00:00

If you're old enough to remember when phones had cords and the only thing that went viral was a cold, then you're in the right place.  Welcome to the Big Six-O with Kaylee Harris and Guy Rawlison. Because who better to discuss life's second act than two people who still think mature is a type of cheese?

00:37

Hi and welcome to the Big Six-O, the podcast that's old enough to remember when mixed tapes meant true love.  And flared trousers were a fashion statement,  not a fire hazard. That's true. Or a tripping hazard. I'm Guy Rawlson and joining me is my co-host  of Epping West Public and the only person I know who still owns an actual street directory. Yes. Kayleigh Harris. Love it. Hello. Hello.  Did you find your way here okay? I  did.

01:06

You used GPS, didn't I did use GPS. You didn't use your Gregory's, you? No, but you know, I still got one at home. Yeah, I've still got the Gregory's at home. Yeah, I used to drive buses and you couldn't use a GPS on the bus. It didn't come with one. on, hang on, hang on. Roll that back. You used to drive a bus? A years ago, yeah. I didn't know that. It was, it was a, it's a whole nother podcast in this reinventing yourself. Um, but the, sorry, reason I digress is because you can't, there's no GPS in the buses that we drove and you can't have a book of maps open on your lap.

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So we just had to look at it before you went in the bus and then you get in the bus and just have to remember it. Did you do the male female thing where you actually have to turn the map upside down or whatever? Yeah, I didn't have to do that because I'm female. Yeah, okay. Yeah, and I'm not afraid to ask for directions. Thank you. Thank you. Now today's episode's a beauty. We're relieving some of the moments in history that made us laugh, made us cry and cheer or maybe just go, what the? Yeah.

02:04

What are some of the memories that you had  living through  the last 60 years or even beyond or closer to modern day history  that really?  Well, it's funny because, you know, people who are older than us will remember different parts of history and people who are younger than us won't remember some of the things  that we remember. But all those major historical things in time  really changed, some of them really changed the world.

02:32

and we'll get to those ones. But I just want to go back to the 60s and because you you and I were born in the 60s, I wasn't, Kennedy is a really big one from November 63 and my mum was you know seven months pregnant with me and I remember her telling me that when Kennedy was shot it felt like the end of the world for her and for that generation that was a huge deal that if people could get to the president

03:02

and shoot the President of the United States, then it was a really dangerous place to be.  From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official,  President Kennedy  died  at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time,  2 o'clock  Eastern  Standard Time,  some 38 minutes ago.  Yeah, and like you,  my parents  sort of remembered that period of time in their lives as well.

03:29

And yeah, was like, it was a month before I was born. And so that whole concept later, when they explained that, as you said, it, you know, there was the Bay of Pigs, which Kennedy was, you know, all a part of. Missile Crisis. of course now the president has been shot. So, and the immediacy of the news cycle wasn't as it is today. And so the news reverberates around the globe and even as far away from Australia, as it is from Australia, it was.

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how could this happen?  And who did it? That was a big thing for a while. And eventually it landed on Lee Harvey Oswald. But there's still theories today about whether he acted alone or whether there was a conspiracy in another country behind wanting, you know, Kennedy out of the picture. And it wasn't helped by the fact, if you remember the footage, and we've probably all seen it, of Jack Ruby  coming down into the car park and being able to shoot  the alleged assailant, you know, point blank.  Who?

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within the sort of in that scope of things would allow someone getting that close to someone. So of course the conspiracies were running rife. Yeah, so that's probably,  you know, with that going back to the 60s,  as I said before we were born, but  then we move into Australian troops are sent to the Vietnam War for the first time.  That's happened in the 60s. had conscription in Australia came in, which was very  controversial.  Also Harold Holt, the prime minister.

