The thrill of the unpredictable: Why Michael Thompson misses live radio

Michael Thompson, Adam Lang and Sean Aylmer. Image: LinkedIn

Nothing beats hearing events unfold in real time. That fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants excitement of not knowing what’s going to happen next.

For Michael Thompson, the unpredictable element of live radio is what sets it apart from podcasting.

For nearly six years, Michael was the Executive Producer of Ray Hadley’s top-rating Morning show on Sydney’s 2GB.

Speaking on the Authorised podcast, Michael says “It was amazing working in live radio, where you have stories breaking when you are on air.”

“There is a lot going on.”

Michael believes the surprise element of live radio remains a huge part of its appeal.

“There’s something quite remarkable about not knowing about what is about to come up,” he says. “That phone is ringing, there might be five or six calls all coming in, and you have no idea what has made (people) call.”

“Any one of them could be a major story that they have seen and they are calling you about. In the course of three hours, you can cover an enormous number of topics.”

“It was a program that was very much caller driven as well. The Open Line was always open, and it was always buzzing.”

“I miss that. I really do.”

Today, not only is Michael the co-founder of audio production company Fear and Greed – the team behind the hugely popular Fear and Greed group of business podcasts – he recently launched his second novel, All The Perfect Days.

He’s now hit the promotional circuit, setting himself the lofty goal of speaking to 100 book clubs in 100 days.

When it comes to writing novels, Michael’s radio background has served him well. Used to tight deadlines, when he sits down to write, he writes quickly.

He still misses radio. To a degree.

“A lot of the parts of radio that I do miss – the audio side of it and connecting with an audience – we’re able to do that now through podcasting,” he says.

Alongside his Fear and Greed co-founders Adam Lang and Sean Aylmer (main photo and above), Michael says “We have grown our audience to the point that there is an expectation on us that the content is going to be there every single day and that it is going to be of a consistent quality, and we are going to cover all the stories people need to know about.”

“That’s actually a really nice thing, to be a part of somebody’s life … part of their routine in the morning.”

“So those parts of radio, I feel like I don’t miss, because I feel like I’m getting that now out of podcasting.”

“But the live element – that thrill of not knowing what is about to happen – and the thrill of chasing a story once it HAS happened … yeah, I think I’ll probably always miss that.”

All The Perfect Days is available now in bookstores and online.

*Images: Instagram and LinkedIn