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Conversations

Conversations

ABC listen

Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption. Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling. Conversations Live is coming to the stage! Join Sarah Kanowski and Richard Fidler for an unmissable night of unforgettable stories, behind-the-scenes secrets, and surprise guests. Australia’s most-loved podcast — live, up close, and in the moment. Find out more at the Conversations website.

2843 - Encore: How Sean Sweeney found his deaf heart
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  • 2843 - Encore: How Sean Sweeney found his deaf heart

    Sean Sweeney on the complications and joys of growing up as a a hearing child in a deaf family, using Auslan, a distinctively Australian sign language. In his twenties, Sean rebelled against the deaf world, and began to look for a new life in the hearing one. But after eighteen years, he returned. He found work as an interpreter at TAFE, and he met his future wife. In 2019, Sean became well known for interpreting from English to Auslan for Australia's Rural Fire Service during Australia's Bushfire Emergency. The episode of Conversations explores family, Auslan, interpreting, bushfire emergency, family, CODA

    Fri, 23 May 2025 - 51min
  • 2842 - The miserable lives and golden guns of tyrants, dictators and despots

    Marcel Dirsus is fascinated by the treadmill of tyranny: how dictators gain power, how they stay there and how they fall. This is his blueprint for bringing an end to authoritarianism. With democracies seemingly faltering worldwide, political scientist and writer Marcel Dirsus is putting tyrants under the microscope to better understand how they rise and how they fall. Years ago, Marcel took a break from his university studies and travelled to central Africa, where he took a job in a brewery. One day, while walking to work, he heard shots fired and an explosion in the distance as the military was launching a coup. The experience terrified him, and drew him into a study of tyrants — the dictators and despots who make life miserable for so many people on the planet. While they project an image of strength, guarded on all sides, and surrounded by people who do their bidding, Marcel says they live in fear. For the road to power is often flanked by the road to revolution. These men know a mass uprising, an assassination, a mutiny or a foreign invasion could end their reign at any moment, and who, or what will take their place? In investigating the long history of tyrannical leaders, however, Marcel has found a renewed optimism for Western Democracy. How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive is published by Hachette Australia. Marcel is appearing at the Sydney Writers' Festival on Friday 23 May. This episode of Conversations explores Putin, Xi Jinping, China, CCP, Russia, Trump, global politics, dictatorships, democracy, voting rights, election results, the new world order, Stalin, Hitler, famous leaders, Churchill, politics, books, writing, history, war, civil war, Africa, USSR, Elon Musk, Gaddafi, golden gun, torture, Libya, Syria, control, Machiavelli, monarchs, Al-Ghazali, East Germany, Congo, academia, what to study at university, coup, the elite, power systems, Cold War, Bashar al-Assad, Ukraine, surveillance, Roman Empire.

    Thu, 22 May 2025 - 51min
  • 2841 - Claire Keegan on bravery, writing and the single life

    The bestselling Irish author grew up on a farm set on “50 acres on the side of a hill”. Growing up, she witnessed a harsh, misogynistic country that convinced her she would never marry. Claire shares what she has learned about writing from a litter of newborn piglets. Her works Small Things Like These and Foster have both been made into movies. Claire's stories often take place in the landscape where she grew up — the farms and small towns of Wexford in Southeast Ireland. Claire was the youngest of six children, and when she was born their farmhouse had no running water and few books. Instead, Claire fell in love with horses. As a small child she would go to the wood with her brother, who was a lumberjack. Amongst the chainsaws and workmen, little Claire would drive a harnessed horse from behind, to the roadside, to help clear the heavy trees.  And as she grew older, she developed a fierce determination to live life on her own terms. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. Presented by Sarah Kanowski. This episode of Conversations touches on marriage, Magdalene laundries, contraception, Ireland, Catholicism, big Irish families, horsemanship, starting brumbies, skewbald Connemara pony, New Orleans, writing, literary prizes, farms, personal stories, epic life stories, family dynamics, Cillian Murphy and modern history. Further information Listen to Sarah's interview with Queensland horseman, Ken Faulkner.

    Wed, 21 May 2025 - 53min
  • 2840 - Peter Godwin's complicated loves, great losses and occasional wars

    The writer had a complex relationship with his mother, whose professional reputation built a wall between them, but also saved his life more than once while working as a war correspondent. Peter Godwin was born in Zimbabwe when the country was still under colonial rule. His English mother was the only doctor for thousands of kilometres and early on, Peter realised that he came second to her patients. When Peter was little, civil war broke out at home and so he was sent away to boarding school, and then conscripted by the army when he was still a teenager. After his service, Peter became a journalist and while on the ground, his mother’s professional reputation saved his life more than once, including the time he was kidnapped while reporting in Somalia. As he grew older, Peter came to see his mother in a new light, and he finally learned the real reason she and his father had emigrated to Africa in the first place. This episode of Conversations explores PTSD, war correspondence, journalism, colonialism, the British Empire, Africa, Civil War, the United Kingdom, mothers and sons, the death of a sibling, grief, occupational hazards, mental health, grief, memoirs, biography, origin story, epic, adventure, conscription, boy soldiers. Exit Wounds is published by Allen&Unwin. Richard spoke with Peter's sister, Georgina Godwin, in 2022.

    Tue, 20 May 2025 - 53min
  • 2839 - Treating anorexia by nourishing the heart

    Psychiatrist Warren Ward treats patients who are severely ill with eating disorders. Understanding the mystery of human nature has driven him since he was a young doctor. Warren Ward's patients are often critically ill with diseases like anorexia. Warren says asking someone with anorexia to eat is like asking an arachnophobe to put their hand in a jar full of spiders. As a psychiatrist, Warren uses psychotherapy to help his patients. He encourages those with an eating disorder to approach their mental illness as one part of their whole self. His interest in the mystery of human nature informed his study of philosophy, and led him to examine the love lives of philosophers. Lovers of Philosophy is published by Ockham Publishing. This episode of Conversations explores mental illness, bulimia, orthorexia, anorexia, EDs, Eating disorders, disordered eating, how to help a loved one with an eating disorder, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, romance, heartbreak, love life, relationships, inpatient treatment, mental health hospitals, feeding clinics.

    Fri, 16 May 2025 - 52min
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