Lisa Wilkinson

Hi, I'm Mia Friedman and welcome to a very special episode off No philtre a podcast. Siri's were I checked interesting people about their careers, their families and their lives. It's an open, honest one on one conversation that has zero philtre a lot like my mouth Thiss week on the podcast. I speak to Lisa Wilkinson, co host of The Today Show, one of Australia's most

I don't know. But I don't know what they're going through a phase at the moment off doing models or she supermodel.

I don't really think I don't know. I don't know what what

I will. You will not get me. I know you're not trying to do that, but you will not get me bagging this publication only because this publication was so crucial to the emancipation of Australian women. It was such a significant publication when it came out in 1972. I mean, we are talking really about the only form

ofthe heaviest media

for women in this country that talked everything from women's political rights to their rights in the home, too. The fact that they should go out there and be everything that they want to be in recession, do what they want t be their own person. And so to have edited that magazine for 10 years between 85 95 is one of my greatest moments off pride professionally because it it was a magazine, a publication of form of media in this country that was an agent for change. And to have been

day you've got. It will be a really sad day and maybe it will never come. You've got a teenage daughter now. What does she look at?

It's funny, isn't it? She didn't read Dolly. I think she sort of came across it in passing. Where's for May and possibly for you. It was my Bible. It

was lifeline. It was

everything I knew which day it was coming out. I knew what time it was going to land at the newsagent, and I thumbed through that magazine. I I bled for that magazine every month, and I still have every single copy I ever bought, and I can pick an issue up and I could remember how old I wass.

friend. So, do you think Facebook's that now for teenage girls?

Look, I'm not on Facebook

or of a that for each other, like just because they could be connected 24 7.

What I do know is that the sort of places of refuge that existed when I was a teenager don't exist with the same power that that they that they do now. Sorry that they did. Then Look, I'm just I'm very aware having having three kids, the last of whom is our daughter, Billie, who's 17, having been a TTE, the forefront ofthe bringing up Children who are going through the Internet explosion and the Facebook explosion and the influences of social media.

social entertainment. What you do, we're not holding your phone now. Are you removed from your phone or do you live by the screen? Well,

well, phone is now a ll communication with work, communication with the kids and all of that. It's But there's a difference between just living a 21st century life that you can get through if if you're a busy parent, a busy professional, there's a difference between being practical and being completely dependent on DH. I try and be independent. I don't always

communicate face to face. Exactly. You made the transition obviously not in your twenties but in your forties to TV after print after having the best job in the world, the one where you get to interview the prime minister one day and even on the same day. Mind to sing the sound of music That was a highlight for May.

I'm glad it was for someone.

How do you look past that and come down from that? Like, what happens? What does look like life look like on the other side of today? Show? Because presumably you'll stop doing it At some stage. You'll get Jack a bit and you know what I can to make it 83 e I will not let you be Helen Gurley Brown e really want not e gave fishnet tights and leopard print? What? What does it look like on the other side, like travel? Does it look like

I have no idea I'd never, ever, And you know me well enough to know this is the truth. I've never had a five year plan. You never have. Just I've have been incredibly fortunate that every job I've ever had I've just loved, and that includes my very first job, which was being sales assistant wrenches shoe store in Campbelltown, wrenches to Thursday night and Saturday mornings. I've never had a job I didn't love going in to do. And so I've never looked beyond what I'm doing every day.

And how do you shift? You've had cast changes, old lineup changes on the Today show. It's such an intimate thing. It must pay anyone that you with it for in the morning and doing that much live TV you must have very close relationships with when that shifts and you know George's Left and Bends left In the last six months, Tim's coming and Sylvia's coming. Has that changed? The dynamic has that re energised it? Does everyone have

Yeah, sure. I mean, ultimately, my closest relationship is always going to be with Carl because you know, there's that two shot every single day, and so we know each other so well. Now way. No, the days when when one's not having an off day, but one's got more energy than the other. And it's a completely unspoken thing, and we just rise and lived for. And it's not even that you didn't you didn't deliver today. So you know, I get to have my dad

thiss new Army Wednesday because I caught you on Monday.

There is no point scoring. It's just when you're doing it 3.5 hours a day, five days a week. We get six weeks off years of 46 weeks off a year. You're just aware that you're human and you know that that comes with different levels of energy on any given day. But it'll balances out, and ultimately we trust each other implicitly. We know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and we just we enjoy each other both personally and professionally, and we really appreciate the differences in what we

bring each bring to the. It is a lot like a marriage on DH because she said that about him and Mel Doyle, and I guess by that definition he's on to his second wife. But wait. With marriage and a long term relationship, you go through phases where you cannot stand. The way the person blinks, the way they breathe makes you want to kill them, and you get through that or you get it watch. But usually you get through that, and that's what marriage is.

