Speakola

Lou 'The Lip' Richards was an icon of Australian football in the latter half of the twentieth century. He was an excellent player, playing 250 games for Collingwood between 1941 and 1955, including captaining the 1953 premiership. But he found fame in his home town of Melbourne as a columnist, television wit, and play by play commentator. He died in 2017, and was honoured at a state funeral. Friend and North Melbourne administrator Ron Joseph delivered an excellent eulogy, much of it pitched in Lou's voice, that did justice to Richards' cheekiness and charm. 

Speakola is made entirely by Tony and supported by listeners. There is a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer Tony regular support. Also we welcome credit card donations,  which can be monthly or one off.

Tony AFL themed footy books include 1989: The Great Grand Final, A Boy Called Bob,  The Selwood Boys series and his debut novel, Players. He co-directed a footy documentary about an AFL tour of Ireland in 1967 called The Galahs. 

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A speech described by The New York Times in the days after delivery as 'the greatest speech since Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address'. Jimmy Reid's speech was reprinted in full and praised around the world. 

In this episode, Jimmy Reid biographer and Westminster MP Kenny MacAskill (member for East Lothian in Scotland since 2019) talks about this famous speech, as well as 'no bevvying' shipyard address, and Reid's life and achievements as a worker advocate, politician, union leader, and media commentator.  There are snippets of speeches from Jimmy Reid's funeral, which included eulogies from Billy Connelly and Sir Alec Ferguson.

Kenny MacAskill reads a full version of the Glasgow University speech as speech of the week, because no full audio version exists. 

MacAskill's biography, 'Jimmy Reid: A Scottish Political journey' is excellent. 

Speakola is supported by listeners. There is a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer Tony regular support for as little as $3/mth. Also welcome credit card donations,  which can be monthly or one off.

Subscribe to our newsletter if you want a fortnightly email setting out great speeches by theme.

Subscribe to Tony Wilson's 'Good one, Wilson' substack, to receive a weekly taste of his writing. 

Tony's signed books are for sale at his website. 

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Gabriel Sterling speech and interview re-release.

Republican electoral official Gabriel Sterling was a witness called before the January 6 committee this week to give evidence into what went on in the days leading up to the attack on the Capitol.

This is a Speakola interview released as episode 23 in August 2021, during the Olympics. Sterling talks about the art of off the cuff speech making, as well as the anger he felt about threats of violence directed towards low level contractors working in the Georgia count. He also talks about the heat in modern day politics, the invective, and the push towards extremism.

His 'Somebody is going to get killed' speech is the defining speech of The Big Lie period. As he says in this episode. 'It sucks to be right'.

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Speakiola also has a newsletter where Tony unpicks a favourite speech. Subscribe here.

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Terrific episode on Winston Churchill, his prodigious skills as a rhetorician, and in particular his speech to a joint sitting of US Congress on Boxing Day, 1941. Our guest is Richard Cohen, founder of the popular Winston Churchill facebook group and a legal scholar who has immersed himself in all things Churchill. He was a proof reader of Andrew Roberts 'Churchill: Walking with Destiny' biography, and a great interviewee for this one.

Churchill speeches mentioned in the episode include, the Dunkirk 'Beaches' speech, and The Iron Curtain 'Sinews of Peace' speech.

Richard Cohen's own candidature speech to Board of Deputies of British Jews is also on Speakola.

Speakola is supported by listeners. I have a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer regular support for as little as $3/mth. Also welcome credit card donations,  which can be monthly or one off.

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@byTonyWilson @speakola_ on Twitter and Instagram.

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Wendy Harmer is a legend of Australian media, and comedy, a mainstay since 'running away to join the circus' and the standup scene in the mid 1980s. She talks about those years at the Last Laugh and Le Joke, and also the shows that established her, 'The Big Gig' and 'World Series Debating' on the ABC. where she captained a comedy debate team each episode against Andrew Denton (who has also been a guest on this podcast).

Wendy talks about the art of the comedy debate, what separates it from straight standup, shares snippets and stories. The debate featured as the speech for this 1993 episode is 'That Australia Needs the Royal Family'

Tony has a new website for the books he has written, including Harry Highpants mentioned in this episode.

Andrew Denton's episode on Speakola is his eulogy for John Clarke.

Speakola has a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer regular support for as little as $3/mth. We also welcome credit card donations,  which can be monthly or one off.

Subscribe to our newsletter if you want a fortnightly email setting out great speeches by theme.

Episode supported by the Podcast Reader magazine. Issue #6 out shortly. For free pdf offer, email [email protected] and mention Speakola.

@byTonyWilson @speakola_

on Twitter and Instagram.

Email comments or ideas to [email protected] 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the eve of her wedding in India, The Outer Sanctum's Rana Hussein got a birds and the bees talk from her devout, hijab wearing, doctor, mother. She told the story at Comedy Republic's 'Stranger than Fiction' night, in hilarious and excruciating detail. The story is about two firsts, and as funny as the birds and the bees bit is, it's heartbreaking to hear about the other first that finishes this great piece of writing and speaking.

Speech audio courtesy of Comedy Republic. To see their MICF lineup visit website.

Rana Hussein is the Inclusion and Diversity officer for Cricket Australia. She is also part of The Outer Sanctum team.

Tony also spoke on the night, read this article, and he'll put that audio up on patreon .

Tony has a new website for the books he has written, including Harry Highpants mentioned in this episode.

