Audio Ability trains broadcasters with disabilities

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Welcome to a special CRN broadcast. Brought to you by the Community Media Training organisation. Hi, I'm Gemma Purves, and I'm going to be introducing you to the incredible team from audio Ability. I'm a little biased. I'm the course coordinator for this program and we offer training and mentoring to people with disability who are interested in getting involved in community radio.

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As we look forward to welcoming our next group of students in the New Year. It's great to look back at the achievements of some of our recent graduates. The success of audio ability was in the mental bearings where every student gets to work with a 1 to 1 mentor who helps them get involved in their local station and supports them in whatever their goals are.

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It's really important to remember that not everyone who's involved in community radio is on air. Not everyone wants that. So some of our graduates have started producing promos for their local stations. Some of them have joined the music library. It's just that diversity of skills and talent of our students is pretty impressive. Anyway, enough about me. Let me introduce you to some of the mentors and begin to let you know about what what auditability means to them.

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So over to you. My name's Ellie Violet. I'm from Radio Skid Row, a community radio station on Gadigal land, Sydney, New South Wales. I'd have to say one of the highlights from one of your ability as a mentor would be watching my mentee grow and evolve and improve her skills, especially in the audio feature, in editing. I felt like I learned so much from her and it was just an incredible experience and opportunity.

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Thanks, Ellie and the rest of the team at Skid Row have been really supportive of audio ability over the most recent cause. We're going to speak to a couple of the mentors now who've been involved since the very beginning. So over to you, Jared and Jason, down in South Australia. Hi, my name is Jarod McLachlan, and I'm here from Radio Adelaide.

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Watch as I participate in audio ability. Well, disability wise, I can answer that question, but I found that all your ability has speed. Of course, in any particular medium in broadcast media, let alone in community media, that was really needed to give a platform or an outlet for people with disabilities to cross out and to hone their storytelling skills as you don't really difficult that many opportunities.

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Well, at least for me, when I was growing up, words afforded those opportunities and given the chance to be a mentor has been really rewarding and having to have two really amazing, fantastic mentees who took everything that I taught them and absorbed and embraced every particular task that was assigned to them. Well, the way I went about doing my particular way of mentoring, it's not that orthodox, but if anyone I can say just it's don't feel so apprehensive that you can't become a mentor or even the mentee and sign up to do the course because any person with a disability can have a voice for radio or if you want to, you can be able to do other roles behind the microphone. So go for it.

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Hi, I'm Jason Bolt. Bring If you don't go on to breakthrough in New Zealand in the Barossa Valley for the past 27 years, I appreciate the program and I want it cold morning especially. We appreciate music and interviews. As a person who's filled with palsy, all, you really give me the opportunity for helping others with disability. The program is give me a job, give me a wide variety of people and be able to pass on some of the knowledge I have gained of many years of radio presenting.

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So let's celebrate intellectual disability. Recognize many things we have overcome to be able to do what we do so well. My name is Paul Price and I work for Reading Radio in Brisbane, one of the stations in the network. I've been an audio ability mentor for the past two years and what I enjoy about this program is being able to impart some of my knowledge that I've gained over the past 20 plus years and pass it on to students in the program.

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My aim is that they are able to gain something out of what I've been able to teach them, which will help them in their future community radio journey. Thanks, Jason, Jarred and Paul as you can hear, one of the key elements of audio ability is that we offer it across several different states. So we meet once a week on Zoom as well as students and mentors getting to spend 1 to 1 time at their local stations.

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We're going to hear from a student now. Thomas got interested in community media following talk of radio. Adelaide's Radio's a lot of music. Thomas worked on this audio feature with his mentor Chloe to explore the impact of AI or artificial intelligence on music. Be prepared to have your eyes or is open. Hello, my name is Thomas on Radio Adelaide, and today we're discussing AI in the music industry, specifically air covers.

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So what is an AI cover and AI cover is a cover song. Produce with AI made with someone else's voice. This means the vocals of the song when produced in a studio and the person doesn't have to be there or consent. This is produced by taking voice clips of a personal character and feeding those lines through an air.

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But the air will then make the personal character's voice that can be used to create any sentence or cover with that voice. Using these voices, particularly of those who have passed away, has become a divisive subject. I spoke to members of the general public to ask their opinions on the subject. What do you know about artificial intelligence in the music industry?

