on it... My wife and daughter have actually made shirts for people that have that sort of
stuff on them. I didn’t choose it, they chose it. And I have a belt, sort of like a 1960s
wide-necked bikini belt, it has women in bikinis all across it. I didn’t choose that either,
they chose that for me. So at what stage do I keep wearing it, and then get in trouble for
being a sexist bastard, when it was chosen for me by my wife and daughter?
Yeah, it’s a tricky question. People like to jump on these clothing choices and stuff…
Well, I don’t think that I’m automatically therefore a sexist and want women to no longer
get an education or driving licenses because I’m wearing a belt that had women in bikinis
on it. I didn’t even choose it, they chose it. The whole fashion thing can get awfully
messy if people want to use it for a vehicle of hate. I’m hopefully still using it as a
vehicle for love and that’s what will happen further down the line.
Does your distinctive style help you to communicate your messages on scientific issues to
the public, or help to draw attention to them?
Oh, no. It’s just two separate things, it’s like I like muesli and I wear a bright shirt.
They’re independent from each other. Though, for me, the message entirely, almost
entirely, follows the mantra of ‘avoid opinions, stick to facts’, followed by ‘you’ve got to
be able to present it in a good way that makes it entertaining to the audience’. And that
depends entirely on the audience. So, if you’re doing a story for radio, I’ve been doing
these for about a third of a century on the ABC, say a little five minute great moments in
science, will have deliberate redundancy and more street-talk in it. By redundancy, I
mean I’ll say the same thing once or twice so people, if they happen to be diverted for a
moment, will hear me say the same thing again. Basically the content is king and that’s
all that counts. But on the other hand that’s not all that counts – the second aspect is how
you say the words and with what pictures, and presentation matters...
I try to