Misha Zelinsky is a Fulbright Scholar, lawyer, war correspondent, and a leading authority on the rise of global authoritarianism.

Born and raised by a single mother in the NSW coastal city of Wollongong, famed for its mining industry and surfing beaches, Misha decided to put aside a promising young legal career to pursue his passion for Labor and trade unionism, where he spent 12 years as the leader of the Australian Workers’ Union.

Ultimately, it was this inherent drive to make an impact (“I want to make the biggest difference possible to the things that I care about”) that led him to Ukraine in 2022 as a war correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, following years as a regular columnist for the same news outlet writing on the future of democracy, Australian domestic policy, national security and geopolitics. He’s also the host of podcast, ‘Diplomates – A Geopolitical Chinwag’.

In this episode of the Influence Unlocked, we take a very personal look into Misha’s life and some of the key decisions and turning points that have led him to where he is today. We also discuss the motivation behind becoming a published author, with Misha’s first work of fact-based fiction, The Sun Will Rise, honouring Ukraine’s fight for freedom in its ongoing conflict with Russia, released in late 2023.

On taking chances in career and life, Misha is resolute. “Just jump,” he says. “It's never as scary as you think. People treat their lives as this irreversible decision-making process, but broadly speaking, most people's careers, those decisions, are not as scary as [we] build them up to be.”

“The gut knows. Take the chance, you might surprise yourself!”

Find him on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter): @mishazelinskyBuy The Sun Will Rise book: thesunwillrisebook.com

Email Samantha: [email protected]

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