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Not so much, to be honest. I do use it more to create content like writing content, you know, like myself, being a music enthusiast, I'm always a bit, I'll say, reluctant to about artificial intelligence to create something that I feel that is supposed to convey like emotions and let creativity of people play a role in the composition of music.

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So. So yes, that's my answer. Honestly, not a whole lot. I did recently see that there's a song up for like a big award that's completely Irish, and I saw that in the news. And then I guess that was kind of the first time I thought about it being something because I was like, like it's a big award show and something I had actually been.

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So I was shocked by that. But that's kind of all I do know a lot about AI in the music industry, but I expect that it's being used to fabricate new music. Have you seen or heard any AI covers? I have actually on TikTok, I hear a lot of the AI covers. I get a lot of ones for Lorde and a lot of Overwatch character ones, which I find really weird.

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I'm not sure where they come from, but yeah, I get plenty. I think I did see some shows where we doing this kind of exercise and actually it's a bit scary when you think of it because sometimes you can't really tell the difference like it is. It's is it a machine doing that or is it really the a person?

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Yeah, I find it always a bit almost unsettling. So this idea that we can be replaced by a by machine, I don't know that I've actually heard any music created by AI or I have heard it, but I just haven't realized this is an air cover that's creative. Homer Simpson singing Somebody That I Used to know by Got You said you felt so happy you could die almost so fit.

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You're right for me, but felt so alone in your company. But that was loving it to make us still remember. What did you think of this? well, I recognized the original voiceover. Someone that I used to know, and the image that they have on there replicates the famous video clip for that song. It's sounded kind of mechanical.

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It didn't sound like an actual person. Well, I feel because I saw the image of the characters, I knew that they are famous, like cartoon characters. It was the voice of Amazing son. I don't know if I didn't see this picture, if I would have recognized his voice necessarily, or Vice. Because we are talking because we are talking right now.

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But I don't know. I didn't feel I would think that this has been created, that it's not the actor speaking behind his voice, that I would say it has been created. The machine is close to it, but I don't recognize this voice exactly. I think it's very interesting. I think there's some entertainment value behind it, for sure. It makes me curious to think like that's obviously just like a Simpsons on like a bit of a meme, I guess, like the ones that are being done properly and stuff like how do they fix those sort of voice areas?

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Because when he said company, yeah, it really worked. So yeah, very interesting. How do you feel about using AI for musicians who have passed away? Yeah, it's I guess we have. It would be a way to make something last that that is not anymore. So that's tempting. But again, that's, that's again, that's artificial. That's not very old thing.

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So I prefer authenticity, I guess. And I still feel a bit unsettled by all that, to be honest. I think it makes me a little uneasy. Music is something that people create as sort of an art form, and I think that I can sort of interfere with their legacy, I guess. But I mean, that doesn't mean it's going to stop it happening.

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I think it's going to be quite common, especially with the amount of like eye covers I see around. Now, that sort of make the rounds. I think the writers who are on strike in America, which is having an effect on the film industry here in Australia, one of the issues that they're having is the image being used by AI to make future art for which they may not be enumerated for.

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So I think in the music industry it would be a similar thing and I know that Paul McCartney's touring Australia certainly is coming to Adelaide and he has a I, I had a version of John Lennon who will be performing with him so they can do a duet. So on the one hand, well, it's kind of interesting, exciting.

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It does seem to be a bit of a worry about, you know, people missing out on royalties and and having the artwork taken and used without permission. So I don't know. It's one of those gray areas where I was starting to boom faster then laws, etc. can be created. This is an air cover that is created of Frank Sinatra singing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga.

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I love the Charmer and the church oriented wine shop. Leather started his say in the sand on your love, love for water and like you never get too much of that. You go to the beach. I want to bang, bang, bang, bang right there about how did you feel about this air cover? I think considering my like last question answer, I feel like I see that as kind of just like a bit of fun.

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I think I can diminish like a legacy when it's like officially released by people on that side. But I think there's a bit of like Frank Sinatra, like, that's a bit of fun, you know, like I that gave me a bit of a smile. The Frank Sinatra singing Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. I probably wouldn't have realized it was an air cover without actually being told beforehand.

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I might not have even realized that it was actually Frank Sinatra. I might have thought that it was someone who sings like Frank Sinatra or sounds like Frank Sinatra. Well, it was actually surprising to us. So Frank Sinatra, a voice doing a Lady Gaga bad woman song. That was well done because it and it worked. So. So yeah, No, that's impressive.

