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Good one, Wilson!Tony Wilson writing about Tony Wilson things (sport, people, parenting, life) Author: Tony Wilson
Tony Wilson's interviews, audio grabs, read-aloud and other podcastable snippets related to Substack blog 'Good one, Wilson!' goodonewilson.substack.com Language: en Genres: Kids & Family, Parenting, Sports Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Race rebooted!
Thursday, 6 November, 2025
Apply to be part of 2026 Race Around the World. You have to be 18yo. I had a little run on media street when they made the announcement. The above interview is with my old Triple R Breakfasters buddy, Jess McGuire now of ABC NSW. The below chat was with Richelle Hunt of The Conversation Hour, ABC Melbourne. Finally it’s back! My 28 year reign as the title holder for Race Around the World is slated to expire. In case they want the trophy back, the plastic globe detached from its even-more-plastic base in 2002 and unlike a gold-glitter sprayed table tennis bat Tam and I won at the Down Street mixed doubles in 1999, it’s not on our cluttered mantelpieces. For years I’ve said how fortunate I was that Race existed at the exact moment I needed it to. It didn’t exist before. It hasn’t existed since. In 1997-98, the ABC plucked sixteen lucky twentysomethings and put us on national television, with a filmmaking task that was simultaneously so breathtaking exciting and gobsmackingly difficult that I’m not sure I have a reliable memory of it. But now, it exists again. And even in a media environment where there are many more avenues to get noticed or ‘go viral’, the 2026 version will change lives. Television’s power might be diminished, but there is a dream element to Race. Ten countries. One hundred days. Travelling alone. The romance of landing in a place on day one and leaving ten days with a story in the can. The idea that eight young people are out there living this wild adventure in different places at the same time. In 1998 we carried a 3-chip Panasonic handy cam and 3 x 30m miniDV tapes per story. We’d make a paper edit in four columns (VISION, AUDIO, AUDIO 2, SUBTITLES) and send the tapes and script back to an editor at the ABC in a DHL bag. In 2026, I’m guessing the Racers will shoot on phones and edit on laptops. I hope they still have to travel alone. Perhaps the great lie of the show was that it was a fun adventure. It was such hard work. So much of our time was spent in hotels or motels, shot listing or watching footage on a tiny camera screen. For each of my ten stories, I allocated three days to doing the paper edit. I remember having a bit of a cry to my parents at Milan airport on Day 30, because I was exhausted and stressed and there were still seven stories to go. It was such a marathon. I actually have no idea how I completed it. Having said that, the highs were so high. I’ll never forget the first day of the Race, my taxi winding into the moonscape that is La Paz from its bonkers altitude airport. The sun was rising and I was thinking the world was so big and beautiful, and that my life had truly been transformed. Four days later I was in San Pedro prison, interviewing a drug trafficker whose three kids shared a cell with him, because there was not enough foster care or state housing for the children of inmates. I reckon I was given access because I gifted the prison official a kangaroo pin. I’ll also never forget the last day, Day 100, running through the traffic in Shanghai with a DHL bag above my head, punching the air to celebrate the end. Of course it was all for the camera. I wonder who I got to hold it? They were on an overpass up above the traffic. I would have been worried that they’d run off with it. So much of the trip was for the camera. F**k it was an amazing time. I said it in the radio interviews, but people should apply. In 1997, it was a taxing application process. We had to make a four minute story in our area, as well as deliver pieces to camera introducing ourselves. There was also a six page question and answer type thing, that felt like a written job interview. It won’t be quite the same this time, I think there’s an assumption that leading candidates might already have a body or work, but they might select genuine first timers like I was. I wonder what the balance will look like? Will it be content creators, who bring established social media audiences to the show? Or will it be film school kids? There’s actually no upper age stipulated on the press release. Maybe I should try and defend my title. 😉The due date for applications is 22nd December. For a few years, I’ve intended to bring a little Race Around the World focus to this newsletter, but I get distracted by things that have happened more recently than 1998! But given a new generation will be turning their cinematic gaze towards this opportunity, I thought I might share a few tips. S**t, I think I’ve still got handouts from Mike Rubbo, the creator of the show and its executive director, on what makes a good doco. “What’s at stake!” He was always banging on about “what’s at stake”. My plan is to write a weekly piece that will help people with their applications, starting next Tuesday. I’m so pleased that this is happening. Good one, Wilson! is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.It’s weird, I was just writing about the days before left on Race Around the World in this birthday post. I found out about the reboot as I pressed send! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodonewilson.substack.com/subscribe