04:57

disappeared. How does that happen? Conspiracies, right? Because, you know... they were saying the Russians or the Germans or somebody was in a boat off the coast and they grabbed him when he went for a swim. That's right.  All these  stories were floating around.  And you mentioned Vietnam  and  that resonates with me  because I remember  my parents had friends that were serving in Vietnam  and

05:25

come news time and of course the filters on news weren't nearly as stringent as they are today.  So you've got you know six or seven year old guy being told you need to sit down and watch the news to see what happened in the war today. So every news report was  and and the some of the images were graphic  and they've sat with me. So the enormity of the war from a seven year old you know  it was probably not as great as those that

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lived through it as far as being an adult, but it still sits with me.  Oh, it's still,  yeah, pivotal.  And something that ties the two together,  the Vietnam War, and we talked earlier about Kennedy,  in 1966 was the first visit to Australia by a US president, LBJ. Yes, yes. Came to Australia, and that was a really big deal. It kind of put us on the world stage that we must be sort of important if we're having an American.

06:16

President come visit us.  Was it all about needing our support for Vietnam? Look, it was all about that and was shoring up, you know, your allies and, know, Australia just, you know, historically likes to feel as though we're being made special and we have this,  this real underdog sort of mentality and we're not worthy sort of thing. And I, I'm sure that comes from our convict heritage. Absolutely.  But of course that was a big year as well. 66 because decimals currency came into the country, didn't it? Was it 66? Yeah. And how's the song go? Do you remember?

06:47

I can picture it. I can picture income the...  Income the dollars and cents out go the pounds and pence. Yeah that's it, that's right.  Income the dollars and income the cents  to replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence.  Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix on the  14th of February 1966. Clink go the cents folks clink clink clink.

07:11

Change over day is closer than you think. Learn the value of the coins and the way that they appear. And things will be much smoother when the decimal point is here.  In come the dollars and in come the cents.  To replace the pounds and the shillings and the pence.  Be prepared folks when the coins begin to mix. On the 14th of February 1966.

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So I remember, think my mother was working at what was then the Bank of New South Wales. Yeah. And so it was very important. But I remember the tune vaguely. I was only three. You've obviously got a better memory than me. Well, my daughter who is 23, when she was in primary school, they handed out one and two cent coins to all the kids. And I remember her coming home to me. This is 15 years ago.

08:01

she came home to me and said, look mum, ancient money from when you were a kid. Thank you, daughter. Thank you. Yeah. Anything else you want to bring up at this point? old I am. That's now your pocket money for the rest of your life, by the way. that's three cents, by the way. Exactly. saying. Yeah. And we had the Beatles come to Australia as well in 64 and that just went crazy. How big was that? That was huge. And again, if we were important enough that the Beatles would come to Australia.

08:28

a bit like the US President, we were obviously making it on the world map, on the stage a bit, weren't we? So early in their career, 64, because I think their first songs was like Love Me Do or something in 62, which carried over to 63.  And whether the Brian Epstein's and all of this world thought, yeah, look, they're going to be a Johnny come lately, we better get all these tours out of the way in the next couple of years, because you'll never hear of them again. Hello.  Hello. But the crowds and the scenes were absolutely phenomenal, weren't they?

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Yeah, we'd never seen anything like it. No and that people mania thing was epitomized in this country Yeah, never seen anything like it.  And of course the 60s man on the moon Oh now you we've discussed this before and you said you remember watching it I don't but you remember watching it on TV at school I think  it was one of those things wasn't it where  it's  other than you  Remember where you were when it happened.  but all through that whole Apollo 11

09:28

I remember even the Saturday morning cartoons had been put on hold and you would sit down and you would watch what was happening next because it was, I don't know how to describe it, it was one of those, is it the most monumental piece of history that will happen in our lifetime or close to it? I would say so. In terms of exploration and technology, well maybe not technology, computers sort of wandering around there.