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It just yeah, it's it makes me yeah, it's it's super. It's surprising and scary again. What computers artificial intelligence can do Like literally it's it felt this one felt almost like it was his voice. So yeah. Has your opinion changed and air covers after hearing these examples? If so, how? I think it kind of has now. I think the idea of it sort of just being a bit of fun, a bit of a meme sort of differs, I guess from how I thought about it when it sort of comes from an official source.

00:15:08:19 - 00:15:36:03
I guess like it's it's just a bit of fun. It's not really. On the one hand, I'm kind of excited about the future of AI and on the other hand it's kind of scary because we don't know where it's going to lead us. So, I mean, I'm impressed by especially the last video, but still, it's not it's not the is is not the emotions he is putting in his song may be in I'm not that far.

00:15:36:03 - 00:15:56:07
I mean yeah we found sinatraa to really notice how is it really the way you would have done it all the way with a singer? Maybe it wouldn't even be a song. You would like to do it himself. So. So that's why it's. Yeah, it's interesting what we can do about it. I feel okay. That's impressive. What artificial intelligence can do with music.

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But still it's not, I guess, my cup of tea just for a matter of dentistry, of a respecting also the the original version and predicting also I guess, people's people's uniqueness. I guess I'd like to thank the participants for taking part in the short interviews. The introduction of these air covers has been controversial and eye opening for many.

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As we have seen in these interviews, an array of opinions from fear to interest to wonder if it will go next. Personally, I believe I will keep evolving and developing until it is indistinguishable from music made by real artists. This is shown with the recent controversy surrounding the use of air intelligence in regards to Grammy nominations. The recent events around a songwriter composing a piece that could have potentially been nominated.

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However, they use artificial intelligence. So popular singers Drake and the Weekend appear as vocalists on this track. This began a discussion on whether or not I vocalize songs that were written by Human should be eligible for awards in general. The speed at which Air Intelligence is developing should be considered in regards to the music industry at large. I leave you with this question Where do you see being in five years from now and do you think it will be positive or negative in the music industry?

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And that segment was produced by Thomas running in the studios of Radio Adelaide, really thought provoking that stuff there, especially for so many of our community radio listeners who are true music lovers. You're with I Travis here and I'm presenting a special feature on the Audio Ability Course run by the CMT Show, and you are listening via C and right now we are heading off to Brisbane and Billy has got some really fun, interesting facts about the characters of our childhood, that is the Muppets.

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Hi everybody. Let's dive into the wonderful world of Muppets. Muppets are created by Jim Henson. They're very musical and wonderful to have a laugh at. It's very comedic, you know, the first movie to appear is Kermit the Frog. Kermit the Frog loves playing on his banjo in the swamp and his girlfriend is Miss Piggy, who is a diva pig who knows pigs can sing.

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Inspirational Fozzie Bear, also known as Comedy Bear Walker Wonka Gonzo is a great man who is a fly, and his best friend is Rizzo, the rat. Those hecklers are Statler and Waldorf, the Swedish chef, San Diego Scooter, Dr. Teeth in the Electric Mayhem, etc. And the second Muppets to appear are the Sesame Street's Elmo, Bert and Ernie, Big Bird Dreams Count on Count.

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Cookie Monster. Grover Zoe, Rosita. Abby Cadabby, etc.. Do you know what the first pitch came to be? Are you guessed it, It's Wilkins. Wilkins from Wilkins. Copy. Wilkins. Copy. it's self-explanatory. They hope you enjoyed The Wonderful. Were the Muppets. Until next time, Stay Muppet.

00:19:40:04 - 00:20:09:02
That was produced by Billy Newton and his mentor, Shawn, out of the studio of Bridge FM up in sunny Redbridge, outskirts of Brisbane. You're listening to a special feature produced by the Community Media Training Organization for the Community Radio Network. I'm your host, Gemma Pearce. What's made audio ability so enjoyable all to be a part of is the diversity of the students and the mentors.

00:20:09:04 - 00:20:35:15
Not only are we located across multiple states and stations, but we've all got very different backgrounds and age ranges. Billion Thomas, whose features you just heard there, some of our youngest students this are the students. They're looking at opportunities and ways they can get involved with their communities and find something meaningful to do as they head towards retirement.

