{"id":8034,"date":"2020-04-29T07:33:46","date_gmt":"2020-04-28T23:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/the-man-behind-the-mic-david-blayney-2\/"},"modified":"2022-12-07T13:09:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T05:09:56","slug":"the-man-behind-the-mic-david-blayney-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/the-man-behind-the-mic-david-blayney-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The man behind the mic \u2013 David Blayney"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been tuning into Curtin\u2019s fortnightly podcast, The Future Of<\/em>, you\u2019ll be familiar the dulcet tones of our host, David Blayney. But who is he really? We take a dive into learning about the man and the mystery.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve been listening to The Future Of<\/em>, a podcast powered by Curtin University. If you have any questions about today\u2019s episode, please get in touch by following the links in the show notes. Bye for now\u201d, David signs off with the show\u2019s signature phrase, unclipping his mic while the outro music fades.<\/p>\n

The atmosphere in the room changes as the red recording light dims. The \u2018off record\u2019 conversation is always livelier and more relaxed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been another successful recording of The Future Of<\/em><\/a>, the Curtin podcast featuring our researchers as guest experts on topics about where the future is heading in different fields and industries.<\/p>\n

Now the sole host, David began as co-host to the effervescent Jessica Morrison when the podcast began in late 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my lecturers – I won\u2019t gratuitously namedrop him – asked if I\u2019d be interested in hosting,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I auditioned for it and someone else auditioned for it, and they were clearly better,\u201d he jokes, \u201cbut they couldn\u2019t do it because they were doing industry placement, so I guess I sort of parachuted in by sheer luck and I\u2019ve just been doing it ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

David is a Curtin student, studying a double degree in journalism and accounting. While modest about his talents, he was put forward by his lecturer because he showed great promise in broadcast journalism. But what drove him to pursue journalism in the first place?<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought journalism was a good choice because it wasn\u2019t just a job or a way to just fill eight hours a day, but an opportunity to make a positive impact in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a baseline I don\u2019t want to be making the world a worse<\/em> place,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

As for where the accounting comes in, David says he opted for the double degree as a bit of a \u201ccontingency plan\u201d, should a career in journalism not eventuate. But the choice was more than just a failsafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought if I had a second degree, that would mean that I\u2019d have a better chance of getting a job first of all, or if I got a job in journalism, it would inform the journalism better so it would mean that I\u2019d be more specialised and more qualified.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a generally curious person. I like to learn more about the world and what happens. How things work,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in how businesses operate and how that sort of stuff works.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019ve always found politics kind of interesting \u2026 unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

His thirst for knowledge is evident during his interviews. As David chats with researchers both during and after recording, it\u2019s hard not to be impressed by the vast amounts of knowledge he somehow manages to retain beneath his dark wavy mop of hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to know a little bit about every topic that you come across in order to be able to cover it well,\u201d he explains, mentioning that this is one of the aspects he enjoys most about hosting The Future Of<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is interesting being able to learn about what we\u2019re learning as a society, as an institute,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting to learn about how we can make cement with enzymes<\/a> or how people use Instagram<\/a> to sell furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Though he admits he doesn\u2019t listen back to every episode because he finds listening to his own voice \u201ca bit gross\u201d, there are a few highlight episodes he tuned in for and shared around.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne episode I did listen to was the one with Glynn Greensmith<\/a> about how the media handles mass shootings. But that\u2019s because he\u2019s the most interesting man in the world. He could literally read a phone book and I\u2019d be enthralled by it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one about seeking asylum<\/a> as well. I found that one quite interesting. I think it busted a few misconceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

While his favourites tend to be, as he describes, some of the darker topics covered, he says one thing he really enjoys about the podcast is its hopeful tone and getting to report on good news.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people are very concerned and there\u2019s a lot of uncertainty today. We don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on. We don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. But it\u2019s very encouraging to know that every day we\u2019re getting closer to making the world a better place with research being put into practice,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s encouraging to know that good things are happening, because, god, we learn a lot about bad things that are happening, don\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking to his own future, David\u2019s goals are simple and commendable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally I\u2019d like to get a job where I\u2019m at least making something of a positive difference or at least making a positive difference to someone else,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Asked what his advice to his younger self would be, his answer is simple: \u201cPull your bloody head in,\u201d he laughs. But for everyone else, he has some true words of encouragement to sign off on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know this is a clich\u00e9, I know this is like some LinkedIn blog spam, but really do take every opportunity that you get. Obviously sometimes people are in a position where they can\u2019t take up an opportunity, so when you can, remember that you\u2019re very lucky to have that opportunity and take it up.\u201d He says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever forget that in many respects you\u2019re so fortunate and you\u2019re so lucky. I know I never do.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve been tuning into Curtin\u2019s fortnightly podcast, The Future Of, you\u2019ll be familiar the dulcet tones of our host, David Blayney. But who is he really? We take a dive into learning about the man<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4388,"featured_media":8035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-8034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-and-global-community"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"Journalism and Accounting","qualification":"Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce","link":"https:\/\/study.curtin.edu.au\/offering\/course-ug-bachelor-of-arts-bachelor-of-commerce--bb-artcom\/","description":"This double degree offers students the opportunity to study a wide range of majors from the Bachelor of Arts (Humanities) and a Bachelor of Commerce to provide graduates with diverse career opportunities.","faculty":"Humanities"}],"credits":{"author":{"title":"Cahli Samata","url":"#","target":""},"photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/David-Blayney-Story-Feature-Image-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"display_name":"281716a"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 02:34:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4388"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8034"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=8034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}