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They lurk in groups. They sneer at generational change, bemoaning the modern world. And they know exactly where that bloody apostrophe should go.<\/p>\n
They are the Grumpy Old Buggers, and veteran radio journalist Geoff Hutchison is determined not to become one of them.<\/p>\n
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In 2022, Geoff hung up the headphones after a long career at the ABC, having hosted both Mornings and Drive on 720 ABC Perth as well as a filling in for Jon Faine on 774 ABC Melbourne.<\/p>\n
Today, he\u2019s an author and his new book How Not To Become a Grumpy Old Bugger explores the curious things that sometimes happen to men as they age.<\/p>\n
From consulting experts to mining his own experience as well as that of other blokes in his life, Geoff reckons he\u2019s discovered how we can all live a less grumpy life.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the upcoming Father\u2019s Day episode of the Authorised podcast, Geoff says he\u2019s devoted a whole chapter of the book to the art of listening without judgement \u2013 certainly an important quality to have if you happen work in radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means not feeling the need \u2013 as I did sometimes on radio \u2013 to hear something and then have my quick follow-up question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I\u2019m a bit more interested in sitting back [and listening]. Listen without judgement, and there\u2019s more to get from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geoff is a believer in the long-held radio philosophy of \u2018Two ears, one mouth.\u2019 In other words \u2013 listen twice as much as you speak.<\/p>\n
In a world full of social media bombardment, niche platforms, media fragmentation and endless content options, it\u2019s no wonder our brains are swimming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in an age where there\u2019s so much noise and so many people talking and so many opinions,\u201d says Geoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of them are informed. Some of them are nuts. There\u2019s a lot going on!\u201d<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a lot to be gained from learning to listen \u2013 and actually absorbing what we\u2019re hearing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to get into trouble for interrupting in interviews because I was so excited or enthusiastic,\u201d Geoff remembers. \u201cAnd then you realise that it sounds awful, interrupting all the time. What you are doing is cutting someone off mid-sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s far easier for me to be a better broadcaster now that I\u2019m not one!\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n
Geoff says the thing he\u2019s enjoyed most since his radio career finished is not living in constant judgement about everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur careers required us to have a view on things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geoff was on-air in 2008 when then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered a formal apology to Australia\u2019s Indigenous peoples, particularly the Stolen Generations, on behalf of the nation.<\/p>\n
Geoff encouraged listeners to call up and share their thoughts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reckon the first six callers were all blokes, and my memory is they all said something like \u2018I don\u2019t know what I have to apologise for!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a bit disheartened at the time,\u201d Geoff remembers. \u201cI thought later on What a miserable attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth of it for me was that it didn\u2019t impact their life at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geoff says the trouble for all of us as we get older is that society tends to deal us out of the conversation.<\/p>\n
Not having the same level of relevance can be a rude awakening for those no longer working in the radio industry.<\/p>\n
Geoff \u2013 who admits he doesn\u2019t even understand how Zoom works \u2013 says embracing the world we live in NOW is key.<\/p>\n
\u201cNostalgic ideas are great fodder on radio, but for a lot of us as we get older, our conversations are all about the \u2018good old days.\u2019 They\u2019re all about footy being better then that it is now \u2026 I don\u2019t like this. I don\u2019t like that. What\u2019s this \u2018they\/them\u2019 stuff? Who ARE these people?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, says Geoff, we end up not being curious about the conversations that happening right in front of us \u2013 and the issues which still directly affect us, whether we like it or not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nostalgic thing is really fun. But it does stop us caring much about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sometimes, he says, all it takes is a good mate to pull you into line and say \u201cPut that in the museum of dickheadedness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geoff\u2019s\u00a0advice? Keep being curious. Try to wave away those invisible potholes of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t collect them and don\u2019t live within them, because it just tells the world that your attitude will always be profoundly negative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geoff feels overwhelmingly positive about the future for young men today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not as constrained by that uniform of male expectation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited and interested in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now get off his lawn.<\/p>\n
*Geoff Hutchison photo credit: ABC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They lurk in groups. They sneer at generational change, bemoaning the modern world. And they know exactly where…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-102842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}