Josh Szeps

Last updated

Josh Szeps
Josh Szeps.jpg
NationalityAustralian
Occupations
  • Actor
  • media personality
  • political satirist
  • TV show host
  • radio presenter
Parent Henri Szeps

Josh Szeps, [1] previously known as Josh Zepps [2] , is an Australian media personality, political satirist, and television presenter.

Contents

Szeps has previously hosted Weekend Breakfast on ABC News. He was a founding host for HuffPost Live [3] and his work has included satirical writing and presenting for Australian radio, as well as the hosting of Brink, an American TV series. He also hosted the podcast Point of Inquiry for the Center for Inquiry.

Early life and education

Szeps is the son of actor Henri Szeps. His paternal family were Holocaust survivors. [2]

Szeps attended Fort Street High School and the University of Technology, Sydney. [4] [5]

He spells his name "Zepps" in the United States to avoid pronunciation confusion, but has not officially changed his name. [1] [2]

Television

Szeps was the host and co-executive producer of Australian Idol Backstage, the behind-the-scenes component of the namesake television series.[ citation needed ]

Beginning in 2008, Szeps was the host and creative producer of the Science Channel's Brink, a news-style TV series which examined breakthroughs in technology and discovery. [6] [7] The series ended the following year. Later, he was anchor and correspondent on CBS News Productions' Peabody-winning Channel One News. [8]

In 2012, Szeps was a founding host for HuffPost Live. [3] Szeps was also a regular correspondent with Al Roker on the NBC's Today.[ citation needed ]

He has also appeared on the panel and co-hosted The Project on Network Ten in Australia [9] and the ABC News program Weekend Breakfast.

In January 2019, ABC announced that Szeps would replace Andrew Geoghegan as host of Weekend Breakfast . [10]

Radio

Over the Summer 2016/2017 period Szeps hosted the National Evenings Show on ABC Local Radio across Australia. [11]

Szeps hosts a podcast tackling societal issues, Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps. [12]

At the end of 2021, Szeps became the presenter of ABC Radio Sydney's three-hour long Afternoons Program. [13] [14] In 2023, he announced that he would be leaving the ABC to work on his podcast and start a Youtube channel. [15] Szeps made his resignation announcement live on air, saying about his work with the ABC that "The penalties for speaking bluntly...are very high." He said that he was a misfit there, that "I'm a child of refugees, but I'm a white Australian. I'm a gay guy, but I hate Mardi Gras. ...I'm an ABC presenter but I don't like kale." [16]

Voice career

Szeps was cast as the voice of "Olly the Kookaburra", one of three mascots in the Sydney Summer Olympics. [4] After leaving university in 2000, Szeps was hired as a script assistant on BackBerner , a comedy television series. [4] He also worked in the production of 2SM and 2GB, two Australian radio stations. [4] In 2003, Szeps was hired by Mike Carlton of 2UE, a commercial radio station in Sydney. Szeps developed a radio soliloquy for 2UE called "John Howard's Diary", in which he made a weekly impersonation of the Australian Prime Minister's thoughts on the past week's events. [4] Szeps said to The Sydney Morning Herald in 2003 that "if John Howard wasn't in power, it's entirely possible my life would be going in a completely different direction". [4] After John Howard was defeated in the 2007 Australian federal election, Szeps' radio spoof became "Kevin Rudd's Diary", a satire of the new prime minister in the same format. [1] Szeps was the creator of Never Never Newsreel , a weekly syndicated satirical radio sketch that ran until June 2008.[ citation needed ]

Personal life

Szeps was married in 2014, in New Hampshire, to American social media marketing specialist Sean Joseph Gallerani, now known as Sean Szeps. [17] The couple live in Sydney, Australia with their twins, [18] Stella and Cooper, who were born of a relative of Sean via a commercial surrogacy arrangement in Minneapolis, Josh being the father. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2UE</span> Commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia

2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Murray (presenter)</span> Australian television and radio presenter

Paul Murray is a conservative political commentator based in Sydney, Australia. He was the former regular mornings presenter on 2UE show A Sydney Morning. He also hosts Paul Murray Live on Sky News Australia, which airs Sunday to Thursday at 9 pm AEST, as well as a Saturday Edition.

Tim Webster is an Australian television and radio personality and sports broadcaster. He held various presenting roles on Network 10 from 1981 until 2008.

Steve Liebmann is an Australian retired television presenter, journalist and radio broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Jacobs (television presenter)</span> Australian actor

Steven Jacobs is an Australian actor, comedian, TV and radio presenter and writer.

ABC News, also known as ABC News and Current Affairs and overseas as ABC Australia, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting within Australia and the rest of the world, the service covers both local and world affairs.

