May 28, 2024 • 37 mins
Introducing our first two storytellers, Ben Haywood and Kate Robinson. This week they go head-to-head to find and tell the best story on the theme Silver Linings.
Ben investigates a small country village that became home to a mind-boggling mystery when it was suddenly overrun by hundreds of… teddy bears.
And Kate's story begins amidst an emotional breakup, when out of the blue she receives a voice message from a friend. Enlisting help from Elizabeth Day, Kate creates a love letter to those friends who hold us together when life falls apart.
Find and Tell is the search for the next generation of Australian storytellers. Each episode, join host Jamila Rizvi and the best up and coming storytellers the country has to offer.
Follow along each Wednesday to find out who will be crowned the Find And Tell champion and take home the grand prize.
Find And Tell is co-production between BlakCast & iHeart Australia.
Hosted by Jamila Rizvi
Storytellers are Naeun Kim, Mark Mariano, Ben Haywood & Kate Robinson
Show Producer is Jay Gasser
Mix & Mastering by Ryan Pemberton
Story producers are Indianna Symons, Ryan Pemberton, James Parkinson & Grace Richardson
Theme music by Alex Cox
Video production by All Things All Creatures @allthingsallcreatures
Special thanks to Mundanara Bayles, Corey Layton, Stephanie Coombes, Alyssa Partington, & Bree Steele.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Ben. I'm a storyteller and Find and Tell.
I grew up on Durall Country. I'd like to recognize
the traditional Caustodians of this continent whose land was stolen
nearly two hundred and fifty years ago, in particular the
Camagle and one Andrei people whose land this podcast was
recorded on. And we extend our respect to all Aboriginal
tour Austraight Islander peoples, the rich storytelling history of the
(00:23):
world's oldest living culture. My culture is what we pay
homage to when we tell stories on Find and Tell.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello, I'm Jamila Risby and this is Find and Tell,
the search for the next generation of Australian storytellers.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Over the series, you'll be introduced to and.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You'll hear from four diverse Australians as they compete to
become the first ever Find and Tell Champion. You'll hear
from Mark, a Filipino Australian from Blacktown in Western Sydney.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
As someone who is probably queer, probably chunky and beautiful.
I live and serve in so many different communities and
I want to do my best to platform some stories
that fit under these incredible groups.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Kate An Iranian Australian from Foots Gray and Melbourne.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
A huge part of my life has been sitting around
drinking many many cups of tea, listening to my mom
and my auntie's gossip, and so the kinds of stories
that excite me are based in the personal and based
in family gossip.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Nayan a Korean Australian from Strathfield in Sydney.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
My cultural background and upbringing has influenced my whole storytelling
career and how I approach stories and people.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And Ben a durableman now living in Cesnok in the
Hunter Valley.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I think I'm the least experienced person here when it
comes to content creation. We are here for storytelling, so
as long as you can spin a good yarn, you'll
be okay.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Every episode, the storytellers will be given a new thing
and they'll be set loose to find and tell unique,
weird and interesting stories from around the country.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Whoever tells the best story.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
We'll win the episode, inching one step closer to being
crowned the winner and taking home the grand price. Up
for grabs are best in class podcasting goodies and gear
from the amazing team at Road, so our winner can
continue finding and telling stories wherever they go. So if
you love a yarn as much as I do, and
if you're curious about stories beyond your own experience, then
(02:31):
you're in the right place. Okay, let's get started. Today's
theme is silver Linings. Let's meet our first storyteller, Good eye.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
On Ben and from the Yellowora, Durawak Country, currently living
in sisnok on Wan, a real country. I'm a jack
of all trades. I've worked as a chippy on the tools,
I've traveled the world as a travel agent, and I've
worked in disability and support work. Storytelling has always been
significant to me in one way or another, whether it
be the indigenous dream time stories from my mum or
just swapping stories of other travelers overseas. I've never done
(03:05):
anything like this before, but I'm excited to give it
a crack and see what we can come up with.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Hey, Ben, welcome to find.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And tell How Jimil, how are you?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
This is exciting?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
We haven't spoken since you went out into the big
wide world to record some of these How did you
find it?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
If I'm being honest, it was a lot more difficult
than I first anticipated.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That doesn't surprise me.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I thought it was going to be a little
bit more of a walk in the park than it was.
A few kind of speed bumps along the way, but
we got there in the end, so I'm pretty proud.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And you've never done any podcasting before, so you were
coming in cold.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
What was the hardest part?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Oh, has so many different moving parts in chying to
make an episode. I think that the most difficult part
for me would have been finally feeling like you had
something in the bag and then it falling through last minute.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I guess, Yeah, what kind of stories do you love
listening to or hearing?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
When I was younger, I grew up listening to stories
from my mum instead of listening to I guess like
nursery rhymes to go on to bed. We listened to
a lot of like dream time stories because my mom's
are indigenous. Yeah, of course, so me and my siblings
we were kind of introduced to like a unique type
of storytelling from a young age. And yeah, I guess
that's kind of like where I get it from. I
(04:22):
got to give props to my mum about kind of
being able to spin a good yarn.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I guess I remember when we first met before all
of this kicked off, and you'd just been chosen to
be part of Fine and Tell. You said, I can
just tell a really good yarn. That's why I stuck
my hand up.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Does that still hold?
Speaker 7 (04:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I think so, I think. But at the same time
I didn't realize just how much work actually went behind
a good story. Trying to figure out like the inner
workings of that was was challenging, but also yeah it was.
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Well, I am very keen to hear how you did,
so let's get to it. Let's hear your Find and
Tell first story. Sorry, on the theme of silver linings.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Welcome to Neath, a small country village on the outskirts
of Cesnock in the Hunter Valley region duckerd Young country.
It's a real blink and you'd miss it type of town.
One rode in and one rode out. It has a
population of four hundred and ninety people, a bus stop,
a servo and in true blue Australian country town fashion,
(05:25):
one pub. You'd be forgiven if you've never heard about Neath,
not many people have, but for a short period of time,
Neath was the talk of the region. This small, unknown
country town became home to a mind boggling mystery. This
story begins a few years ago at the peak of
(05:47):
COVID lockdowns in New South Wales. Morale was at an
all time low and there was nothing to look forward to, work, home, work,
and back home again. But that's exactly how this story starts. See.
I would have to drive on that one lonely road
through Neath on my daily commute to work, and that's
(06:07):
when I first encountered the teddy bears. That's right, teddy bears.
And I wasn't the only one.
Speaker 8 (06:18):
Would someone tell me the significance of the teddy bears inneath.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
They're all over the place and some are even sitting
in chairs now, so the road to Neath has become
a gallery of hanging teddy bears. I dig the kindergarten
Vlad the Impaler aesthetic, but does anyone know the deal?
Speaker 9 (06:33):
Yeah, it's disgusting. Hopefully they get pulled down soon. Makes
the place look filthy.
Speaker 8 (06:38):
It's a beautiful gesture to make kids and us big
kids smile. People who get upset by them must have
had very sad childhoods.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
In the following weeks, the teddy bears began to multiply
and What started as five or six soon turned into twenty,
then thirty, then not before long, there's too many to
count inhabiting the village. Beneath the trees, the parks, the benches,
the telegraph poles, the signal boxes, the bus stops. The
Teddy Bears had even infiltrated the pub. Then one day
(07:12):
they all vanished. Where did the bears come from? Who
put them there? And where did they go? This local
mystery has perplexed me for far too long, and it's
about time I figured out some answers. So starts my
investigation to unravel the mystery of the neath Teddy Bears.
(07:34):
I thought the best place to start would be the
local community Facebook groups.