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We're heading down south now to Victoria. Natasha Bray and her mentor Jack Missen worked out of the studios at Sin in Melbourne to produce this piece on retirement. Natasha's looking forward to getting involved with her local Station three MDR in the aftermath of audio ability. Hi, my name's Tash. I live in the outer east of Melbourne in a small town in the hills called Tacoma, which is on the lands of the war on jury.

00:21:06:00 - 00:21:28:12
People of the Call and nation. It's been a real blast being part of the audio Ability program. This year. Who knew that learning about community radio could be so much fun? It was really energizing every week to meet up with such a diverse group of people and learn together. Part of the course was putting together an audio feature.

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Since I'm heading for retirement within the next ten years, I thought I would do mine. On the transition to retirement and trade it as a bit of a research project. I'm so thrilled that you'll be hearing a snippet from my piece as part of this celebration of International Day for People with Disability. Thank you CMT, for this amazing opportunity and I am really excited about my future road to radio, which I will be starting next year with my local radio station three MDA 97.1 FM and welcome to this special feature on retirement.

00:22:12:10 - 00:22:35:20
I'm Natasha Brake and thanks for joining me on this journey to discover the considerations that people go through in this life transition. Look, going into retirement was a bit of a shock. I found it quite terrifying for a while, while I found a terrifying whether we'd have to eat gruel for the rest of our lives, whether I'd have enough money.

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And then it sort of became clear that there might be a pathway into a retirement. I was more than keen to take it and I must say I was. The last day of work was a great relief.

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Planning for retirement is a bit like planning for a long road trip. It can be a dream come true, but without the proper planning you may end up at the wrong destination. You need a map, you need a plan. And it's a good idea to get some advice from people who have traveled that road before You. How long?

00:23:26:22 - 00:23:57:01
I'm Darina and I retired on my 60th birthday, which was in December 2020. So yeah, two and a half years, I think it is now. Camille and Olga, I understand you've been retired for quite some time now. How long is it exactly? We've got the huge experience of being retired now For how many years? 26, 69, 25, 24.

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Okay. 24. We both worked for four years. We retired together on the same day. So we went from both being at work every day to stopping altogether. What did the future look like heading into retirement and what planning was involved? I was in a job that I was quite unhappy in and I'd been there for 18 years and really my planning was much more about escaping work than it was about any sort of sensible planning about what I was going to do with my retirement years.

00:24:36:23 - 00:25:06:11
I also just wanted to live a life. I had my children very early in life. I hadn't done the sort of gap year travel overseas in my twenties sort of thing that others had done. I was hoping I'd be able to sort of treat myself a bit, having done a fair bit of travel in South East Asia over the past ten years or so, I had a strong belief that I could actually support myself over there with a much better lifestyle in terms of the cost of living than I could here.

00:25:06:16 - 00:25:40:13
I really sort of thought that I could actually stretch out what money I had for quite a few years by living overseas. As part of that time. We did do a fair bit of planning before retirement, not necessarily financially, but what we want to do with our free time and put a few things in place. Well, just about a year before we actually retired by buying the car for the retirement age, buying a caravan for all sorts of plans and travel.

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I mean, the the caravan that was a definitely a joint decision because while we were working, we traveled in for holidays, mainly overseas, saying when we retire will travel to Australia. And we certainly traveled to Australia in the caravan between the advisor and us. We set upon a figure that we needed to have to retire. When we got to the figure that we'd said, and Oscar said, Well, you know, here we are, we've done it with both account and bought the caravan.

00:26:19:23 - 00:26:40:22
We picked the figure. I think we should retire gradually. All of my options that I've been thinking of started to sort of look like they were less and less practical. It's probably a story that anybody talking about what's happened in their life in the last couple of years kind of void but mentioned and that is that that happened right in the middle of all of my retirement planning.

00:26:40:23 - 00:27:10:15
Hence one of the reasons why I've not escaped and gone overseas. But none of us knew what the post-pandemic world was going to look like. And now it's time to hear from Sheryl Dacus, who will give us some insight about the psychological aspects of transitioning into retirement. Thanks, Natasha. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm a registered psychologist.

