MSing About

A hoover by any other name would suck. This podcast is about eponyms - things that have been named after people... quick quiz: Adophe Sax, Joseph Lister, Frank Mars, Lazlo Biro, Jules Leotard, Amelia Bloomer, Granny Smith and Mae West.

Phobophobia is a fear of phobias and this podcast with Katrina is all about phobias – there are some weird ones out there. Did you know that some people have a fear of peanut butter, belly-buttons, knees, milk and being without their mobile phone? 

 Where does 'mind your Ps and Qs come from? Which side of a lady should a man walk on? Do you use a napkin or a serviette? Do you send thank-you cards? Manners have certainly changed. Language has also changed. Does an extra thirsty person who gets crunk have manners? Translation: Does an over-the-top person craving to be the centre of attention who gets 'crazy-drunk' (as in intoxic...

Thanks to a fabulous podcast called Something Rhymes with Purple with Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth, Ian has been boning up on new words. He has discovered that Katrina is a tidsoptimist and a scurryfunger who is capable of groaking with a fanny-flutter but who has no time at all for ultracrepidarians. 

Here we are, two weeks into 2024 and Katrina is still pondering her NY resolutions.

Today’s podcast is a bit weird… the ups and downs of theme parks and a stroll down sideshow alley with a bunch of old-time radio commercials. 

 With Australia potentially becoming a cashless society, will all the history and biography currently depicted on banknotes also disappear? 

Well, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas so Katrina and Ian reminisce about their Christmases as kids, the Christmases with their kids and 97-year old-Florence drops in to recall a special present she got... in 1929!

It is our 21st podcast! Woohoo!!! And with 2024 approaching, we started thinking about what shape future podcasts should take… We decided it was time to get obscenely wealthy by making Katrina an influencer… but then, because she often talks crap, we decided to make her an effluencer! This podcast is all about planning that journey…

A chat about addiction lends itself to how slogans and advertising can kick addiction along with flashbacks to some old-time radio commercials like young Johnny Farnham lending his vocal talents to Coca-Cola and doctors promoting cigarettes. 

Katrina has been training to be a train driver so while the conversation tried to stay on track it occasionally ran off he rails to incorporate coupling, shunting, Jethro Tull, Thomas the Tank Engine, Menu on the Orient Express and Bullet Trains. All aboard!

Concerts. Most of us have been to concerts, some good ones, some not so good ones. In this podcast Katrina and Ian share concert memories that include The Bee Gees, Midnight Oil, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Joe Cocker, Robbie Williams, INXS, Cat Stevens, Dire Straits, Jethro Tull and The Wiggles. 

A bit of reminiscing about Ian's 20 years of working in radio with some stories about radio pioneers and personalities like Grace Gibson, John Laws, Mike Carlton and Ward 'Pally' Austin.

What’s in a Name? Katrina Christensen (Scandinavian names) and Ian Heydon (Scottish and English names) got chatting about surnames being patronymic, locative and occupative, which sounds awfully serious but it isn’t! There’s a privately owned village in Norfolk in England called Heydon. Ian stayed there and it is where Monty Python filmed their Village Idiot sketch. Coincidence? 

As always, this MSing About podcast was a lot about nothing and a bit about something. Somehow a whole heap of trivia flowed from cockatoos to chickens to dolphins to seahorses to Monty Python to astrophysics to spider wasps to Siamese twins to unicorns to the history of the universe. Ian blames Katrina. Katrina blames Ian. Still, a lot of fun!

Unhappy Campers… Most Aussies and Kiwis love the idea of camping out… the great outdoors… the inexpensive adventure… the yarns and songs around the campfire. Ahhh yes… the flames flicker in the fire, the smoke floats higher and higher, and the sound of the wind in the wire… What could possibly go wrong?!

What do Mel Gibson, Rod Stewart, Bob Hawke, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daniel Johns, Humphrey B. Bear and the last man hanged in Australia have in common? Us!!!

What’s your favourite sitcom of all time? Friends, Seinfeld, Cheers, Frasier, The Office, Happy Days, Mother and Son, Fisk, Blackadder, Ab-Fab, Fawlty Towers, Fleabag, The Simpsons? And is the world ready for a new sitcom starring an aging bald man in a wheelchair?!

With six sleeps to go until The Voice referendum, Katrina and Ian have a bit of a serious conversation.

What a crack-up! Somehow Katrina, Ian and Dave get 20 minutes out of eggs.

This podcast is about getting old and dying… or not getting old and dying. And there’s not a maudlin thought to be had! In fact, there are a lot of laughs. Now, what do you want at your funeral? 

Why do bees hum? Because they don’t know the words. A bee’s dick is Australian slang for a tiny measurement length and a Bee’s Knees Cocktail is made with gin, lemon and honey. Those are just some of things Katrina and Ian neglect to mention in this 19 minutes of busy banter about bees! 

Today’s MSing About podcast has a lot about sex and how power is an aphrodisiac. While maybe not as high-profile as, say, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, Aussie politicians have been known to look for a bit on the side… from Ben Chifley to Harold Holt to John Gorton to Billy Snedden to Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke. My question is, where do they find the time?! There's also som...

It's another podcast that loses control of the rudder... Just how does a sensible question about cauliflower move on to Kris Kristofferson's ears, Ann-Margret's legs and a poet who is buried standing up in Westminster Abbey? 

It's back to school week. Florence went to school in New Zealand in the 1930s... Ian went to boarding school in Sydney in the 1960s... Dave did his learning on the School of the Air in Alice Springs... Katrina did her school time in Queensland in the 70s and 80s... and you know what they have in common? None of them have grown up yet!