The Adelaide Show Podcast

04/10/2025

Charles Jenkins has gotten the Saturday of the Semaphore Music Festival off to a melodic start with a songwriting Masterclass and right now he is one set into a three-set gig out the front of Mr V Music.

22/09/2025

Listening to Don Morrison‘s album, Random Notes, while in the car. I had forgotten how good an engineered CD sounds versus streaming music. Just makes me even more keen to get to the Semaphore Music Festival on the long weekend in October. Not only to be doing a songwriting master class with Charles Jenkins so I can learn more about how the sausage is made, but also so I can feast on the finished product. If you want a deep immersion into all things music and Semaphore the current episode of The Adelaide Show is exactly what you need. It’s not pressed onto a CD, but I think the content will make up for that.

20/09/2025

Have you planned to be at the Semaphore Music Festival on the October Long Weekend? No? Well, listen to this and you will change your mind.

Recorded on the hallowed red stage of the Semaphore Workers Club, Festival director Debra Thorsen, Club president Sally Mitchell, and local singing/songwriting legend, Don Morrison, weave stories and play music to lure you to the bay.

Meet Semaphore Music Festival director Debra Thorsen, Workers Club president Sally Mitchell, and local legend Don Morrison.

13/09/2025

Keen to take a peek inside the Thebby Theatre? Here's what it looks like.

06/09/2025

NEW EPISODE: When Photography Captured Australia Growing Up
Episode 420 with portrait photographer Robin Sellick

From Don Dunstan diving into his Norwood swimming pool in Speedos to Kylie Minogue on a North Adelaide balcony when the entourage disappeared. From Julia Gillard standing defiantly in front of her shed to Steve Irwin (Australia Zoo) wrestling with his own celebrity while elephants waited patiently in the background.

Robin Sellick didn't just photograph Australia's cultural icons over three decades. He documented the precise moments when we stopped apologising for being Australian and started celebrating it.

What you'll discover:
- Why Sellick's accidental letter to "Sir Donald Dunstan" launched one of our most distinctive photography careers
- The technical brilliance behind those hyperreal 1990s portraits that defined Australian editorial photography
- How a burnt-down church became the backdrop for Cate Blanchett's breakthrough magazine shoot
- The psychology of falling in love with your subjects for 15 minutes, then walking away
- Why moving an elephant proved easier than directing Steve Irwin

Plus winemaker John Gledhill (Gledhill Vignerons) joins Steve to taste Beresford Estate's 2024 emblem Pinot Noir (Steve's tasting note of "freshly cut red lawn" makes perfect sense when you hear it), and an original song mourning the loss of West End Brewery (Lion Beverages) that captures more than just demolished bricks.

Sellick's portraits hang in the National Portrait Gallery, but more importantly, they've shaped how we see ourselves. His archive of 600+ portrait sessions now available as museum-grade collector editions tells the story of a nation finding its confidence, one photograph at a time.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts

"You actually fall in love with the person while you're taking their photograph... and then it's over." - Robin Sellick

Portrait photographer Robin Sellick takes us through 30 years of documenting Australia's cultural icons from Don Dunstan to Kylie Minogue.

31/08/2025

Want to know the deep fears, the exhilarating highs, and the strong sense of community that underpin the Variety SA Bash?

This "deep drive" into the topic is not your varnished look at a popular event. It's gritty, celebratory, and sometimes there's a little too much over sharing. But none of the contributors would have it any other way.

Seatbelts on, we're going to embrace a rally call to put community fundraising into gear, warts and all.

We'll also taste some Little Blessings Brewing gin, and hear a bash-inspired track from Steve Davis & The Virtualosos.

Meet SA Variety Bash veterans Peter Curly Curtis OAM and current chair Darren Greatrex sharing the real rally experience.

08/08/2025

One year after doing a special episode about the SA Variety Bash, and one day after dropping an episode reminding us to be human as we use AI tools, Steve Davis heads off on a very human endeavour, eight days on the road in the South Australian Variety Bash 2025. He will hopefully evolve into a podcaster once again upon his return. Next stop, Burra.

07/08/2025

NEW EPISODE: The AI Rant - A Nuanced Rebellion Against Digital Sleepwalking

What happens when you conduct a philosophical 23rdstreetdistillery whisky tasting with OpenAI's ChatGPT while exploring whether humans are becoming digital sheep?