Speakola has a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer regular support for as little as $3/mth. We also welcome credit card donations,  which can be monthly or one off.

Subscribe to our newsletter if you want a fortnightly email setting out great speeches by theme.

Episode supported by the Podcast Reader magazine. Issue #5 out now. For free pdf offer, email [email protected] and mention Speakola.

@byTonyWilson on Twitter and Instagram.

Email comments or ideas to [email protected] 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A different style of episode we're calling 'Speakola Reads'

On 4th March 2022, Shane Warne, Australia greatest ever bowler, died of a heart attack in Thailand. This episode is Tony reading a tribute he wrote for Shane Warne in 2011. The piece was titled 'The Mile Wide Spin Club' and was included in a coffee table book called 'Australia: Story of a Cricket Country' (Hardie Grant, 2011, ed. Chris Ryan). The book ranked the greatest players in Australia's cricket history, and the top 5 were each captured in a dedicated article. Tony spoke to junior coaches, cricket academy people, and Warne's teammate Damian Fleming to write this. The conclusion was updated to salute Warnie's early and tragic passing.

Tony has a new website for the books he has written, including sports books 1989: The Great Grand Final, A Boy Called Bob, The Selwood Boys, and Australia United.

Speakola has a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer regular support for as little as $3/mth. We also welcome credit card donations,  which can be monthly or one off.

Subscribe to our newsletter if you want a fortnightly email setting out great speeches by theme.

Episode supported by the Podcast Reader magazine. Issue #5 out now. For free pdf offer, email [email protected] and mention Speakola.

Tony is @byTonyWilson on Twitter and Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jahmal Cole is running for Illinois' First Congressional District in 2022 as a Democrat. He's a community activist and founder of My Block, My Hood, My City, which is an after school program that offers disadvantaged kids broader city wide experiences beyond their neighbourhoods in Chicago.

'it's not regular' is a brilliant speech that was delivered at a Martin Luther King jr. Day Interfaith Breakfast in Chicago, on 21st January 2018. Full text and audio here. There were a thousand people in attendance, and Cole's speech was shared around the world.

Jahmal gives such good speaking advice in this episode, and we wish him well with his campaign. If you wish to donate, you can at https://www.cole2022.com/

To support My Block, My Hood, My City, visit their site.

Jahmal Cole's book is 'It's Not Regular: How to Recognise Prejudice in Palin Sight'

Tony has a new website for the books he has written, including Harry Highpants mentioned in this episode.

Speakola has a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer regular support for as little as $3/mth. We also welcome credit card donations,  which can be monthly or one off.

Subscribe to our newsletter if you want a fortnightly email setting out great speeches by theme.

Episode supported by the Podcast Reader magazine. Issue #5 out now. For free pdf offer, email [email protected] and mention Speakola.

Tony is @byTonyWilson on Twitter and Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Doyle is one of Australia's greatest comedy performers, as the Rampaging Roy Slaven half of 'Roy and HG'. On October 7th 2005 he delivered this Andrew Olle media lecture for the ABC, which was a wide ranging speech discussing sensationalism in news, opinion, War in Iraq, 9-11, journalistic integrity, the ABC and fistfights at the Walkleys. It's very funny in parts, serious in others, and all delivered with a little of that Rampaging Roy lilt, even though this was pure John Doyle.

John Doyle has a memoir out, written in lockdown, about being fifteen years of age in Lithgow. It's called 'Blessed: The Breakout Year of Rampaging Roy Slaven'

Podcasts mentioned on the show:

John Doyle on Conversations - The Dark Lithgow Childhood of Rampaging Roy Slaven

Tony on Conversations - The Speech Collector

Damian Callinan's The Bodgy Creek Community Podcast

Slate's Slow Burn S5, War in Iraq

Tony has a new website for the books he has written, including Players mentioned in this episode. Happy to sign and personalise.

Speakola has a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer regular support for as little as $3/mth. We also welcome donations in any format and any size, recurring or one off.

Subscribe to our newsletter if you want a fortnightly email setting out great speeches by theme.

Episode supported by the Podcast Reader magazine. Issue #5 out now. For free pdf offer, email [email protected] and mention Speakola.

Speakola also has Twitter @Speakola_ and Facebook feeds.

Tony is @byTonyWilson on Twitter and Instagram.

New patrons and donors: Andrew Pritchard, Jo Peake, Simon Balderstone, Mark Freeman, Phillip Lewis, Frances Colley, Ben Ellerton, Graham Thomas. Thank you!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the fourth year running, Tony awards his speeches of the year on Triple R's 'The Grapevine' with Kulya Coulston and Dylan Bird. Categories include sports, arts, issue, historical significance, young speaker, and pandemic related speech of the year.

Tony has a new website for the books he has written.

Speakola has a Patreon page which you can join If you want to offer regular support for as little as $3/mth. We also welcome donations in any format and any size, recurring or one off.

Subscribe to our newsletter if you want a fortnightly email setting out great speeches by theme.

Episode supported by GreenSkin™ and PurpleSkin™ avocados at https://greenskinavocados.com.au/.

Our other sponsor is the Podcast Reader magazine. Issue #4 out now. 

Email and mention Speakola for a free copy of the latest edition as pdf.

Speakola also has Twitter @Speakola_ and Facebook feeds.

Tony is @byTonyWilson on Twitter and Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.