00:27:10:17 - 00:27:48:13
I have an area of interest in relationships and life stages, and of course, relationships are impacted by life stages. I came to this work fairly late in life. I went to university in my forties and always had an interest in human behavior and probably a desire to work with others around that. I'm now at the stage where I'm actually in transition to retirement myself, so I'm kind of still working, but certainly dealing with the adjustment that's required in this transitional space.

00:27:48:15 - 00:28:16:11
I think that with any transition, we really don't know what it's like until we're in it. And that's one of the challenges, particularly with retirement. And we have, I think, high expectations, positive feelings about it, generally speaking. And certainly we want to ensure that we are financially set up well enough to be able to enjoy it, etc.. But it is a transition.

00:28:16:13 - 00:28:47:00
One of the things that I work with people around is from a positive perspective is to think about other transitions that they have had in their lives. And really when we transition to any large stage, whether it's a transition to primary school or to high school or into working life, parenting, whatever it might be, we need to work with that and manage our selves emotionally and psychologically.

00:28:47:02 - 00:29:18:21
And it is something those skills that we've acquired throughout our life we can then draw on at this stage. The thing is, with a transition, it involves adjustment and adaptation. It means being flexible, being open to new experience, trying to not get too shut down, locked down, rigid in how you think it should be, but being kind of open to possibilities.

00:29:18:23 - 00:30:11:22
Just like in other life stages, dreams, aspirations and possibilities need to be paid for. How do we work out the money in retirement? Well, the first thing we would say was really get a good financial adviser unless you really are very financially astute. Don't think you can do it by yourself. We were very lucky because Oscar was retrenched from a job about ten years before we retired and part of the retention package that we were offered financial advice from a certain party and and we have worked with that same organization and still do right up to now because they know what you need.

00:30:11:22 - 00:30:39:13
And I would suggest you try and find one as early as possible. Don't wait till you're nearly retired. The first question that a financial advisor asks you planning for retirement is and how much money do you need in a year to live on? So it's quite important to have an idea how much money you actually spend on various things.

00:30:39:15 - 00:31:00:23
We would advise to get an accounting package to put on the computer and enter everything into it, and then over a period of a year you can sort of say what you spent on dining, what you spend on groceries, what you spend on clothes, and add it all together. And that's about what you've got to know. It really worked for us anyway.

00:31:01:00 - 00:31:29:22
For us, it was quite an eye opener, actually, to see that the money is actually going and that gives you a good idea. Then come retirement, how much money you need to go forward. Don't fall into the trap walls because we're retired. We won't need anywhere near as much money because when you retire you don't. Or you don't want to have lifestyle away and discover that once you retired, you have to fall back onto lifestyle.

00:31:29:23 - 00:31:51:07
Be just assume for that, at least for the first few years, you'll still want to go to the movies. You'll still occasionally want to go out to dinner. Don't assume that you'll ever buy a new dress or a new pair of pants because you're not working any more. Especially if you are quite young. You fit you well. You want to do the things you couldn't do before.

00:31:51:09 - 00:32:13:18
I did some very basic calculation of how I could support myself financially, but it was really much more of a cash accounting exercise than it was anything else. I did spend quite a bit of time doing spreadsheets, trying to calculate budgets and the like, and I had this impression that talking to a financial advisor was really only something that you did if you had money.

00:32:13:20 - 00:32:47:15
So that was something I didn't do. My finances have changed quite a bit and right now I'm actually experiencing a bit of financial stress. So I've actually decided to backtrack a bit and get some financial planning help. Look at the one thing I did do was to mitigate fairly thoroughly what my superannuation was and how the, you know, the options would be there in terms of transition to retirement or when and in what way I could drawdown on my my funds from my superannuation.

00:32:47:17 - 00:33:16:15
The superannuation people were actually really very open and generous with their time and didn't minimize the potential that I had. So that was helpful. It's one of the big things that gets attention. So there's a lot of advice and a lot of support out there with regard to that. There are formulas for you to work out how much you need in retirement, etc. There really aren't any formulas about the emotional, the psychological aspect of it.

00:33:16:15 - 00:33:49:15
That's interesting. Yeah. So so quite often people will get themselves set up financially and still the experience of going into retirement is different to what they absolutely. I find that some people are just at a loss that they've been so busy building their life, building their career, caring for their family, and particularly at this age, you often got an elderly parent and you've got younger other young adult children and or grandchildren.

