You're on the air with Jason Lauren. Clint's here as well. Let's say hello to our next guest.
Our next guest has had a very impressive entertainment career.
He's done radio, here's done television.
He's released to I Rean nominated albums. Really, sometimes it pays to simply just be annoying.
The only thing more impressive is perhaps the greatest charity work he's been doing with Fight MND.
Please welcome to the shows, Mada, Good morning.
Rodeo has come a long way. Like a fully produced intro. Oh yeah, we don't around, but still getting the facts wrong like we used to did we What did we get wrong? Four albums not two?
And then nicely flex.
Because I know a lot of it will come off Wikipedia, which also has the wrong place for where I was conceived.
Oh Wikipedia, anyone can make things up, I think.
Seven years anyone can edit it. But I do know that someone famous got court editing their own. They difficult. I can't tell you.
You can tell half the story, yeah, Commentator Brian Taylor, Bruce mcave.
I want to talk about other things.
We'll get to that now.
Many people, I mean you are now the CEO of fight MND. But many people will remember you if they're in the cars and they're just hearing your voice, will remember you from your radio days.
Ye possibly how many years so old are they've still got their license?
Many years?
Did you do Brecky twenty five?
Wow? Because Matt Tilly was the reason I wanted to get into radio, because we did do right at a time when Matt was doing the Matt and Joe Show. Joe was off I think for a week and I was maybe twenty, and I feeled.
It did you how did you go? Or how did she?
Was brilliant and can I say backed up on the Tuesday after the Brownlow, Oh yeah, she.
Would have been a treat to work with that.
Well, I'd a walk of shame, doown Clarendon.
It was actually a walk of shame, I think because I'd worn this really expensive necklace to the brown Load. It was like three hundred thousand dollars and I've had a few too many champagnes the night before and we couldn't get it off, so like to turn up to the radio.
Showing his like just hung our headphones off.
It was that in this building as well.
Yeah, yeah, you spent many years in this building, if only the walls could talk.
We always say everything was recorded.
We always wonder if we'll be hanging out together in ten years. Do you still hang out with the your co hosts?
Oh we text?
Yeah?
Yeah, yeah groups?
Yeah?
Do you like WhatsApp groups?
Hey, good old taste, let's talk.
The Big Freeze come out this weekend, most important day on the Melbourne calendar.
I reckon, are you enjoying your work with Fighter and d Yeah?
Loving it? Like getting to go to the footy and getting a free beanie like you know, I know you guys get concert tickets and stuff. That's my jam and sausages in bread Bunnings beanie there.
I was down at Bunnings with you the other day doing a In fact, Jason, you popped down to and said hello. Now, the Big Freeze is a massive event on the calendar here in Melbourne. In fact, I would say it's one of the conic footy games of the year. You've got the big slide. Who have we got going down at so far?
Likeiconic Australians is the theme and they all some could go as themselves Mark Taylor. So there's a bit of sporty.
Stuff slide, you should be going down the side.
I've been iced a bit in the last week. I got to say I went down. I went down a slide in a Gold Coast yesterday. We're not regional. I went down a slide ahead of mac Andrew on the Gold Coast yesterday. Man, he's a ruckman for the Suns and he was wearing just hot pink speedos of Heritage. Look magnificent. I've never felt more middle aged and white and flabby in my life.
Did you wear hot pink speeder?
I did not.
Well, Hey, Matt, it's one thing to to sort of look outside in at a charity like fight M and D. What's it like to immerse yourself in it? Because the Dana her family, we've had Jan on the program, We've had you know, the girls and as well, you know, what, what is it like being inside? Because they are truly I mean inspirational is a little bit cliche, but they are.
It started around a kitchen table, right and literally it is like this this couple of weeks, Jan's getting dinner ready like she is just a dynamo. She's in there first, she's out there last, she's on the phone, she's like run down the street, grab me ten more piece of socks, like it's fabulous. That's a really great energy to be around.
But we also have like a team of seven scientists who're speaking to the top researchers around the world assessing their grants, seeing you know, how many millions we're going to give to this particular research project. And then we often deal with people who have M and D who aren't in the same situation as Neil. The average life expectance is just twenty seven months. They move through our organization quickly, and that's a very emotionally, that's quite a
big burden to sort of be. You get to know people, you know them really well, and then you realize we're going to lose them.