I can honestly say no because I think I think what really life marriages came to Bob down in is different styles of parenting. And you know that the challenges that can come with teenagers that try and divide and conquer over whether or not you did your fair share of the washing up, sex up. Six. Whether you're leaving dirty towels on the floor. Who changed the toilet roll holder most recently or not at all,

or not since 1985. Somebody somebody

favourite doesn't just magically. So you get bogged down in the domestics and that Khun get in the way off. You know the romance of a marriage, whereas, you know, Carla night separate at the end of every show on DH, then we come back together every day. And so it's, you know, it's almost the ideal marriage because you have all of the fun. You have all of the respect. You have all of thesis of professional camaraderie. But nobody's fighting about who took out the garbage last Monday night.

What about the role of the executive producer? Because you've had you had Tom alone? You've now got Mark Albert. It's an interesting sort of a three way because there's you on Carl, who are the hosts in the front of house. Then there's the AP, who most people would never have heard off how much input to the hosts have as to what goes to air and how much does someone have to drive the bus and make that final decision and it's not you.

Well, let's just set the record straight here. Carl and I are just out the front. There is a whole team that put together the show. You know, there's a cast of how big is the team? Well, it depends on how far you want to go to back of house, because we've got, of course, our executive producer, associate producers, supervising producers, then the whole team off producers who are putting together the briefs every single day on DH. Then you've got a ll the crew, they're

of how a person marketing and hair make up. Yeah, well,

that and so were the ones that get all what time to get up. What is three o'clock really feel like? But there's a whole bank of people who are doing exactly the same three s, and there's some who get up one who were in earlier than us who were getting together. What's the breaking news overnight? So for us to complain about what time we get up when there's when all of us get up as John Godly Hour, you know, not surprisingly, that wouldn't go down too well, so

but you've got all these people. But ultimately, if a brief is wrong, if a question is lame, if something doesn't go right, it's You

guys show absolutely, and we get those briefs and the briefs who always really good, but particularly when it comes to political interviews. I mean,

how do you prepare Because you are very exacting,

just very well prepared. Well, I just make sure I'm prepared. I mean, don't bother doing the job unless you What

is the preparation look like?

Well, read in the papers every day, watching sky news, watching 7 30 every night, watching Q and A. You know, just making sure at every turn that when there is a shift in the breeze, when there's there's nuances to the way the political landscape is looking your across it, you know why it's happened. You know who the main players are. You know what people are talking about. I

How can you ever go? Okay, I'm going to look away for a minute and get some sleep. Like there's always something happening in the 24 hour news

cycle. Yeah, there is. You just you just You gotta hedge your bets. You've just got to make sure that you're as up to date as you can possibly bay again. There's producers there in the morning who who might have caught something that you've missed. Ah, nde, you know, light lines coming back, which is a real bummer for me because quite often,

but it's going to be 9. 30 at least,

but least that help.

Yeah, because how many of the questions that you ask are scripted and planned? And how many do you have? Teo, just take the temperature as the interview's happening. Live and attack. It's about 50 50

because what you've got to do more than anything in a politically and political interview is listen,

because what

you listening for? Often slip ups, something that you know is going to resonate and hasn't been said before or somebody who's not across their brief or a change in policy. Or, I mean, I asked the prime minister at the end of last year what? He's great. His greatest achievement. Wass as minister for women. Now I could not have predicted that he would say the carbon tax getting rid of the carbon tax was

know it was just glorious. How did that question come about? Because 2 May had you written all over it

because I looked. It was it was all to do with the cabinet reshuffle that the prime minister did back in early December, and I just looked at how many jobs had changed. And I thought, I wonder what happened with his role as minister for women? No, he's still got that portfolio and I was scratching my head, thinking, I'm trying to think of one word that I've heard him say in his capacity as minister for women. And I had a look online. I

Let's let's see, it's done all the great work behind the scenes and not told anyone.

Someone in the press office hasn't put out a press release on it. I

mean, how that felt at the time, Just leading up to that question, Where do you place the question? He answers. Then how do you feel inside? Are you going

well, You just You just know that this is going to make headlines because it was not the response I was expecting. I thought he would have bean well enough prepared because, of course, leading up to him becoming prime minister, there was all of this rhetoric about strong wife, strong daughters, strong chief of staff.