00:33:49:15 - 00:34:16:17
You're kind of torn in all directions and haven't necessarily had a chance to really focus on yourself and your own needs. And I've asked this question of people, you know, what do you enjoy doing? And I can't even answer that question. It's a loss of structure and it's a loss of purpose. So there's a grief in the process, particularly if it's really not prepared for.

00:34:16:20 - 00:34:45:08
But even if it is, it's there, it's real, it's valid, It's part of what can be sort of worked through, I think, and owned you know, I actually discuss the grief and the loss. Another thing to be aware of is that you may have a mixture of emotions and so there is grief and loss and everything that surrounds that and then this joy and liberation and pleasure.

00:34:45:10 - 00:35:25:21
And so that mixture of emotions that fluctuation up and down a bit, all of those things are normal for that really is a lot to process. Thanks for that, Cheryl. Now let's hear again from Camille and Davina about how they coped with that emotional rollercoaster. That step of ending your career really has a bit of an impact on you psychologically and emotionally, because it does signify a step into it, you know?

00:35:25:23 - 00:35:51:15
The third age into a different stage of life entirely. It is an ending of sorts. What's there to look forward to now? Is this just a sort of slow decline to nothing? I was feeling I liked my job and I knew that Oscar wasn't happy. I was worried for a very long time about money. I was worried about what I feel in my day.

00:35:51:17 - 00:36:20:14
If all of a sudden you've got nothing really to look forward to, whether it's filling day with going to or something. That's why I think if it's possible, you really need to do something you've never done before. So when you come back, you've you've really refreshed yourself about that because you just feel like you've got to get used to seeing how your day is going to fill up.

00:36:20:16 - 00:36:52:15
And the other thing, I reckon it took me about ten years before I could actually sit down in a chair in the afternoon and read a book. I felt like I had to be doing something or else I felt I was just being slack. I mean, ridiculous. But emotionally, emotionally, I find it quite difficult, actually. Most of the people who are in activities that are designed for seniors or retirees are populated by people who are at least ten years older than me.

00:36:52:17 - 00:37:14:20
So it really felt like I was at a different stage of life to them, but not still at the same stage of life as people of my own age. And so finding your new identity, I suppose, is something that surprised me. I've joined some new three age groups. They're great in terms of personal contact, in terms of that sort of feeling and element and stimulation.

00:37:14:22 - 00:37:33:13
I think my next sort of path is probably assuming that, you know, sort of financially I've got the time and don't need to go back to work again. I will volunteer on a committee of some kind, probably, you know, to be a secretary or a treasurer. I think that's probably going to be the best option to bring me.

00:37:33:15 - 00:37:54:20
Yeah, that's sort of fulfillment. You've got to be open to things changing in the blink of an eye, and sometimes those changes can be great. I've got two more grandchildren and I had to start all of this planning over the years. You find you don't know. Everybody says it should all cliche. How do we ever have time to go to work?

00:37:54:22 - 00:38:22:02
And I sometimes feel like true. We seem to be fairly busy. And finally, here's an opportunity for all of our wonderful guests to share their words of wisdom. Get a good financial adviser when you retire. Do something totally different to what you've done before if you can. And don't make any big decisions in your life until you feel you're ready.

00:38:22:04 - 00:38:53:17
And we obviously discussed it with words of wisdom. And there the man, Pearl, I suppose. Give yourself a bit of permission to, you know, sort of have some ups and downs over those first couple of years, finding the right supports to be able to navigate that, I think is is important. There's the opportunity for enormous freedom and liberation and connection with self and others in connection with family and grandchildren.

00:38:53:19 - 00:39:50:24
A relief. This feature is proudly sponsored by the Community Media Training organization. Music is under a collective commons license provided here by Tribe of Sound and Free Music Archive. Sound effects are provided by BBC effects executive producers of Play Live and Jack Mason. Sound Engineering is provided by name. Natasha Gray.

00:39:51:01 - 00:39:59:17
Thanks for listening.

00:39:59:19 - 00:40:28:16
Thanks, Tash. Really enjoy the way you explored the of retirement as well as just the financial implications. So important to show that no matter what stage you are in life or what your physical abilities are, that we all have something to give and that we should all be enjoying our day to, day existence. You're Jimmy here and you are listening to the Community Radio Network.

