Conversations

After a catastrophic car crash in the parking lot of her hospital, Dr Olivia Ong became a paraplegic. But her obsession with learning how to walk again was stronger than her incomplete spinal cord injury. When Olivia Ong was 28 years old, she had the world at her feet. She had recently qualified as a doctor, something she had dreamed of since she was a child growing up in Malaysia. She had married a man she loved deeply, and they were busy building their future together. Then, everything changed after a car crashed into her in the parking lot of the hospital she worked in. Olivia now refers to herself as a 'walking paraplegic'. She spent years working hard to walk again, using simple exercise therapies she discovered in the United States. Back On My Feet: From Doctor to Patient is published by HarperCollins. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores medicine, university, love, faith, spinal cord injuries, paraplegia, car crashes, from doctor to patient, marriage, love, motherhood, pain specialist, rehab specialist, California, Project Walk, exercise therapy, surgery, wheelchair user, people living with disability, parenting with disability, accessibility. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Lynne Shori grew up with her hero dad, thinking her Papua New Guinean mother was dead. As an adult, she discovered the truth and set about finding her lost family. When Lynne was growing up, it was just her and her dad. Lynne's dad was her hero; he was different and adventurous but she always felt safe with him when they went on hair-raising adventures together in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. He had always told Lynne that her mum had died in childbirth. But when she became an adult, Lynne discovered this wasn't true. Just as she turned 40, Lynne set off to a remote island in northern Papua New Guinea to discover the truth of her family story. Once she started gathering all the answers to her lifelong questions, Lynne and her father then set about healing their own, very special relationship. Find out more about Wantaim PNG, and the work they're doing across remote Papua New Guinea, online. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores the Pacific, Pasifika, family origin stories, Stolen Generations, charity work, tok Pisin, Manus Island, father daughter relationships, mixed race children, Australia's relationship with PNG, sanitation, education, discovering your truth, mental health, mother daughter relationship, Melanesian culture, family, siblings, blended families, Oceania, geopolitics, knowing your parents, therapy, estrangement, reunion, forgiveness, grief, identity, Sydney, finance, mid-life crisis, rehab, sense of community, family secrets. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Steve Biddulph spent decades working to understand what children need as they grow, but then in his mid-50s, Steve gained an insight that shifted almost everything about how he saw himself. Steve likes to remind us that humans are 'big sensitive mammals' with needs for connection and self awareness. As a psychologist (now retired) and parent educator, he has been at the forefront of an evolving conversation about masculinity, emotional intelligence, caring for our children and making sense of our own childhoods. His best-selling books include The Secret of Happy Children, Raising Boys, Raising Girls and Manhood. But it wasn't until he was in his mid-50s that Steve gained an insight into a huge facet of his own story. He was having a lunch with a friend, a psychiatrist, who began asking him a series of pointed questions. That conversation shifted almost everything about how Steve saw himself. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2021  The producer was Nicola Harrison and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. Further information Fully Human: A New Way of Using Your Mind is published by Pan Macmillan

Environmental journalist, Michael Dulaney looks at viruses and bacteria that can move between bats, horses, seals, pigs, voles and even polar bears, and the conditions that lead to human infection.   These diseases are known as zoonoses. Michael says climate change, urban sprawl, animal farming and even homelessness contribute to wild animals coming into ever closer contact with people, leading these illnesses to move from creatures to us. To understand how this process works, Michael has researched the volunteers dedicating their lives to conservation.  He has camped out on a freezing Victorian night to try to catch ducks with a net shot from a cannon, to test them for bird flu.  He has gone frog hunting in the jungles of Indonesia, and he’s visited a suburban Melbourne apartment where a dedicated citizen gives up her master bedroom to a collection of injured flying foxes, while she sleeps in the spare room. Michael also explains how the curious case of Trench Fever fits into the zoonotic puzzle. It was found first in Edmonton, Canada in 2022, when patients developed a serious heart condition after they were given organs donated by homeless victims of the opioid crisis. Further information Sentinels: When diseases spread between animals and humans is published by Scribe. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode covers H5N1 bird flu, covid-19, pandemic, lockdown, flu, cat flu, swine flu, hendra virus, horse racing, horse trainer, fly by night bat clinic, Werribee poo ponds, necropsy, chicken farms, disease-proof pigs, PRRS, CRISPR, vaccines, vaccination, smallpox, pox virus, borealpox and northern red-backed vole. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Colleen Gwynne led the investigation into the murder of the British backpacker and eventually confronted his killer in prison. In 2001, Peter Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were ambushed on a remote stretch of road in the outback and Peter was shot dead. Colleen was working as a cop in Alice Springs when she was asked to take over the complex murder case. With help from the F.B.I, her work saw Bradley John Murdoch arrested and charged. She confronted him in prison, and refused to be intimidated, despite his intense aggression towards her. Murdoch was sentenced to life imprisonment and died in 2025. After leaving the police force, Colleen took up another challenging job. She became the Northern Territory Children's Commissioner, tasked with protecting vulnerable children. Colleen's own story mean she brings a unique understanding to the work. This episode was first broadcast in 2018  The producer was Nicola Harrison and the Executive Producer was Pam O'Brien.

Nikki Goldstein was in a coma in the ICU at St Vincent's Hospital when she first 'met' Rabbi Eli Schlanger. When she woke, the pair embarked together on a project to share the wisdom, compassion and universality of several Jewish teachings. Although they were from very different worlds, when Nikki gained consciousness and met Rabbi Eli properly the two became fast friends. Then, they started writing a book together - based on the deep and expansive conversations they began having about hope, personal growth, spirituality and modern life. Rabbi Eli wanted Nikki's help to share seven ancient Jewish guidelines on living a good life, which he believed could be helpful to anyone, Jewish or not, who was looking for a way to live in a world that feels increasingly chaotic. While Nikki and Rabbi Eli didn't agree on everything all the time, they did both believe these teachings to be universal in their compassion and wisdom. The pair had just recorded their last conversation for the project in December last year, when Rabbi Eli was one of 15 people killed in the Bondi Beach terror attack. Nikki decided to honour his memory by finishing their book alone. Conversations with My Rabbi is published by HarperCollins. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores religion, faith, modern living, disconnection, hope, radical empathy, togetherness, multiculturalism, learning from others, spiritual, family, near-death experiences, autoimmune disease, anti-Semitism, terrorism, grief, tragedy, suffering, meaning of life, spiritual teachings, friendship, prayer, meditation, Judaism, secularism. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Gardening Australia's Hannah Moloney on the heartwarming and heartbreaking reasons humans continue to lovingly tend to their gardens — for healing, beauty and joy. For thousands of years, tending to a garden or a small farm meant human survival.  But now, with massive commercial farms, genetically modified crops, refrigerated freight and modern irrigation, we don't need to tend to our own gardens to survive. So why, then, do so many of us still lovingly plant, water and cultivate flowers, fruits and vegetables? Or watch 'lawn porn' to relax? It's a question that Hannah Moloney has asked thousands of gardeners from around the world. Hannah is a permaculture educator, landscape designer and the Tasmanian presenter for ABC TV's Gardening Australia.  Gardening is in Hannah's blood, having grown up in a herb nursery run by her green-thumbed father in the Brisbane suburbs. For Hannah, gardening remains a lifeline, a way to bond with her family and a joyful act of protest. Why We Garden is published by Simon & Schuster. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores gardening, hobbies, outdoor activities, mental health, grief gardening, why we like being outdoors, gardening as meditation, the beauty of our gardens, Australian native gardens, vegetable patches, how to grow your own vegetables, fruit trees, family origin stories, losing a parent, pregnancy, motherhood, postpartum depression, gardening for healing, creative inspiration, human history, horticulture, climate change, global warming, food scarcity, food supply, drought, flood, famine, Costa Georgiadis, green thumb, meditation. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Zenith Virago was a married mother of two, when she left her family to begin again as a lesbian.  Then she found a new path as a death walker, helping people navigate their life's end.  Zenith grew up in England, and she was still at school when she fell in love with another student.  At seventeen, she married Richard, Head Boy of the local Comprehensive school.  They had two children, Jodie and Todd. Then at 24, Zenith had a realisation about who she really was. She left her husband and children to begin a new life as a lesbian in New Zealand, Eventually she arrived in Byron Bay, where she met a community of people who inspired her. One day, Zenith's dear friend Sylvia died unexpectedly doing yoga in her garden. Rather than outsourcing to the funeral industry, Sylvia's loved ones took over her funeral and cremation themselves. This experience launched a new path for Zenith, and she became a ‘death walker’, helping people navigate the end of life with reverence and calm. In the midst of her new chapter, the death of a former lover brought her third son Tane back into her life unexpectedly. Further information Original broadcast February 2019 Learn about Zenith Virago's Natural Death Care Centre Help and information are always available Lifeline 13 11 14 24 hour counselling Beyond Blue's telephone and online counselling 1300 22 4636

Conductor Alexander Briger has led orchestras all over the world. But his niche occupation is not the only fascinating thing about him. Alex's family history is wild. Alexander Briger has stood in front of musicians all over the world, summoning a gigantic, beautiful noise from them. Classical music was a huge part of Alex’s story growing up. He is the nephew of the famous conductor, the late Sir Charles Mackerras; and descended from the so-called "father of Australian music", Isaac Nathan. Another branch of Alex's family tree astonishingly connects him to the man who murdered Rasputin. Rasputin was a Russian peasant and mystic, whose abilities as a faith healer drew him into the inner circle of the Russian Tzars. Fearing his destructive grip on the monarchy, a posse of aristocrats led by Alex’s ancestor, Prince Felix Yusupov, drew Rasputin into a trap, luring him to his death in a Saint Petersburg basement in 1916. In recent years, Alex was invited to Russia to conduct a modern opera, coincidentally called and about Rasputin, in a full circle moment. Alex is back in Australia right now as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Australian World Orchestra, the only ensemble of its kind in the world. The Australian World Orchestra is playing in Melbourne on 19 August and in Sydney on 20 August. You can find out more about the orchestra and its performances online. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores classical music, Russian revolution, family history, Paris, Munich, Berlin Philharmonic, conducting, symphony, Mahler, the great Western composers, Wagner, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Jewish Australians, whacky history, Yusupov, how did Rasputin die, European politics, Bolshevik Revolution, the October Revolution, exile, ballet, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Australian classical music, Australian expats. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Adele Dumont was a teenager when she first started pulling out her hair, an urge that became so uncontrollable she was left with a bald spot. She would sometimes enter a trancelike state, covertly sitting on her bathroom floor, picking at her scalp for hours on end. The urge to pull at her hair was uncontrollable, and secret. When Adele finally put a name to her behaviour, she learnt that trichotillomania has a complex history and psychological understanding, much of which remains unknown. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024 The producer was Meggie Morris and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney Further information The Pulling is published by Scribe Some helpful resources on trichotillomania include Trich Stop and The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours

Ralph Jackman was a sports journalist who retrained as a teacher in midlife, and got his first job at Melbourne’s Parkville Youth Detention Centre, where he was tested by the troubled and bright, charismatic young men.     At the centre he found students who struggled with basic literacy, and he also met boys who were yearning for more than juvenile justice could provide. Ralph created bonds with some of the boys that proved his teaching was making a connection.  But he also saw how hours of isolation in their cells stamped the hope out of the young men, despite the committed teachers’ best efforts.   Further information Detention is published by Allen & Unwin. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. Research by Alice Moldovan. This episode covers incarceration, troubled youth, youth work,  behind bars, youth detention, Tony Abbott, Hugh Jackman,  To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

