Uncommon

Nic Hodges is the Founder of Blonde3 & Robot Deputy, and former Head of Innovation for media brands such as Foxtel, NewsCorp & MediaCom.

Noted for his tagline “nostalgic for the future”, Nic has also been dubbed a polymath by a few former guests, including the man who made our introduction, Steve Sammartino.

You’ll notice in multiple interviews my fascination with media and how it can be used for challenging the stories we believe as a society, with technology’s ability to rapidly expand that potential, and with psychology’s skill at reading our mental nature. I see Nic as being uniquely at the intersection of those points here in Australia, and a fascinating individual you should be keeping tabs on.

Jordan Shanks aka Friendlyjordies is a comedian, radio host, YouTuber and creator. Well known across YouTube for his exceptional impersonations of Australian bogans, and political infotainment that will have you cackling for hours.

In our previous interview with Jordan, I spoke of his status as an individual who should form your “Counsel of Bullshit Detectors”. Now that he’s entered the foray of the culture wars, he truly has rational experience in dealing with group-think & BS.

It’s important that you and I are able to get a mix of comedians that have certain political biases.

Intelligent and truthful comedians are important to your future, and Jordan should be a crucial piece of your “Bullshit counsel”.

Dr Peter Brukner OAM (MBBS, FACSP, FACSM, FASMF, FFSEM) is a sports medicine doctor, the founding partner at the Olympic Park Sports Medicine Centre in Melbourne and the founder of the SugarByHalf campaign. Peter is a world renowned sports medicine clinician and researcher who was recently the team doctor for the Australian Cricket team.

Peter has one of the most extensive list of credentials that I have ever come across - in my mind he’s sort of like the Vito Corleone of Sports Medicine in Australia. To give you an understanding of Peter’s acumen, he has served as a doctor for Liverpool Football Club, The Australian Cricket team, the Australian Olympic team, the Socceroos, and numerous AFL teams including Melbourne & Collingwood to just name a few. He is a stalwart of the sports media, specialising in injuries and overall wellness, while also publishing academic books including Clinical Sports Medicine. He was one of the founding members of the Australian College of Sports Physicians, and the first Australian to be elected to the Board of the American College of Sports Medicine - receiving an Order of Australia Medal for his efforts.

Peter’s experience and focus will hold him in good stead for his new goal of cutting sugar by half across Australia. As a proponent of the Low Sugar/Carb diet I’ve found Peter’s speeches to be fascinating, providing an Australian to the burgeoning school of thought, turning the food pyramid upside down. I’m looking forward to the release of his new book A Fat Lot of Good, and hope that it can push this information outside of inner city professionals and into the broader public.

This was a fascinating episode covering a life in sport and how a wake up call completely changed his opinion on how to eat.

Kristofor Lawson is the co-host of Moonshot podcast, one of Australia’s most popular technology podcasts, and Founder of Lawson Media. As a journalist, Kris holds an incredible wealth of experience across old media brands such as the ABC, SBS, News Corp and Channel 10.  

But entering new media is where Kris has really hit his straps. By creating Lawson Media (a podcast production company) and the Moonshot podcast, Kris has showcased his unique storytelling skills. Moonshot was featured by Apple Podcasts and has reached #1 in the Australian Apple Podcast technology charts, was awarded an innovation grant from Australia's Walkley Foundation for Journalism, a finalist in the Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards, and won Best Independent Media at the ACS IT Journalism Awards.

Kris holds a unique insight between the divide of old and new media, one that fascinates many of us as social media becomes paramount to marketing & PR success. This was an almost selfish episode, having joined Kristofor as a guest to discuss cryptocurrency investing on behalf of CoinJar. The opportunity to learn about storytelling and media production was just too good to pass up.

Ryan Creed is the co-founder of an urban farming startup, Life Cykel, created in 2015 with co-founder Julian. After discovering how to grow mushrooms from waste coffee grounds, the two of them left their jobs as FIFO workers in the Western Australian mines, to inspire new attitudes towards food production, waste products and mushrooms.