09:55

that time as well but I think in terms of exploration and man's exploration definitely. And of course  as with Kennedy and Harold Holt the conspiracies of course that this never happened,  it was all done on a stage sort of  set and all that sort of thing and then you know oh why isn't the flag flapping.  Sorry  it happened. It did happen. Just in case you're wondering people. Yeah but then you go into the 70s and into the early 70s  and

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we know everyone sort of  no one remembers beyond Apollo 11 but there was Apollo 12 and Apollo 13 of course movies famously made  about them  but by then the public was so over Apollo 11 was such a big thing that by the time Apollo 12 and 13 came people were they couldn't get the same audiences to watch it on TV no one was interested anymore because we'd moved into the  70s and and  the money that

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NASA needed to launch those spacecraft was so phenomenal that there were questions about why are we still putting money into this? And it was an era too wasn't it? And you're right with TV that all of a sudden they found that this medium was something that could capture the imagination you know globally and yes you're right Apollo 12 and I shouldn't make light of it because we all know the situation with Apollo 13 and it didn't end in disaster but

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It was almost a godsend for NASA because the world was on the edge of its seat wondering whether these astronauts would be able to bring it back.  And of course Hollywood made more than a dollar out of it didn't they with the movie later on. with a lot of history. Hollywood made a lot of money out of history.  So let's go into the 70s. What are your memories from the 70s?

11:42

There's a lot of things, one of the earliest ones that actually had an impact on me was Cyclone Tracy. Yep. In 74. Eve. It was Christmas Eve on 74. I Bill and Boyd, was it Bill and Boyd had a song about Santa never made it into Darwin. exactly.

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Our family, not my family directly, but aunts and uncles took it, but people were billeted out of Darwin. They were shipped out of Darwin to other parts of the country.  And, and  several of my family took families into their home  for weeks or I can't remember now.  Um, but that was a big thing and just that scene of devastation  and that could happen. and of course Christmas Eve. left standing. That's right. was, it was a very Hiroshima moment for Australians  on our own.

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short. That's a good way to describe it. To see that and just the heartache and I remember I'll get a little emotional here. There was a there was an image of a like a little teddy. Yeah. And I thought oh my gosh and even 74 I must have been what 10 or 11 and that that that meant something to me. know. But that that was probably one of my earliest sort of memories of the big thing after the moon and of course the Whitlam dismissal. Yeah. Oh politically that was a

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massive story that a Prime Minister could be dismissed like that. Yeah and of course the footage on the steps of Parliament House.  Well may I say yeah  everyone knows the words right? Everyone knows the words and can picture themselves  exactly. Another being a news family it was you need to sit down and watch this because  it's important.  And none of us sort of knew what happened  what would happen next for the country once Whitlam

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lost the leadership. was uncharted territory. but also in the 70s, another very pivotal political moment in the 70s, Neville Bonner became the first Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament in 1971. Yeah, that was huge. Wasn't that a great story? That was a great story. And it was...

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given even back then as far as the significance of actually having an Indigenous Australian  in a position of authority and power and being a spokesperson for not just

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you know, the Indigenous people of this country, for representing, you know, everyone, it  was a real hallmark sort of moment, wasn't it? And it was also around the same time that the Aboriginal tent embassy popped up outside the old parliament house in Canberra. That's right. And it really started to make me, I mean, I was, you know, six or seven, but started to make me aware of the whole issue of Indigenous rights. That's right. And hang on, how come, why don't we have more Indigenous people in powerful positions? And I was just blissfully unaware of it.

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until then. And of course with the stolen generation, the whole stolen generation, it's one of those moments, isn't it, we hadn't grown up essentially, but we'd actually started to make the right moves in the right direction in the eyes of, and to have Neville Bonner in that position of power. Yeah, it was a great story. It was a great story. The 70s, of course, we lost Elvis Presley in 1977. That was probably the first celebrity I remember

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losing. Do you remember where you were when you heard that news? Oh gosh, I was in high school, but no, I don't remember where I was when I heard. No. I remember I was at high school and I was in a science lab. Really? I was in a science lab and I remember the teacher came in and said something and we thought, oh my gosh, how, really? Because he was only young, he was 40 or something. 42. Which seemed really old when you're in high school, right? That's right. But still, mean,