Job there to be done. But he says carbon tax, and then what do you do? Where you going? I can't believe he just said that. Is that what you're thinking?

You can let that lie, because it it says everything you need to know. And then I let Social Media takeover

on. You knew that it was going to go now. And did he know? What's it like at the end of an interview like that?

Well, he stumbled. Yeah. Hey, didn't see the question coming. He didn't have a prepared answer and he wouldn't have

been expecting it. And so then when when you threw the commercial break or whatever, What happened?

I said to Sylvia

that What did you say to him? Did he go our Thanks, Lisa. Goodbye. Well, it was just rusty after that. It was

towards the end of the year. You get certainly get frosty responses. And I finished off by saying, You know, you're always up for an interview, and I really appreciate that with Tony Abbott. He's always available for interview with us, and you know, there's plenty of politicians that say no,

they won't talk to women's media won't talk to us. A lot of promises for the elections.

I don't know that I can help you

put in a good word. This's a bit of a weird question, but when you got the today show, Pete was probably had. At that time, your husband had a higher profile in your marriage. You've bean. You are an absolute icon. Two women who had followed you through magazines and you certainly had a profile. But he was the former Wallaby. He was all of those things. And then you got the today show and now you are a superstar, and why you have been nominated for a Golden Globe

I can honestly say it's not something we think about

Way

live, A very you know, sort of suburban family life. You know, we don't go to a lot of red carpet things way go to things that would matter to us like charity events that were supporting. But apart from that way with our kids,

Do you still additonal books?

I haven't been able to do it in more recent times are still obviously advise you about the writing process is

very involved in each other's careers, and you always very involved in you watch each other stuff. I know each other advice always

And that's, you know, Tio, I know that you've got somebody at home who totally has your back and has given you good advice in the past. Doesn't mean I always follow it, nor nor he mine But you. No way. We have so many things in common and always have and tow have professions that on and career parts that have been very similar away long has probably helped a lot. I don't know. It's just we're really suburban were really boring, but

I guess I wanted what I was getting at is Mohr. How do you work out who takes priority because you've both got extraordinarily demanding jobs and you've you've had three kids and just some life has to go on, He's got the book deadline. You've got to be in L. A. Or Perth or wherever it has to bay. How do you manage your lives that part of your life? Well, we compare

diaries a lot. That's kind of crucial. But with Billy doing her you 12 exams this year, way talk to her at the beginning of the year because of our three kids. She is definitely the most focused on her accuracy. Absolutely. Our boys doing their ecstasy was like dragging them backwards through wet sand. And Billy is focused and hard working and therefore stressed. And so we started down the beginning of the What can we do to help you through this?

he could turn down a

hook. The only time I've ever seen Pete Cook was when he was suddenly a contestant on Celebrity master share that about well, that was about cocoa. For about two months. We had a ban on toast. We had cooking that ice cream. We had the lot. But I mean, you know, we just She's out last. She

cooks dinner

Well, he's been cooking dinner a lot, and what I've been telling him for years is cooking is not that hard. Try those 30 recipe books that we've got sitting on the steps is he's discovered. How is it is and I've always cooked and I like cooking. But when you're

always drudgery

Thie only one sees the mess after the cooking. You know, that could make for a great marital spat. And it's amazing how attention has dropped because Billy feels like she gets a parent's every single night way, said to her Way into you. We sit down, we have a home cooked meal. Obviously, there's nights when sun lights his home

here in the Oscars, You here. You know, that night I had to go to the Oscars, but

that's that's the plan. Tto have a plan is the main thing, and to mostly stick to it.

Is it because I asked you to do something thiss year and you said we've committed, yes, but I had my that.

She's she's number one. So

we do something for me next

year. Next year

E o called free flyers. We had all these women in a nice don't call us empty nesters. It makes a sound sad and lonely. And when not happy and you know who are into last week is Deborah. Lt's world, and I like being an empty nester. And she said, No, Richard and I can have loud sex all over the house. Okay, I wasn't expecting that.

And is that what she's doing? What she's doing with Richard Glover's How good's

that? Well, yes,

there's a camera on us right now. Wei didn't say that.

Thanks for listening to no Philtre. Tune in next time to hear me talk to journalist and writer Rebecca Sparrow. Find out more about this podcast on the Mamma Mia Podcast networks Facebook Page or on My Facebook Page, May of Friedman Online. Thiss podcast was produced by Mon ic Boli Research by ELISA Ratliff on hosted by Mai Mai, A Freedman