After a near-death experience, Kate Clinch became drawn into the astonishing, Gothic story of a young Australian woman named Eileen O'Connor, who is buried under the floorboards of a home in Coogee. Kate was working as a GP in country South Australia when an ectopic pregnancy nearly killed her. She had a vivid near death experience, which prompted her to start interrogating inexplicable and miraculous events. Kate hadn't grown up Catholic, or even religious, but years after her near death experience, she was drawn into the story of a young Australian saint-in-waiting named Eileen O'Connor. Eileen lived in Sydney at the turn of the 20th century. She lived with profound physical disabilities, standing at only 115cm tall, but somehow she managed to head up a group of nurses who delivered free medical care to people living in the slums of Sydney. Eileen's story is an astounding collection of ups and downs - suffering, tragedy, a scandalous relationship with a young priest, threats of excommunication, a wartime sea voyage to Rome and a meeting with the Pope. And she is currently being scrutinised by the Vatican for possible canonisation, which would make Eileen Australia's second saint. Every Inch a Saint is published by Monkfish. Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor has been caring for the sick and disadvantaged in their own homes for more than 100 years. You can read more about the religious order and the lay nurses who work with the nuns - colloquially known as the Brown Nurses - online. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores spirituality, dying, sickness, religion, faith, Christianity, Catholic Church, World War One, Spanish Influenza, TB, Tuberculosis, history, Australian history, nuns, priests, scandal, people living with disability, sainthood, miracles, near death experiences, metaphysical experiences, motherhood, doctoring, medicine, modern medicine, x-rays, medical history, resilience, divinity, holy, the divine, sainthood, how does someone become a saint, what is a miracle, living with disability, spinal deformity, grief, death. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Costume designer Tim Chappel on the chance discovery at a train station that led him into a life of designing for films and the stage. Tim can’t remember all the places he lived, growing up on Army bases around the country, and overseas.  His one constant as a kid was nature.  He’d look for stick insects to pin into his collection and draw endless terrestrial orchids.  Tim was ready to focus his life on botany when he found a copy of French Vogue at Flinders Street Station in Melbourne. He was entranced by the glamour of the clothes and felt an instant connection to the tailoring. Tim was creating shorts for bartenders and costumes for drag queens at Sydney's Albury Hotel when he got a new job offer. That's when he signed up to design the costumes for an Australian film called Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, work which would later win him an Oscar. More information There is a sequel in the works for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Read more about it here

Growing up, para powerlifter, Hani Watson’s passion for lifting had been ignited by her dad and the pack of Arnold Schwarzenegger-types in their string singlets who would accompany him to lift weights. The gym has seen Hani through agonising moments in life, and all the way to the Paralympic Games. Warning: discussion of sexual assault.   Throughout her childhood she was having operation after painful operation, to try to straighten her bowed legs. After each surgery, the metal pins and screws would wreak havoc in Hani’s legs, and they resumed growing in the same way they always had. In high school, ruptures at home meant Hani had to move out and support herself, and she lost touch with her mum.  During this distressing time, a kindly school principal gave Hani the keys to the school gym, and that place became an anchor once more. After another unsuccessful surgery in her 30s, Hani was enjoying the freedom of a wheelchair, compared to the agonising and exhausting effort of walking. She turned to powerlifting to recover, which led her to worldwide competitions, eventually earning a bronze medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.  Hani also competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. Further information If you need support, you can chat online with someone at Lifeline, or call on 13 11 14. Hani won a bronze medal for Australia in Glasgow at this year’s Commonwealth Games! Read more here. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode covers weightlifting, powerlifting, para-powerlifting, paralympian, disability, athlete, bowed legs, osteotomies, plates and screws in your leg, divorce, marriage, trauma, domestic violence, family violence, mental health, mental illness, psychosis, weight training, drugs, drug mule, marijuana, high school, bullying, popular kids, assault, sexual assault, competition, bunnings, wheelchair, VAD, QVAD, voluntary assisted dying and chores.  To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

At just 15 years old, Jarvis Cocker wrote a manifesto that laid out his vision for a band he hoped would take over the music industry. Jarvis discovered the document while sorting through the boxes of stuff from his early life that he’d stashed away in his attic. It was in an an old school exercise book from when he was a fifteen-year-old schoolboy in Sheffield. He'd filled it with detailed plans to form a band called Pulp that would storm the music industry. But it took fourteen years for his 'Pulp Masterplan' to come to fruition, when his song ‘Common People’ went to the top of the UK charts. This interview was first broadcast in 2023  Further information This interview was recorded at the 2023 Melbourne Writers Festival  Good Pop Bad Pop is published by Random House

Hannah had a beautiful love story with her husband Matt. After he died in a surfing accident, grief broke her open and changed her life in unexpected ways    As a young couple, writer Hannah Richell and her husband Matt left London for a new life in Australia.  They loved the ocean, the sun, and the people. Then one morning before work, Matt went for a surf at Bronte Beach, and, in a tragic accident, drowned. Hannah was lost to grief....and overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for their two little children all alone. But, painstaking, day by day, month by month, year by year she found her way back to life. Hannah discovered that her heart could expand to include all of it - the joy and the heartbreak, the sweetness and the pain, the love and the loss. Further information:   An Ocean And A Day is published by HarperCollins

During her two terms as PM, Jacinda gained global attention for her response to the terror attack in Christchurch and for giving birth at the same time as running the country. Jacinda grew up as a good Mormon girl who planned on making a difference behind the scenes. But when she unexpectedly became head of the Labor Party, only weeks away from a federal election, Jacinda discovered she had a talent for leadership. Jacinda's memoir about her time as PM and her life before and after is called A Different Kind of Power. This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake and Nicola Harrison is the Executive Producer. Further Information A Different Kind of Power is published by Penguin. For more information, Penguin authors Jacinda Ardern

The much-loved actor Sam Neill had an unusual path into acting. Raised in New Zealand as a shy boy with a stutter named Nigel, he was 30 when he got his big break (R)  Sam, who has died at the age of 78, was an acclaimed actor, a winemaker, an author, a cancer survivor and a Dad to four children.  In recent years he had cared for cows, pigs, ducks and horses on his farm in New Zealand while making Pinot Noir. In his remarkable career as an actor he starred in more than 100 films including Jurassic Park, My Brilliant Career, and The Piano. A few years ago, stuck in Sydney while undergoing treatment for cancer, Sam found himself with a lot of time on his hands to reflect on his eclectic life. Sarah spoke to him in 2023 after the release of his quirky, funny and life-affirming memoir. Further information: Did I Ever Tell You This is published by Text

Fairytale expert, Kate Forsyth travels back in time to the stories of her youth, to a dark, fantastical and eerie world where cruelty and mischief abound.     As a young girl, Kate was sent to stay with her great aunts in Newcastle and there was introduced to the darkness, magic and mystery of Scottish folklore. These stories lit Kate’s imagination on fire, and let to a lifetime of study into these powerful stories and the messages behind them. One true story from this period that stayed with Kate was the treacherous and dramatic life story of Mary, Queen of Scots, who, in the telling, was only a few years older than the teenaged Kate. Intertwined with the true Scottish history were dark, fantastical and eerie accounts about cruel and mischievous fairies who would leave their young in place of human babies, as ‘changelings’.  This world abounded with magic - hazelnuts that give the power of invisibility and curses that cause boys to dance to their death. These legends also feature brave and ingenious girls who figure out how to rescue the sick and cursed through their own wits and knowledge of the natural world. Further information The Changeling is published by Penguin Random House. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer of Conversations is Nicola Harrison. You can listen to Kate's previous Conversations interviews on the tangled roots of fairytales, the dark and violent origins of beloved fairytales, the Russian tale of Vasilisa the Wise and her nemesis, the witch Baba Yaga, the story of a blood red rose, The intrepid and curious Charlotte Waring Atkinson, Psyche, the curious and brave goddess of the soul. This episode touches on witch trials, burning of witches, neolithic stones, storytelling, violence against women, cunning folk, ken, kenning, runes, being in touch with the seasons, old women, prayers, spells, rowan tree, faeries, fairies, fairy queen, changeling, autism, neurodivergent, neurodiverse, dauphin, King James, King James Bible,  To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Travel writer Pico Iyer was at the peak of his career when an accidental layover at Narita airport saw him begin to question everything. Pico began flying around the world solo at the age of nine. His parents lived in America and he had become a boarder at the Dragon School in Oxford. To get to school and from school he took several flights each year alone. The formative experience of travel stayed with him, and he grew up to become a journalist and travel writer for Time Magazine. Further information This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2020. Autumn Light: a season of Fire and Farewells is published by Bloomsbury. This episode was produced by Nicola Harrison. The Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large of The Australian, investigates how the country went from the great reform age under Hawke, Keating and Howard, into the tumultuous Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison era of prime ministers, and arrived at the current existential crisis facing the Liberal Party.   Paul started his career as a political journalist in the 1970s and was at old Parliament House when Gough Whitlam was dismissed. In his latest book, Paul examines how the Liberal Party lost its long-standing grip on the Australian psyche between 2013 and 2022, as it cycled through three temperamentally and ideologically divergent prime ministers.  He says that despite its many achievements, the Coalition in office was marked by a period of under-performance and doubts over the political system's capacity to serve the national interest. Paul looks at the factors underpinning the current crisis besetting the Coalition and the reasons why Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison all struggled to govern, in very different ways. Further information The Twilight of Exceptionalism: The Liberal and Conservative Era 2013 - 2022 is published by Melbourne University Press. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode covers Liberal party crisis, Barnaby Joyce, One Nation, conservatism, populism, populist, same sex marriage plebiscite, postal survey, carbon tax, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, covid19, covid, conservative politics, conservatism, MH17, Putin, Ukraine, mossad, ASIS, budget, NDIS, Gonski, Prince Philip, knighthood, Scotty from marketing, China, AUKUS, Albanese,  To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Wongaibon woman, Gayle Kennedy tells the story of her childhood, punctuated by years of treatment for polio. A bright child, she blitzed school and was drawn to comic book writing, which led to an award-winning career as an author.   Gayle was two when she contracted polio. The family was living in a camp outside Condobolin when little Gayle collapsed at her aunt’s house. Gayle’s mother was in hospital at the time, where she had given birth to Gayle’s younger brother.  She ran from the hospital to her sickly toddler, and brought Gayle in for treatment. Gayle was sent to Sydney and spent six months in an iron lung, a mechanical respirator that covered her whole body, leaving her head exposed. For years she would return to Sydney for follow up therapy.  Gayle was a bright student who overcame racism at school and after she graduated she worked with the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, then set up the Ivanhoe Land Council. During this time, Gayle was introduced to Streetwize Comics, which inspired to give writing a go and got a job as a comic book writer. Years later, Gayle became unwell again, and she was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome. She was miserable and suffering, and when she joined the NDIS her life changed for the better. She started writing stories that were published in the Sydney Morning Herald and went on to win the David Unaipon Award for her book Me, Antman and Fleabag. Further information This episode was produced by Rebecca McLaren. The Executive Producer of Conversations is Nicola Harrison. This episode contains reference to father's love, mother's love, polio, post-polio syndrome, Abbotsford station, Ivanhoe, Wangaaypuwan, Royal Flying Doctor Service, rehabilitation, children's hospital, kind nurses, long drop toilet, racism, Catholic school, Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, cousins, nepotism, Balmain, NDIS, scooter, how to drink in the park, Redfern, blackfellas, saying yes, giving things a go. To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Troy grew up travelling between two very different worlds with his Indigenous mum and his Maltese Dad. At just 17 he started on his path to becoming one of Australia's biggest country music stars (R) CW: Mentions suicide, please take care when listening Troy Cassar-Daley is a proud Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung man, and one of Australia's most beloved country music stars. As a 17-year-old musician just starting out, Troy joined a band called Little Eagle.  Soon afterwards, he won the Tamworth Starmaker Quest, and within a few years, Troy was a fully-fledged country music star. In his long career, Troy has won 40 Golden Guitars and 5 ARIA Awards, among many other accolades.  In his most recent album, Between the Fires, Troy digs deep into his own family history, with songs of grief, love and connection. Further information Troy is touring now - more details here Help and support is always available If you need to talk, 24/7 crisis support is available from Lifeline by calling 13 11 14. You can also text and chat online with counsellors here.

Writer Anita Heiss has based her novel  Dirrayawadha on stories from the 1800s during the frontier wars in Bathurst, when martial law was declared.