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our parents' generation to lose  Elvis was, how did that happen? And even then, he felt like he'd been around forever because not only was he a performer, but he'd been in umpteen movies as well that was a Saturday afternoon, rainy sports off sort of day. And you go and watch the Elvis movie. If it wasn't Marron Parke, Kettle, or Abbot and Costello meets the Mummy, it was Elvis. you know. You reckon I watch too much TV?  Sprung,  sprung. Now look on the,

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downside and I hate to bring it down but there were some terrible things happened in the 70s too. We had the Luna Park fire in 79. We had the Hilton Hotel bombing. We had the Westgate Bridge collapse in Tassie and we had the Granville train disaster. Yes, yeah. All three terrible tragedies that occurred and I distinctly remember those because I think I was at, I went to Luna Park about two months before that fire. I was there with some friends and then

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the Ghost Train caught fire two months later and I think six people, seven people died. Yeah,  like you I'd been to Luna Park, I don't think it was...

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that far in the distant past from that happening.  But yeah, like you'd be on the rotor or something and you remember being on there and you're there with your friends and all of a sudden this happened and... And you think it could have been me. Yeah. Could have been me in the ghost train. I remember the ghost train. I remember when  you'd go into the ghost train on the little cart and it would come out into that caged section. Yes. But then you'd go back in again. That's And that turned out to be, you know, a death tomb. That's it. For those...

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people. So and the know, the families and the and the it was just horrific.  But Granville once again, that was during the school holidays. I was in the car we were going to the we're going to the movies. I was going to the movies. I was in the car with my mom. And we were going to Parramatta to go to the movies in Sydney. And of course being Granville, Granville is not that far from Parramatta.  And I remember we heard it on the radio and mum said, we're turning around, we have to move. I said, why?

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And she said, because police, fire brigade, emergency services will be wanting to get through the roads, we don't need to be on this road  because we're going to the movies. We need to clear this road so as people that need help can get help. That was very insightful of her. It was very insightful of her. I was...

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devastated because I think we were going to see some great movie. Yeah, but yeah,  she was that sort of woman where you know, she put a lot and like most mothers to see the bigger picture Yeah, and she said we we need to go out because there's a lot of people that need to be assisted here And I thought well once again stuck with me  But yeah, that was tragic. I think unlike with Granville  there was the question about how could this happen and how  did it happen?  And I think when you look at

18:10

So, you know, the tragedies with the Apollo missions and where, know, the one that blew up on the launch pad, you kind of as a lay person like us, you used to think, well, I'd never be an astronaut anyway. And that kind of stuff's really dangerous. But with Granville, I catch a train. That could have been me. And that was a really that sense of that could have been any of us.

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on that train that day. That's right.  And there's always that thing about,  it's always going to happen to someone else. Yeah. Well, you know what? To everyone else, you are that someone else. That's right. So it could have been  any of us. Yeah. We all live in that bubble where we think it's not going to happen to us. That's right. Can you cast your mind back to, I think it was the early 70s as well, with the oil crisis?  Which one? The petrol or  the Exxon Valdez?

19:01

Good point. Or was that the 80s? This is the petrol one and we had the odds and evens rationing system where you could only, if your number plate ended in a two, you got it on a Tuesday or whatever it was. was going to say, can you explain this for people who may not have lived through it for the younger people that, yeah, so your number plate, if your number plate ended in an odd or an even number, that would dictate what day you could go and fuel up. That's right. And so everyone with odd numbers say it was an odd day, would be lined up outside the service station.

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to get their petrol. That's it. And the queues just stretched and stretched and stretched. And I think there was almost a limit on the petrol. And it sounds ridiculous to say... a limit on the petrol. Yeah, and it sounds ridiculous to say, you were limited to $10. But back then when petrol was probably 16 cents a litre or whatever it was, $10 would have basically filled I think you could fill up, but you could only fill up once a week. Right. I think that's what it was, but someone will remember if we don't. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Are we going to move forward to the 80s? Let's move forward to the 80s.

