Have You Heard... The Good Life

Coming to the Community Radio Network in August 2017 is The Good Life: Andrew Leigh in Conversation. 

Hosted by Andrew Leigh MP, this series sits down each week with a notable Australian who has been influential across a facet of public life. Though he's currently a sitting member of Parliament, the program steers around any familiar broadcast politicking.

Andrew gets to know one-on-one what it takes across business, sport, art and culture, the community sector, politics, advocacy and science to commit to a happy, healthy and ethical life, and what lessons can only be learned up along the way.

We asked Andrew Leigh (pictured left, fresh after being interviewed himself by Richard Fidler) about the series and what listeners can expect.

In The Good Life you interview people who about living a “happy, healthy and ethical life”. Why did you start the program and come to specifically address these aspects of how we live in 2017?

There’s a long tradition – going back at least to Seneca – of practicing politicians thinking about what it means to live a full and meaningful life. I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have the chance to serve in the federal parliament, but I’m also aware that those who focus only on politics and policy can miss the opportunity to engage in broader issues, including ethics, decency, philosophy, exercise, art and literature.   

What do you look for in the guests you invite onto the program?

My favourite guests are those who are very different from myself. Linda Burney’s was raised by adoptive parents born before Federation. Carl Vine has a visceral dislike of background music. Robert Dessaix once invented his own language. When I finish an interview with one of these extraordinary people, I feel like the colours around me are brighter, the smells are stronger, the sounds more sparkling. I feel like I’m more alive than ever.

You have a background in economics, and are a working politician: how do these roles inform your approach to the conversations?

Great question. People often make the mistake of thinking that economics is about money. In fact, as we teach our first year students, it’s about maximising happiness. But behavioural economists have noted that we often make systematic errors. Talking with smart people about living a good life is one way that I hope to make fewer of these kinds of mistakes myself. As to being a politician, The Good Life conversations have made me a little more inclined to appreciate the daily pleasures of my job, and a little less likely to worry about where I might be on the political pecking order.

Tell us a couple of highlights from The Good Life so far.

Tim Costello on gambling addicts who threw their lives away, Michael Kirby discussing the role of love, Jane Halton on hitting the glass ceiling, and Maile Carnegie’s (pictured) unusual way of handling email.

Do you feel these in-depth conversations have inspired change in YOU?

Absolutely. Palliative care nurse Nikki Johnston was a guest on my podcast, and told me about having witnessed thousands of deaths during her career. I often apply the ‘deathbed test’ to big problems (in other words, “when I’m lying on my deathbed, what would I wish I’d done?”). For example, Nikki told me that watching people at the end of their lives made her worry a lot less about her appearance, but a lot more about her health.

Speaking of the political life, the day job must keep you extremely busy. How do you personally ensure you’re living a happy, healthy and ethical life?

In an occupation where most of my co-workers are fly-in, fly-out employees, I’m extremely lucky to represent the northern part of Canberra. It means that I’m able to at least have breakfast with Gweneth and our three boys on a sittings day. On weekends, I try to get along to the kids’ sporting events, and grab some one-on-one time with each of the boys. The podcast has also been a venue through which I’ve spoken with some of my favourite runners, including Rob De Castella (pictured) and Dick Telford, which has encouraged me to push things a bit with my training (I run about an hour a day, and my current goal is to break 2:40 for the marathon).

For CRN subscribers:

• Begins distribution Friday 4 August 2017
• The Good Life (55'50) is broadcast/distributed by CRN Fridays from 18:04 EST/EDT, and is available for DDN capture
• Aug and Sep episodes include Tim Costello, Annabel Crabb, Bob Carr, Carl Vine, and Linda Burney
• For more information contact CRN staff on 02 9310 2999 or email [email protected]

Not a CRN subscriber, but want to find out more about getting content like this for your station? Read more here.