In this special crossover episode, Steve Davis delivers an unflinchingly honest examination of our relationship with artificial intelligence. No breathless tech enthusiasm here - just real talk about the trade-offs we're making, with his Talked About Marketing colleague, David Olney.

This episode features:
- A restaurant analogy that perfectly captures our AI moment
- Philosophical whisky tasting with ChatGPT exploring consciousness and taste
- Why AI flattery is rewiring our brains for the worse
- The hidden costs of digital convenience
- Original songs warning against our smartphone addiction

Ready to think differently about the technology in your pocket?

Listen now at TheAdelaideShow.com.au

https://theadelaideshow.com.au/podcast-episodes/418-the-ai-rant-a-nuanced-rebellion-against-digital-sleepwalking/

Steve explores AI's impact on humanity through philosophy, whisky tasting with ChatGPT, and original songs warning against digital dependency.

27/07/2025

Have you heard about the bomb plot at Adelaide Oval?

Don't worry, it's fiction... but former military intelligence analyst Michael Ball chose our iconic venue for very real reasons.

Turns out Adelaide is actually a hotbed of spies and intelligence operations!

In episode 417, Ball reveals why modern espionage looks nothing like James Bond ("if you're doing car chases and explosions, something's gone horribly wrong"), how he uses empathy as a weapon in his intelligence work, and why his 14-year-old protagonist Zoe Baird succeeds through resilience rather than superpowers.

Plus: We taste-test Bickford's Australia's new sugar-free cordials (spoiler: they're magnificent) and debut an original 80s anthem for local newsreader legend, Mel Usher.

PS Shout out to Dymocks Books for stocking this local author's Young Adult debut novel.

Listen now on all podcast platforms or here: https://theadelaideshow.com.au/podcast-episodes/417-bomb-plot-at-adelaide-oval-with-michael-ball-and-zoe-baird/

Former military intelligence analyst Michael Ball discusses his debut young adult thriller featuring Adelaide Oval under terrorist attack.

26/07/2025

No matter where you are in South Australia tonight, we hope you’ve spent the evening running around on soggy grass to make the most of this balmy winter.

02/07/2025

The Stirling Players, Adelaide has an antidote for winter chills - heartwarming, laughter-inducing theatre in the hill.s

If there's anything that justifies heading out into the cold, surely it's the promise of a quirky, slightly absurdist play with a young cast playing multiple characters from a play that broke box office records when it was first produced.

“Almost, Maine” by John Cariani features nine plays in one under the Northern Lights in Maine, USA. The title refers to the town, Almost, which is almost in Canada and almost not in the USA (which might be the desired state, these days).

On one night, eight couples explore love and friendship with a large dollop of magic realism, romance and some surprise endings. And who doesn't like a surprise ending?

Enjoy a complimentary sherry when you arrive, and huddle around the roaring fire before you roar with laughter.

This production showcases some of the groups best, young talent, pictured: Back: Toby Vincent (Assistant Director), Tim Stoeckel, Oliver Medwell, Sam Ewart. Middle: Harri Wolff,
Annabel McGregor, April Strevens (Production Manager). Front: Kodi Jackson, Ben Proeve (Director) and Kaila Barton. Photo by Daniel Salmond.

Evening shows 11th , 18th and 19th 7.30 pm, Matinees Saturday 19th , 2 pm and 3pm on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th. Running time: Two hours including 15 mins interval. Venue: The Stirling Community Theatre, 7 Avenue Road, Stirling.
www.stirlingplayers.org.au
Tickets https://www.trybooking.com/DBFRS
Adult /Conc. $20-$27
Student Rush at the door (with ID) $15. No booking required.

27/06/2025

From a shop floor still (that had to be remodelled to make work) to global gin success: Sean Baxter's Never Never Distilling Co. journey proves passion + persistence = world-class spirits.

Plus Steve discovers his "spiritual home of gin" in Navy Strength Juniper Freak!

And The Violets return for their 30th anniversary show at The Gov on August 29.

So much, triple distilled into this episode!

Sean Baxter's gin masterclass transforms Steve's palate while revealing Never Never Distilling's journey from shed to global success.