19:58

So along come the 80s and we've gone from, just talked about  Gough Whitlam, then we went into the Fraser years and then it was back to Labor and income, incomes, the rise of  Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. So we're back to that whole  80s and when I think back to the 80s, I think a lot of Hawke and a lot of, I have a lot of memories of him and famously giving the country the day off when we won the America's Cup. Yeah, going sprayed with beer. Yes. Every, every.

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every Australian boss who sacks someone or whatever is a bum. that's it. What a popular Prime Minister, he was a populist and of course it was a trade union leader with the ACTU for so long and I think there was a lot of fear in...

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the way he may handle the country, as far as popular prime ministers  and the things that he achieved as well along, and we mentioned Gough Whitlam,  as far as he was concerned, Medicare and university and all that, but Hawke also, not only being a populist, did a lot for the country,  between him and Paul Keating,  it was a bit of a dynamic duo at the time. But I yeah, and I think  with Bob Hawke, I think it made the rest of us feel like we, young blokes could actually be that.

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guy one day, if he can get in, I can get in. He humanised the role, he? He did, definitely. Yeah, he did. We also had the recession later in the 80s and 88, 89. Now, do you remember the Newcastle earthquake? That was another big story locally. Yes, I was at work and we felt sort of reverberations, but it was, you know, it...

21:32

It didn't really hit Sydney but it  devastated the people of Newcastle and it all of a sudden became very real that, you know, once again, it happens to everyone else. Yeah. But it's happened to us.  Yeah, I remember that. What else do you remember about the 80s?  Do you remember your first mobile phone? These came in during the  80s and they were like almost, were  in a suitcase, they were bricks as well. Yeah, the charging compartment was a brick.

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that was huge, as big as a cereal packet and the phone was on a curly cord on the end of it and that was my,  and it was so heavy to carry the whole thing, wasn't it? was barely mobile.

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barely mobile. didn't we think we were so clever, like we were so new age because we had, we could take the phone places. Yeah. That was unheard of. Needed shoulder surgery afterwards for carrying them. But I remember my first, I think it was like a motorola or something. can't remember, but it was, think they were all motorolas. I they were all motorolas. But something that stuck with me, I don't know why we talked about the death of Elvis, but the death of John Lennon as well in 1980. do know you said you remember, I don't remember much

22:42

about Elvis  but Len and I do.  I remember I was at work and he had been shot and that was a really big deal because I worked for a classic hit station at the time so obviously we played a lot of Beatles and so that was a huge deal.  And again how could he be shot at the front of his apartment building in New York? Once again.  How does that happen? It's and what was his name was it John Hinckley?

23:06

No, think Hinckley was the Reagan. The Reagan administration,  which is another situation. assassination attempt. Failed assassination attempt. That's right.  And of course, I guess it was similarities between how could someone get so close to the president to allow this and with Lenin, how could someone just walk up the street  and do this? yeah, the only other thing I  probably...

23:32

meant something to me  is probably the fall of the Berlin Wall.  was, yeah, globally a huge story. Yeah. Yeah. We remember all the pictures and the news footage coming through of people climbing on the wall and bits of it breaking off  and falling down and, you know, we were seeing history unfold.

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in front of our eyes with the Berlin Wall. Yeah, it's almost signified that the Cold War was over. which it was. And there was a generation, our generation was raised on that whole East versus West  thing.  suddenly those images of, know, brick by brick, things were coming down. Yeah. It was like this,  you know, this moment that you just had to...