Speaker 9 (07:40):
Does anyone know the reason behind Beneath the Teddy Bears?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
A few minutes later, I had a response from a
user by the name of Gary red high Marsh. Gary commented,
Rue ted is the one you're looking for and tagged
in another profile. I clicked on the profile to hopefully
start piecing together the puzzle, but I ended up only
getting more questions and answers.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
This profile belongs to a Teddy Bear.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
As I clicked through the photos of the profile, I
realized this teddy Bear has lived quite a life. Photos
of him are at the beach on the Gold Coast,
riding on the back of a motorcycle. He was even
photographed in a police station. My investigation has taken a
rather interesting turn. It's about time I message that mysterious
(08:38):
bear good a routed. I'm currently investigating the mystery of
the Neath Teddy Bears. Back in twenty twenty, I was
hoping to possibly interview the person all bear responsible for
starting it in order to create a podcast episode.
Speaker 9 (08:54):
I've been told you could hold some of the answers
that I seek.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Did I just message your teddy Bear?
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Did I get a response back from that teddy bear?
Speaker 7 (09:06):
Can Benjamin?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I certainly can help you with that info.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
A bit of a long story.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm away at Port Macquarie at the moment, but we'll
be home at the end of the month. I can
introduce you to my care of Gary.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Then, could Gary be the one behind the titty Bears?
I was determined to find out?
Speaker 9 (09:25):
All right, Gary's just pulled up.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Showt on Gary. Get a Gary, early.
Speaker 10 (09:32):
Mate, buddy heart already.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It is coming side. It's nice and cool, lovely mate, Gary,
and I became acquainted.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
All my life.
Speaker 10 (09:43):
I grew up in packs, through in packs and swamp as.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I say, and we eventually made our way to the
topic of the titty bears.
Speaker 10 (09:52):
I can tell the story. It's a bit of a
long story. Years ago I had a caravan on site,
a Fingerbay caravan.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Part it was a long story. Gary had a mate
who worked in the mines who one day had a
bear sitting on his truck.
Speaker 10 (10:07):
And he was his big Bear sitting in the back
of his truck.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Now, one way or another, Gary got that.
Speaker 10 (10:14):
Bear and I used to have it out in the
front of my caravan.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
And Gary loved that bear. He took it with him
everywhere he went. It became part of his character. There's
Gary and there's his teddy Bear.
Speaker 10 (10:28):
We'd go to the club and come back and big
tail and have women's pants on and lipstick on or whatever.
I was dressed up and out in front of the
little house there and people go past, and kids come
and past.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Gary was happy being able to bring joy and laughter
to so many different people, being that quirky bloke of
his teddy bear going on adventures around Australia. But Big
ted was only the start of what would soon become
an impressive collection.
Speaker 10 (10:54):
All of a sudden, I'll come home and there'd be
a bear on me, another bear on the chair next
to him, and then another one. People were putting bears
on my bread. I go to the op chops and
I'd buy a beer too, So I end up with
seventy bears. Then when the COVID seventy zero seventy, they're
the ones, big ones, a whole lot. People were putting
(11:14):
bears in windows to make people happy in everything, So
I was thought.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Well, I've undernoticed to me at the time, there was
a trend going around during COVID lockdowns. Apparently people would
put bears in their windows just to make everybody's five
kilometer radius walk from their house a little bit more enjoyable.
Gary had heard of the trend, but living in a
remote area, Gary knew not many people were going to
be able to enjoy his teddy beer collection. So Gary
(11:40):
decided on a different approach.
Speaker 10 (11:42):
Well, I've got all these bears, I'm going to put
someone beside the road. It neath increase and it will
make people happy. So that's how that said. I put
a few in them, some more than accord on and
other people were putting bears there, so I took a
few more out at different times. There you have it.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
It was just a bloke and his bear who wanted
to put smiles and faces during a pretty grim time
for us. All mystery solved right except for one loose end.
Whatever happened to those bears? Where did they all go?
Speaker 10 (12:19):
Well, as far as I know, there was a crackhead
and there was I knew there was an accident down there,
and he ran into a car or two cars and
a truck and you can see a big on the
side of the road at the time where he done it.
He got out the car and running into the bush
manks the bears.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Now, luckily no one was hurt, but according to Gary,
the bear's coped the blame for the accident.
Speaker 10 (12:43):
He said, I was too busy looking at the base
and then I running into the cars. The folee said,
well we better get rid of them, and that's what's
going to happen or whatever. This is what I've heard.
The next minute the cancel were down there taken the
ba's away.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Now, if you haven't picked up yet, Gary is old school.
He's a little rough around the edges, and he says
it how it is, but much like he's Teddy Bears,
Gary has a much softer side. How many beers did
you first put it out there?
Speaker 10 (13:16):
I put five?
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Just five?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
How many out there do you reckon? Did you end
up counting?
Speaker 6 (13:21):
No?
Speaker 10 (13:21):
I did not would have been I recommend let twenty
to thirty.
Speaker 9 (13:24):
And then I had a mate who worked on the cancil.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I asked for his inside knowledge to say, do you
know like we're around when you got rid of the Bears?
He said, yeah, one hundred and eighty one.
Speaker 11 (13:37):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 10 (13:39):
Oh that's incredible. I'll have to remember that.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, and that to the story next time you're having
a beer down at Vincent Street.
Speaker 10 (13:46):
One undred eighty that's all put me notes. Yeah, because
I want to tell missus that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I've got to say something, and I just want to cry.
That was so funny and so lovely.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I couldn't figure out for a while there whether or
not we were going in a true crime direction, or
whether or not I was going to meet like just
these lovely local folks who were going to tell me
about Teddy's.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
And you did both, well done, thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, it turned out to be a little bit more
of a I always liked the idea of the mockumentary feel. Yeah,
so they'd kind of start something that's kind of not
so serious and kind of add a serious tone to it.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Did you know what the answer was before you started searching? Like,
was this a genuine mystery for you? Were we finding
it out at the same time?
Speaker 7 (14:37):
Yeah, so it was.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
It was still a mystery to me, and it was
something that had kind of been a question that I'd
had on my mind for a while and a lot
of the other locals around the Hunter Valley had seen
as well. And you know, it would come up in conversations.
People would be like, does anyone know where they actually
came from? And when I got the opportunity to do it,
I thought, well, why don't I just go and find out.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I wanted to ask about the interview with Gary. I mean,
Gary sounds like a great guy. He also sounds like
a guy who's got a lot to say. And one
of the things that you always have to think about
when you're interviewing someone for whatever it is is you're
looking for those pithy lines, right You're looking for them
to tell the story in a small amount of time.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Doesn't sound like Gary did that for you.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
So how did you feel when you were doing the
interview and at the same time thinking how am I
going to get this told in a few minutes?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, Gary, he's a bit of a waffler. Gary, we
sat down and had a good hour and a half
chat and we kind of had to trim a lot
of that to kind of get this episode. I think
a lot of people around Gary's age and from that
kind of error as well was that if you have
the time to sit down and listen to them, and
if you listen to their story in a hole, you
(15:46):
can actually find some really good gems throughout it. Yeah,
and yeah, I did a little bit of coaxing obviously.
He went off the rails a little bit and I
had to kind of like, Okay, let's get back on track.
But I liked it because Gary, he was my first
interview with a stranger as well, so that was a
bit of a learning curb for me.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Well, I think you've got some absolute gold out of him,
and the way it was edited together was just super clever.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Congratulations, great first day out.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
In a moment we'll hear from our second storyteller, and
later we'll find out who is one step closer to
becoming Australia's first ever Find and Tell Champion. This is
Find and Tell, the search for the next generation of
(16:35):
diverse storytellers. Today's theme is silver Linings. We just heard
from Ben and now it's time to meet our next storyteller.