The filmmaker on her series which documents a period some historians call the most important war Australia has ever fought in. Rachel Perkins is one of this country's great storytellers, translating distinctively Australian stories for the screen, including a television series first released in 2022 called The Australian Wars. It tracks the bloody conflicts that broke out across the continent after the arrival of the British colonists. Rachel says these are the most important wars in our history: they were fought on Australian soil, between Australians, to determine the ownership and control of the entire country. The stories from this era are stories of violence, of peace, of epic adventures, which make up the foundational narrative of this nation. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2022  Further Information The Australian Wars is available to watch on SBS on Demand. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. It explores Aboriginal history, British colonial history, frontier wars, the Native Police, death, conflict, grief, Australian history, guns, violence, land ownership, control, documentary

Tagalaka man, Victor Steffensen on the ‘walking encyclopedias’ — dear old men he met who entrusted him with their decades of cultural knowledge and taught him to apply the right traditional burn for the right environment, so Country can thrive.    Victor advocates for small, cool fires that emit white smoke. This is something Indigenous people have done for tens of thousands of years to help Country survive and thrive. Victor was a young man who wasn’t sure which direction to take when two elders in Far North Queensland took him under their wing. He was hungry for knowledge and a beautiful, trusting relationship grew between the three men.  The old men poured their expertise into Victor, who captured it all on videotape. Today Victor teaches all around the country, using traditional methods on how to safely burn the landscape so plants, animals and people can flourish. Further information The Knowledge: Learning from ancestral wisdom to save our challenging global environment is published by Allen & Unwin. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.  This episode covers Indigenous elders, cultural knowledge, doubt, backburning, bushfires, fuel load, drip torch, cool burn, mosaic burn, everything is connected, sacred knowledge, climate change, native grasses, crocodile country, knowledge sharing, Indigenous knowledge systems, NAIDOC week, lost language, mentors, Indigenous rangers, Kuranda, camping, fishing. To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

For 40 years, crime was the only constant in Lincoln Lynch’s life, until a prison stint forced him to look inward and change the trajectory of his life for good. His young mum went to prison for dealing drugs when Lincoln was little, and eventually he followed in her footsteps. Lincoln endured periods of homelessness and institutionalised abuse as a teenager, and he became a teen father, before winding up in prison himself. There, in his cell, Lincoln discovered God’s teachings about compassion and forgiveness, and he resolved to leave prison a different man. On the outside, he was given practical, real-life support to re-establish his life at a halfway house in Sydney called Rainbow Lodge. With new-found confidence and purpose, Lincoln started studying psychology, fell in love and is now working at the lodge, helping other men find their way outside of prison. Content Warning: this episode of Conversations contains discussion about childhood abuse and sexual assault. More information about Rainbow Lodge can be found online. This episode of Conversations was produced by Rebecca McLaren and Meggie Morris. Executive Producer was Eliza Kirsch. It explores judicial system, justice system, recidivism, substance abuse, heroin, meth, speed, homelessness, sleeping rough, childhood abuse, sexual assault, sexuality, institutional abuse, mother son relationships, grief, drug dealing, crime, guilty verdict, prison system, prison sentence, serving time, changing your life, turning your life around, love, relationships, fatherhood, psychology, Vince Hurley, policing, criminology, intergenerational trauma, God, spirituality, reform. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The inaugural winner of Alone Australia on her life as a creative, outrageous, nature-loving misfit who grew up to live through great depths of love and grief. Warning: Discusses the death of a child. In 2023, Gina Chick spent 67 days by herself, in the wilderness of Tasmania’s West Coast, surviving on worms, fish, and one unlucky wallaby. After those 67 days, Gina became the first-ever winner of a reality show on SBS called Alone Australia, but her approach to the competition was very different from the other contestants. For Gina, the wild was not an enemy to be overcome but a place with no hierarchy, where she feels completely herself. It’s always been that way, since she was a 'weird' little girl with a rare affinity with birds and nature. As an adult, Gina spent years inside Sydney’s queer club scene and working for an all-girl security firm, but life changed completely for Gina when she became a mother herself. Further information If you need support after listening to this story, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. Gina's book We are the Stars was published by Simon & Schuster in 2024. The Executive Producer of Conversations is Nicola Harrison. This episode explores motherhood, parenting, reality television, Alone Australia, winner of Alone, hunting, survival, did Gina catch the wallaby? adoption, adoptees, Kiama, South Coast NSW, ADHD, birds, neurodiversity, bad boyfriends, debt, sexually transmitted debt, scent, pheromones, younger men, Oxford Street, survival, nightclubs, podium dancing, synaesthesia, breast cancer. To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversations podcast' with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Nuking the moon, putting mirrors in space and blowing up the Polar ice caps are just some of history's hairbrained schemes to control the weather, an obsession man has had since the dawn of time. As a major heatwave tears through Europe, millions of people are frantically trying to stay cool, or praying for some relief. Their desperation is not new. For thousands of years, human civilisations have been obsessed with trying to control the weather, to stave off drought and famine, in order to survive. There are ancient tales of great kings who could part the oceans, and deities who would bring down the rain if they were presented with the right kind of sacrifice. But it wasn’t until the last century that we suddenly had the technology to actually do these kinds of things, or at least attempt to do them. Some of these wild ideas - to bring water to the desert, drain the Mediterranean Sea to make farmlands, simply make Russia a warmer place to live - have involved blowing up the Polar ice caps, putting mirrors in space, and nuking the moon. They sound dangerous and unlikely, but some of them have come true. And now, many people are at work on brand new gigantic geo-engineering solutions to counteract the effects of the warming planet. Palaeontologist and explorer, Tim Flannery, has been tracking the progress of some of these schemes. A Brief History of Climate Folly, written with Emma Flannery, is published by Text Publishing. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores weird science, crazy science, Elon Musk, China, Trump, feats of engineering, space exploration, the human ego, wild weather events, magic, supernatural, religion, God, divinity, human sacrifice, famine, starvation, migration, global warming, climate change, European heatwave, Paris heatwave, fossil fuel, deforestation, COP, climate change policy, sea levels, floods, Summer, water, gas, electricity, solar power, politics, renewables. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

John Hockney's memoir gives a rare insight into the unusual life of one of the world's most famous artists. He grew up in the industrial town of Bradford in Northern England and was one of five children in a creative household, led by his iconoclastic father Kenneth, a conscientious objector who always told his children to 'never worry what the neighbours think'. During the war, there were many shortages. As child, John's brother David would creep downstairs in the morning and draw on whatever paper was available. He drew figures, streets, houses, landscapes and cartoons on the white edge of the newspaper, his mother's magazines, or whatever comics arrived that day. When David got his first sketchbook at the age of 10, his parents realised his drawing was much more than compulsive doodling. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2020 Further Information John Hockney's memoir is called The Hockneys: Never Worry About What the Neighbours Think

For more than a century, Melbourne's Abbotsford Convent was occupied by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, and the "wayward" girls and orphans they took care of. Patricia Sykes was one of those girls. She was dropped off at the orphanage with her three sisters in the early 1950s after their mother died. Their father couldn't afford to take care of four girls at home, but wanted them to stay together, so an orphanage felt like his only option. As a girl, Patricia, a gifted student who loved music and words, desperately wanted to escape the convent. But later in life, after finally finishing school and then university as a mother and mature student, Patricia returned to Abbotsford Convent. As a poet in residence, Patricia went back on her own terms to hear and to tell the stories of dozens of women who passed through its doors, and to interrogate her own understanding of her time with the nuns. Patricia's collection of poetry is called The Abbotsford Mysteries. You can find information about all of Patricia's books online. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer was Eliza Kirsch. It explores religion, Christianity, Catholicism, Australia of yesteryear, modern history, Melbourne, Victoria, nunnery, orphanages, grief, sisterhood, education, women's rights, motherhood, losing a mother, the Queen, writing, books, late life career change. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Science writer David Epstein on why freedom can be the enemy of success and how we can all benefit from less choice, not more.   We live today with vastly more freedom of choice than our ancestors. But there’s also plenty of research telling us all this choice is making us more anxious, overwhelmed and less creative. In his book, Inside the Box, David makes the case for how constraints can unlock creativity and satisfaction. And why after writing this book he now believes that narrowing your options can truly set you free. Further Information Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better is published by Macmillan You can learn more about David Epstein here This episode was produced by Jen Leake and the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores creativity, innovation, creative burnout, relationships, technology, art, music, rules, deadlines, science, General Magic, Apple, Iphone, sport, choice, anxiety, creative thinking, rules.

Veteran performer Paul Capsis on his strict upbringing and the strong female role models who helped him stay in school despite the brutality. A powerful and expressive voice, flamboyant physical presence, and mane of dark hair have become his trademarks as a performer. But when Paul was growing up in inner-city Sydney as the child of Greek and Maltese parents, these same qualities brought him a world of trouble. At school he was relentlessly ridiculed and beaten. The love of his Maltese grandmother, Angela, and other family members, helped Paul stay in school despite the brutality; as did immersing himself in the music of his favourite singers, Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2018 The producer was Michelle Ransom Hughes and the Executive Producer was Pam O'Brien. It explores performing, singing, homophobia, bullying, Maltese heritage, Greek heritage, strong female role models, Janis Joplin, cabaret, grandmas, women, inner-city Sydney.

Anna Dombkins was 25 years old, when she and her husband happened on a television program about adoption which would completely change their lives. CW: this episode of Conversations discusses adoption. It was a documentary investigating the unimaginable conditions of some orphanages in China. The newly married couple felt compelled to adopt, but because they already had biological children, it was near impossible to adopt in Australia. The newly married couple felt compelled to adopt children who had no other family support, but because they already had biological children, it was near impossible to adopt in Australia. While living in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro for a number of years, Anna saw how many children were coming into local orphanages not because they were unwanted or because their biological parents had died, but because their families simply couldn't afford to take care of them. So, since returning to Australia and becoming a mother to her sixth child, Anna became the founding director of Forever Projects, a charity supporting Tanzanian women in poverty, so they can live independently, care for and keep their babies without having to resort to adoption. Forever Projects has since helped more than 3,000 babies remain with their families. Home Forever: Adoption, hope and the mountains we’re all climbing is published by Pepper Press, Fair Play Publishing. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores families, motherhood, fostering, overseas adoption, fatherhood, siblings, blended families, cultural awareness, Australian adoption policy, faith, religion, Christianity, serving the community, marriage, love, intergenerational, grandparents, grief, cancer, Moshi, Forever Angels Baby Home, five under five, lawyers, legal system.

Country music artist Kasey Chambers has spent her life making music and connecting with audiences.  It’s what she believes she was put on the earth to do. Growing up Kasey and her family spent much of the year camping and roaming the Nullabor Plain where her dad would hunt for foxes and rabbits. She started singing around the campfire as a little girl and went to sleep to the sound of her father’s rifle as he worked through the night. Singing came naturally to Kasey, and she loved all the old country classics, as well as some Cyndi Lauper and Bruce Springsteen. The title of Kasey’s memoir is a tribute to her father and the most important piece of advice she’s ever received. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024. Further Information  Just Don't Be A D**khead is published by Hardie Grant. You can learn more about Kasey's music here   This episode of Conversations explores family, childhood, growing up in rural Australia, music, singing, country music, camping, hunting foxes and rabbits, fathers, guitar, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen, ARIA Hall of Fame, eating disorders, motherhood. To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

James O'Loghlin had only just reconnected with one of his best and oldest friends, Jum Wallner, when Jum received some terrible news. What began next was a high stakes race with a fatal deadline. The two men had grown up in Canberra, where thousands of homes had been filled with asbestos, which was often carelessly installed and removed. Jum himself had grown up in one of these so-called "Mr Fluffy" homes, named after the local company that had installed the carcinogenic insulation. When Jum felt a pain in his side, it wasn't long before the father of two and husband was diagnosed with mesothelioma and given months to live. Jum had discovered that if you got sick from being exposed to asbestos in your workplace you were entitled to compensation, but if it came from your home, you got nothing. So Jum asked his old friend James for some help to petition the powers that be to help asbestos victims like himself and their families. James began a race against time, trying to convince both the ACT and Federal governments to help Jum and others, in the middle of a pandemic, before it was too late. Along the way, James and Jum reconnected deeply as friends who desperately wished they had more time together. The Missing Piece is published by Echo Publishing. More information about the Loose-Fill Asbestos Disease Support Scheme can be found at the ACT Government's website.  This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores friendship, male friendship, university days, terminal disease, James Hardie, cancer, terminal diagnosis, how to grieve a friend, activism, petition governments, Covid, pandemic, Greg Hunt, Angus Taylor, compensation, accidental activist, dying friends, mourning, funerals, Andrew Barr, ALP, Labor party, Liberals, bipartisan, Albanese, politics, Auspol, burnout, diagnosis. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Peter Hoysted, AKA Jack the Insider is back with a look at the humorous and bizarre stories of the newspaper founded in 1979 by a former CIA officer.   “174 MPH SNEEZE BLOWS OFF WOMAN’S HAIR”, “BABY BORN WITH TATTOO”, “GARDEN OF EDEN FOUND!” These were some of the fantastical headlines that led the comedic black and white US tabloid, Weekly World News (WWN). Peter Hoysted, AKA Jack the Insider is a true crime writer and a columnist for The Australian.  He was a fan of the nonsensical reporting during its hard copy days, and even started his own journal along similar lines in Australia. Peter tells the story of Generoso Pope Jr, the ex-CIA officer who founded WWN in 1979 and entertained readers with fictional news stories, often with a paranormal slant. Further information You can read Weekly World News online. Listen to previous Conversations interviews with Jack the Insider: Chow Hayes, Australia's first gangster (2017), the Fine Cotton affair (2019) and the disgraced former police detective Roger Rogerson (2024). This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Eliza Kirsch. This episode covers aliens, alien love child, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, satirical news, fake news, comedy, giggle, Elvis, newspapers, newsgathering, bigfoot, mermaids, man-fish, CIA, conspiracy theory, David Icke, lizard people. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Darren Hayes rose to fame in the 1990s as part of the musical duo Savage Garden but the scars of his violent childhood nearly ended everything. The band ended up selling 35 million albums and won numerous awards with hits like 'Truly Madly Deeply'. On the surface, Darren had achieved wealth, adoration and stardom —everything he dreamt of as a kid growing up in Logan, on the outskirts of Brisbane. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024 Further information Unlovable is published by Penguin  Help and support is always available: Call 1800 737 732  (1800 Respect) to speak to a counsellor if you are experiencing domestic violence. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Ken Gamble is very good at spying on people doing the wrong thing but perhaps the investigations that have had the most impact are the missing person cases he's taken on pro bono.   Ken spent part of his childhood living in a remote outback pub and by the age of 12, he was driving drunk jackaroos back to their stations. When his family moved to the Sunshine Coast, Ken took up boxing on the amateur circuit and left school in Year 10 to pursue the sport full time, until a savage injury ended his career before it had really begun. After stints in the Army Reserve and as a firefighter, Ken decided he wanted to be a private investigator and began working in personal injury insurance fraud where he became highly skilled in covert surveillance. And with the arrival of the internet, Ken turned his attention to tracking down the humans behind online scams. Ken has also been called on to help in some high-profile missing person cases, including that of Belgian backpacker, Celine Cremer. Further information  This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, Nicola Harrison is the Executive Producer It explores criminals, cyber crime, insurance fraud, covert surveillance, private detectives, Mt Isa, alcoholism, violence, boxing, counterfeit products, boiler rooms, online scams, missing persons, mobile phone data, geospatial analytics, Eumundi, Celine Cremer, police, bikies.

