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Kate Turkingtons Show Breaks SA Records Posted on \| 2009-09-10		Back To Home

	Talk Radio 702 presenter Kate Turkington's show has broken South African records for the longest-running radio talk show with the same host in the same timeslot. We take a look at the secret behind the show's success and the life of the presenter who has kept it rolling for the past 17 years. Witty, cultured and insightful, Kate has lived a life far from ordinary. A seasoned traveller she has waltzed at dawn with a Chinese dance instructor in a Beijing square, fallen over Emperor penguins in Antarctica and lunched with a rajah in Rajasthan. A daredevil by heart, she has been winched over a raging torrent in the Andes in Peru, climbed Ayers Rock in the red heart of Australia and downed 'thumbs' of pepper vodka in Russia. She's also broken bread with monks in Tibet's oldest monastery, dined with the Comrades in Cuba, and heard the stars sing in the Kalahari. She is also a lover of fine things and beautiful moments but one of Kate's biggest loves (aside from books, of which she has at least 30 on her bedside table waiting to be gobbled up) is radio. Kate has been in broadcasting for the last 40 years and at Talk Radio 702 for 22 of them. Kate came in as a guest on John Berks' show in the late '80s. A few hours later, she got a call from the station manager asking if she wanted to be a talk-show host. Kate had trained with the BBC and so it wasn't her first time on radio. She jumped at the opportunity. After a few years at 702 she was offered to opportunity to present a three-hour long weekly talk show called Believe It Or Not. Today the show, which airs every Sunday live on Talk Radio 702 and simulcast to 567 CapeTalk, has shattered South African records for the longest-running radio talk show with the same host in the same timeslot - certainly an achievement worth celebrating. In Kate's case, by listening to the Beatles while sitting on her porch, with her dog Rocky at her side and the smell of fresh jasmine filling the air around her. With a long-standing audience - almost 70 percent of which are men - the show has exceeded all expectations and grown into a brand on its own. Believe It Or Not offers a non-denominational but multi-dimensional approach to philosophic, moral and religious topics and issues drawn from our daily lives. The subtitle of the programme is 'the way you choose to live your life' and circles around the quest of finding the true meaning of life, said Kate, who holds a First Class Honours degree in English from London University and an MA Cum Laude in African Literature from Wits. With her extensive travel and intercultural experience, Kate comments on and facilitates lively discussions surrounding values, beliefs and ethics. I have interviewed everyone from Goldie Horn to Deepak Chopra to Desmond Tutu to Richard Dawkins (author of The God Delusion). Because of the show's credibility, no one has ever refused an interview and I'm able to speak to influential and interesting people around the world. Kate said the show has changed her life. When I started it I thought I was very well-educated, well-bred and a master at understanding people. On reflection, I knew absolutely nothing. Through the show, I have learnt so much about myself and about other people. It has definitely made me a deeper, more contemplative person and made me appreciate myself and those around me. Aside from radio, Kate has also written several books, the majority of them on travel. In the next two weeks she heads off to Tibet. Then in February she is going to the Festival of Masks in Burkino Faso before jetting off to France, Ireland and Spain. With her 75th birthday just around the corner, Kate said she has no plans on ever slowing down. She attributes her rich life and all her successes to her positive outlook. I never expect anything to fail and I make and take opportunities wherever I can, she explained. I love life and I love people. I wake up every morning and take each new day in with open arms.



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