Speaker 7 (16:44):
Hi.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
I'm Kate Robinson and I am an Iranian Australian visual
artist based here in I'm also a podcaster, so it
felt so so cool to get to take part in
a program like Find and Tell. For me, telling authentic,
deep stories is really important because I think that telling
(17:07):
stories through kind of narrative long form podcast is something
that I'm just obsessed with, and so it was really
really fun for me to get the chance to create
a podcast in this really different way.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Kate, Welcome to Find and Tell.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Oh, it's so nice to be here with you, Jamilla.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
We are about to hear the story you've created, your
very first story of the show, and up until this
point it's just been you and your producer and a microphone.
How does it feel knowing that the whole country is
about to hear what you've made?
Speaker 5 (17:43):
It's a bit nerve wracking, to be honest. Yeah, I
think for me, like the kinds of stories that I
love the most are really personal ones. And so when
I started this project, like I instantly knew that that's
what I was going to do. But then when it
comes to this moment, Wye, other people are going to
be listening to this very inkate's head story, it feels
(18:05):
a bit scary.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Oh, I just got all like, oh, this sounds like
a cliche, but I go chili. After that, I am psyched.
The theme for this week is silver linings without giving
away this very personal story. What did that mean to
you when you first heard the theme was silver linings?
What did you first think of?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
I think for me, silver linings really are about when
you go through something shit. Yeah yeah, but there's there's
something good that kind of you know, surrounds it and
comes out of it. And so for me, it was
very clear what I was going to talk about from
the moment that I heard this theme. Literally the first
(18:45):
conversation that I had with the producers during the training day,
wen added out what this story was going to be
about because I just knew, and I think sometimes when
you're a creative if you have something that you're like,
I just must tell this story, like you just have
to chase it and you just have to follow it.
And so that's what I did with this one.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
All right, I cannot wait any longer, and I'm sure
that is the case for you listening right now as well.
I am in the same boat as you. I have
not heard Kate's story. I've not heard any of the stories,
and I am busting to.
Speaker 9 (19:15):
Get to it.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
So without further ado, this is Kate's first Find and
Tell story for Silver Linings.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
In the midst of the worst week of my life,
I got this really unexpected voice message from a friend
of a friend.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
He love.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
I've been thinking of you lot. I couldn't sleep last
night and you were on my mind, and I just
wanted to say that I know how ground shattering this
breakup and situation is and how I found it hard
(19:57):
to process things.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Jane and I had met at a festival a few
weeks beforehand, and so we had the kind of closeness
that comes from sweaty dance for moments and late night chats,
and by that I mean we really didn't know each other.
And yet that voice message on that day was exactly
what I needed.
Speaker 6 (20:18):
I actually found a lot of solace in speaking to
a friend over voice message just as stuff was coming up,
like journaling kind of verbally. It really really helps me.
So yeah, I am sending some love from the coast.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
So off the back of AJ's advice, and after very
very little sleep, I took out my phone and I
started voice messaging her.
Speaker 7 (20:53):
Hi, my dear, it was so nice to get your
voice message. Thanks for sending it. So I am in
the apartment. I survived my first night sleeping here alone.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
When I listen back to these voice messages now, to
be honest, I don't think it even sounds like me,
this girl who was so shocked about her life radically
and unexpectedly changing, and just all.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
Feels so crazy, to be honest, And it's just like
it's just fucking bizarre. Basically that last week that I
was just having a totally normal week and everything has
(21:53):
changed so drastically, and I just had no idea.
Speaker 5 (21:58):
All right, every single one of us has been through
some kind of experience of heartbreak, but when you're going
through it, it's so hard to have any kind of perspective.
Speaker 11 (22:16):
There's basically like a roster of people that are just
coming over, dropping off food, spending time with me. Like
last night, I realized, like there's still a part of
me that doesn't understand that this is real, and like
there's still a part of me that's like waiting.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Tonight is the first night heart believe. I feel a
bit of anger about all of that. You haven't like
you decided I had someone over in the evening.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
Driving alone seems insane that my life can feel like
a trash my yet I still have to prepare for
this thing.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Me feeling the way that I do is it's still
definitely weird. That has been like an absolutely fascinating realization
to come to me. I've spent a year voice messaging
back and forth with AJ, and now that I'm out
of the weeds of the breakup, I can see things
(23:16):
a bit more clearly. Our friendship at this really pivotal,
weird moment in my life has made me think a
lot about how we survive heartbreak, but also why we
choose to lean on the people that we do. These
are big questions, and to explore them, I wanted to
talk to someone who's an expert in friendships but also
(23:40):
in failure.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
I consider my romantic breakups some of the most visceral
periods of grief in my life, but the mere act
of living through that and surviving it had made me
understand I was so much stronger than I thought I was.
It taught me a lot about my capacity for resilience.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
That's author and podcaster Elizabeth Day and her book friend
of Hollick. It's had such a big impact on me
this year. My copy is underlined and tabbed like a
textbook because I think that breakups, they really often, shine
a light on all of our relationships a bit, in
particular our friendships.
Speaker 8 (24:26):
One of the most momentous breakups in my life was
three weeks before my thirty ninth birthday. I remember so
vividly that breakup happening and me opening the window of
my rented flat and smoking a cigarette. I don't smoke,
by the way, but it felt like the only appropriate,
least a tragic thing to do.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
When your life gets unexpectedly turned upside down. Like elizabeths
did like minded, the balance in the scales of everything
kind of skews, including in your friendships. All of a
sudden you become the friend who is kind of a miss,
But there's also something so beautiful about friendship that is
(25:07):
born out of a time when there's no expectation of
anything in return.
Speaker 8 (25:13):
I do not know what I would have done without
my friends after that breakup, literally to the extent that
the first person I called was Emma, my ex was
still in the flat, and I said, this has happened,
and she was like, right, but he doesn't mean that
I mean, because it seems so ludicrous to her. She's like, right,
but he's joking, isn't he. I was like no, and
(25:34):
she said, Okay, my darling, this is what we're going
to do, and she basically gave me a plan of action.
The next day, I didn't want to be on my own.
I went and stayed with another friend of mine, Francesco,
who has like, just come over, just stay the night.
Like all of my friends rounded around, and all of
them just cacooned me in a sense of safety, love
and understanding, and they allowed me to talk it through
(25:57):
and they shared with me what they felt. Just the
sheer generosity of them allowing me to feel heard really
assuaged a lot of my sadness. And do you know
the other thing that was so meaningful to me. They
actually shared my sadness because they knew that it wasn't
just about the person I was with. It was about
(26:17):
the time of life that I was in, to the
extent that Francesca then like marched.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Me into for Dinity clinic.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
And I don't know, that mixture of sort of practicality
and just the force of their love for me just
got me through because I knew that I always had
somewhere to turn.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
There's something so important in these moments to know that
you're not alone and to actually feel quite the opposite,
that you have this incredible group of people who are
rallying around.
Speaker 8 (26:45):
You, and they have always been there when my heart
has been broken to repair it, but also to remind
me that the most consistent and meaningful love of my
life is the love of my friends.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
Oh that's so beautiful, Elizabeth. I had exactly this same
experience where my ex partner was still in the flat
as well, and I called my best friend Alice, and
she did exactly as you said. She said, no, that's
not possible.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
Are you sure?