Gonzo journalist and writer John Safran on why he decided to squat in a Hollywood mansion belonging to Kanye West. John Safran has made a career out of getting into places he probably shouldn't be, from breaking into Disney Land, to infiltrating fascist strongholds in Australia. A couple of years ago, one of his journalistic expeditions saw him squatting in an abandoned Hollywood mansion belonging Kanye West. John had seen a clip of the hip hop start denying the Holocaust, defending Adolf Hitler, and claiming that Black people cannot be anti-Semitic because they are actually Jewish. His week writing and snooping in this strange house, with no running water and a vulture in the roof, made John go increasingly loopy as he tried to understand what pushed this critically acclaimed artist from celebrity eccentric to seriously 'out there'. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024 It explores Kanye West, Judaism, antisemitism, Hollywood, hip hop, Christianity, Nazism, racism, hip hop, squatting, the Donda Academy, journalism, Adidas, money, fame, documentary, writing, the Holocaust, mental health, celebrity, mansions Further information Squat is published by Penguin.

Everyone knows the story of the Titanic. But one quintessentially Australian story of survival, love and adventure lay dormant for more than a century before journalist and author Lisa Wilkinson raised it from the depths of the Atlantic. Everyone knows the story of the Titanic - the biggest, most magnificent, most expensive ship ever built. It was meant to be unsinkable. But when it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, it sank, killing 1500 people. For more than 100 years, the tragedy has inspired filmmakers, historians and explorers to unearth the incredible human stories of love, survival and class warfare. But for much of that time, there was one story that seemed to have been hidden amongst the wreckage, until journalist and author Lisa Wilkinson raised it from the bottom of the Atlantic. This is the story of Evelyn Marsden, the only Australian survivor of the sinking of the Titanic, and the real Titanic love story that shaped the rest of her life. The Titanic Story of Evelyn is published by Hachette. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer was Eliza Kirsch. It explores history, Australian stories, Jack and Rose, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, shipwrecks, survival stories, love stories, non-fiction books, modern history, David Cameron, OceanGate, submersible, submarine disaster, Bondi, 20th century Australia, nurses, nursing, doctors, working on cruise ships, adventurous women, falling in love.

Molly's niche career began over a decade ago when she entered a whistling competition on a whim and she now performs all over the world.    Her music sits somewhere between birdsong and the soundtrack to a film noir. Born in Sydney, Molly moved to Hollywood as a baby before returning to Australia for high school in Byron Bay.  Once she realised her talent was more than just a hobby for family and friends, she began performing live with musicians in LA and has collaborated with the likes of Dr Dre, Beck and Karen O.  Mark Ronson even asked her to whistle on the Barbie soundtrack. Now Molly is at the centre of a new documentary, Whistle, which follows whistlers from around the world as they prepare for the Masters of Musical Whistling competition. This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores whistling, music, art, film soundtracks, Hollywood, LA, Byron Bay, whistling competitions, African Grey Parrots, Mark Ronson, Barbie, Alessandro Alessandroni, Ennio Morricone, The Good the Bad the Ugly, Harry Dean Stanton, Cafe Molly, John C Reilly,African Grey Parrots, Mark Lewis To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Marele Day is a novelist, but as a young woman looking for adventure, she hitchhiked on a catamaran sailing from Darwin to Sri Lanka. The skipper was a Frenchman, named Jean Day, who revealed on board that he had once done jail time for hijacking a plane. What she only found out later, was that Jean was a fugitive on the run from another high-profile crime. Further information Marele Day's memoir is called Reckless This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2023 The producer was Sinead Lee and the EP was Carmel Rooney It explores sailing, risk taking, adventure, young women, the ocean, criminals, hijacking planes, deception, being French, lies, Sri Lanka, writing a memoir, high profile crime, financial fraud. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Clinical psychologist and men's mental health researcher Zac Seidler on how boys are being fed increasingly inflammatory content online, and what men can do IRL to offer a version of masculinity that is healthy and vulnerable, instead of hard and dangerous. Many young men are taking a journey on the internet right now which starts with inoffensive self-improvement videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, but quickly becomes something else entirely. Young guys are searching the internet for fitness, grooming or relationship advice, looking for self-esteem and self-discipline.  The algorithm then tries to sustain their attention by offering them more inflammatory and more dangerous content, presented by influencers with cigars and sunglasses, who give them an ideology that blames women for all of their problems. This is the loose digital ecosystem that has been named the 'manosphere', and it's leading people to wonder what exactly is going on with men that they're being drawn into a dark place and ideology that completely alienates them from women and from real life experience. Zac Seidler is a clinical psychologist and the director of research at Movember, the men's mental health charity, and he is particularly interested in men's issues. Zac has conducted some world-first research into this online world, asking the questions 'What need is this content meeting?', and how can men be empowered to pull themselves, their sons and their mates out of this dangerous cycle. Keep up to date with the research Zac is doing via Movember, the leading charity changing the face of men's health. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer was Eliza Kirsch. It explores manhood, masculinity, toxic masculinity, sons, fatherhood, men's mental health, men's suicide rates, depression, Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson, Myron Gaines, Rollo, Joe Rogan, social media algorithms, Instagram, chronically online, touch grass, grief, death, sex and relationships, isolation, vulnerability, how to talk openly about mental health struggles, men and boys, mothers and sons, Looksmaxxing, Clavicular, becoming a father, marriage, love, husbands, how to be a better man, empathetic accountability, Breadtube, Contrapoints, Hbomberguy, and PhilosophyTube. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The former Australian of the Year and pioneering cancer researcher, died from brain cancer on Sunday evening. Richard was a world-leading melanoma pathologist and cancer researcher. After his own aggressive brain cancer was diagnosed in 2023, Richard volunteered to be 'patient zero' in an experimental medical approach, which applied some of the discoveries he and his team had made in melanoma treatment.  Richard credited much of his determination, optimism, and humility, to his childhood in Tasmania. Sarah spoke with Richard in 2024. Richard's memoir is called Brainstorm. This episode of Conversations explores cancer research, melanoma treatment, brain tumour, neurosurgery, recovery. radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, Australian of the Year, death, grief, terminal illness, pioneering research, family, great Australians, open letters. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Growing up in Tokyo, Hiroko Yoda  never thought of herself as religious, but after her mother died, she began exploring the spiritual traditions of her homeland. She was inspired by the Shinto idea that there are '8 million spiritual beings', animating everything we encounter. In the different practices of Shintoism, Buddhism, and Shugendo, Hiroko found practical means of emotional support, and also ways of making her everyday life more beautiful. Further information Hiroko Yoda's book is called Eight Million Ways to Happiness  This episode explores Japan, spirituality, psychology, Shintoism, Buddhism, Shugendo, family, grief, healing, religion, walking, parents, death, Tokyo, emotional support. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Dan Rankine (aka 'trials') was the only little Aboriginal boy living in his rural Welsh village when he woke up shaking from a nightmare. That's when he and his mother knew they needed to go home to Adelaide. Dan is now one of Australia's most respected hip hop producers, writers and rappers. Born in Adelaide, Dan spent his early years on the other side of the world - in the rolling, green hills of rural Wales - with his mum, who had fled there from Dan's violent father in the middle of the night. Far from his Ngarrindjeri connections, and with no one around who looked like him, Dan felt isolated. After an unexplained nightmare, he and his mum decided to move back to Adelaide, where things didn't suddenly become perfect. But a car crash, which could have been tragic, became an incredible turning point in Dan's life, allowing him to buy his first set of turntables. And at 16 years old, Dad set himself on the path to becoming 'trials', performing, writing and producing with and for artists like the Funkoars, Hilltop Hoods, Archie Roach and A.B. Original. Dan has recently stepped out on his own, to release his debut solo album Hendle - something of an origin story, full of honesty, pain and passion. Hendle is out now. Dan is set to publish an accompanying memoir later this year. Keep up to date with Dan's music, art and tour dates at on his Instagram page. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer was Eliza Kirsch. It explores First Nations excellence, substance abuse, family violence, domestic violence, cultural education, blended families, Briggs, Paul Kelly, Gurrumul, childhood trauma, art, expression, alcoholism, fatherhood, love, grief, estrangement, Australian hip-hop, Dune Rats, DZ Deathrays, TV and film soundtrack, systemic racism, justice system, violent crime, art as therapy, painting, memoir, writing, book, sobriety, poetry, Dan Sultan, triple J, Reclaim Australia, Aus Music Month, how to write songs, dark humour, growing up, becoming a man, journalling, self improvement, metaphysical, the Dreaming, belonging, prison, incarceration, beats, NWA, Wu Tang Clan. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Erna Walraven was one of the first female zookeepers to work at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in the 1980s. She ignored practical jokes from her male colleagues, like animal dung in her gumboots, and this led to career highlights like travelling the globe to select the zoo's next gorilla patriarch. (R)   Erna was born in The Netherlands, to parents who were involved in the Dutch resistance during World War II. Erna's love of languages took her to Spain, where she lived for many years with her widowed sister and young nephew. It was there she met a penniless Australian backpacker and fell in love, starting Erna on the path to the rest of her life. Further information Originally broadcast May 2025. Hear Me Roar was published by Affirm Press in 2025. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison. This episode touches on feminism, sexism, animals, breeding gorillas, zoos, captive animals, Dutch resistance, marry an Australian, Spain, love of languages, history and Europe. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The Gamilaroi journalist on the tiny coalmining town that made her and still sustains her, how eating worms led to a job on breakfast TV, and why she's aiming to be a good ancestor in the deep future. Brooke grew up in Muswellbrook, a coal mining town in NSW. She was a smart, high-achieving kid, doing every extra-curricular activity she could fit in. Despite this, she dropped out of high school and didn't finish her education. After a couple of lost years, a kind boyfriend introduced Brooke to the idea of journalism, and suddenly, she was raring to go, earning jobs in the press gallery in Canberra for NITV, and on triple j, reading the news. Brooke was at the height of her career, doing entertainment news on the Today show on Nine, when she made a decision that seemed to come out of left field. In 2024 Brooke suddenly quit her high-profile job to take up an offer to study at Oxford University. Oxford presented the opportunity to complete the unfinished business of her education after being robbed of her academic potential in high school.  In continuing to study, Brooke is focused on a life to be a not only a good auntie and sister but also a good ancestor for future generations. Further information Brooke's book of essays, All of It: Notes on public life, private joy and everything in between was published by Joan, an imprint of Allen & Unwin. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. This episode touches on the Voice to Parliament referendum, Aboriginal, language, climate change, Indigenous knowledge systems, aunty, ancestors, single mum, DV, domestic violence, work experience, political reporter, Tony Abbott, the news cycle, Canberra, the press gallery, parliament house, UTS, family, nieces, nephews, deep time, deep future, raise the age, age of criminal responsibility, children in prison, children in detention, Socratic method, philosophical argument, economics and politics. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The much loved actor has been on Australian TV screens and theatres for nearly 50 years. (R)   Noni Hazlehurst comes from a long line of performers, her parents met while they were part of a touring Variety act in the UK, and her great grandfather was a famous child trapeze artist. Keeping children company on Playschool was one of her best known roles, which she had for 24 years. In Noni’s day, Playschool was recorded in one take, unless one of the presenters swore or was bitten by a rabbit. Further information Noni's memoir Dropping the Mask is published by HarperCollins. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024. It explores acting, theatre, television, marriage, divorce, publicity, children's television, Playschool, Better Homes and Gardens, performing, family, renovations, privacy, legacy. audience, Logie awards.