Three years on, Life Cykel is connecting people with delicious and convenient mushroom products in the form of drinks, home growing kits, and five commercial farms across the country.

This episode is a fascinating lesson in the potential of urban farming, and my new-found obsession with its ability to meet the expected shortcomings in global food production. Ryan is a brilliant educator and someone whom you should keep an eye on as this industry grows.

Many thanks to Geert from Farmwall (ep 55) for the introduction.

Jeff Kennett AC is a former (43rd) Premier of Victoria, current media commentator, President of Hawthorn Football Club, dog lover and the founding Chairman of Beyondblue.

Well known for his outgoing and politically incorrect demeanour, Jeff is one of the most colourful politicians of our time, or as many Liberals would say “the greatest Prime Minister we never had”. He was the Premier that I grew up with in my early years, and having grown up in a Greek Liberal Democrat family, he was almost revered as a god for being a Liberal leader that actually made decisions.

No matter your politics, Jeff has done an immense service for the community at large, and the state of Victoria. There are invaluable lessons that we can glean from his life, and I hope this short conversation provides you with the opportunity to do just that.

Danielle Weber is an incredible Australian artist based here in Melbourne, Victoria. Her passion and love for painting is highlighted by her distinct portraits and sheer quality of work. Danielle’s work has extended to include original pieces for a number of high profile clients including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

It was Melbourne I Love You Founder Chris Cincotta, that first introduced me to Danielle’s work, and I thank him for the exceptional suggestion. Danielle is one of the most hard working artists I’ve come across, and one that truly has talent. She’s the type of artist that helps me appreciate the art form, by focusing on the individual beauty in each piece of work - whether a mural or portrait. I’ve often struggled at art galleries, particularly when they have interpretive modern art that honestly makes me wonder why it’s there.

Danielle’s work is so innate and I think she opens up the door for many to appreciate this world.

Dr Prash Puspanathan is a medical doctor & Neuropsychiatry Fellow at The Alfred Hospital Melbourne, Founder and Managing Director of Cryptocurrency Broker Caleb & Brown, and a clinical advisor to the Australian Psychedelic Society.

A medical doctor by training, with years of experience in the field of psychiatry, Prash was first drawn to psychedelics through his philosophical beliefs and the power they’ve shown to impact your mind. This in turn, exposed him to the world of cryptocurrencies.

Prash is a unique combination of a conscientious (crypto) & creative (psychedelics) individual, drawn to both areas of work. Both crypto & psychedelic research worlds are just at the beginning of the great leap forward, and I’m certain that Prash will be at the forefront of that here in Australia.

Ed Husic MP is The Honorable Member for Chifley, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy, Employment Services, Workforce Participation and the Future of Work. He is a Labor Party Member, a mad Chicago Bulls supporter and as he’s said himself “Blacktown through and through”.

Ed is one of the most straight-talking MPs I’ve heard in the modern political era. He’s incredibly gracious, clearly well-read and - I believe - a politician that instills confidence in an era where polarisation and political correctness is the word on everyone’s lips. I have no doubt that we’ll see important work from Ed over the coming years.

Geert Hendrix is the founder & CEO of Farmwall. Farmwall is a socially responsible, high-tech, urban agriculture company that aims to transform cities into food producing ecosystems. Their subscription-based, urban aquaponic-inspired farm supplies naturally-grown, fresh and delicious greens to award-winning cafes & restaurants such as well-renowned Top Paddock.

Geert is an incredibly humble and intelligent guy, building one of the more interesting local startups that I’ve come across. The trajectory for an infrastructure-based startup in the agriculture space is not as rapid as your typical software startup, but I have a strong belief that Geert is laying down the groundwork for a paradigm shift in agriculture.

Many thanks to our previous guest, Seb Lindner (Ep 41) for the introduction.