24:14

Yeah, it was a yeah. Yeah, because there was that no man's land between East and West Berlin and the people tried to make a run for it. They'd get shot.  And then all of sudden you're seeing this wall come down. It was extraordinary. And it was a people power thing.  wasn't it? It was almost we're taking things into our own hands. We've had enough of this.  And  yeah, it was  it was a moment along alongside what I mentioned people power. We'll talk about the the

24:40

Band-aid and all that the good that you know those artists  created through you know Africa because we had the famine in Africa we had the African famine we weren't probably aware of it much before then but that really brought it to the global the attention of the world was  the famine in Africa yeah so moving on from the 80s I it yeah what what else sort of resonates with you anything that in  from the 80s  from the 80s or late I remember we talked before about the Apollo missions the Challenger disaster yes and and again

25:10

And we were,  for the first time I think in the 80s we could see history  live, which we couldn't see much before that.  You know, we had to wait for the footage to come from the newswire. But  with Challenger, we actually watched that  live play out in front of us. And it was, you couldn't believe what you're watching. And to see the spacecraft just disintegrate like that and just,  you just couldn't, you couldn't, your brain couldn't make sense of it.

25:39

I was working at a television station in Sydney and I was on that early shift.

25:44

It was like a  10 or six shift or whatever it was  when this was unfolding.  to actually  see the scrambling of people in that studio to try and get that news out,  it was almost unbelievable to have news bulletins because back in the day, we used to have news flash  back in the day. I don't think we have news flashes now. We have breaking news now. have breaking news now.  But to get that news out and because the news was there unfolding, you could actually

26:14

that information but you had no facts behind what was going on  and to think of the crew that was involved in that split moment where and to see the faces of their families. Well that's the thing because they had a film crew they had film crews filming the families  obviously because it was supposed to be a happy moment for them to watch it take off and to see their loved ones head off into the great unknown but then they're still filming when it blew up and you could see the you know the families couldn't comprehend.

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what had happened. Neither could any of us.  There was that moment where you thought, is this supposed to happen? And then that realization that, no,  this is a disaster.  what can I do? Yeah. 100%.  And of course,  in the eighties, Charles and Di got married.  That was a big international story, wasn't it? That was the fairy tale, wasn't it? Yeah. Fairy tale wedding and you know, the prince and the kindergarten teacher. And it just was

27:10

had the whole world's attention.  Diana and Charles, I think it was beginning of, you know, a whole different path for both of them. But I remember that from the 80s. We all wanted Diana's dress. all, all of us girls wanted to have that big meringue dress.

27:26

I remember the big dress. I also remember that she  got his name incorrect. Yes, she did. And  I don't know, maybe that's  a blokey thing that think, oh my gosh. Well, he had so many names. He did, he had a few names. I'm gonna just rewind a little bit very quickly and I just, something came to mind. I remember my parents made me watch the...

27:47

not the coronation of Prince Charles but the, he, is not the coronation. wasn't the coronation because that's when he became king. Yeah, it's an induction, it's a whatever. I don't know. But he, had the whole ceremony where they're doing the whole crown on Prince Charles and I remember watching it as a kid. Yeah, yeah. And I remember thinking, and I must have been five. Yeah. But I got made to watch it and it was, I don't know whether he's inducted as, but it was a big ceremony on TV and because he was the Prince of Wales

28:17

my mother worked for the Bank of New South Wales. You thought you were related? I wondered why they making such a fuss about this boat that worked at a bank.  But once again, I digress. I digress.  Oh, let's go through to the, let's head to the nineties. Yeah. Should we? The nineties were an amazing time because we're edging ever so closer towards the end of the millennium. And  amazing. We saw lots of things. And we talked earlier about, you know, East versus West and that was the fall of the Soviet Union.

28:46

was in the early  90s, but we also saw the Gulf War.  And I can remember thinking, are we going to war again? Is this gonna be World War III? I was so scared when America announced that they were  going to war.  I think, yeah, I was terrified that what would that mean for us? Would we be sending troops?  What did that look like? Yeah, I had the same experience when...