Political advisor Ed Coper on the cold-blooded machine that is feeding angry people angry content online to make them even angrier, and what we can do about it. Ed Coper is a political advisor and communications consultant who has worked for the Australian Labor Party, and for progressive lobby groups. Over the past few years, he has noticed what everyone else has - people on both sides of the divide becoming increasingly vocal and angry about their politics online. While there's no shortage of things to get outraged about in today's world, no matter where you lie on the political spectrum, Ed argues our rage is being monetised cold-bloodedly by social media platforms. This digital, online machine has planted us in what he calls the era of 'angertainment', where an entire outrage industry is harvesting our worst impulses with algorithms that deliberately trigger the caveman switch in our brains that keeps us alert for potential threats. But there is an antidote. Ed says we need to understand this machine in order to build guardrails that preserve democracy, heal divisions and protect future generations from the "angry clowns" who currently rule the attention economy. Angertainment is published in Simon and Schuster. This episode of Conversations explores politics, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, divisive society, social cohesion, left versus right, attention spans, war, Trump, Putin, Gaza, Israel, Ukraine, elections, World War 3, the future, chronically online, rage bait, internet trolls, keyboard warriors, content farming, bots, Russia, Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Get Up, populism, political ideology, transgender issues, attention economy, MAGA, the woke left, polarised society, family violence, violence against women, misogyny, entertainment industry, Hollywood, nihilism, conservatives, progressives. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The former Canberra Raiders player on hiding his fantasy reading habits as a kid in Western Queensland, the joy of doing hard things, and how books brought him back from the brink. Warning: Discussion of suicide. Luke was a sensitive kid, growing up on a cattle station in Western Queensland.  He loved being transported by fantasy novels — following the quests, battles and magic they offered him. Luke found release in these books, beyond the hard work and zipped lips of the strong men he saw around him. Luke didn’t fit into that mould, though he did plenty of work on the farm and loved playing footy.  The sport helped him find a place to belong in his world. As a young man, he scored a place in the Canberra Raiders NRL team, and was introduced to the world of gambling. This quickly spiralled into an addiction, and Luke abused drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of this period. Despite being at the height of his young life, and earning hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, Luke couldn’t pay for his groceries. He couldn’t put fuel in the car.  He was spending all his money on betting. When things hit rock bottom, Luke relied on the strongest, most loving person he knew — his mum. He understood, somehow, that to get out of the deep hole he was in, he had to find his way back to reading. Further information Luke is writing his first two fantasy novels, which will be released in early 2027 under Atria Books Australia, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. If you need someone to speak to, you can always call or chat online with Lifeline on 13 11 14. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. This episode touches on suicide, gambling, having a flutter, addiction, rehab, love mum, strong mum, single mum, horse racing, the trots, syndicate, racing horse, borrowing money, Newcastle, rock bottom, hitting rock bottom, powerless over addiction, hero's journey, MDMA, cocaine, alcohol abuse, relapse, recovery, non-linear journey, toxic masculinity, self help, sensitive man. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Jayden Sheridan was just 17 years old when he found out he was going to be a father, and immediately Jayden knew he needed to give his son better opportunities than he ever had growing up in regional Victoria. (R) In Seymour, which is one of the most disadvantaged postcodes in Australia, Jayden experienced homelessness, substance abuse, violence and a general lack of direction.  He had no male role models in his life, but he did have the local skate park. It's where he went to feel safe and to feel himself, and Jayden wanted to create that same feeling for his son, and all the other kids in his town of Seymour. What started as adhoc skate lessons quickly turned into Gnarly Neighbours, something far bigger and more impactful than 17-year-old Jayden could have imagined. Jayden has recently been selected as a 2026 Westpac Social Change Fellow. His fellowship involves travelling across the US, Europe and the UK to learn from organisations doing similar work in creative and trauma-informed mentoring for young people. You can learn more about Gnarly Neighbours here. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. This episode of Conversations explores substance abuse, drug use, drug dealing, expulsion, troubled children, mental health, bipolar disorder, teen parenting, teen fatherhood, teen motherhood, skateboarding, skating, streetwear, origin stories, family dynamics, male role models, father figures, dysfunctional families, single parenting, rural and regional Australia, masculinity, manhood, rites of passage, mentoring. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The Wikipedia co-founder has developed seven rules for building trust to create a better world, both on the internet and IRL.   Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, Jimmy was enamoured with his family's Encyclopaedia Britannica. The city was home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre, and the energy of the place gave a young Jimmy a robust enthusiasm for technology and the future. As a young man, Jimmy developed the idea to start a free, online encyclopaedia, built by strangers and shared across languages. In 2001, Wikipedia was born, and for a time it was derided. Now, the website is a mainstay of the internet and a resource trusted by many. Jimmy says Wikipedia is all about strangers working together on the internet, in pursuit of a common goal, powered by their shared enthusiasm, and that is something to celebrate. Further information The Seven Rules of Trust: Why It Is Today's Most Essential Superpower is published by Bloomsbury. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It covers Twitter, X, trolls, vandalism, respect, civility, not-for-profit, tech bros, volunteers, social media ban, nupedia, servers, bots, AI, meconium aspiration syndrome, authenticity, empathy, logic, abortion, internet traffic, shouting online and civil discussion. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Joh Jarvis was a high-flying boss when grief from a terrible loss began to overwhelm her. She tried therapy, exercise and healthy eating. Then she found Vedic meditation, and the experience was 'psychedelic'. (R) Joh Jarvis is a Vedic meditation teacher in New York City. On a regular basis Joh travels to the notorious Rikers Island Prison in the Bronx. There, she teaches meditation to men waiting on remand. Inside a prison which is often violent and chaotic, she aims to give them a new way of coping. Joh grew up in Adelaide, and always wanted to live amidst the bright lights of New York. After a stint as a bicycle courier, she worked her way up to management at the ABC. As she approached 50, she had a well-paying job, a nice house, and strong connections with friends and family.  But long-term grief had hollowed her out, and she asked herself, is this all there is? Then she was introduced to Vedic meditation, and she says her first encounter was 'psychedelic'. Read more about Joh's work at Rikers Island and other US prisons at her website The Light Inside. And you can see Joh in action on ABC TV's Compass. This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison. It explores epic life stories, family dynamics, grief, loss, reflection, Vedic meditation, meditation, personal stories, origin stories, death, career, giving back, New York City, Rikers Island prison, incarceration, justice system, prison system, mindfulness, mantras, health and wellness, suicide.

Staff writer at The New Yorker, Patrick Radden Keefe tells the story of Zac Brettler, who inexplicably changed from a charming and hilarious boy into a money- and status-obsessed young man, who mixed with gangsters and shady businessmen. Patrick's new book begins with the description of a scene that was picked up by a surveillance camera in London in the early hours of a November morning in 2019. The footage showed a grainy image of a shadowy figure, anxiously moving about the balcony of a luxury apartment.  That young man's name was Zac Brettler.  He was 19 years old, and hours later his body was discovered on the banks of the River Thames.  Patrick Radden Keefe’s investigation explores Zac’s secret life posing as the son of a Russian oligarch, and delves into the true identities of the wealthy gangsters who were there in his final hours. Further information London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City, and a Family's Search for Truth is published by Pan Macmillan Australia. This episode covers grief, fantasy life, con artists, London underworld, Boris Johnson, family tragedy, luxury, Holocaust survivors, rabbi, Mill Hill school, young men, making money, raising boys, Roman Abramovich, oligarch, plutocrat, MI6 and true crime. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The philosopher argues that as a culture, we'd be happier and saner if we re-examined our view of love, because our romantic notions can actually work against the relationships we want most. (R) Alain De Botton's novel from 2016 called The Course of Love challenges many assumptions about falling in love and what comes next. Alain first tackled the subject when he wrote Essays of Love in his early 20s. The episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2016 The producer was Michelle Ransom-Hughes and the Executive Producer was Pam O'Brien. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The renowned physician discusses the role of trauma in our lives, showing up as addiction, chronic disease and mental illness, and how recognising his own led to true healing. (R) Dr Gabor Maté was born in Budapest to a Jewish family, just before Nazi tanks rolled into the city. His mother risked handing him to a stranger on the street to try and get him to safety. Many years later, after establishing himself as a successful physician in Canada, Gabor looked at the problems in his work and marriage and wondered if they were linked to that early trauma. He uses his own experiences as a test case for the effects of trauma on the body and the body-mind connection.  Dr Mate is internationally renowned for his ideas around the lifelong impact of trauma. He believes it is contributing factor to rates of addiction, chronic disease, and mental illness, as well as ADHD. His views are sometimes described as unorthodox by his critics, but Dr Mate argues that understanding trauma of all kinds allows for real healing, as has happened in his own life. Further Information The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Dr Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté is published by Penguin Random House. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2025. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Diana Nguyen's mother would walk out of her performances at interval in protest of her career, but Diana forged on and in the process healed this mother-daughter relationship. (R)   Diana Nguyen knew she was born for a life on the stage when she discovered dancing while staying in a nunnery as a child. Her love affair with the arts, however, fractured her relationship with her mother, who had escaped Vietnam by boat and wanted her eldest daughter to be 'more' than a performer. But a trip to her motherland helped heal this mother-daughter relationship, and after years of walking out of her performances in protest, Diana finally saw her mum from the stage as she took her bow.

At 48, Bill Hayes moved to New York. He took up photography, and never anticipated the surprise of falling in love with his neighbour, Dr Oliver Sacks,  a neurologist, a naturalist and a university professor. (R) Doctor Oliver Sacks became famous for writing case histories of his patients in books, including The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, and An Anthropologist on Mars. At 75 years old, Oliver had never been in a relationship, until he fell deeply in love with his neighbour Bill Hayes, who was decades younger than him. Bill and Oliver lived together until Oliver Sacks died in 2015, in his early eighties. Further information Bill's memoir Insomniac City was published in 2017 by Bloomsbury. This conversation was recorded at the 2017 Sydney Writers' Festival. The producer was Nicola Harrison and the Executive Producer was Pam O'Brien.

Louise Philip had just scored her breakout role on Australian television, in Bellbird, when a horrific car crash threatened to derail the life she was forging for herself. (R) Louise was 15 years old when she convinced her parents to let her drop out of high school to become an actress. She had just scored her breakout role on Australian television, but within a few months a terrible car crash threatened to derail the life that she was forging for herself.  Louise broke her back and permanently lost the use of her legs, and she was told that the silver screen was no longer a place for her. But Louise fought to get back to work, and thrived on Australian television sets for years until she did something else that people told her was impossible -- she became a mother. Only after Louise became a mother did she have the perspective to deeply talk to her father, who was driving the car when it crashed all those years ago, about grief, guilt and forgiveness. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024. The producer was Nicola Harrison and the executive producer was Carmel Rooney. It explores disability, tv acting, Australian television, disability access, discrimination, grief, guilt, motherhood, family, love, tragedy, resilience, forgiveness.

As a little girl growing up in Brisbane in the era of the White Australia policy, Lindy lived through the pain of always feeling different but then she began using it as fuel for her art. (R) It took her many years to find the power in what she calls the 'tearing' in her identity. She began to make work based on her own family story, and her Zen practice. Lindy is now one of Australia's leading contemporary artists. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2022

At 25, Peter Goers lost both of his parents after the commercial plane they were travelling in crashed into a suburb of New Orleans shortly after take off. Suddenly, he was required to drop everything to fly to America and identify their bodies, he also spent time the relatives of the other 143 passengers that died in the tragedy. For many years Peter's reaction to losing his parents was expressed through a reckless regard for his own life, before finally learning how to live with himself and the defining tragedy of his life. Peter Goers is a retired ABC broadcaster, he presented The Evening Show on 891 ABC Adelaide for over 20 years. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2023. It was produced by Nicola Harrison and Eliza Kirch is the Executive Producer. Further Information Peter's memoir, In the Air of the Afternoon is published through Wakefield Press.

