Brian Carlton (born 27 December 1962) is an Australian radio announcer, producer and journalist. He is known professionally as The Spoonman.

Biography

Carlton was born in Australia, into a Catholic household. He grew up in Beacon Hill on

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

, finishing high school in 1980. Working several jobs, including a bank manager, he entered the world of radio at age 21. After six years, Carlton was chosen to head up a major metropolitan radio station, becoming the youngest ever talk back host. Carlton has worked on a number of Sydney radio stations, including

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the P ...

and 2GB, In the on air presenting and producing roles. Until end of 2008, he was a talk back presenter on the radio station

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

, using the moniker The Spoonman. Spoonman was the weekday newsreader on

Triple M Sydney Triple M Sydney (callsign 2MMM) is a radio station broadcasting in Sydney, Australia. Triple M Sydney is part of Southern Cross Austereo's Triple M network and broadcasts on the 104.9 MHz frequency. History The Early Days Triple M commenced ...

, featuring in three separate news "rants" throughout the day as well as appearing on Triple M's program

The Grill Team ''The Grill Team'' was an Australian Morning zoo, breakfast radio show that broadcasts weekday mornings from 6 am to 9 am AEST on Triple M Sydney. It commenced broadcasting on 17 August 2009. On 21 December 2018, it was announced that the ...

, but in October 2012 he was notified that his contract would not be renewed for 2013. From 3 February 2012, he hosted a show on Newstalk

, called 'The Stir' With Brian Carlton. The show runs in 6 pm – 8 pm. Carlton is Also Executive Producer of Jason Morrison's Drive show, also on 2UE. Carlton anchored a new local talk show, broadcast across Northern and North West Tasmania on Tasmanian Broadcasters Stations LAFM Launceston, 7BU Burnie, 7AD Devonport, 7SD Scottsdale and 7XS Queenstown. He announced his resignation for "personal reasons" 5 October 2019, saying he would finish up three weeks later, however his final broadcast was the following Monday 7 October. On 30 October 2019, Triple M Hobartbr>announced
Brian Carlton would be taking on the breakfast show in Hobart after it axed the popular Dave Noonan show. He left Triple M in February 2022.Spoonman leaves Triple M Hobart
''Radio Today'' 2 February 2022

Views and opinions

Carlton was born into a Catholic household but states openly that he is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. He is a strong endorser of

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...

' book, '' The God Delusion''. Spoonman is known for his outspoken opinions on censorship, freedom and the current War on terror.

References

External links

Spoonman on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlton, Brian 1962 births Australian atheists Former 2GB presenters Former Roman Catholics Journalists from Sydney Living people