Speaker 5 (27:10):
And I said I'm sure, And then she said, all right,
this is what you're going to do. So I didn't
have to do any of the labor. She was like,
just stay on the phone to me and you will
get someone to come and pick you up as soon
as possible.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
That's incredible. Here's to Alice and Emma. I am so
glad we have those women in our lives.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
We all have our Alice's and our Emma's who we
know will forever show up for us. But when your
life goes through a seismic shift, there's also, of course
those people that just fade away. And then there are
the friends that are directly born out of those circumstances,
who you become close to really quickly in a way
(27:54):
that you probably otherwise wouldn't. It's friends like AJ. Even now,
a year later, I'm not one hundred percent sure that
we became friends because of our shared experience of hatbreak,
or because voice messaging is just such a powerful, honorable medium.
So I decided to ask Elizabeth about what role voice
(28:16):
messaging plays in her friendships.
Speaker 8 (28:19):
I am so glad you asked that. It's like I've
waited my whole life to be asked this question. It
plays an enormous and profound role for me. I love
nothing more than a voice note. I think it's partly
because I am an introvert, which I know is ironic
given that I'm sitting here chatting to you and I
kind of put myself out there. But what I understand
(28:41):
my introversion is that I like to have deep connections
one on one, and I find that phone calls really
drain my energy because I never know how to end them.
So I love voice noting and I voice note definitely.
With my best friend a lot. We voice note each
other and it is such a joy listening to her
(29:02):
voice notes to me, and it is like listening to
an episode of my favorite podcast.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
I love that so much because that is exactly how
I feel about voice messaging, especially when I was going
through the breakup, and it's something where your energy is
like simultaneously so drained and like so amplified, and so
voice messaging was that perfect medium where I could just
pick up the phone and speak to someone when I
felt like on my terms and there was no pressure,
(29:28):
and I just love that so much.
Speaker 8 (29:30):
And it's something that you can do when you're walking somewhere,
and there's something about that combination that feels you can
be more open and more vulnerable than if you're curating
a text or if you are on a phone call,
I'm constantly trying to gauge how the other person might
(29:54):
be feeling, and I can't see their face. There's something
disjointed about it. Whereas the voice note, I am sending
something from my world into theirs, and I know that
they will listen to it when they have space to
listen to it. Someone should write a book about voice notes.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
I've listened back to so many voice messages between AJ
and I, and the perspective that I've gained from it
is that really has, like with the voice messaging, my
breakup has made me be a more vulnerable version of
myself in my friendships. It's something that I know that
I've struggled with in the past, and it's been a
(30:34):
huge positive in an otherwise really shitty year.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
So I think heartbreak, whether it's a romantic one or
a friendship one, it really reveals us as we truly are,
rather than how we like to imagine we might be
in the future.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
When you go through a breakup, a little bit of
your identity it just chips away. It doesn't matter how
independent you were before. It's really your friends that tether
you back to some kind of sense of yourself. They
remind you that you're loved, that you're cared for, that
you're not alone, which, to be honest, is some of
(31:13):
the biggest reasons that people are afraid of not being
in a relationship. For Elizabeth, her friends were overwhelmingly the
people that knew her the most, deeply, loved her the
most unconditionally, and were the one constant in her life.
Speaker 8 (31:31):
My friends, I would say, they're like family to me.
They're better than family. They're my chosen family, and they
understand me so deeply, and.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
I feel exactly the same way through the ugliness of heartbreak.
Friendship that is vulnerable friendship, that is deep friendship that
happens via voice message. It was the only silver lining.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Oh my god, I loved it. I loved it.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Well done, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
And your voice.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
You've got good voice, good cadence and rhythm and feelings.
Speaker 7 (32:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I have a lot of questions. Are the voice notes
to AJ the real voice notes or did you?
Speaker 9 (32:26):
Oh wow?
Speaker 5 (32:27):
Literally about twenty four hours of voice messages back and forth,
and as part of this project, I went through a
year's worth of voice notes and that's that's a lot,
and I thought that I was really healed, and then
I listened to the very first one that we're here
at the start of the episode, and I just instantly
started crying because it doesn't sound like me.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
No, you do sound like a different person. I mean,
as soon as I heard Elizabeth Day's voice, I was like,
that's Elizabeth Day. And then I was like, my being
one weird person that thinks all English people sound the same,
maybe it's not.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
No, how did she do that?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So tell me about Like, that's quite a practical thing
to do, to go after someone who's a big name,
who's a celebrity.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
How'd you get her to do it?
Speaker 5 (33:07):
To be honest, I just wanted to talk to Elizabeth
Day this whole show.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Your involvement was about one thing.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
When I think of friendships, it's just intrinsically linked in
my head with Elizabeth Day because she's in so many
ways the queen of friendship. So when we were pitching
ideas for who we might talk to for this episode,
I just like kind of sheepishly, was like, well, Elizabeth
Day is going to be in Melbourne next week, so
(33:37):
maybe we try for Elizabeth's Day and we kind of
laughed it off because it seemed absurd that she would
say yes, then she did.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
I mean it shows ambition pays off, right, you can
only ask, well, credit to you, because I think for
someone who is high profile and does a lot of interviews,
I think they can start to become For someone like
Elizabeth Day like, oh, it's just another one because I'm
doing seventeen today another four tomorrow, And to get something
out of her that was unusual and different does take.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Knowledge and skill.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Well, you made me feel really comfortable and safe as
the listener, and more than that, you really made me
want to go call my best mate. So I think
if that was what you were going for, you absolutely
nailed it. Congratulations Kate, Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Schimmeller.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
So, who told the best silver lining story? I'm going
to make my decision and chat to them in just
a moment. This is Fine and Tell, And the theme
this week was silver linings. This was a really difficult
(34:46):
contest to call. These were two outstanding stories. Ben was
made for podcasting folks. His voice is so strong and assured,
and he's got a little bit of cheekiness in there too.
He also created a kind of true crime vibe, but
there's something awesome about hearing that true crime approach jaxtaposed
with the kind of cutesy weirdness of the Teddy Bear's
(35:07):
Picnic song and the theme of his story. If I
had any suggestions for Ben for next week, it would
be to make sure he rounds the story out completely.
The ending felt just a tiny bit abrupt, and I
think if he'd even given us one or two more sentences,
it would have helped us leave the podcast feeling warm
and fuzzy and wanting to go to a Teddy Bear's picnic.
(35:30):
It sort of caught me by surprise that that was
the end. In Kate's I loved how insightful her scripting was.
I've had my share of emotional breakups, and she absolutely
took me back there with her really clever scripting and
the way she built some mystery and anticipation. Something I
would love to see from Kate next week is just
to work on those cliches a little bit now. And
(35:53):
then she sort of had a line that didn't hit
as hard because it was one of those cliched phrases
that you hear a lot. I really liked the fact
that she managed to land Elizabeth Day. I mean, who
wouldn't like it. That's a really big name celebrity, and
I thought the interview was strong, but perhaps we could
have seen a bit more of a smoother integration of Elizabeth.
(36:14):
Sometimes it felt like there were two stories going on
in one. This was a really tough call, but after
hearing both stories, I've decided that based on originality. Ben, Ben,
congratulations you're this week's winner.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Oh my god, thank you so much.
Speaker 10 (36:32):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
I really wanted to go on a Tedb's picnic. By
the end of it, I really.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Wanted to meet Gary and there was just so much
heart in that story. You made me feel like I
was right there in Gary's living room with you.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
Well done.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Thank you so much. I've had a lot of fun
working on this one, so I'm glad it turned out
the way it did.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Thank you so much, Ben and Kate.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
What an incredible way to kick off Finding But hey,
there is so much more left to come, So press
the follow button in whatever podcast app you're on so
you don't miss a moment. In our next episode, we'll
introduce you to our final two storytellers, or you can
get a sneak peek right now at findin tel dot
(37:17):
com dot au. Find in Tel is a co production
between iHeart Australia and the.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Black Cast podcast network.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Black Cast empowers First Nations people and people of color
to reclaim their narratives, strengthen cultural identity, and contribute to
a more inclusive Australia by showcasing exciting emerging talent from
Australian communities.