For 45 years, George Palmer harboured a secret. He spent every spare moment composing classical music, and then shoving his scores in his bottom drawer. Until one day, almost by pure chance, that music saw the light of day. As a young man, George had dreams of becoming a renowned classical music composer, but when he walked into university, he didn't feel like he belonged in the music department. George left after his first week, and followed a school friend into the law department. At first, George was not inspired by the law, but he ended up falling in love with the human side of the justice system. For the next 45 years, he climbed the ranks from barrister, to Queen's Counsel, and finally to judge in the NSW Supreme Court, where he had ultimate responsibility for all adoptions in the state. But through all those years in public life, George had a secret "vice". Every spare moment he had was spent at his piano, scribbling down choral works and orchestral scores that he never intended anyone to see or hear. He never spoke about composing with his colleagues, friends or family, until one day George's talents were uncovered through chance and tragedy. George's latest work The Drover's Wife - The Opera is playing at Brisbane's QPAC until 22 May, and then will be staged at Sydney's Opera House in August, 2026. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It explores World War Two, family origin stories, spies, British intelligence, hearing loss, late in life career changes, second career, protective list, adoption, foster care, Supreme Court, legal system, justice system, judicial system, commercial law, Beethoven, Bach, Wagner, opera, contemporary classical music, contemporary Australian composers, Indigenous stories, Leah Purcell, stage adaptations, books, writing.

From muscle paralysis and sleepwalking, to the power of our subconscious, Dr Sutapa Mukherjee takes you into the secret world of sleep. Dr Sutapa Mukherjee is a sleep specialist fascinated by how the time we spend awake is built on the hours we spend horizontal, and totally withdrawn from the world.  She trained initially as a respiratory specialist, but moved into sleep research when she realised how little was known about what happens to us when our conscious mind switches off at night.  Sutapa helps people to overcome sleep disorders, like insomnia, sleepwalking and narcolepsy, which can sometimes come with a condition known as cataplexy: when laughter or another strong emotion causes someone to instantly collapse into sleep.  This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024 The producer was Meggie Morris and Carmel Rooney was the Executive Producer. It explores sleep, insomnia, sleepwalking, narcolepsy, sleep apnoea, consciousness, cataplexy, mental health, physical health, mental clarity, energy, mood, snoring, respiratory illness, mindfulness, anxiety To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Former AFLW star Moana Hope has spent her life caring for others, including her dying father and her beloved sister Vinny, who has an intellectual disability. It wasn't until Mo was in her 30s that she realised she needed to learn how to love herself. Content Warning: this episode of Conversations contains discussion of childhood abuse, domestic violence and suicidal ideation. Moana Hope grew up with 13 siblings in a two-bedroom housing commission home in Melbourne's north west. As a little girl, she played football with the boys and then with grown women, and in her 20s she took on full-time caring responsibilities for two of her nephews, as well as her sister, who lives with an intellectual disability. This backstory, along with her natural talent for the game and charisma off the field, helped Mo stand out as a star of the women's game when the AFLW was launched in 2017. Mo was a marquee player for Collingwood in the women's debut season. But she retired earlier than she had planned to. Post-AFLW, Mo had a lot of time to think about herself outside of football, and about the chaos and violence that was normalised in her childhood home. But it wasn't until Mo became a mother herself, that she fully reckoned with her understanding of love. Mo shares intimate snippets from her life on Instagram. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It explores AFL, the Pies, Melbourne, Glenroy, Maori heritage, Cancer, death, grief, caring, queerness, footy, Hawthorne, women's sports, cricket, mother daughter relationships, mother father relationships, personal work, therapy, inner child work, sisterhood, engineering, female business owners, motherhood, sons and mothers, violence, abuse, financial abuse, Essendon, GWS, Richmond, Adelaide. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Australians are living longer and longer, which is on one hand a beautiful thing. But on the other, prolonged old age is wreaking havoc. So how might we respond to this new demographic situation we find ourselves in? Lucinda Holdforth is a writer who specialises in looking at what makes good societies flourish, everything from manners to politics and equality. Most recently, she's set her sights on the unintended negative consequences following the extraordinary increase in life span around the world, particularly in Australia. In the past 50 years, human life expectancy across the globe has jumped from 46 years old to 73, and in Australia that number is even higher -- an Australian born today is likely to live until they are 84 years old. On the surface, living longer is a very good thing. It means more time spent with our loved ones, looking at the stars, feeling the sun, living. But prolonged old age can also be very lonely and painful, and, as Lucinda argues, it is costing society as a whole in many ways. She has seen this firsthand, as a daughter who supported her own parents in their long old age, and has some surprising suggestions about how we could do things differently to ease the impact on our economy, our medical system, our elderly and our youth. GOING ON AND ON: Why our longevity threatens our future is published by Simon & Schuster. This episode was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It explores the sandwich generation, carers, women caring for parents, the elderly, dementia, Alzheimer's, Bryan Johnson, biohackers, Blue Zone, how to live longer, Mediterranean diet, tech bros, longevity, muscle mass, aging, deterioration, aged care, death, grief, how to live well, writing, books, old age, diseases of the elderly, tax, taxation, ageism, voting rights, voting age, lower the voting age. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

It was love at first sight, when Jack Ashby first set eyes upon a platypus specimen as a young university student. The introduction set him on a lifelong mission to meet these quintessentially Australian creatures in the wild, and redefine their reputation as "weird" or "primitive". He's met many other animals along the way, coming face to face with an elusive snow leopard family in the Himalayas, with wombats and echidnas, and seeing only the eyes of a sloth bear, reflecting his torchlight in a pitch black forest. Further information Platypus Matters is published by Harper Collins This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2022, the producer was Meggie Morris and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. It explores platypus, mammals, zoology, echidnas, Australian animals, Winston Churchill, animal behaviour, Indigenous Australians, baby platypus, the biology and anatomy of platypus, weird animal facts. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Antoun Issa grew up quietly aware of a profound grief in his mother's eyes. As an adult, after living and working in the Middle East, he finally knew how to ask her about surviving the Lebanese Civil War. Antoun is a journalist who grew up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, after his parents had escaped the civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s. Growing up in Craigieburn as the baby of the family, Antoun was particularly close with his mother. He was always conscious of a deep sadness in his mother's eyes, but was wary of asking her too many questions. As an adult, Antoun went to live and work in Lebanon. There, in the Middle East, where he worked as a journalist, Antoun saw firsthand what happens when the trajectory of human life is interrupted by conflict and violence. Upon returning home to Australia, he was finally ready to ask his mother about the source of her quiet and enduring grief, and what came out of her was a remarkable story of true love, true loss and resilience. Upon returning home to Australia, he was finally ready to ask his mother about the source of her quiet and enduring grief, and what came out of her was a remarkable story of true love, true loss and resilience. REBIRTH: A Love Story from the Depths of War is published by Hachette. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It explores the Middle East, War, Conflict, Beiruit, Israel, PLO, Palestine, United States, civil war, conflict, refugees, religious conflict, Lebanese Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Mountains, Maronite Christians, politics and religion, proxy wars, Iran, Iraq, Arab-Isreali, Saudi, Cold War, Arab Cold War, Taif Agreement, political power, relationship, origin story, writing, books, memoir, novel, survival, death, violence, sliding doors. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The Irish novelist has always been open to where life can unexpectedly take him, and the excitement that comes with that kind of freedom. Colm Toibin's first big move was from rural Ireland to Dublin after his father died when he was young.  Then, it was off to experience the wild hedonism and sexual liberation of post-Franco Spain, a pleasant shock after needing a prescription to buy condoms in Ireland. Since then, he's journeyed to Sudan, Los Angeles, New York and beyond. Wherever Colm goes, he keeps a running list in his head of tiny details — observations of seemingly mundane encounters, an offhand comment or the cut of a lady's suit on a train. Every now and then, these details bubble up in Colm's memory and another of his well-loved novels, like Brooklyn, Nora Webster or The Master, is born. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in May 2025, the producer was Meggie Morris and the Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison. It explores film adaptations, death of a parent, grief, Ireland, homophobia, growing up gay, Catholicism, epic adventure, John Crowley, Nick Hornby, Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Walters, Dublin, immigrant experience, the Irish immigrant experience, family separation, origin stories, falling in love, books, writers, novels, life-story, family dynamics, reflection, loss, funny, comedy, repression, orgies, condom prescriptions, journalism, foreign correspondents. Colm's latest novel Long Island is published by Pan MacMillan. To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Specialist rural doctor, Damien Brown on dramatic rescues, slow interventions and the cases that moved him, including attending to two badly burnt men after a fuel tank exploded on a remote Queensland cattle station.     As a young boy in South Africa, Damien Brown was always interested in science and medicine. His neighbour, the local veterinarian, would let him observe surgery in the workshop, so it was predictable that Damien would end up as a medical doctor. After his parents moved the family to Australia, the call to help others drew Damien back to the very things his parents had tried to shield him from — civil war, crime, absolute poverty and inequity. Damien joined Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) as soon as they would take him as a junior doctor. He worked in Angola, Mozambique and South Sudan.  When he returned to Australia, working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in remote communities in Central Australia and Far North Queensland, he found challenges that were more similar to his previous experience in Africa than he expected. Further information Bush Doctor: A memoir from the beautiful, rugged heart of outback Australia is published by Allen & Unwin. This episode was produced by Rebecca McLaren. The Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. This episode touches on remote Indigenous communities, rural doctor, Royal Flying Doctor Service, South Africa, Angola, South Sudan, civil war, gunfight, safe room, grab bag, remote work.  To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Filmmaker Kasimir Burgess travelled to Mongolia to follow two young men on their gruelling journey to bring 2000 horses to safer pastures during an exceptionally brutal winter.   For centuries, the herders of Tsakhir Valley in Mongolia have protected their horses from the harsh winters by nominating their bravest young men to move them. But the ancient practice has been forced to stop in recent years due to climate change.  Iron Winter documents one community's attempt to revive the tradition by initiating two friends into a rite of passage in danger of being lost. Further information  The documentary Iron Winter had a national cinematic release earlier this year. This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the executive producer was Eliza Kirsch. It explores Mongolia horse culture, the Mongolian Steppes, severe weather, ancient traditions and culture, family, mental health, art, films, documentary, viral meningitis, childhood leukaemia, adventure, grief. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The ABC journalist explains how competing, overlapping narratives and outright myths form our understanding of events of the past, featuring an impersonation of Winston Churchill talking about a lemon tree. Matt presents and writes the ABC TV show and podcast “If You’re listening”, where he says he explains the world’s most important stories while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes. He applies his Australian lens on major turning points in history; the villains, visionaries and vanquished and invites us to question what we think we know about the world.  From the assassination of Julius Ceaser to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Matt has uncovered unknown, often bizarre and at times laughable tales swirling in the murky waters of history. Further information If You're Listening: Declassified is published by HarperCollins. You can watch and listen to Matt's program, If You're Listening.  This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It covers world politics, Trump, Putin, Winston Churchill, Matthias Rust, Red Square, Iron Curtain, Soviet Union, Chernobyl, M Gessen, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner Group, Cessna, Yalta Conference, Stalin, Alexander Downer, Papadopoulos, Hillary Clinton, hinge moments, the butterfly effect,  To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Award-winning Australian author, poet and essayist David Malouf died last week at the age of 92, he  spoke with Richard in 2014. The first son of a Lebanese family, David spent his early years in South Brisbane, his vivid memories of life as it was then are captured in his classics, Johnno and 12 Edmondstone Street. Although his father played representative rugby league and was a champion boxer, David pursued a life of letters and during his career he published numerous highly-awarded novels and collections of essays. This episode was first broadcast in March 2014 To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Bonnie Hancock got the idea to paddle around Australia after she stumbled on a book in her local library, the wild adventure ended being a gruelling 12,700 kilometre journey took almost a year to complete.   Along the way, Bonnie met sharks, crocodiles, and sea snakes, she battled unrelenting seasickness and some serious storms.  She also met some fascinating characters and saw the whole of Australia from a very unique vantage point. Further information The Girl Who Touched The Stars is published by HarperCollins This episode was first broadcast in 2024 The producer was Meggie Morris and Carmel Rooney was the Executive Producer. It explores, sea kayaking, Australia, sharks, crocodiles, sea snakes, dangerous storms, hypothermia, endurance, adventure, physical challenge, mental challenge, competition, psychology, mental health, support and friendship. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Professor Daniel Reynaud on the incredible true story of an assuming vicar who turned out to be the most decorated military chaplain in Australian history, who had at one point lived his life on the edge. During World War Two, a self-effacing man named Walter Dexter served as the vicar of a church in West Footscray. Walter was in his 60s and his attempts to take up a career as a farmer and a teacher had failed, and so he’d returned to his earlier vocation as a clergyman. His children regarded their father as apathetic and unambitious, who left a lot of half-completed projects around the house.  But the people who knew Walter when he was younger, called him "terribly brave" and "larger than life" as Walter's earlier life was full of adventure, travel and great danger. Walter's adventures began when he first boarded a ship at 14 years old. By the end of the 19th century, and still a teenager, he’d seen Calcutta, New York, South Africa, Bombay and Tierra del Fuego. Then, during World War One, Walter's courage and compassion under fire made him the most decorated military chaplain in Australian history. Historian Daniel Reynaud has set the record straight about the improbable life of this unassuming vicar, known by the soldiers who loved him as 'The Pinching Padre'. Sailor, Soldier, Vicar, Farmer: The Improbable Life of Anzac Chaplain Walter Dexter is published by Simon & Schuster. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It explores military history, war, ANZAC Day, Dawn Service, military ethics, world war three, Egypt, Middle East, France, Europe, Germany, travel, sailing, maritime history, fathers, religion, Christianity, Church, biography, books, writing, Australian history, modern history, farming, agriculture, books for father's day. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

