Compiled by Jasper Baumann and Tess Connery
Pedal to the metal: Celebrating 100 episodes of Rusty’s Garage
Last month, award-winning motorsports broadcaster Greg ‘Rusty’ Rust celebrated 100 episodes of his automotive podcast, Rusty’s Garage on LiSTNR.
For more than five years, Rusty has interviewed some of Australia and the world’s most elite riders, drivers, designers and pilots about the machines that fuel their passion.
Podcast Week’s Tess Connery caught up with Rust to chat about 100episodes, and what’s in store for the next 100.
“I’m very, very proud – there are a sea of podcasts to choose from, and not all of them get past a first series,” Rust says. “To think that we’ve done 100 feature episodes is something really cool. It’s only taken me 20 years of life in the media to figure out that I like Michael Parkinson-style conversation, if you will.”
“I really love the addition of the podcast to the raft of things that I do in the media, it’s been a very, very good thing.”
To celebrate the milestone episode, Rusty handed over the podcast keys to fellow sports broadcaster and friend, Mark ‘Howie’ Howard, from The Howie Games podcast, to become the interviewee rather than the interviewer.
“Howie and I have known each other since the 2000s, he and I worked at Channel 10 together for many years on their motorsport coverage,” says Rust. “He is, in part, why I’ve ended up at LiSTNR – he was ahead of the curve doing The Howie Games, and I had some conversations with LISTNR about being the motorsport and automotive guy. I’d seen what he was doing, and I spoke to him about it, so he had a bit of an influence on me.
“We share the same producer, Thomas Dullard. Tom is a really, really good operator, who thought it would be a bit of fun to turn the tables – so Howie asked me about various aspects of my career and it just ended up in this lovely 90-minute, two-part conversation. There were highs, lows, lots of laughs, and even impersonations!”
It may be like being asked to pick a favourite child – and Rusty does say of his interview subjects that “I love all of them for different reasons“ – but there are some particular standout guests that he’s sat down with.
“Casey Stoner, for example, he and I have known each other since the days when I was covering Moto GP on Channel 10. I always feel like I’ve had a great relationship with him, and he’s won World Championships for Honda and Ducati. He invited me to go and see him on the Gold Coast, and unbeknown to me, he opened up about some health issues that he was having at the time around things like chronic fatigue. He’s a lot better now, he’s a lot healthier, which is terrific. I wasn’t going there that day expecting him to talk about that, and when he did, it created a lot of media interest here and internationally.
“Separately, to think that a person who’s just been passionate about cars and bikes could ultimately have a conversation with the likes of Eric Bana or Shane Jacobson, I find it mind blowing. I almost get a bit daunted in some respects, and both of them were fabulous.”
Greg Rust
Two other guests that stick in Rust’s mind are Formula One drivers and World Champions Jenson Button and Damon Hill. For Rust, those two highlight just how much the podcast has evolved since day one.
“To think that we could approach those people and they would want to come on is amazing. What I wanted to talk about was cars, bikes, and racing, and invariably get to the heart of a couple of key things – it might be the machine, it might be a moment, it might be a title. But to think that it now has that sort of reach is phenomenal.”
With 100 episodes down and many more to go, Rust won’t be taking his foot off the brake any time soon.
“There’s lots more than I want to do. One of the all time greats is a fellow by the name of Mario Andretti, who’s originally from Italy and a proud American nowadays, who’s won so much in a storied career. I would like to think one day I could sit down and have a chat with him. Other than that, if I think big, Jay Leno or David Letterman or someone like that who properly loves cars. If I could, in the next 100 episodes, get to a point where I couldn’t have a conversation with those types of people, that would be something I’d be immensely proud of.”
[Listen to Rusty’s Garage here]
Jock and Journo swap the locker room and news desk for the microphone in podcast return
Collingwood legend, Scott Pendlebury (the Jock) and the Herald Sun’s Jay Clark (the Journo) have resurrected their Jock and Journo podcast, with the first episode of the new season now available on LiSTNR.
Jock and Journo sees the friends bring their love and passion of the game to the microphone, talking all things AFL, the wider world of sport and life beyond footy. Coming together every Monday with different perspectives, listeners are guaranteed to hear latest news and opposing views as it all unfolds.