My name is Ben. I'm a storyteller and Find and Tell.
I grew up on Durall Country. I'd like to recognize
the traditional Caustodians of this continent whose land was stolen
nearly two hundred and fifty years ago, in particular the
Camagle and one Andrei people whose land this podcast was
recorded on. And we extend our respect to all Aboriginal
tour Austraight Islander peoples, the rich storytelling history of the
(00:23):
world's oldest living culture. My culture is what we pay
homage to when we tell stories on Find and Tell.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello, I'm Jamila Risby and this is Find and Tell,
the search for the next generation of Australian storytellers.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Over the series, you'll be introduced to and.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
You'll hear from four diverse Australians as they compete to
become the first ever Find and Tell Champion. You'll hear
from Mark, a Filipino Australian from Blacktown in Western Sydney.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
As someone who is probably queer, probably chunky and beautiful.
I live and serve in so many different communities and
I want to do my best to platform some stories
that fit under these incredible groups.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Kate An Iranian Australian from Foots Gray and Melbourne.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
A huge part of my life has been sitting around
drinking many many cups of tea, listening to my mom
and my auntie's gossip, and so the kinds of stories
that excite me are based in the personal and based
in family gossip.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Nayan a Korean Australian from Strathfield in Sydney.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
My cultural background and upbringing has influenced my whole storytelling
career and how I approach stories and people.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And Ben a durableman now living in Cesnok in the
Hunter Valley.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
I think I'm the least experienced person here when it
comes to content creation. We are here for storytelling, so
as long as you can spin a good yarn, you'll
be okay.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Every episode, the storytellers will be given a new thing
and they'll be set loose to find and tell unique,
weird and interesting stories from around the country.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Whoever tells the best story.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
We'll win the episode, inching one step closer to being
crowned the winner and taking home the grand price. Up
for grabs are best in class podcasting goodies and gear
from the amazing team at Road, so our winner can
continue finding and telling stories wherever they go. So if
you love a yarn as much as I do, and
if you're curious about stories beyond your own experience, then
(02:31):
you're in the right place. Okay, let's get started. Today's
theme is silver Linings. Let's meet our first storyteller, Good eye.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
On Ben and from the Yellowora, Durawak Country, currently living
in sisnok on Wan, a real country. I'm a jack
of all trades. I've worked as a chippy on the tools,
I've traveled the world as a travel agent, and I've
worked in disability and support work. Storytelling has always been
significant to me in one way or another, whether it
be the indigenous dream time stories from my mum or
just swapping stories of other travelers overseas. I've never done
(03:05):
anything like this before, but I'm excited to give it
a crack and see what we can come up with.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Hey, Ben, welcome to find.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And tell How Jimil, how are you?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
This is exciting?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
We haven't spoken since you went out into the big
wide world to record some of these How did you
find it?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
If I'm being honest, it was a lot more difficult
than I first anticipated.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
That doesn't surprise me.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I thought it was going to be a little
bit more of a walk in the park than it was.
A few kind of speed bumps along the way, but
we got there in the end, so I'm pretty proud.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And you've never done any podcasting before, so you were
coming in cold.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
What was the hardest part?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Oh, has so many different moving parts in chying to
make an episode. I think that the most difficult part
for me would have been finally feeling like you had
something in the bag and then it falling through last minute.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I guess, Yeah, what kind of stories do you love
listening to or hearing?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
When I was younger, I grew up listening to stories
from my mum instead of listening to I guess like
nursery rhymes to go on to bed. We listened to
a lot of like dream time stories because my mom's
are indigenous. Yeah, of course, so me and my siblings
we were kind of introduced to like a unique type
of storytelling from a young age. And yeah, I guess
that's kind of like where I get it from. I
(04:22):
got to give props to my mum about kind of
being able to spin a good yarn.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
I guess I remember when we first met before all
of this kicked off, and you'd just been chosen to
be part of Fine and Tell. You said, I can
just tell a really good yarn. That's why I stuck
my hand up.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Does that still hold?
Speaker 7 (04:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I think so, I think. But at the same time
I didn't realize just how much work actually went behind
a good story. Trying to figure out like the inner
workings of that was was challenging, but also yeah it was.
It was awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Well, I am very keen to hear how you did,
so let's get to it. Let's hear your Find and
Tell first story. Sorry, on the theme of silver linings.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Welcome to Neath, a small country village on the outskirts
of Cesnock in the Hunter Valley region duckerd Young country.
It's a real blink and you'd miss it type of town.
One rode in and one rode out. It has a
population of four hundred and ninety people, a bus stop,
a servo and in true blue Australian country town fashion,
(05:25):
one pub. You'd be forgiven if you've never heard about Neath,
not many people have, but for a short period of time,
Neath was the talk of the region. This small, unknown
country town became home to a mind boggling mystery. This
story begins a few years ago at the peak of
(05:47):
COVID lockdowns in New South Wales. Morale was at an
all time low and there was nothing to look forward to, work, home, work,
and back home again. But that's exactly how this story starts. See.
I would have to drive on that one lonely road
through Neath on my daily commute to work, and that's
(06:07):
when I first encountered the teddy bears. That's right, teddy bears.
And I wasn't the only one.
Speaker 8 (06:18):
Would someone tell me the significance of the teddy bears inneath.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
They're all over the place and some are even sitting
in chairs now, so the road to Neath has become
a gallery of hanging teddy bears. I dig the kindergarten
Vlad the Impaler aesthetic, but does anyone know the deal?
Speaker 9 (06:33):
Yeah, it's disgusting. Hopefully they get pulled down soon. Makes
the place look filthy.
Speaker 8 (06:38):
It's a beautiful gesture to make kids and us big
kids smile. People who get upset by them must have
had very sad childhoods.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
In the following weeks, the teddy bears began to multiply
and What started as five or six soon turned into twenty,
then thirty, then not before long, there's too many to
count inhabiting the village. Beneath the trees, the parks, the benches,
the telegraph poles, the signal boxes, the bus stops. The
Teddy Bears had even infiltrated the pub. Then one day
(07:12):
they all vanished. Where did the bears come from? Who
put them there? And where did they go? This local
mystery has perplexed me for far too long, and it's
about time I figured out some answers. So starts my
investigation to unravel the mystery of the neath Teddy Bears.
(07:34):
I thought the best place to start would be the
local community Facebook groups.
Speaker 9 (07:40):
Does anyone know the reason behind Beneath the Teddy Bears?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
A few minutes later, I had a response from a
user by the name of Gary red high Marsh. Gary commented,
Rue ted is the one you're looking for and tagged
in another profile. I clicked on the profile to hopefully
start piecing together the puzzle, but I ended up only
getting more questions and answers.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
This profile belongs to a Teddy Bear.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
As I clicked through the photos of the profile, I
realized this teddy Bear has lived quite a life. Photos
of him are at the beach on the Gold Coast,
riding on the back of a motorcycle. He was even
photographed in a police station. My investigation has taken a
rather interesting turn. It's about time I message that mysterious
(08:38):
bear good a routed. I'm currently investigating the mystery of
the Neath Teddy Bears. Back in twenty twenty, I was
hoping to possibly interview the person all bear responsible for
starting it in order to create a podcast episode.
Speaker 9 (08:54):
I've been told you could hold some of the answers
that I seek.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Did I just message your teddy Bear?