At 23 years old, Stephanie Browitt willed herself to stay awake long enough to survive a volcano eruption on New Zealand's Whakaari / White Island. More than six years later, her resilience and sanity remains as strong as ever. The rescue mission to White Island in November 2019 was led by three civilians, who immediately flew from the mainland, as the emergency services deemed the island too dangerous for their trained paramedics to get there. Stephanie clung on to consciousness, despite severe burns to 70 per cent of her body, because she knew she had to get back to her beloved mum, Marie. The blast killed 22 people, including Stephanie's little sister Krystal. Eventually their father Paul also succumbed to his injuries in hospital. During the early stages of Stephanie's fight to recover, her sister's fate was kept a secret to give her something to fight for. After dozens of operations, years of physical therapy, grieving the sudden loss of half of their family, and growing even closer to her mum, Stephanie decided together wither her mum, Marie, to take on the cruise company that allowed them to go to this island despite knowing there was a warning in place. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It explores natural disasters, survival, grief, death, burns recovery, Turia Pitt, memoir, writing, books, mother daughter relationships, ICU, coma, body positivity, resilience, heartbreak, family bond, love, stories of survival, incredible stories, grief, death, losing a father, big sister, losing a sibling, sisterly bond, Melbourne, cruise ships, near death experience. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The Danish-British author, broadcaster and comedian recalls her unusual early life with glee, including how she came to be holding the hand of Neil Armstrong’s assistant at NASA’s headquarters on July 20, 1969. (R)   Sandi’s interest in the world was stoked from a young age by her father, Claus, who was Denmark’s first Foreign Correspondent, and who was incredibly famous in his homeland. It was her dad who believed experiences were more important than day-to-day schooling, which is how Sandi came to be holding the hand of Neil Armstrong’s assistant at NASA’s mission control on the day of the Apollo moon landing. Sandi's irrepressible curiosity in the world and its people has been a source of renewal for her, from moments of crippling loneliness and homophobia to joyful occasions and performances. Further information Originally broadcast November 2022. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.  This episode references LGBTQIA+, Cambridge, Footlights, QI, The Great British Bake Off, Danish news, NASA, astronaut, moon, space, ovarian cyst, two mums, To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

When the world's most famous dancer offered a young sailor a job as his assistant, Blue Robinson thought it was a joke at first. But what followed was the most fascinating and formative year of Blue's life. Simon 'Blue' Robinson grew up sailing and playing rugby on the idyllic island of Jersey, between England and France. In his 20s, he went further a field, first to London and then Blue started working on yachts sailing around the Caribbean. One evening at a restaurant in St Barts, Blue spotted a man whose face he recognised, and invited him on board the yacht the next day. That man was Rudolf Nureyev, hugely famous for his talents as a ballet dancer, his volatile temper, and for defecting from the Soviet Union. Nureyev took an immediate liking to Blue and spontaneously offered him a job as his assistant. The two next met months later, when Blue found himself side stage in Cleveland, Ohio, helping the legendary dancer undress, and preparing him a thermos of hot tea. This began an extraordinary and transformative year for Blue as the assistant, dresser, masseur, driver, cook, and trusted confidante of history's most iconic and legendary male ballet dancer. Blue's book, A Year with Rudolf Nureyev, is currently being turned into an audio book. He is still working as a writer, helping people write their private memoirs. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It explores ballet, Russia, USA, famous people, the secret lives of celebrities, Tatar, Red Army, Margot Fonteyn, classical dancing, defection, Soviet Union, USSR, The Royal Ballet, HIV-AIDS, health, decline, homosexuality in the 20th century, caring for sick people, carers, memoir, writing books, biography, boats, super yachts, below deck, sexual health, queer icons, STI, first jobs, amazing jobs. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Alex Braczkowski is a big cat expert and for years he's been following a rare group of tree-climbing lions, including the charismatic, enigmatic, three-legged Jacob.   Alex fell in love with animals by accident, he'd just been expelled and while his parents were trying to find him a new school, they made him use his time wisely by volunteering at the Johannesburg Zoo. From there he went to game ranger school, and onto university at a campus nestled in forests at the base of the Outeniqua Mountains, which he shared with dwarf leopards. It was at university that Alex really fell in love with big cats. Eventually Alex became a National Geographic explorer, and for years now has been following a rare group of lions who spend almost all day up in trees, only coming down at night to hunt. One of the lions that has a special place in Alex's heart is known as Jacob. Jacob has already used up many of his nine lives. He has survived been poisoned, trapped, snared and gored by a buffalo, and now gets around on three legs, but is still able to climb trees. This episode was first broadcast in 2023, the producer was Meggie Morris and Carmel Rooney was the executive producer was Carmel Rooney. It explores animals, big cats, lions, animal behaviour, animal photography, South Africa, National Geographic, dangerous animals. To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Hannah Clarke and her three children were killed in an horrific attack that shocked Australia but for Dave Kramer their deaths were personal, he was friends with Hannah and had witnessed her relationship up close.   Dave's own childhood exposure to domestic violence had blinded him to some of the signs that Hannah and her kids were in danger. After Hannah's death, Dave began the difficult work of confronting his past and educating himself on how to recognise abuse and have the confidence to speak out and help. He now helps educate teenagers and young men about respectful and safe relationships and healthy masculinity. If you need to speak to someone  1800respect or 1800 737 732 for the national domestic violence hotline Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 Lifeline on 13 11 14 MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 Further information smallsteps4hannah This episode was produced by Jen Leake, the executive producer was Eliza Kirsch. It explores domestic violence, coercive control, violence against women, violence prevention, safe and respectful relationships, grief, mental health, trauma, drug use, behavioural science, psychology,  To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Author Helen Pitt has written a history of the iconic fun park and it's a tale bound up with con men, crooked cops, and developers who have long wanted to snatch up the prime piece of waterfront real estate. Millions of people have happy memories of walking through the teeth of the gigantic face on the edge of Sydney Harbour but it wasn't the first Luna Park in Australia, that honour goes to the Melbourne version which opened a decades earlier. But the tale of Sydney's Luna Park is arguably the most dramatic and it's one of only two amusement parks in the world protected by government legislation.   Helen Pitt's book is called Luna Park: the extraordinary story of the showmen, shysters and schemers who built Sydney's famous funk park is published by Allen And Unwin. This episode of Conversations explores Luna Park, amusement parks, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, history, show rides, engineering, the Great Depression, the Ghost Train fire, tragedy, historical preservation, waterfront real estate, protest, Martin Sharp, the Big Dipper, protein spills.

When Sonia Henry signed up to work as a GP in a remote mining town in the Pilbara, the experience changed almost everything she believed about Australia. An unfortunate romantic entanglement just before her final exams left her questioning everything, just as she was about to qualify as a doctor. To escape her life in Sydney, she signed up to work in some of Australia's most far-flung medical clinics. While working as a GP in places like the Pilbara, outback NSW, the Northern Territory and Broome Sonia had many experiences with her patients which completely altered how she saw Australia. Content Warning – suicide and adult themes. Listener discretion advised. Further information Put Your Feet in the Dirt, Girl is published by Allen and Unwin Lifeline on 13 11 14 MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978 Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 Headspace on 1800 650 890 Doctors' Health Advisory Service is a 24 hr support line for doctors, medical students, dentists, veterinarians and students of these professions.

Jane Messer grew up with a loving father who never really understood why as a child his mother left him and his older sister at a boarding school, so she decided to find out the full story and prove that he was in fact, loved. Her father Michael was born in Berlin in the years between the two world and to escape Nazi Germany he was sent to live in England as a child. There were a few fleeting visits but then Michael didn’t see his mother again for another 13 years and he always said she never loved him. As Jane grew older and became a mother herself, she knew there had to be more to Bella’s story and so she went on the trail from pre-war Berlin to Tel Aviv to Melbourne, to try to understand the choices made in extraordinary circumstances.  Further information Jane Messer's family memoir is called Raven Mother  This episode of Conversation explores family history, the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, suicide, boarding school, Palestine, the Nakba, Berlin, World War 2, immigration, the British Mandated Palestine, memoir.

Novelist Emma Pei Yin ran away from Hong Kong as a teenager to start fresh in Australia. But she found herself repeatedly drawn back home whenever she put pen to paper. Emma grew up in England and Hong Kong. But her life in Hong Kong wasn’t so much about the neon skyscrapers as it was about her family’s ancestral village, tucked away in the New Territories. Emma spent her school holidays there with her grandparents, learning how to take care of the family cemetery and joining in Chinese Festivals. Sometimes her grandfather would share his memories of the Second World War, when the Japanese military invaded and occupied Hong Kong. As Emma became into a teenager, her relationship with her parents deteriorated. She eventually decided to leave them and Hong Kong, coming to Australia to make a life for herself as a writer. But whenever she wrote, Emma found herself drawn back to Hong Kong; to the hundreds of islands, the fishing villages on stilts, the mountains, woodlands and beaches – all the things that tourists who think of Hong Kong as a city of neon lights and free Wi-fi don’t know about. Content warning: This episode of Conversations contains discussion about sexual assault. Help and support is always available. You can call Lifeline 24 hours a day on 13 11 14. Emma's debut novel, When Sleeping Women Wake, is published by Hachette and was recently awarded the 2026 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, the executive producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores family dynamics, multiculturalism, China, Hong Kong, modern history, writing, books, literature, historical fiction, Japanese occupation, World War 2, assault, victim-blaming, abortion, filmmaking, black sheep, family honour, London, forgiveness.

Writer Cynthia Banham on discovering the shocking truth about her great-grandmother, reckoning with buried family secrets, and the criticisms mothers face from others and sometimes most harshly, from themselves. Cynthia Banham grew up hearing the story of her great-grandmother, Natalina, who had supposedly been orphaned in Italy in the 19th century. But when Cynthia became a mother herself she felt compelled to look for the real story of her maternal line, which suddenly stopped three generations back. What she found shocked her -- a period of time when infant relinquishment was so common, the era became known as the 'century of foundlings', and her great-grandmother was one of them. She had not been orphaned, as the family thought, but abandoned by a nameless mother. Cynthia took off to Bologna, Italy with her own young family in tow to find the truth. Along the way she uncovered the stories of 'bastardini' (a home for bastards), literate midwives, epigenetics and possible incest. Cynthia also stood in the house where Natalina was born, and came to terms with her own harsh judgement of herself as a mother. Mother Shadow is published by Upswell. Richard also spoke to Cynthia in 2023 about surviving the 2007 Garuda plane disaster in Indonesia. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores ancestry, epigenetics, anthropology, family history, writing, books, orphans, adoption, child abandonment, truth, journalism, parenting with a disability, mothers in wheelchairs, self confidence as a mother, self criticism as a mother, marriage, love, mothers and sons, school communities, Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, memoir, modern history, travel, family bonding, wild gardening.

