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Who is Joe Aston?

For my Australian audience, you'll likely know him from his debut book The Chairman's Lounge, a forensic and damning account of Qantas. But for anyone international, put simply, Joe is among Australia's most consequential journalists.

He took over the Australian Financial Review's Rear Window column at just 28, and across a twelve-year tenure transformed it into the most anticipated daily column in Australian business and politics. 

His former editor called it journalism "like never before seen in Australia and arguably the world." 

Joe's reporting contributed to the downfall of the CPA Australia CEO and board, the resignation of Rio Tinto's chairman, Alan Joyce's early exit from Qantas, and a long list of uncomfortable reckoning in between.

In and amongst the many themes that this podcast covers, the most consistent among them has been journalism and good journalists. 

And I say that because I think I caught Joe at an interesting juncture in his life. In the last twelve months Joe’s gone independent. Leaving the security of the AFR to launch his own media company, Rampart. 

The work is the same. Breaking the stories from business and politics that his readers have come to expect, but the model is new, and it puts Joe in unfamiliar territory as an entrepreneur which I think is another example of how media business models are being re-cast, and indicative of the direction the best talent is heading towards. 

We recorded this about ten months into the Rampart journey. We cover his influences, his early years in PR, his personal battles, Rampart and throughout it all, what Joe judges to be, good journalism. 

Timestamps with Joe Aston

00:00 Introduction To Joe
02:06 Joe’s Influences
08:01 Alcoholism
14:54 From The Rear Window To Rampart
33:59 Journalistic Courage and Ethical Boundaries
44:04 Lessons from PR and Corporate Life
54:49 Goals for Rampart and Future Media Innovation
01:08:06 Serendipity