A guy I work with named Michael is also a triple j announcer during the early hours of the morning.

On Saturday morning at 3:28am the station received a text from a guy called Ned, who had broken down on the Hume Highway, travelling from Young to Newcastle. “Need a shout out to lift my spirit” he wrote. He also requested Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Michael gave him a shout out, and may or may not have played RHCP.

At 4:16, the text line heard from Ned again. “A bloke pulled over and he was listening to triple j and heard I was broken [down] and gave me a jump start, now I’m back on the road.”

That’s the real power of radio. Until podcasts and Spotify can provide that level of random human connection, radio is going to be just fine.

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