Night Air

About Us

The Night Air – listening for pleasure: an audio adventure in which ideas, sounds and music are remixed around a new theme each week.

TNA is a listening experience animated by dub versions of ABC Radio National’s distinctive programming. Obliquely connected material is re-assembled with sonic glue - letting the listener’s imagination build a new story.

It’s a space to find the music in speech and the poetry in ideas, a show that invites you to take time to unravel the usual media tangle.

If you would like information about contributing to The Night Air please visit our Guide for Freelance Contributors page.

Brent Clough

Brent Clough is one of the co-creators of The Night Air. He has previously produced and presented the innovative Radio National music program Other Worlds and the world music show The Daily Planet. He is also a foundation producer/presenter for the features and documentaries program, Radio Eye.

Originally from Aotearoa (where he worked for Radio New Zealand) Brent has made programs about arts and ideas for the ABC since 1990. He has a particular interest in contemporary music and cultural identity and has a Masters degree on the subject. His interests include cosmic jazz, travel, Pacific culture, and bamboo.

Diane Dean

Diane Dean was born in the UK and began her radio career with the BBC in London. She later emigrated to Australia and worked as an audio engineer, before joining the ABC as a program maker. She has a Science degree in Architecture and a Dip. Design Science in Architectural Acoustics. She has a love of discontinuity, horse riding, yoga and languages.

John Jacobs

John Jacobs is a founding member of The Night Air production team. He has been with the ABC for over 20 years and his experience as a sound engineer spans all areas of broadcasting from live music to talk shows, opera and documentaries. He is a public-media activist, electronic and mechanical inventor, promoter and performer. All these activities he applies to his passion for exploring social issues in artistic and entertaining ways. His private obsessions include Sun Ra, piracy, vegan cooking and his trusty bike.

Tony Barrell

When Tony Barrell was asked to present a music show on Double Jay (in 1976) he didn't think anyone would want to hear what he had to say, so he went into “Cobweb Corner” - the section of the ABC's record library full of 'spoken word' records which were deemed to be too uncool for 2JJ’s youth audience. There he found many ready made narrators, and so sampled Bugs Bunny, Winston Churchill and Monty Python to do the talking for him, and eventually started constructing new narratives out of even less suitable 'found', dis- or misplaced audio matter. The result was “Sunday Afternoon at the Movies” and “Watching the Radio with the TV Off”, shows which were the grandparents of “The Night Air”. He is now a much traveled writer, a radio (and TV) documentary maker, but still thinks radio can be the only true source of amusement, inspiration and pure fun, where the fully unexpected meets the totally predictable to create the convincingly impossible.