Speaker 5 (09:00):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Did I get a response back from that teddy bear?
Speaker 7 (09:06):
Can Benjamin?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I certainly can help you with that info.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
A bit of a long story.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
I'm away at Port Macquarie at the moment, but we'll
be home at the end of the month. I can
introduce you to my care of Gary.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Then, could Gary be the one behind the titty Bears?
I was determined to find out?
Speaker 9 (09:25):
All right, Gary's just pulled up.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Showt on Gary. Get a Gary, early.
Speaker 10 (09:32):
Mate, buddy heart already.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It is coming side. It's nice and cool, lovely mate, Gary,
and I became acquainted.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
All my life.
Speaker 10 (09:43):
I grew up in packs, through in packs and swamp as.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
I say, and we eventually made our way to the
topic of the titty bears.
Speaker 10 (09:52):
I can tell the story. It's a bit of a
long story. Years ago I had a caravan on site,
a Fingerbay caravan.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Part it was a long story. Gary had a mate
who worked in the mines who one day had a
bear sitting on his truck.
Speaker 10 (10:07):
And he was his big Bear sitting in the back
of his truck.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Now, one way or another, Gary got that.
Speaker 10 (10:14):
Bear and I used to have it out in the
front of my caravan.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
And Gary loved that bear. He took it with him
everywhere he went. It became part of his character. There's
Gary and there's his teddy Bear.
Speaker 10 (10:28):
We'd go to the club and come back and big
tail and have women's pants on and lipstick on or whatever.
I was dressed up and out in front of the
little house there and people go past, and kids come
and past.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Gary was happy being able to bring joy and laughter
to so many different people, being that quirky bloke of
his teddy bear going on adventures around Australia. But Big
ted was only the start of what would soon become
an impressive collection.
Speaker 10 (10:54):
All of a sudden, I'll come home and there'd be
a bear on me, another bear on the chair next
to him, and then another one. People were putting bears
on my bread. I go to the op chops and
I'd buy a beer too, So I end up with
seventy bears. Then when the COVID seventy zero seventy, they're
the ones, big ones, a whole lot. People were putting
(11:14):
bears in windows to make people happy in everything, So
I was thought.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Well, I've undernoticed to me at the time, there was
a trend going around during COVID lockdowns. Apparently people would
put bears in their windows just to make everybody's five
kilometer radius walk from their house a little bit more enjoyable.
Gary had heard of the trend, but living in a
remote area, Gary knew not many people were going to
be able to enjoy his teddy beer collection. So Gary
(11:40):
decided on a different approach.
Speaker 10 (11:42):
Well, I've got all these bears, I'm going to put
someone beside the road. It neath increase and it will
make people happy. So that's how that said. I put
a few in them, some more than accord on and
other people were putting bears there, so I took a
few more out at different times. There you have it.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
It was just a bloke and his bear who wanted
to put smiles and faces during a pretty grim time
for us. All mystery solved right except for one loose end.
Whatever happened to those bears? Where did they all go?
Speaker 10 (12:19):
Well, as far as I know, there was a crackhead
and there was I knew there was an accident down there,
and he ran into a car or two cars and
a truck and you can see a big on the
side of the road at the time where he done it.
He got out the car and running into the bush
manks the bears.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Now, luckily no one was hurt, but according to Gary,
the bear's coped the blame for the accident.
Speaker 10 (12:43):
He said, I was too busy looking at the base
and then I running into the cars. The folee said,
well we better get rid of them, and that's what's
going to happen or whatever. This is what I've heard.
The next minute the cancel were down there taken the
ba's away.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Now, if you haven't picked up yet, Gary is old school.
He's a little rough around the edges, and he says
it how it is, but much like he's Teddy Bears,
Gary has a much softer side. How many beers did
you first put it out there?
Speaker 10 (13:16):
I put five?
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Just five?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
How many out there do you reckon? Did you end
up counting?
Speaker 6 (13:21):
No?
Speaker 10 (13:21):
I did not would have been I recommend let twenty
to thirty.
Speaker 9 (13:24):
And then I had a mate who worked on the cancil.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
I asked for his inside knowledge to say, do you
know like we're around when you got rid of the Bears?
He said, yeah, one hundred and eighty one.
Speaker 11 (13:37):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 10 (13:39):
Oh that's incredible. I'll have to remember that.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, and that to the story next time you're having
a beer down at Vincent Street.
Speaker 10 (13:46):
One undred eighty that's all put me notes. Yeah, because
I want to tell missus that's incredible.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I've got to say something, and I just want to cry.
That was so funny and so lovely.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I couldn't figure out for a while there whether or
not we were going in a true crime direction, or
whether or not I was going to meet like just
these lovely local folks who were going to tell me
about Teddy's.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
And you did both, well done, thank you.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Yeah, it turned out to be a little bit more
of a I always liked the idea of the mockumentary feel. Yeah,
so they'd kind of start something that's kind of not
so serious and kind of add a serious tone to it.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Did you know what the answer was before you started searching? Like,
was this a genuine mystery for you? Were we finding
it out at the same time?
Speaker 7 (14:37):
Yeah, so it was.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
It was still a mystery to me, and it was
something that had kind of been a question that I'd
had on my mind for a while and a lot
of the other locals around the Hunter Valley had seen
as well. And you know, it would come up in conversations.
People would be like, does anyone know where they actually
came from? And when I got the opportunity to do it,
I thought, well, why don't I just go and find out.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
I wanted to ask about the interview with Gary. I mean,
Gary sounds like a great guy. He also sounds like
a guy who's got a lot to say. And one
of the things that you always have to think about
when you're interviewing someone for whatever it is is you're
looking for those pithy lines, right You're looking for them
to tell the story in a small amount of time.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
Doesn't sound like Gary did that for you.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
So how did you feel when you were doing the
interview and at the same time thinking how am I
going to get this told in a few minutes?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yeah, Gary, he's a bit of a waffler. Gary, we
sat down and had a good hour and a half
chat and we kind of had to trim a lot
of that to kind of get this episode. I think
a lot of people around Gary's age and from that
kind of error as well was that if you have
the time to sit down and listen to them, and
if you listen to their story in a hole, you
(15:46):
can actually find some really good gems throughout it. Yeah,
and yeah, I did a little bit of coaxing obviously.
He went off the rails a little bit and I
had to kind of like, Okay, let's get back on track.
But I liked it because Gary, he was my first
interview with a stranger as well, so that was a
bit of a learning curb for me.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Well, I think you've got some absolute gold out of him,
and the way it was edited together was just super clever.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Congratulations, great first day out.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
In a moment we'll hear from our second storyteller, and
later we'll find out who is one step closer to
becoming Australia's first ever Find and Tell Champion. This is
Find and Tell, the search for the next generation of
(16:35):
diverse storytellers. Today's theme is silver Linings. We just heard
from Ben and now it's time to meet our next storyteller.
Speaker 7 (16:44):
Hi.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
I'm Kate Robinson and I am an Iranian Australian visual
artist based here in I'm also a podcaster, so it
felt so so cool to get to take part in
a program like Find and Tell. For me, telling authentic,
deep stories is really important because I think that telling
(17:07):
stories through kind of narrative long form podcast is something
that I'm just obsessed with, and so it was really
really fun for me to get the chance to create
a podcast in this really different way.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
Kate, Welcome to Find and Tell.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Oh, it's so nice to be here with you, Jamilla.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
We are about to hear the story you've created, your
very first story of the show, and up until this
point it's just been you and your producer and a microphone.
How does it feel knowing that the whole country is
about to hear what you've made?
