Popular ABC Host Quits Live on Air Over ‘Penalties for Speaking Bluntly’

A popular radio host in Sydney has quit live on air while making a thinly veiled critique of the national broadcaster’s management and its listeners around “uncomfortable conversations.” “Having truly rational, bull-[expletive] free conversations about controversial issues is risky these days,” Josh Szeps, host of ABC Radio Sydney, said just before the 3 p.m. news on Nov. 15. “The penalties for speaking bluntly, the penalties for trying to coax people out of their thought silos and their echo chambers are very high.” The radio host, who appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience show and famously entered into a heated debate with the American commentator on the COVID jab, said the fact that controversial topics are risky “makes it more important to me.”...