Tim Shaw is an Australian radio and television presenter, actor, journalist, author and businessman. He has hosted the 2CC the #TimShawBreakfastShow a Canberra talk radio program from 2016 to 2019. He is a director of the National Press Club Board since November 2017 and a member of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Carlton</span> Australian media commentator and author

Michael James Carlton, is an Australian former media commentator, radio host, television journalist, author and newspaper columnist. He formerly co-hosted the daily breakfast program on Sydney radio station 2UE with Peter FitzSimons and later Sandy Aloisi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mieke Buchan</span> Australian television and radio presenter, writer and producer

Mieke Buchan is an Australian television and radio presenter, writer and producer, born in Brisbane (Australia). She has covered major events including: The Olympics, the US Open Tennis, 5 Super Bowls, Formula One, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship and the Oscars. She has worked for American and Australian television networks, including FOX Sport America, ESPN, SBS and Encore Movie Networks.

Steven William Price is an Australian radio and television broadcaster and opinion columnist. He appears regularly on The Project. In 2022, Price announced his contract with Triple M was not renewed. Price worked at Macquarie Media broadcasting on 2GB, 4BC and 3AW. Previously, he was the program director and breakfast presenter at MTR 1377.

Ronald Wilson is a Northern Irish-born Australian television and radio news presenter and voice-over with a lengthy career in journalism and hosting, especially with Network Ten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathryn Robinson (journalist)</span>

Kathryn Robinson is an Australian journalist, television and radio presenter.

Angela Catterns, is an Australian media personality and broadcaster. Mostly known for her work on Australian radio, she has presented Mornings on Triple J, the National Evening Show on ABC Local Radio, and Breakfast on 702 ABC Sydney. She is also a podcaster, writer, interviewer, MC, facilitator, narrator & voice over artist. She presented with Australian humourist and broadcaster Wendy Harmer a holiday season version of the Breakfast Show on 702 ABC Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamish Macdonald (broadcaster)</span> Australian broadcast journalist and news presenter

Hamish Macdonald is an Australian broadcast journalist and news presenter. As of 2023 he is a presenter on the TV panel show The Project on Network 10, and on ABC Radio National's RN Breakfast.

<i>News Breakfast</i> Australian TV news programme

News Breakfast is an Australian news breakfast television program. It is broadcast on ABC TV and ABC News channel from 6:00 am to 9:00 am AEST/AEDT on weekdays and is hosted by Michael Rowland and Bridget Brennan. The program is also streamed live on ABC iView and the Australia Network throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Ben Fordham is an Australian sports reporter and radio presenter. As of 2023, Fordham hosts the breakfast radio program Ben Fordham Live on Sydney radio station 2GB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauziah Ibrahim</span> Australian journalist

Fauziah Ibrahim is a Singaporean Australian news presenter.

Lewis Hobba is an Australian radio presenter, television presenter and comedian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prue MacSween</span> Australian journalist

Prudence Gay MacSween is an Australian television and radio presenter, reporter, social commentator, and public relations director with a heavy bias for the Australian Liberal Party. She is the public relations director of Verve Communications, as a media commentator, MacSween has made a number of comments considered to be controversial whilst under the influence of alcohol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul B. Kidd</span> Australian author, journalist, and radio show host (1945–2021)

Paul Benjamin Kidd was an Australian author, journalist, and radio show host. From 2001 until 2020, Kidd was the co-host of the 2UE George and Paul weekend show with George Moore; from 2020 until his death, he co-hosted Weekends with John and Paul with John Stanley on 2GB. Kidd was also a prolific true crime writer, having published a large number of books about high-profile murder cases across Australia and the world.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Javes, Sue (25 February 2008). "Voices of a generation". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Interview with Josh Szeps". Interviews with Max Raskin. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  3. 1 2 HuffPost Live; HuffPost ; 16 February 2015
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Javes, Sue (24 June 2003). "Finding His Voices". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  5. McInerney, Suzanne (5 November 2001). "UTS winners with the WOW factor". UTS Newsroom. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  6. Umstead, Thomas R. (14 October 2008). "Science Channel On Brink Of International Programming Sales". Multichannel News . Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  7. Ward, Roger (22 January 2009). "The Science Channel's "Brink" to Feature American Defense Systems' Protective Glass Used at President Obama's Inaugural". Marketwire . Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  8. "Josh Zepps" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2019.
  9. "Josh Zepps guest hosts The Project". TV Tonight. 14 July 2014.
  10. "Weekend Breakfast - Program - ABC Australia". abcaustralia.net.au.
  11. "Radio warms up for summer - RadioInfo - published 8 December 2016". Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  12. "Podcast Week: Abbie Chatfield on LiSTNR & Josh Szeps talks Joe Rogan". Mediaweek. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  13. "Josh Szeps". RadioInfo Australia. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  14. "James Valentine the new breakfast presenter on ABC Sydney". RadioInfo Australia. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  15. "Josh Szeps to leave ABC Radio Sydney Afternoons". Radioinfo.
  16. "'Don't pretend': ABC host quits live on-air". news.com.au. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  17. "Real New England Weddings: Sean Gallerani & Josh Zepps". Boston Magazine. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  18. Elliott, Tim. "'I can't look after you' - the tough-love moment that saved their marriage". The Age. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  19. ""We could be jailed for doing what we did here": Josh and Sean Szeps on becoming fathers in Australia". Mamamia. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2023.