I approached my conversation with radio broadcaster Chris Smith, as he gets ready to take the seat of John Laws on 2SM and Super Radio Network Mornings, with professionalism, but not enthusiasm.
There is a Zen story written around 1850 by a Japanese philosopher and monk Hara Tanzan:
Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. Heavy rain was falling. As they came around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross at an intersection.
“Come on, girl,” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he could no longer restrain himself.
“We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”
“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”
I’ve realised as I’ve grown older that the people and wounds that I carry have some root in my own dishonesty in the first place. By that I mean words I did not say and could or should have. Plus an unwillingness sometimes to just put the damn thing down.
There is also a reason for the saying, ‘a weight off my shoulders.’
I thought that Chris would brush aside previous incidents, of which there is a dedicated Wikipedia page without any of the highlights, complete with lines you hear after a bad football result like, “I’m only looking ahead to the future”, “what’s done is done” and “I blame the ref” kind of quotes.
But his honesty around his shame, humiliation, embarrassment and finally acceptance that he would likely never work in radio again resonated with me.
I get the impression that Chris, after the first bitter period of the media and general public accosting him any time he left the house, has made a conscious decision to not go seeking stories about himself.
He said:
“The media likes to smash people who make mistakes, and I don’t want to ignore them. The heat was part of the process.
I made a two-year intention to make changes to how I pursued life. I went to rehab, sought professional help, went to AA, found root causes of why I choose to self-destruct. And I found, or they found me, great mentors who walk with me.
It was a frightening, traumatic time but now I’m choosing to live life with life, not grog.”
I’ve listened to Chris a lot over the years. He sounds different too.
“I am a different broadcaster. I’ve not gone soft but I’m also no longer unforgiving, or as tough and aggressive.
Every single person has their own things they wish for forgiveness on, or challenges that extend to their kids, brothers and family. It’s about facing and solving problems.”
One of the things I noticed in the media release that accompanied the announcement was that new owners of the Super Radio Network, Despina Priala and George Caralis have cannily made mention of what will be foremost on many people’s minds once the dust settles on 2024.
The Federal Election.
The new and local selections for not just the Super Radio Network but Nine Entertainment and the ABC and SBS will be the talk presenters guiding us. There really has been a changing of the guard in the last three years.
Despina said:
“(Chris’s) depth and breadth of political knowledge in this country far surpasses his counterparts in the industry, the last of his kind from his era. With a federal election coming up in 2025, Australians want to hear Chris, and Australians need to hear Chris on the airwaves in 2025.”
When I talk about Chris’s first day, Monday January 6, and the shoes he steps into, Chris again surprises me with his nerves. He was in eyeshot of the JL written on one of the chairs in the 2SM fortress.
“I’m not and can never be John Laws so whenever someone talks about who I follow I feel like I need to be able to accept that I can’t be him, I can only be me and do the best job I know how to.”
I tell him it will be like getting back in the car after not having driven for a while. I then surprise myself and pull out the my own football speak about focusing on the road ahead. I feel I’m in the car with him.
Chris says:
“I’ve always felt like mornings is the pinnacle. This is my greatest dream come true.”
Over time our conversation has relaxed. If you’ve never heard Chris Smith before you won’t be aware of how vibrant he is on air and contagious his laugh is. He has made me smile hearing his laughter without any context behind it. It has been notably absent during our conversation. I ask him where it has gone?
“Funny you should say that because my wife (Susie Burrell) said this week that she felt like she was hearing me laugh again for the first time in a couple of years.
Ever since I started this conversation with George and Despina, and to hope that maybe there was a place for me at 2SM, I’ve felt lighter again. I feel good.”
And with that there is a chuckle. It would appear that a weight has been lifted from his shoulders too.
Chris Smith commences on the 2SM Morning Show on Monday January 6 at 9am and will also be heard in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Far North Qld and on the Gold Coast and Tweed regions.
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.