Looking forward to the podcast return, Scott Pendlebury said: “Now is a really exciting time to jump back in and dig deeper into the discussion around footy, the players and the world of sport, which Jay and I are both really passionate about. We’re really pumped to bring this series back for fans.”
Jay Clark said: “We wanted to bring back the podcast because we enjoyed it, and thought it provided a different dynamic from some of the footy commentary out there. Also, Scott has been begging me to join forces with him again, so I finally caved!”
[Listen to Jock and Journo here]
Two millennials are doing their best and giving advice in SBS’s The Parasocial Social Club
SBS’s latest comedy podcast brings together the millennial wisdom of comedian, writer and actress Jenny Tian and stand-up comic and host of SBS’s Love Me Love My Anxiety, Kevin Jin.
The series features quippy, back-and-forth banter between two friends trying not to screw up their adult lives, with each episode wrapping up with some well-intentioned but perhaps misguided advice.
Jenny Tian, best known for her comedy on TikTok, brings her dry wit to this exploration of one-sided relationships we have with personalities on social media.
“A parasocial relationship is one you’ll experience on the podcast. You’ll know everything about us, and we’ll know nothing about you,” Tian said.
Throughout the six-part series, Tian and Jin make observations on dating and growing up Asian-Australian, as well as trade uncomfortably honest truths like having a secret second doctor for sexual health questions, turning up at the wrong funeral, and being
an adult who owns only one fork.
[Listen to The Parasocial Social Club here]
Matty J and Ash Wicks’ Two Doting Dads joins iHeart Podcast Network
ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia has announced that Matty J and Ash Wicks are joining iHeart with their hilarious take on parenting in the podcast Two Doting Dads.
Two Doting Dads is a podcast series that follows the parenting escapades of two good mates, Matty J and Ash Wicks. Like all good modern relationships, they met on Instagram and instantly bonded over the fact that they were both sleep-deprived Dads doing their best to dote over their two children.
They share a laid-back style to parenting, they don’t pretend to be experts and they celebrate every single parenting mishap (which there are plenty). If you’re listening for parenting advice, you’ve come to the wrong podcast.
Matty J and Ash will also drop bonus episodes when they feel like it that, chatting to some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment about their own experiences as Dad’s, recent episodes have featured x3 Surfing World Champion Mick Fanning, Australian Cricketer Aaron Finch and Morning TV Show Royalty Larry Emdur.
[Listen to Two Doting Dads here]
Bri Lee and Bridie Jabour launch Cool Story podcast
Writers Bri Lee and Bridie Jabour meet up each week to discuss their stories, the best stories, and the biggest story of the week.
Bri and Bridie are bringing their significant pre-existing audiences together and the show is produced by DM Media. Episodes will run between 45-55 minutes, and listeners will leave feeling like they’ve just sat in on the best dinner party conversation of their lives.
The first episode is out this week. It includes: Bridie’s hilarious wisdom tooth removal story; a conversation about the erasure of women and Anna Funder’s new book Wifedom and disagreements about location-sharing apps.
Acast announces the launch of its new true crime podcast, Wanted
Acast has announced the launch of its new Australian true crime podcast, Wanted.
Jack Laurence, former radio host and creator of the award-winning Australian true crime podcast One Minute Remaining, hosts the podcast, featuring interviews with intriguing people who have been – or are currently – wanted by authorities in connection with alleged criminal activities.
One Minute Remaining itself has been a huge success story, hitting over two million downloads and reaching a global audience gripped by the opportunity of hearing incarcerated men and women share their stories.
For his next project, Laurence sits down and interviews people from around the world who have been wanted, or who are currently wanted, by authorities in connection with alleged crimes.
“Since starting OMR, I always get tagged in stories online, and one day someone tagged me in a video with a guy claiming to be wanted by the FBI and living in the Caribbean, so curiosity got the better of me, and I messaged him, and he agreed to chat with me”.
The guests on Wanted include a former MI5 officer who leaked government secrets, a man who escaped a Thai prison weeks before he was to be executed by firing squad and someone who says he was once a hitman for a Panamanian drug cartel.
Season one of Wanted launches, with three episodes featuring guest The TikTok Fugitive – Chad Hower, while a new episode will be released every Monday.