Speaker 5 (17:43):
It's a bit nerve wracking, to be honest. Yeah, I
think for me, like the kinds of stories that I
love the most are really personal ones. And so when
I started this project, like I instantly knew that that's
what I was going to do. But then when it
comes to this moment, Wye, other people are going to
be listening to this very inkate's head story, it feels
(18:05):
a bit scary.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Oh, I just got all like, oh, this sounds like
a cliche, but I go chili. After that, I am psyched.
The theme for this week is silver linings without giving
away this very personal story. What did that mean to
you when you first heard the theme was silver linings?
What did you first think of?
Speaker 5 (18:23):
I think for me, silver linings really are about when
you go through something shit. Yeah yeah, but there's there's
something good that kind of you know, surrounds it and
comes out of it. And so for me, it was
very clear what I was going to talk about from
the moment that I heard this theme. Literally the first
(18:45):
conversation that I had with the producers during the training day,
wen added out what this story was going to be
about because I just knew, and I think sometimes when
you're a creative if you have something that you're like,
I just must tell this story, like you just have
to chase it and you just have to follow it.
And so that's what I did with this one.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
All right, I cannot wait any longer, and I'm sure
that is the case for you listening right now as well.
I am in the same boat as you. I have
not heard Kate's story. I've not heard any of the stories,
and I am busting to.
Speaker 9 (19:15):
Get to it.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
So without further ado, this is Kate's first Find and
Tell story for Silver Linings.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
In the midst of the worst week of my life,
I got this really unexpected voice message from a friend
of a friend.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
He love.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
I've been thinking of you lot. I couldn't sleep last
night and you were on my mind, and I just
wanted to say that I know how ground shattering this
breakup and situation is and how I found it hard
(19:57):
to process things.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
Jane and I had met at a festival a few
weeks beforehand, and so we had the kind of closeness
that comes from sweaty dance for moments and late night chats,
and by that I mean we really didn't know each other.
And yet that voice message on that day was exactly
what I needed.
Speaker 6 (20:18):
I actually found a lot of solace in speaking to
a friend over voice message just as stuff was coming up,
like journaling kind of verbally. It really really helps me.
So yeah, I am sending some love from the coast.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
So off the back of AJ's advice, and after very
very little sleep, I took out my phone and I
started voice messaging her.
Speaker 7 (20:53):
Hi, my dear, it was so nice to get your
voice message. Thanks for sending it. So I am in
the apartment. I survived my first night sleeping here alone.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
When I listen back to these voice messages now, to
be honest, I don't think it even sounds like me,
this girl who was so shocked about her life radically
and unexpectedly changing, and just all.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
Feels so crazy, to be honest, And it's just like
it's just fucking bizarre. Basically that last week that I
was just having a totally normal week and everything has
(21:53):
changed so drastically, and I just had no idea.
Speaker 5 (21:58):
All right, every single one of us has been through
some kind of experience of heartbreak, but when you're going
through it, it's so hard to have any kind of perspective.
Speaker 11 (22:16):
There's basically like a roster of people that are just
coming over, dropping off food, spending time with me. Like
last night, I realized, like there's still a part of
me that doesn't understand that this is real, and like
there's still a part of me that's like waiting.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
Tonight is the first night heart believe. I feel a
bit of anger about all of that. You haven't like
you decided I had someone over in the evening.
Speaker 7 (22:44):
Driving alone seems insane that my life can feel like
a trash my yet I still have to prepare for
this thing.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
Me feeling the way that I do is it's still
definitely weird. That has been like an absolutely fascinating realization
to come to me. I've spent a year voice messaging
back and forth with AJ, and now that I'm out
of the weeds of the breakup, I can see things
(23:16):
a bit more clearly. Our friendship at this really pivotal,
weird moment in my life has made me think a
lot about how we survive heartbreak, but also why we
choose to lean on the people that we do. These
are big questions, and to explore them, I wanted to
talk to someone who's an expert in friendships but also
(23:40):
in failure.
Speaker 8 (23:42):
I consider my romantic breakups some of the most visceral
periods of grief in my life, but the mere act
of living through that and surviving it had made me
understand I was so much stronger than I thought I was.
It taught me a lot about my capacity for resilience.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
That's author and podcaster Elizabeth Day and her book friend
of Hollick. It's had such a big impact on me
this year. My copy is underlined and tabbed like a
textbook because I think that breakups, they really often, shine
a light on all of our relationships a bit, in
particular our friendships.
Speaker 8 (24:26):
One of the most momentous breakups in my life was
three weeks before my thirty ninth birthday. I remember so
vividly that breakup happening and me opening the window of
my rented flat and smoking a cigarette. I don't smoke,
by the way, but it felt like the only appropriate,
least a tragic thing to do.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
When your life gets unexpectedly turned upside down. Like elizabeths
did like minded, the balance in the scales of everything
kind of skews, including in your friendships. All of a
sudden you become the friend who is kind of a miss,
But there's also something so beautiful about friendship that is
(25:07):
born out of a time when there's no expectation of
anything in return.
Speaker 8 (25:13):
I do not know what I would have done without
my friends after that breakup, literally to the extent that
the first person I called was Emma, my ex was
still in the flat, and I said, this has happened,
and she was like, right, but he doesn't mean that
I mean, because it seems so ludicrous to her. She's like, right,
but he's joking, isn't he. I was like no, and
(25:34):
she said, Okay, my darling, this is what we're going
to do, and she basically gave me a plan of action.
The next day, I didn't want to be on my own.
I went and stayed with another friend of mine, Francesco,
who has like, just come over, just stay the night.
Like all of my friends rounded around, and all of
them just cacooned me in a sense of safety, love
and understanding, and they allowed me to talk it through
(25:57):
and they shared with me what they felt. Just the
sheer generosity of them allowing me to feel heard really
assuaged a lot of my sadness. And do you know
the other thing that was so meaningful to me. They
actually shared my sadness because they knew that it wasn't
just about the person I was with. It was about
(26:17):
the time of life that I was in, to the
extent that Francesca then like marched.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Me into for Dinity clinic.
Speaker 8 (26:24):
And I don't know, that mixture of sort of practicality
and just the force of their love for me just
got me through because I knew that I always had
somewhere to turn.
Speaker 5 (26:34):
There's something so important in these moments to know that
you're not alone and to actually feel quite the opposite,
that you have this incredible group of people who are
rallying around.
Speaker 8 (26:45):
You, and they have always been there when my heart
has been broken to repair it, but also to remind
me that the most consistent and meaningful love of my
life is the love of my friends.
Speaker 5 (26:56):
Oh that's so beautiful, Elizabeth. I had exactly this same
experience where my ex partner was still in the flat
as well, and I called my best friend Alice, and
she did exactly as you said. She said, no, that's
not possible.
Speaker 7 (27:09):
Are you sure?
Speaker 5 (27:10):
And I said I'm sure, And then she said, all right,
this is what you're going to do. So I didn't
have to do any of the labor. She was like,
just stay on the phone to me and you will
get someone to come and pick you up as soon
as possible.
Speaker 8 (27:21):
That's incredible. Here's to Alice and Emma. I am so
glad we have those women in our lives.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
We all have our Alice's and our Emma's who we
know will forever show up for us. But when your
life goes through a seismic shift, there's also, of course
those people that just fade away. And then there are
the friends that are directly born out of those circumstances,
who you become close to really quickly in a way
(27:54):
that you probably otherwise wouldn't. It's friends like AJ. Even now,
a year later, I'm not one hundred percent sure that
we became friends because of our shared experience of hatbreak,
or because voice messaging is just such a powerful, honorable medium.
