The Pop Culture Inspiring Journalist Kumi Taguchi Right Now
The Melbourne-born journalist and host of Insight on SBS shares what inspires her – and how she keeps her cool.
My favourite movie is…
Die Hard. I’ve seen it about 50 times. I adore Bruce Willis – he’s the ultimate action hero in that he’s an ordinary guy who’s stuck in a building that’s under attack and he has to figure out how to save everyone. It has humour and love and Alan Rickman, who is fantastic. When I watch it now, I can see the hairstyles are a little bit ’80s and the fashion’s a bit old but the storyline never ages. And yes, it absolutely is a Christmas movie.
The podcasts I’m listening to right now…
On Search Engine, the title of each episode is a question that we might type into Google. The one that got me into it was Why Don’t We Eat People?, which sounds simple but delves into all these big, existential concepts. Another podcast I like is by Tara Brach, a meditation teacher who leans into Buddhist philosophy. She is very empathetic. If I’m feeling a bit anxious, I’ll listen to her voice and always feel calmer.
The person I follow on Instagram is…
Susan David. She’s a doctor, a scholar and the author of Emotional Agility, a really well-researched book on how we can become more emotionally agile at work, in relationships and with our family. I take a lot of her lessons on board and they’ve shaped how I live my life. For example, when my buttons are being pushed on the show, I can notice that and stay curious about why that’s happening, as opposed to immediately judging the person for having a different opinion than me on a topic.
The best book I’ve ever read is…
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It’s about a father and son who walk through a post-Armageddon world. I could write essays on this book – the construction, the simplicity of the words. But it’s also the heartfelt nature of what’s going on. It’s extraordinary.
