationship to alcohol. So when is conversation Chris and I talk a lot about his journey with alcohol, I talk about my journey with alcohol-most of the story you may have heard before but if you're new it'll be the first time.  This conversation maybe confronting. All I ask is that you listen. If you feel afterwards inspired to approach your next drink differently-good for you. If you don't, also good for you. I thoroughly recommend checking out their website https://www.hellosundaymorning.org/ and just spending some time, exploring various questions they have to ask. You may go there because you're concerned about someone else-well there is support there for you as well.  I'm really grateful Chris came around, he's doing very important work in our community. I'm one of these people as I told you before that can't have one drink because then I'll have 100. You might be lucky, you might be able to only have a few and then stop. Or you might be somewhere between. Whatever your relationship is to alcohol, I'm grateful you're here and I'm really grateful you listening to this.  Enjoy this conversation with Chris Raine.

Nigel Marsh is an Author, Speaker, Body Image activist and the powerhouse behind "The Sydney Skinny" which is one of the largest organised skinny dips in the world, in an effort to promote body positivity and a healthier relationship with your self.Nigel wrote the best selling book "Fat, Forty and Fired", and has a brilliant outlook on life that will challenge whatever amount of comfort you have in your comfort zone, causing you to look at what it is you're doing with your day, or even your life. He's a very good salesman because after this chat, I signed up to his swim - even though I'm utterly terrified of being naked in public, even just shirtless in public - but if you sign up to the Sydney skinny, you'll find me there. http://thesydneyskinny.com.auNigel has a brilliant Ted talk which is about work/life balance which I thoroughly recommend, link is https://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how_to_make_work_life_balance_work.We get deep on this one, and we even get into the talk about drinking - as Nigel and I both share the fact that we don't drink.This chat might challenge you - might challenge how you look at your work, your life, your body and maybe even your drinking.That's a lot to pack into a conversation - so let's get to it.Wherever you are right now, at home, at the gym, driving, in a plane, hiking, walking, running, gardening, kayaking, or any other kind of thing that you're doing - thanks for having me, and enjoy this conversation with Nigel Marsh.

Mark Humphries is a comedian, writer, multi-linguist and satirist from Australia who currently bringing the funny every night on the SBS News Show "The Feed". He's the blonde guy, the funny one. On November 24th Mark and his writing partner put out an end-of year special which you can catch on SBS On Demand, it's called "Privatise Now" - https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1092676163844/Privatise-Now-The-Feed-End-of-Year Mark is a super-interesting man, a man who's created his own work out of thin air, in a way that I do love to hear about on this show. If you like what you hear, let him know - @markhumphries on Twitter. Wherever you are, thanks for being here. Enjoy the show.

Joel Pilgrim (https://www.twitter.com/joelspilgrim) is the Founder and CEO of the Waves of Wellness Foundation. He also works closely with One Wave is All it Takes, who have featured on this show before.Joel is a surfer who has a passion for helping others, particularly in the mental health space. He's worked as an occupational therapist for mental health patients transitioning back to life after hospitalisation and now runs a program called Waves of Wellness - Joel and his team are pioneering evidence-based surf therapy intervention in mental health.I'll let him tell you the rest of the story, but it is a good one.Glad I can have him on the show today, and I'm glad you're here for it.

Luke Ford is an Australian actor best known for his roles in Animal Kingdom, Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Black Balloon and most recently What if it works?You can find him on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lukeford__/We met at the premiere of What If It Works his latest film, which is an exploration into a love story between two young folks living with very different brains. Luke plays a man with severe OCD and he falls for a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Both mental illnesses are shown on screen with great respect and represented in a way that even someone who has never known what either look like might be able to appreciate how difficult life can be for those living with it, and those who care about those living with it.Luke is a strapping young lad, tall, broad and handsome, has a grin that lit up my kitchen and has some pretty raucous stories to tell about life as an actor.He's a great human and someone who's had a powerful arc across his career already, which he'll describe as we talk.Luke did show up with a mate of his which was handy because my dog Frankie just went nuts for him, however in the middle of a heavy story Frank decided to start humping his humpy pillow so sorry in advance for that - but it's all a part of coming up to our flat for a chat.I'm not alone in having a humpy dog.So whatever you're doing right now, on the bus, the train, the plane, in the car, on your bike, in a hammock, up a mountain - wherever you've chosen to listen to this right now, thanks for being here and enjoy this conversation with Luke Ford.

Barry DuBois is a carpenter, builder, developer, philanthropist and TV Renovation guru from Sydney, Australia. He is probably best known to Aussie audiences as the man who re-makes people's homes on "The Living Room" which is on Network Ten on Friday nights.Two weeks before he and I had the conversation you'll hear today, Barry announced to Australia that the cancer he'd beaten a few years ago was back, and aggressively so.Barry was kind enough to come around to our small apartment in Bronte to share his story.Barry is an incredibly inspirational man. You'll hear his positive vibe coming through your speakers, and if you're anything like me you'll do your best to soak up the wisdom of this incredibly successful man who is independently wealthy, who retired at 45, who is a loving husband and father, who is dedicated to helping others and is utterly determined to beat the challenge of his illness.You can find Barry on Instagram @Baz_dubois where he is very active and engages with people all the time. Let him know you heard him here if you're there.Enjoy this chat with Barry Du Bois.

Mike Munro is an Australian journalist and author, who rose to prominence as a part of the early line-up of the then groundbreaking TV Show 60 minutes.He went on to host the nightly magazine show "A Current Affair", which broke some of the biggest stories of its time, before editorially turning a corner that lead him to split from the show - which he talks about in this conversation.Mike's latest project is called "Lawless" - The Real Bushrangers, you can see it in Australia on Foxtel and NZ on Sky.He takes a forensic archaeology team back to the sites of famous last-stands of Australian bushrangers - that's a highwayman if you're in the US or UK. They discover some incredible things still to this day, and unpack what Australia's romanticism of Bushrangers is. Mike himself is a direct descendent of the last bushranger hanged in Australia.A quick trigger warning, we discuss alcoholism and domestic violence as a part of Mike's personal story - so if you want to avoid that today, just skip to about ten minutes in from the start of the interview and you should be fine.If you want to avoid the chat altogether that's also ok, I'll see you next week.Enjoy this conversation with Mike Munro.