That's so sad. How long ago was Neil diagnosed, well, eleven years he's eleven, so here is an absolute outline five as well.
Yeah, I don't think many people in Australia had heard about MND until Neil Duneaher. I really put it on the map and the people that were familiar with it were obviously this is so true.
Connection to I was chatting, I don't often say this. I was chatting to an Oxford professor the other day who was out here, and he said, all his life he's been researching and getting out research for MND. And when he goes out to dinner party still and says what he does, they're like, oh mind, what's that? And he goes like, come here, and the bloke and the servoy knows what it is, wearing a beanie like the whole city and we are now a global epicenter for research and investment.
Amazing.
Neil down Her spoke to the Melbourne Boys yesterday. He gives them a rev up before King's Birthday every year, and we covered on the news last night here it is.
Don't wait for a crisis to learn that you are more powerful than you think, and never underestimate the ripple effect of one small act of courage on the field or off it.
Now in that room, well, what's extraordinary or more extraordinary about that is the technology that let's Kneil speak again, find his voice. It's AI technology. How does that work? Matt And and you actually can give people M and D sufferers who lose their voice their voice back to an extent.
Yeah, eventually people only really have their eyes and their conscience to communicate with the world. So what they can do now the technology is incredible. If you are diagnosed, now you can go and put down fifty phrases their key phrases that they have and then will do your whole vocabulary and intonation and everything else.
So you do that yourself early.
But with Neil well, because he had so many recordings of him speaking to.
Yeah, once we took all the swearing out, it limited the recordings. You know, he's a coach. Yeah, so it's phenomenal. Yeah, they've just gone and done that from media grabs.
And it makes me goosebumps hearing that. I feel like it is for.
Their independence to get that back with their prices.
Neil wasn't that keen for it right? Probably I don't want to. I never like to speak beyond the family's boundaries. But I think they're comfortable with this. But his grandkids want to hear what their grandfather sound like rather than a computers. Isn't that beautiful? And he was like, Okay, let's do it.
Can I also say a massive thank you to Nil and the team because as someone who looks more like a garden gnome and a beanie, this year there's a digital.
Arts bicre launched. Yes, people with big heads, girls that don't want to make up their hair, hotheads.
If you're a hothead, looks like he's going to rob your house.
He's going to look like a cyber criminal. Right, give them a hoodie, so big freeze dot com dot you we grabbed that website. Right, and you go there and you donate by buying a digital beanie. Right, so twenty five bucks same as the other beanie, except this one's tax deductible.
Hello, don't get anything in turn.
Then you can personalize it, so across the band of the beanie, you can put your name, your nickname, your brother's, sister's kids' names.
We've got one on the screen. Now you put Jason Lauren on the front.
Is it true that there was a meeting in the back end to ban words that you can't put on?
There are three hundred and sixty eight words of shame that we have removed from the soft Oh my god, So you can try all you like.
And was that meeting? Were there a few that you were like, let's just sneak that one through anywhere.
No one would think of that.
I feel about bringing something up, don't judge me, but I have heard you to use this.
The plan is to like we want to fill the g by Queen's birthday, so you want to sell one hundred thousand of them. It's a little bit like the mcgrah test wanting to fill the ground. But this is the whole of Australia and you get some fun to put on socials.
You posted on socials on Big Free's day.
Yeah, you do it today, getting early. They could sell out. They can't sell out. It's digital. Big Free still take all the money.
Are you just twenty five bucks?
Otherwise you can get the beanies, Bunning stores, goals, you got it ready express.
Hey Matt, congratulations. The campaign seems to get bigger and bigger every year.
Yeah, well that's because more and more people get behind it. We can't take all the credit.
It's awesome.
It's just a beautiful community moment.
Well done for everything you and the Donna Hers and everyone else behind the scenes are doing.
Matt Tilley join us on the air. Goodavy back on the air this span.
Thank you guys.
Great to see you.
Jason, Lauren Lauren wake up feeling good following them on the socials.
Yeah, I