00:40:28:18 - 00:41:05:08
All right. We are headed back up to Brisbane and we're going to introduce you to Annabel Bean and Zahava Robb. Zahava was one of our most engaged students in this latest round of audio ability. Or is there to support all the students? Something to say just really keeps the conversation flowing and all round. Wonderful human. And she was mentored by Bell, who is our professional development trainer as well as a mentor and former participant of audio ability.

00:41:05:10 - 00:41:37:16
She also presents the only human radio show on three triple Zed in Brisbane. And in this piece here, Bell is interviewing Zahava, learning a lot about her childhood and her remarkable life. Zahava was hearing at an early age and also had childhood rheumatoid arthritis. So she talks to Bell about what brought her to Australia. Over to you, Bell and Zahava.

00:41:37:18 - 00:42:06:12
Hello and welcome. My name is Annabel and my guest today is Zahava Robb. Could you please tell us a little bit about your background? Zahava As you mention, a bit of my name is Zahava. I was born in Israel 57 years ago. I, when I was eight years old, had been diagnosed with the juvenile methode arthritis. I grow up in a quite large family.

00:42:06:12 - 00:42:32:15
We are 11 brothers and sisters. My parents emigrated to Israel from Morocco, so I don't know if I'm more Israeli or more open in my nature, but I think more Israeli. I do speak Arabic as well, but the Moroccan Arabic and English and Hebrew, when I when I turned 12 years old, I had both of my hips being replaced.

00:42:32:20 - 00:43:07:16
And unfortunately, since then I had more than once that the hips been replaced again and both of my knee, when I turned 18, I lost the ability to heal. So I'm partially deaf and yet I love life. This is what I can say in general about me. My background. Yeah, that, that my background, where I came from. Well, thank you so much for explaining that to us.

00:43:07:16 - 00:43:34:23
Zahava, Could you tell us what brings you to Australia in 2001 I was traveling to America to visit my sister, and then a few days before I left the island where I was visiting, I met the Daniel my husband and I didn't know he's Australian when I just met him, and he promised me that he will take me to Australia.

00:43:35:00 - 00:44:07:23
I didn't believe him that much in the first time, but yes, I I'm here actually because I'm married to Australia and then I'm we moved here. I moved here 20 years ago. We got married after we met in America. We got married in Sydney and since then we live in Brisbane. So how do you enjoy your life in Australia and what are some of the challenges and positive experiences that you've had?

00:44:08:00 - 00:44:43:11
Well The first challenge, I think it's like a lot of immigrants have is their cultural and their language are they speak English. I understood that before I moved to Australia, but I did more. I more understood and spoke in English like the Americans way because they reside. When you study English in school, you studied American English. And when I came to Australia it was it took me time and today I think I understand better the Australian English rather than American.

00:44:43:11 - 00:45:13:23
One of the challenges to them because when I came here I already came with with some health issues and some disabilities that I carry with me. As I said. So it took me time. I needed to find the right doctor, then to learn to adjust the system, learn to understand the bureaucracy and the me. I'm so this was the challenges.

00:45:13:23 - 00:45:45:03
I didn't have that much courage. And I think in the physical aspect because I found Australia very access. Most of the places I go are accessible and I'm here already 20 years and things just getting better and better. The positive things, except accessibility is I must say that when you come from a different place, you always try to compare to the place where you came from.

00:45:45:05 - 00:46:16:02
From the other hand, I can't say All perfect, Yale, All perfect, but I come from. But there is always the thing there to change. The positive thing that I like here is I do feel there and the city. Then when you are entitled to any beneficial for something, they will make sure you will know it. There is a transparency and I don't see it in many systems.

00:46:16:02 - 00:46:36:24
I mean, I lived in America a little bit as well and I lived in Israel. And again, it's not that I'm saying there is better and here is better. There is better, though. Here is bad. I'm just saying that as system always have to be improved, Australia is a wonderful place to live and I enjoy life in here.

00:46:36:24 - 00:47:09:05
I love the I love the personal life, I love the space, I love the peace and quiet. And I mostly love the mellow love life that Australian live. You're not in a rush. Take it easy. May I really like it? And I try to live toit. Yeah, that's so true. And the harbor. Could you tell us what have you learned throughout your life?

00:47:09:07 - 00:47:43:06
Are accept nice. Accept ness is the key to live a peaceful life in a way that you live in a peaceful mind? To what I have learned to live that there is a lot of things that we can't change about our life, about our body, about about a lot. About about a lot of things. When we accept the fact that we can't change, I can't change, for example, my disability.

