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] (born 22 November 1977) 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. He currently hosts the podcast, Uncomfortable Conversations.

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 ]

Podcasting

Szeps currently hosts the Substack and podcast Uncomfortable Conversations. As of 20 May 2024, the podcast had over 19,000 subscribers. He has also co-hosted episodes of Sam Harris' Making Sense podcast and appeared on Chris Williamson’s podcast, Modern Wisdom, among others. [17]

In 2022, Szeps made headlines after appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience. Szeps challenged Joe Rogan's claims about the effects of the coronavirus vaccine on young people. Rogan later admitted he was made to 'look dumb' during the exchange. [17] [18]

Personal life

Szeps was married in 2014, in New Hampshire, to American social media marketing specialist Sean Joseph Gallerani, now known as Sean Szeps. [19] The couple live in Sydney, Australia with their twins, [20] Stella and Cooper, who were born of a relative of Sean via a commercial surrogacy arrangement in Minneapolis, Josh being the father. [21]

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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. 1 2 Manning, James (20 May 2024). "Whatever happened to Josh Szeps? He's doing very nicely, thank you". Mediaweek . Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  18. ↑ O'Connor, Roisin (14 January 2022). "Joe Rogan admits broadcaster Josh Zepps made him 'look dumb' during vaccine debate". The Independent . Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  19. ↑ "Real New England Weddings: Sean Gallerani & Josh Zepps". Boston Magazine. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  20. ↑ Elliott, Tim. "'I can't look after you' - the tough-love moment that saved their marriage". The Age. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  21. ↑ ""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.
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