During our first half hour chatting on the chocolate modular sofa at Zan Rowe’s 1970s Melbourne flat, the long-time music broadcaster talks about her loves. Gardening. Elizabeth Strout novels. Midnight Oil. Rest. Asking people questions she wants to know the answers to, “because if I want to know the answer to a question, I’ll guarantee 100 other people do, too”.
Her maxim? “Don’t ask, don’t know.”
That’s definitely a cue. I look at Rowe’s bare fingers, flashing as she speaks. And ask the whereabouts of the ring from her now-infamous broken engagement to her fiancé-turned-partner Geoff Orton.
More on that unusual relationship status later. But for now, Rowe sort of snorts: “The ring? I don’t think there was one. Hang on, maybe we got one in Sri Lanka.” Then she second guesses herself, saying she isn’t sure if that ring was “actually a technical engagement one”. She shrugs. “Maybe it’s just the feminist in me. I was like, ‘Why does the woman wear an engagement ring – is branded – but not the man?’ ”
At home on a weekday morning, Rowe talks easily about her personal life, but for most of her award-winning career as a broadcaster on Triple R, Triple J and Double J, her focus has been on others. Via her Take 5 with Zan Rowe podcast turned ABC-TV show, she’s coaxed personal revelations and tears from guests including Sir Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher and Missy Higgins. She’s championed emerging artists, hosted festivals and counted down New Year’s fireworks.
All the while, there’s been no hint of scandal. Rowe is trusted and respected by industry heads, is friends with all her exes. At festivals and supermarkets alike, strangers tell her they “grew up” listening to her, that she’s their friend. “That’s the best thing you could say,” s
Read More