Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson. That Hollywood spotlight ensures that most of us know the name of these celebrity Aussies, but what about those many other Australians who have forged impressive careers around the globe? Artists, academics, sportsmen and women, scientists and no doubt many, many more professions. People like the Melbournian Barrie Kosky, who is today one of the world’s most-celebrated opera directors, conductor Simone Young, who directs international orchestras and Sydney-born singer-songwriter Kat Frankie, a popular performer at top music venues all over Germany.
As a journalist working internationally for decades, I’m constantly amazed at the number of Australians – high profile or otherwise – living outside Australia – who have remarkable careers and what’s more, remarkable stories to tell. In Tall Poppies I’ll be sitting down with one of these inspiring Aussies each episode to chat about their work, living abroad and their passage to international success. Of course we will also look at how growing up in Australia influenced them in the past and even today in their work.
In the first series of Tall Poppies we’ll meet some of the exceptional Australians who have made Germany their home.
Podcaster Breandáin O’Shea
I’m an Australian arts journalist and musician. I grew up in south-east Queensland and studied music in Melbourne, before moving to Germany in the late 1980s to continue my studies. For twenty-years I produced and hosted two award-winning weekly arts programmes for Deutsche Welle. Today I’m based in Berlin, where I write radio documentaries and contribute to various national and international media including the ABC (Australia). I’ve interviewed hundreds of renowned personalities including Judi Dench, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, John Malkovich, Jessye Norman, and Sting. Not surprisingly, I have a special interest in eminent Australians, and my interviews with Joan Sutherland, Peter Carey, Robert Gray, Ernie Dingo, Rachel Perkins, Adam Elliot and John Williams are among my most memorable. Amid my accolades is a Gold Medal from the New York Festival Radio Awards for the most outstanding arts programme. I’m also a guest lecturer at several Universities, including Berlin’s University of the Arts.
Credits
Producer/Presenter: Breandáin O’Shea
Sound Engineer: Juergen Kuhn
Logo: John Zappia
Music: The “Tall Poppies Ditty,” is by Breandáin O’Shea, and performed by Thanos Karakantos
Webmaster: Enrique Villa
Special thanks to Juergen Kuhn, Elizabeth Hormann, Sudhir Aggarwal and Nishad Pandey