29:11

I think the Russians invaded Afghanistan in 7980. Yeah.  And thinking, oh my gosh, and that was such a big thing. But you're right, that whole Middle Eastern thinking,  oh, what does this mean? How is this going to develop? How is this going to play out?  So it was, was scary time. It was a really scary time. But as you say, coming up into that late nineties,  scary was that Y2K bug that  everyone was talking about. like.

29:41

Yeah, your phone's going to stop and your TV's Everything's gonna stop working. Yeah, and the world as we know it's gonna... This is a very 1984 situation  and...  Nothing happened. Nothing happened.  It's just a non-event. Did I miss the memo? Because I was... I think everyone was  on the edge of their seat  and then... Yeah, that's  it.

30:05

We all expected that the world, somehow the world was going to explode or something.  it a marketing ploy by software manufacturers and Apple and Microsoft to make sure you bought your new this or that or something? But I remember at work we had IT guys making sure this was and everything was protected and like I say  it was just a dud. Yeah, nothing happened.  But we also had  another story that made the news here was the LA riots. Yes.

30:35

I was those extraordinary footage from the streets of Los Angeles of  people just running riot and the police after them and tear gas and it was very confronting, wasn't it? It was. And you have to wonder whether this is almost a...

30:49

event that happens every decade because if you remember before the Trump administration was re-voted into office, it was almost, you know, and how much the media beats this up and you think, oh, there's like, there could be hundreds. It looks like there's tens of thousands of people. But those LA riots was, yeah, that was just on high repeat as far as the news cycle was. Yeah, exactly. And also like in the 90s, Bill Clinton was president in the US for

31:19

part of that as well after the George W's  and  and the Monica Lewinsky affair. Oh. That was  big news. It was huge. And again you wondered how does a president do that but I go if you go back through history presidents have been having affairs for ever. Kings presidents presidents. Yeah. They they all had mistresses. were we surprised you know and and  Monica in that dress.  I think it was the detail.

31:45

It was okay to say a president may have had a movie starlet as a mistress, but it was the detail I think that was exposed. And just the outright, this is a ridiculous story from the president, just saying, no, this just didn't happen when, I think, you you're just going to get caught out, mate. That's the bottom line. And then towards the end of the 90s, we lost Diana, 1997, and that...

32:14

for me was a really,  I do remember where I was. I was working and I was down at Darling Harbour in Sydney, near the harbour.  And I can remember, I heard it on the news, because I was working for a radio station, I was monitoring the news,  but nobody else in Darling Harbour, there were like tens of thousands of families all walking around. None of them had any idea. And I'd heard this come through my headphones, that  what had happened. And I was in disbelief. I thought, how?

32:42

That can't be right. That can't be right. That must have been a week. Was that a weekend that Yeah, well, I think it was. Yeah, because,  Because I remember being at  a friend's house. We were having lunch with them and we'd sort of rocked up on the doorstep.

32:57

And we both looked at each other when they answered the door and we were, and did you hear?  And so that whole lunch thing sort of went out the window  because  you know, we needed to keep abreast of what was going on. What was... And we all rushed to the TV to see what footage was coming through from London. That was one of those moments  you talked about. We talked about the moon landing,  know, the Kennedy assassination, all these milestone moments where we just rushed to the box to find out  what was going on.

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It's not that there was any personal sort of but with Diana I think there was that outpouring of grief when you remember the People's Princess.  So many documentaries and films have been made since then but when you just saw that outpouring of emotion  not just  Brits but  throughout the globe  because of the work that she'd done the way that she'd portrayed herself and the charity work that she'd actually done as well. But also the fact that that she died at the hands of a drunk driver. Yes.  How does that happen again?