00:47:43:08 - 00:48:18:01
I can't go to sleep and wake up healthy or without a disabled life goes with me. Everywhere I go, I go in the taxi. My disability is with me. I go out to the city, my disability is with me. I'm talking to you now, Annabel. My disability is is with me. Doesn't leave me nowhere. So I have learned today is that when you accept to live with your limitation or disadvantage in a peaceful a way, it's easy to live your life the way you want.

00:48:18:03 - 00:48:41:13
You don't let it manage you. You manage it the way you want. So except this is the key for everything. And I love I accept the fact that I have the disability and I accept the fact that I can't change anything about it. So I live with it peacefully, side by side. It go with me to sleep and wake up with me, go with the toilet to shower or wherever I am.

00:48:41:13 - 00:49:19:24
It's there, so and it's okay. It's okay. Yeah, that's a very powerful statement. And with that, that concludes our program. So I thank you very much for joining me. Thanks, Annabel and Zahava, we've got time for a short piece left, and this is from Aaron Hunter. He broadcasts on Gingin Zone. He knows everything there is to know about country music, but here he's extending himself a little bit and conducting he's mum about what it's like to be a GP in regional Queensland.

00:49:20:01 - 00:49:41:23
Over to you. I'm an engineer. Good morning. And it's Aaron on Gin Gins Own at 104.9 Today I'm joined by Dr. Jeanette Hunter, who has agreed to come on air and talk about her professional life. Welcome, Mum. Thanks for coming. Firstly, I was wondering when you became a doctor and how long have you been in practice? Hi Aaron, and thanks for having me.

00:49:42:00 - 00:50:05:08
I started working as a doctor in 1980 when I had to do a year in the hospital to get my registration. This was at the Royal Brisbane Hospital in Brisbane and I stayed on for four years, two as a resident and two as a GP registrar. I gained a lot of experience and then moved into general practice in Ayr, north Queensland.

00:50:05:10 - 00:50:29:05
I spent ten years there and I was some of the happiest times of my life, especially as I met your father up there and you came into our lives. We then moved to Bundaberg at the end of 90 and have been here ever since. A practice full time general practice until 2015 when I was forced to slow down with health issues.

00:50:29:07 - 00:50:51:12
And in the last seven years I've worked at the cardiac Investigation Unit part time. Well, that answers my question of where you have worked, but going back a bit, how did you become a doctor? What studies did you have to do? I graduated from high school with pretty good t score in those days, so I went to university in Brisbane.

00:50:51:14 - 00:51:25:06
The medical course in those days was six years of study. We spent time on basic sciences and then in the last three years we were students around the hospitals in Brisbane. Seeing where and how we could apply the knowledge we had absorbed. Then after graduation I studied for my general practice degree and my diploma of Obstetrics. After that I went overseas to England for five months to learn anesthetic skills and this all prepared me for country general practice.

00:51:25:08 - 00:51:44:15
That's very interesting, Mum. You did a lot of study to achieve pretty good level of education. Tell me, did you ever want to be a specialist now? A general practice was all I wanted to do, as it allows me to get to know all about my patients and I can liaise with and refer to whatever specialist I need.

00:51:44:17 - 00:52:14:19
A GP coordinates all the person's issues. Did anyone inspire you to be a doctor? I guess my father inspired me. He worked in general practice and then studied to be a physician while we were kids. I enjoyed watching him cutting up EKGs at night for handwritten patient notes in those days, I suppose the thought of caring for people and applying my intellect to something worthwhile was a driving factor.

00:52:14:21 - 00:52:40:06
I must say, I've never regretted my decision to be a GP and have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my work. Yes, job satisfaction is a great achievement these days. Well, I think we've run out of time for this interview again. Thanks for coming Mum, and sharing aspects of your patients. Enjoy listening to some of the remarkable talent that have just recently joined our community Radio family here in Australia.

00:52:40:08 - 00:53:13:12
And we're going to leave the final word to a Sydney student and Sugimura is a long term volunteer at MFM here in Sydney and she's just her own radio show. So he's a little bit of an introduction as to what you can find if you tune in to a show on MF FM. Thanks again for joining us here on CNN.

00:53:13:14 - 00:53:45:24
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00:53:45:24 - 00:54:14:09
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00:54:14:11 - 00:55:55:06
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