Toxic people are around us in our workplaces, our families and our dating lives. Research psychologist Leanne ten Brinke is here to tell you how to spot them, and get rid of them from your orbit. Leanne ten Brinke is a research psychologist whose special area of expertise is what she calls 'dark personality types'. These are particularly cruel, malicious, manipulative people who lack empathy, people who are psychopaths, narcissists or sadists. Psychologists estimate than one per cent of any population shows serious levels of psychopathy. They walk among us in our workplaces and in our relationships, they could be an gaslighting partner, a narcissistic parent or a colleague who's a bully. There are also more serious cases, like abusive husbands or murderous mothers. Leanne also makes the point that any one of us is capable of losing our moral bearings or enabling malicious people by cheering them on, hiring them or voting them into office. But there are ways to resist them, and make your own life the better for it. Poisonous People: psychopathy, narcissism, manipulation, sadism: how to resist them and improve your life is published by Simon & Schuster Australia. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores toxic relationships, is my partner a narcissist, what to do about my narcissist mother, what to do about my toxic boss, how many psychopaths are there, sadism, serial killers, morality, amorality, Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, sociopath, Patric Gagne, anti-social personality disorders, thriller, scammers, dating world, escaping abuse, peaceful living, finding peace. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Born with a magnificent voice, Opera star Teddy Tahu Rhodes fought against his destiny for years until a letter he'd been avoiding reading changed everything (R)

Dr Nada Andric wants to improve the health of people who are marginalised in the community and their access to healthcare. She works at the Reverend Bill Crews GP clinic, a place where people who might be completely off the database of society can get help. Whether they're facing homelessness, dealing with mental health issues, addiction, or simply don't have a Medicare card or passport to their name.  This year, the clinic in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield turns 40. This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores health care, addiction, homelessness, poverty, doctors, domestic violence, mental health, society, Reverend Bill Crews. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Two-time World Debating champion Bo Seo on how love and listening can improve how we disagree, so we're not at each other's throats online and offline (R). When Bo was 8 years old, he and his parents migrated from Korea to Australia.  Bo was a quiet boy and sometimes felt overwhelmed at school.  But in Year Five, something happened which changed his life: one of his teachers introduced Bo to debating. Debating became a way for Bo to excel socially and academically.  He went on to win world titles for Australia and for Harvard University. Now Bo is sharing insights from the strategy, structure and history of debating to try to encourage all of us to disagree better. Originally broadcast in May 2023. Good Arguments is published by Simon and Schuster. This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. It explores keyboard warriors, how to argue well, communication skills, how to disagree without offending, writing, responding not reacting, self reflection, how to get your point across, books, agreements, disagreements, law, lawyers, legal industry, author, journalist, Harvard University, community building, how to build community, how to have constructive conversations, political divide. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Stephen Grosz has welcomed people into his office for more than 40 years, and believes our greatest task in life is to see ourselves and others with more clarity, in order to live more easily and with more please. Stephen has sat with people as they have shared their darkest fears, strangest dreams and their most explosive love affairs. Through thousands of hours of these conversations, he has tried to help patients understand themselves so they can live with more ease and with greater satisfaction. Stephen believes our greatest task in life is to see ourselves and others with more clarity. That's the quest that his driven his work dissecting compelling stories of love, desire and heartbreak from his consulting room. Love's Labour is published by Penguin. This episode of Conversations was produced by Jennifer Leake. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores therapy, love, marriage, relationships, writing, books, analysis, counselling, introspection, looking inwards, how to self reflect, how to survive heartbreak, what do I do with desire, how to live a fulfilling life, how we lose and find ourselves, United States, University of California Berkeley, Oxford, Institute of Psychoanalysis, mental wellbeing, University College of London. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Writer Tanya Heaslip on swapping life on an Alice Springs station for the fairytale streets of Prague, and the remarkable parallels she found between these two magical worlds. Tanya was in a pub in London in 1989 when she watched on the television as the Berlin Wall came down. She was the tail end of a solo backpacking trip, which didn’t quite live up to what she’d imagined it might be as a little girl growing up on a remote cattle station near Alice Springs. But Tanya booked to go to Berlin the very next day, beginning an obsession with learning about what life was like behind the Iron Curtain. Several years later she would return to Europe, this time to the East, to the Czech Republic. There in fairytale Prague, not long after the Velvet Revolution, Tanya would fall in love with the city and into a relationship with an older man. And she would draw unexpected parallels between the magic and isolation of Prague and that of Central Australia – their people and their stories. Tanya has written several memoirs about her life from the great expanse of the Northern Territory, to the cobbled streets of Prague. Alice to Prague, An Alice Girl and Beyond Alice are published by Allen & Unwin. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores country Australia, rural Australia, boarding school, Northern Territory, mustering cattle, expat Australians, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, Fall of the Wall, travelling Australians, falling in love, grief, grieving, relationships, love for country, central Australia, Adelaide, bullying, studying law, working in the legal system, teaching English abroad.

The late Widjabul Wieybal woman of the Bundjalung Nation Rhoda Roberts lived through great loss and grief, in the midst of becoming one of Australia's most influential cultural leaders in the arts (R). Content Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned that this episode of Conversations includes the names and voice of someone who has died, used in accordance with the wishes of their family. Aunty Rhoda Roberts AO, a guiding force in Australia's arts scene and the woman who coined the term "Welcome to Country", died in March at the age of 66 after being diagnosed with cancer. Rhoda grew up with the lessons her father taught her and her siblings about ignoring racism in their town and not allowing themselves to become victims. Rhoda is a member of the Bundjalung nation, Widjabul clan of Northern New South Wales and South East Queensland; and her father grew up on a mission near Lismore, where his family fought to maintain their language and culture. Rhoda had a twin sister called Lois, but their relationship was shattered just days before their 21st birthday, when Lois was left with a brain injury in an horrific car crash. Rhoda went on to become an actor, journalist, broadcaster, director and festival programmer. It was during her role as creative director of the Awakening segment of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Opening Ceremony that her sister Lois went missing. Six months later, Rhoda's fears were realised when a hiker found a body in the bush. Originally broadcast in September 2016. Listen to Rudi Bremer's episode of Awaye about the legacy of Rhoda Roberts. This episode of Conversations was produced by Pam O'Brien. It explores grief, death, tragedy, traumatic brain injury, TBI, First Nations, Aboriginal Australians, racism, prejudice, fathers and daughters, sibling relationships, losing a sister, performing arts, Aboriginal arts, race relations, family trauma, Lismore, Northern Rivers. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Nick Orchard on how a tough childhood, mental health issues, couch surfing and hip hop have helped him learn how to help others recover from burnout and impostor syndrome. When Nick was growing up, his mum struggled with her mental health and when he was on a date as a teenager he got the worst call of his life, and went to be with his mum when she needed him most. Nick turned to the Melbourne hip hop scene for a sense of community and purpose. It’s also where Nick would go looking for a couch to sleep on after he found himself with no permanent home to go to. Just when things hit rock bottom, a call from a stranger helped turn his life around. Nick eventually landed a very big job in government, but that imploded in burnout and he found himself in a different, despondent place - driving 130km down a deserted road, with no memory of how he got there. That experience flicked a switch in him, and today he uses what he has learned to help others as a burnout coach. This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores mental wellbeing, executive burnout, bouncing back, mental health, mental illness, childhood trauma, boxing, purpose, meaning, life, counselling, boxing, professional coach, senior management, anxiety, impostor syndrome, leadership. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Melina Marchetta grew up in Sydney in a close-knit Sicilian family, but she never wanted to be seen as 'that Italian girl'. Years later, she drew on her story to write an Australian classic (R). Growing up, Melina lied about the fact she was forbidden to go out on the weekends, and instead told her friends she had to attend lots of weddings. At 19 years old, she visited Italy for the first time and met her great aunts, still grieving the siblings who had left for Australia decades earlier. Melina was working in the Commonwealth Bank when she began writing the novel inspired by her family's story. Looking for Alibrandi was rejected five times before it was published some years later. Then it became an Australian classic. Originally broadcast in April 2019. Melina's latest novel The Place on Dalhousie was published by Penguin in 2019. And her latest children's book in the What Zola Did series, was published in 2022. This Conversation was produced by Nicola Harrison. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. It explores Australian literature, writing, books, memoir, semi-autobiographical, novels, youth literature, teen literature, romance, coming of age, migrant stories, Italian-Australian stories, movie adaptation, Pia Miranda, Kick Gurry, Anthony LaPaglia. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Tracy Drain is Chief Engineer of the Europa Clipper, a NASA spacecraft currently travelling to Jupiter on a journey that will take six years. Europa is one of Jupiter’s four largest moons, and scientists believe there could be an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. Having water would make Europa one of the best places to look for signs of life in the solar system. Tracy Drain has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab for more than two decades. She is also a National Geographic Explorer and was in Australia for the World Science Festival in Brisbane. This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the executive producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores NASA, robotic space travel, Jupiter, Jupiter's moons, Europa, The Europa Clipper, mechanical engineering, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols, Uhura, solar system, mechanical engineering, AI, Mars Reconnaisssance Oribter, Keiper Project, Alien life, Earth-like planets, asteroids, moon landing, the space race, SpaceX, Elon Musk. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Together with his husband, Vinko Anthony runs a matchmaking agency for gay men looking for the type of enduring commitment and love that they found. As part of his role as matchmaker, Vinko shares what he's learnt about love and listening through the ups and downs of his own relationships. Vinko grew up on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, where he spent a lot of his childhood with his Nonna. The two of them would walk together for hours in silence, listening deeply to the birds, the waves and the wind. Then, when they got home and sat down to eat, VInko and his Nonna would listen to each other. Vinko took these lessons in listening and love very seriously, and he brought them with him when his family migrated to Australia and also into his vocation as a matchmaker. When Vinko finally got the courage to tell the love of his life a secret he had been hiding for five years, he had to trust that all that love and listening would be gracefully given back to him. Vinko has written a book about his love story and his matchmaking business. It's called All In: How to Make Love Stick. Vinko and his husband, Andrea, co-founded a dating agency called Beau Brummell Introductions, for gay men in Australia, the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores dating, online dating, homosexuality, growing up gay, Croatia, Dubrovnik, Italy, Puglia, travel, STI, living with HIV, falling in love, relationship advice, dating agency, matchmaking, masculinity, affair, love, listening, how to date, finding true love, travel, business, falling in love, family, coming out, mardi gras, love at first sight, building a business with your partner, HIV/Aids, Prep, communicating in relationships, commitment, long-term relationships, how to communicate with your partner, reactivity, how to listen, accepting yourself, how to find love, dating apps, tinder, hinge, bumble, grindr, feeld. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Stephanie Wood was new to online dating when she met a sweet man named Joe. But within weeks, she realised 'farmer' Joe was not who he claimed to be (R). Stephanie was a successful and well-travelled journalist when she met a sweet man named Joe online. They spent many romantic weekends away and discussed a future where they would live together in the country. But after months of his last minute cancellations and no shows, Stephanie finally ended the relationship. What she discovered next was a shocking tale of deceit and manipulation. Once she began telling her story, Stephanie realised there were hundreds of other women, and a few men just like her. Fake is published by Penguin Since Sarah first spoke with Stephanie in 2019, her story has been turned into an acclaimed TV series starring Asher Keddie. Stephanie's newsletter Vamp is available on Substack. This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. It explores online dating, dating apps, catfishing, the Tinder Swindler, betrayal, deceit, love, relationships, modern dating, grief, dating for women, manipulation, narcissism, is my partner a narcissist, gaslighting, is my partner gaslighting me, ripped off, lies. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Charles Lomu on being privileged to see love in action in his grandparents, how a spiral into grief and anger led him to periodic detention, and how cutting hair today helps him steer young men away from a dark path (R).  When Charles was born, he was lovingly given to his grandparents, in the Tongan adoption custom of pusiaki. He lived a gentle, religious life in Tonga, and saw love in action through his grandparents' care. The family moved to Australia, where Charles grew to be an up-and-coming Rugby League player. When grief shook his family, Charles turned down a dark path, which ended in periodic detention in jail. Originally broadcast July 2022. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. This episode of Conversations explores masculinity, love, boyhood, manhood, toxic masculinity, mentoring boys, family life, sports, men in sports, grief, trauma, trauma response, manosphere, Louis Theroux, HSTikkyTokky, Waller, Sneako, men for boys to look up to, recidivism, incarceration, criminal justice system, repeat offending, turning your life around, father figures, grandfather. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.