Josh Szeps joins NOVA Entertainment, launches new podcast The Rush

Media personality Josh Szeps has been tapped to host an adventurous original podcast series on the NOVA Entertainment Podcast Network.

Launching today, The Rush will study how the brain processes biochemical signals, exploring how sex, stimulants, sugar, fame and fear can trigger feelings of pleasure, excitement, anxiety and beyond.

The eight-episode series, described as being “part Louis Theroux, part Morgan Spurlock”, will be released on a weekly basis, with Szeps personally taking part in all experiments performed for the podcast.

Szeps, who also hosts Uncomfortable Conversations on the Acast Network and broadcasts on ABC Radio, said that The Rush is “the most insane show I’ve ever hosted”.

“I’ve been force-fed fatty foods, fallen off a 119-metre tower, and been tied up in Japanese bondage rope. And that was just at the after-party,” Szeps said.

“The Rush is a show you’ll love, or hate… or more likely, love-hate. NOVA is crazy for commissioning it. I’m hugely grateful, and sore.”

NOVA Entertainment’s head of podcasts and digital content, Rachel Corbett, highlighted the curious appeal of The Rush and Szep’s suitability to host the original new series.

“We wanted to investigate why some people ferociously crave things other people find wildly unappealing, and to do that properly we needed to unpack the science, but also the experience,” Corbett noted.

“We couldn’t think of a better host to straddle the two worlds of intellect and guinea pig than Josh Szeps.”