So I decided to ask Elizabeth about what role voice
(28:16):
messaging plays in her friendships.
Speaker 8 (28:19):
I am so glad you asked that. It's like I've
waited my whole life to be asked this question. It
plays an enormous and profound role for me. I love
nothing more than a voice note. I think it's partly
because I am an introvert, which I know is ironic
given that I'm sitting here chatting to you and I
kind of put myself out there. But what I understand
(28:41):
my introversion is that I like to have deep connections
one on one, and I find that phone calls really
drain my energy because I never know how to end them.
So I love voice noting and I voice note definitely.
With my best friend a lot. We voice note each
other and it is such a joy listening to her
(29:02):
voice notes to me, and it is like listening to
an episode of my favorite podcast.
Speaker 5 (29:07):
I love that so much because that is exactly how
I feel about voice messaging, especially when I was going
through the breakup, and it's something where your energy is
like simultaneously so drained and like so amplified, and so
voice messaging was that perfect medium where I could just
pick up the phone and speak to someone when I
felt like on my terms and there was no pressure,
(29:28):
and I just love that so much.
Speaker 8 (29:30):
And it's something that you can do when you're walking somewhere,
and there's something about that combination that feels you can
be more open and more vulnerable than if you're curating
a text or if you are on a phone call,
I'm constantly trying to gauge how the other person might
(29:54):
be feeling, and I can't see their face. There's something
disjointed about it. Whereas the voice note, I am sending
something from my world into theirs, and I know that
they will listen to it when they have space to
listen to it. Someone should write a book about voice notes.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
I've listened back to so many voice messages between AJ
and I, and the perspective that I've gained from it
is that really has, like with the voice messaging, my
breakup has made me be a more vulnerable version of
myself in my friendships. It's something that I know that
I've struggled with in the past, and it's been a
(30:34):
huge positive in an otherwise really shitty year.
Speaker 8 (30:38):
So I think heartbreak, whether it's a romantic one or
a friendship one, it really reveals us as we truly are,
rather than how we like to imagine we might be
in the future.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
When you go through a breakup, a little bit of
your identity it just chips away. It doesn't matter how
independent you were before. It's really your friends that tether
you back to some kind of sense of yourself. They
remind you that you're loved, that you're cared for, that
you're not alone, which, to be honest, is some of
(31:13):
the biggest reasons that people are afraid of not being
in a relationship. For Elizabeth, her friends were overwhelmingly the
people that knew her the most, deeply, loved her the
most unconditionally, and were the one constant in her life.
Speaker 8 (31:31):
My friends, I would say, they're like family to me.
They're better than family. They're my chosen family, and they
understand me so deeply, and.
Speaker 5 (31:40):
I feel exactly the same way through the ugliness of heartbreak.
Friendship that is vulnerable friendship, that is deep friendship that
happens via voice message. It was the only silver lining.
Speaker 3 (32:05):
Oh my god, I loved it. I loved it.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Well done, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
And your voice.
Speaker 2 (32:13):
You've got good voice, good cadence and rhythm and feelings.
Speaker 7 (32:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
I have a lot of questions. Are the voice notes
to AJ the real voice notes or did you?
Speaker 9 (32:26):
Oh wow?
Speaker 5 (32:27):
Literally about twenty four hours of voice messages back and forth,
and as part of this project, I went through a
year's worth of voice notes and that's that's a lot,
and I thought that I was really healed, and then
I listened to the very first one that we're here
at the start of the episode, and I just instantly
started crying because it doesn't sound like me.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
No, you do sound like a different person. I mean,
as soon as I heard Elizabeth Day's voice, I was like,
that's Elizabeth Day. And then I was like, my being
one weird person that thinks all English people sound the same,
maybe it's not.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
No, how did she do that?
Speaker 2 (33:00):
So tell me about Like, that's quite a practical thing
to do, to go after someone who's a big name,
who's a celebrity.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
How'd you get her to do it?
Speaker 5 (33:07):
To be honest, I just wanted to talk to Elizabeth
Day this whole show.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Your involvement was about one thing.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
When I think of friendships, it's just intrinsically linked in
my head with Elizabeth Day because she's in so many
ways the queen of friendship. So when we were pitching
ideas for who we might talk to for this episode,
I just like kind of sheepishly, was like, well, Elizabeth
Day is going to be in Melbourne next week, so
(33:37):
maybe we try for Elizabeth's Day and we kind of
laughed it off because it seemed absurd that she would
say yes, then she did.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
I mean it shows ambition pays off, right, you can
only ask, well, credit to you, because I think for
someone who is high profile and does a lot of interviews,
I think they can start to become For someone like
Elizabeth Day like, oh, it's just another one because I'm
doing seventeen today another four tomorrow, And to get something
out of her that was unusual and different does take.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Knowledge and skill.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
Well, you made me feel really comfortable and safe as
the listener, and more than that, you really made me
want to go call my best mate. So I think
if that was what you were going for, you absolutely
nailed it. Congratulations Kate, Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (34:20):
Schimmeller.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
So, who told the best silver lining story? I'm going
to make my decision and chat to them in just
a moment. This is Fine and Tell, And the theme
this week was silver linings. This was a really difficult
(34:46):
contest to call. These were two outstanding stories. Ben was
made for podcasting folks. His voice is so strong and assured,
and he's got a little bit of cheekiness in there too.
He also created a kind of true crime vibe, but
there's something awesome about hearing that true crime approach jaxtaposed
with the kind of cutesy weirdness of the Teddy Bear's
(35:07):
Picnic song and the theme of his story. If I
had any suggestions for Ben for next week, it would
be to make sure he rounds the story out completely.
The ending felt just a tiny bit abrupt, and I
think if he'd even given us one or two more sentences,
it would have helped us leave the podcast feeling warm
and fuzzy and wanting to go to a Teddy Bear's picnic.
(35:30):
It sort of caught me by surprise that that was
the end. In Kate's I loved how insightful her scripting was.
I've had my share of emotional breakups, and she absolutely
took me back there with her really clever scripting and
the way she built some mystery and anticipation. Something I
would love to see from Kate next week is just
to work on those cliches a little bit now. And
(35:53):
then she sort of had a line that didn't hit
as hard because it was one of those cliched phrases
that you hear a lot. I really liked the fact
that she managed to land Elizabeth Day. I mean, who
wouldn't like it. That's a really big name celebrity, and
I thought the interview was strong, but perhaps we could
have seen a bit more of a smoother integration of Elizabeth.
(36:14):
Sometimes it felt like there were two stories going on
in one. This was a really tough call, but after
hearing both stories, I've decided that based on originality. Ben, Ben,
congratulations you're this week's winner.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Oh my god, thank you so much.
Speaker 10 (36:32):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:33):
I really wanted to go on a Tedb's picnic. By
the end of it, I really.
Speaker 2 (36:36):
Wanted to meet Gary and there was just so much
heart in that story. You made me feel like I
was right there in Gary's living room with you.
Speaker 3 (36:42):
Well done.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Thank you so much. I've had a lot of fun
working on this one, so I'm glad it turned out
the way it did.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
Thank you so much, Ben and Kate.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
What an incredible way to kick off Finding But hey,
there is so much more left to come, So press
the follow button in whatever podcast app you're on so
you don't miss a moment. In our next episode, we'll
introduce you to our final two storytellers, or you can
get a sneak peek right now at findin tel dot
(37:17):
com dot au. Find in Tel is a co production
between iHeart Australia and the.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Black Cast podcast network.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
Black Cast empowers First Nations people and people of color
to reclaim their narratives, strengthen cultural identity, and contribute to
a more inclusive Australia by showcasing exciting emerging talent from
Australian communities.
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