Look! Squirrel!

A thirty-minute glider flight in Britain costs around fifteen pounds. A gyroplane licence runs roughly eight to ten thousand. A full airline career can run past two hundred thousand. Second in our pilot licensing series, this episode covers every pathway into British aviation: gliding, microlights, gyroplanes, and the powered ladder from NPPL through to a full commercial licence. Costs, hours, med...

You can be soaring silently with no engine at all for around five thousand dollars, or working two years toward an airline captain's seat for two hundred thousand. First in a new series comparing pilot licensing around the world, this episode covers the full Australian picture: gliding, gyrocopters, and the powered aeroplane ladder from RAAus through to a commercial licence. Hours, real costs,...

An unscheduled episode. Dolly Parton died this week at 80, and I sat down to talk through her journey from a one-room Tennessee cabin to global icon, the songs, the Imagination Library, and why her death has hit so many people so hard. Curiosity, unfiltered, unapologetic, this time with a lump in the throat. https://donate.imaginationlibrary.com/

In 1946, the Nuremberg Tribunal declared the Waffen-SS a criminal organisation. Then it carved out an exception for one group of soldiers wearing the same uniform. This episode covers the Latvian Legion, roughly eighty thousand men, most of whom never chose to be there, caught between two occupying powers in the middle of World War Two. The history of conscription, the small minority who genuinely...

A four-hour grid battery in Australia now delivers power for roughly a third of the price of a new gas peaker plant. This episode breaks down the real cost numbers behind Australia's nuclear-versus-renewables debate, straight from CSIRO's own GenCost data, including the genuine pushback from nuclear advocates on how those numbers get calculated, and why gas peakers are losing ground to bat...

Twenty-eight new car brands have entered Australia in the past five years, most of them electric. The question nobody asks at the dealership: how many will still be here in five years to honour your warranty? This episode covers buying an EV in Australia right now, the genuine benefits, the honest split between city and regional range anxiety, and how to vet a brand before you hand over your depos...

My car was on a boat, unreachable, when the Australian Government quietly pulled it off the list of vehicles allowed into the country. This week: the full story of importing a 2023 Suzuki Spacia Custom from Japan, a turbo, hybrid, all-wheel-drive, fully-optioned car for less than a base model Kia or Toyota. How the broker process actually works, the real all-in landed cost, and the government safe...

Your super is safe. Australia isn't broke. And no, the government isn't plotting to seize your retirement savings, whatever your Facebook feed is telling you this week. This episode busts the latest superannuation panic doing the rounds online, and digs into the real story behind it: a genuine, current policy debate about super funds and domestic investment that's a lot less dramatic t...

You've got a battery. Now someone wants to pay you to let them borrow it. In the final episode of the energy series, I break down Virtual Power Plants: what they actually pay, the big myth about whether you're forced to join one, and the fine print that decides whether it's a genuinely good deal or a battery that's half-drained the one night you actually need it. Six questions to a...

Episode 3 "Don't Get Burned: How to Buy Solar and Batteries Without Getting Ripped Off" Here's a number that should stop you cold: over 800 solar companies have failed in Australia since 2011, and somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 households are now stuck with a warranty from a company that no longer exists. Episode three of the energy series is your field guide to not becomi...

Episode 2 — "Should You Get a Home Battery?" Last episode was about free midday power. This one's about what happens if you can store it and use it at night. In episode two of the energy series on Look! Squirrel! , I go state by state, NSW, SA, WA, Tasmania, the NT, because the honest answer to "should I get a battery?" depends a lot on where you live. The federal rebate. T...

Free Power — What Australia Just Did That the Rest of the World Should Be Watching Starting July 1, millions of Australian households get three hours of completely free electricity every day. No solar panels required, just a smart meter and an opt-in. Garry unpacks the Solar Sharer scheme: why it exists, the grid problem it's actually solving, who wins and who doesn't, and why a country giving awa...

An Introduction. No fixed topic. No apologies. Just wherever curiosity leads this week. Interviews, commentary, rants, and tangents — hosted by Garry Ozols.