I love BBQs.

A cold beer on a hot day.

A saussie sambo drowned in tomato sauce.

Family. Close friends. Neighbours. Colleagues.

Time slows down. Good times are had. It’s one of those funny things where what people around the world know Australians for is something we do all the time – it’s not just a lazy stereotype.

Whether it’s getting together on a public holiday in a mates back garden, or in the picnic area of the local national park, there’s nowhere we can’t find a way to come together around the BBQ.

And yet, as good as these times are, I still haven’t found away to have the type of conversations with people I’d love to be having.

We talk about our jobs, our gardens, our kids and how they’re getting on at school; our sports teams, and at my age the catalogue of injuries that should be enough indication my best sporting days are behind me!

But what about the meaning of life, what motivates you to get of bed in the morning, what was the most significant thing you learned about been a teenager?

Ok, so I could just ask. And maybe these just aren’t great BBQ topics of conversation.

For one, I suck at asking. It’s definitely not a core skill of mine. But I love nothing more than getting deep into a heavy conversation with someone. I just have a hard time breaking enough ice with people to get to a place where we can get into it.

And, so, for all the fun I have at BBQs, I’m not spending as much time as I would like having the type of conversations I want to be having with people I admire, respect and am fascinated by.

I want to get into the important times in our lives, how events that have happened to us have influenced our outlook. And how THE STORIES WELL TELL OURSELVES continue to shape and define who we are and how we live.

Hi, I’m Ken and welcome to my podcast, WHAT I DON’T TALK ABOUT @ BBQs.

You must be asking, couldn’t I have come up with a catchier title?

Sure, of course. But then it wouldn’t be my show. It would be me trying to do a version of someone else’s podcast.

The title isn’t catchy, isn’t succinct and might take a double take to get your head around it.

But that’s me. A little awkward. Often unsure and constantly trying to work out how to best express what I mean and what I’m trying to do.

If anyone is expecting a sharply cut, uber polished and professional podcast, there’s people out there already do that.

I’m working this thing out, just like life.

And each week I’ll be sitting down with someone who’s also working it out, finding a way to take all of those ideas that keep them up late at night from out of their head and turn them into something real in their life.

Comedians, actors, writers, thinkers and doers – people who’s planet orbits my own, and who are finding ways to live a life at their creative best.

We’re gonna get into stories from their lives they haven’t talked openly about before and how these times have helped them become the people the are today and the person they are striving to become.

Comedian, actor and writer Garry Shandling once said:

We’re here to discover the god within us, so if you don’t take the time in your life to discover who you are…if you don’t go into yourself and know who you are, then forever you are living out those relationships that may not be doing you any good…you’re gonna have a problem on your hands.

We are always arriving. We’re always working on getting somewhere. So why not join me and my guests each week and we can all do this life thing together.

That’s about as succinctly as I can put. I hope to catch up with you soon. Stay tuned for the very first WHAT I DON’T TALK ABOUT @ BBQs.

I’ll be there with my apron and tongs. Brink a drink, bring a friend. Be well. We’ll chat soon.