Josh Szeps,
previously known as Josh Zepps, is an Australian
media personality,
political satirist, and television presenter.
Szeps has previously hosted ''
Weekend Breakfast'' on
ABC News. He was a founding host for
HuffPost Live[HuffPost Live](_blank)
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
; 16 February 2015 and his work has included satirical writing and presenting for Australian radio, as well as the hosting of ''
Brink'', an American TV series. He also hosted the podcast
Point of Inquiry for the
Center for Inquiry
The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government.
History
The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...
.
Early life and education
Szeps is the son of actor
Henri Szeps. He attended
Fort Street High School
Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary school, secondary day school, located in Petersh ...
and the
University of Technology, Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...
.
Szeps won Australia's highest radio prize for his long-running satirical comedy sketches on Sydney radio.
He changed his
last name from "Szeps" to "Zepps" in the United States to avoid pronunciation confusion.
Television
Szeps was the host and co-executive producer of ''
Australian Idol
''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...
Backstage'', the behind-the-scenes component of the namesake television series.
Beginning in 2008, Szeps was the host and creative producer of the
Science Channel's ''
Brink'', a
news
News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the tes ...
-style TV series which examined breakthroughs in
technology and
discovery.
The series ended the following year. Later, he was anchor and correspondent on CBS News Productions' Peabody-winning
Channel One News.
In 2012, Szeps was a founding host for
HuffPost Live.
Szeps was also a regular correspondent with
Al Roker on the
NBC's
Today.
He has also appeared on the panel and co-hosted ''
The Project'' on
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
in Australia and the
ABC News program ''Weekend Breakfast''.
In January 2019, ABC announced that Szeps would replace Andrew Geoghegan as host of ''
Weekend Breakfast''.
Radio
Over the Summer 2016/2017 period Szeps hosted the National Evenings Show on
ABC Local Radio
ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...
across Australia.
Szeps hosts a podcast tackling societal issues, ''Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps''.
Since the end of 2021, Szeps has presented
ABC Radio Sydney's Afternoons Program, after it was announced that his predecessor, James Valentine, would be moving to the Breakfast slot.
Voice career
Szeps was cast as the voice of "Olly the
Kookaburra", one of three
mascots in the
Sydney Summer Olympics.
After leaving university in 2000, Szeps was hired as a script assistant on ''
BackBerner'', a comedy television series.
He also worked in the production of
2SM
2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group.
The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's.
2SM's progra ...
and
2GB
2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE.
2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM.
In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total rad ...
, two Australian
radio stations.
In 2003, Szeps was hired by
Mike Carlton of
2UE
2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment Co and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales.
History 1920s 2EU
Electrical Utilities applied to the ...
, a commercial radio station in
Sydney, Australia
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...
. Szeps developed a radio
soliloquy
A soliloquy (, from Latin ''solo'' "to oneself" + ''loquor'' "I talk", plural ''soliloquies'') is a monologue addressed to oneself, thoughts spoken out loud without addressing another.
Soliloquies are used as a device in drama to let a character ...
for 2UE called "
John Howard's Diary", in which he made a weekly
impersonation of the
Australian Prime Minister's thoughts on the past week's events.
Szeps said to ''
The Sydney Morning Herald'' in 2003 that "if John Howard wasn't in power, it's entirely possible my life would be going in a completely different direction".
After John Howard was defeated in the
2007 Australian federal election
The 2007 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 24 November 2007. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The election featured a 39-day campaign, with 13.6& ...
, Szeps' radio spoof became "
Kevin Rudd's Diary", a satire of the new Prime Minister in the same format.
Szeps was the creator of ''
Never Never Newsreel'', a weekly
syndicated
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
satirical radio sketch that ran until June 2008.
Personal life
Szeps was married on August 16, 2014, in Concord, New Hampshire, to Sean Joseph Gallerani, now known as Sean Szeps.
The couple live in Sydney, Australia with their twins.
References
External links
Josh Szeps ABC Profile
at the
Science Channel
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szeps, Josh
Year of birth missing (living people)
Australian expatriates in the United States
Australian gay actors
Australian podcasters
Australian satirists
Australian television presenters
Australian LGBT broadcasters
Australian LGBT journalists
Living people