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does that happen? And because she was a mother,  it resonated,  it grounded and put the Royals to that point where  she's one of us.  exactly and as we sort of,  that was 1997, of course we get to 2000 and the Olympics.  What a great time. Definitely an Australian memory but  what an incredible time  and weren't the Olympics,  didn't the city

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didn't Sydney have such a vibe about it? It was just a buzz and we all scrambled for tickets and we felt that sense of national pride because we've put on a great games, the world is coming to us, the whole world is watching, we need to be on our best behaviour and we were, we were on best, but everyone, when you got onto a bus, everyone was friendly, everyone's and it was one of the best times I think Sydney, you know, at that time.

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could have put on.  And I remember as a little kid, used to be, I think I was about eight or nine, there was a series about the Olympics in Munich. And once again, that's  a testing time because if you remember the Munich Olympics  and the massacre that happened there. there was documentaries about the Olympics. And I remember thinking, oh, when I'm a big boy, I'm going to take my parents to the Olympics. Well, they came to Sydney, so it burned out really cheap for me.  But yeah, we scrambled for tickets. And I remember thinking, what a fabulous time.

35:26

That buzz lasted for quite a long time after the games had finished. Well it did until we get to the next big moment in history which was when we lost our innocence with 9-11. Now  that for me was when the world changed.  I felt as though it will never be the same after this. There was life before 9-11 and life after.  Even the way countries protect themselves or  how secure we feel ourselves  as living in the planet.

35:56

9-11 again most people remember where they were because of the time that it happened. It was at night time here in Australia but again watching in real time the footage of the planes flying into the buildings not only that but then the buildings collapsing.

36:11

Yeah, I was working at home that night. Um, it was late. You were right. Uh, I can't remember what time it might've been half past 10 or 11 o'clock at night, whatever it was. And I still had the news on. was in the other room and I still remember Sandra Sully being on TV  and,  and being the anchor that night. And like you say, you just couldn't believe what you were seeing.  And you thought, Oh, what's going on here? You see the smoke billowing out of one of the buildings. You thought, how's this happening?  And then of course you,  you know,

36:41

Sandra's saying, the area's been cordoned off from military aircraft and all this sort of thing. And all of a sudden you see this plane coming, circling around. And you see that second building being hit. I had a cousin who was actually working in New York at the time. He was working at the Waldorf. And he recalls that and just being...

37:06

what,  it could have been aliens, that would have  ranked second to what was actually happening because he couldn't believe what he was seeing  as he was finishing his shift and just not knowing what to do.  Yeah, well what, I mean,  one plane going into one tower could have been an accident. Yes. But when the minute that second plane went in...

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you knew that this was bad. That's right. This is no accident. That's right. And again, like you said, there've been so many movies and documentaries made about it. So many, you know, heroes from that day.  Such a tragic loss of life. But for me, there will always be life before 9-11  and life after.

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We lost our innocence. It's that pivotal moment, isn't it? Where everything changed, even down to the little things about the way we boarded a plane, domestically or overseas. You couldn't have metal cutlery anymore.  couldn't have  any liquid more than a hundred mil. That's right. So everything changed on the back of that. So  even though we've had  so many great moments and so many tragic moments in the last 30, 40, 50, 60 years,  whether it was moon landing,

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Whether it was a government being dismissed by a governor general, whether it's the death of a princess, the one thing that has genuinely changed our lives as far as our day-to-day is 9-11, isn't it? Yep, I think so. In terms of global security, yep.

38:32

Wow.  I think on that note, we need to go out and just do something a little bit better for the world, don't you think? Well, I think we need to go and have some quiet time to think about all those people that passed away on 9-11. I'm with you. Okay. All right, we'll talk again. See ya. Bye.

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and reflect those of the hosts and guests.  They do not represent the views or positions of any affiliated organisations  or companies.  This podcast is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice. Please consult with a qualified professional for guidance on any personal matters.

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Oh, and before we go,  let's give credit where credit is due.  Kaylee Harris and I came up with all the genius content for this week's episode.  Our producer,  Nick Abood,  well, he keeps the lights on and makes sure we don't accidentally upload a cat video instead of a podcast. thanks for keeping us on track, Nick.  Nick?  Nick?