Episodes
A twitcher's life
Mar 02 2021
Sean Dooley's passion for birdwatching began with the coo of a spotted turtle dove. Decades later he broke the Australian birdwatching record (R)
The cold case secret in a Brisbane garage
Mar 01 2021
When Mark McKenna set out to write a history of the centre of Australia, and Uluru, he unearthed new evidence about an 86-year old cold case *CW: For our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners please be advised that today’s conversation contains the voice and names of people who have died.
Raised in a cult
Feb 26 2021
Serafina Tanè was born into a doomsday cult led by a charismatic and abusive man who claimed he'd been abducted by aliens
Water, Water: a story collection
Feb 25 2021
Eight thrilling encounters in and on the water, as told by previous Conversations guests (R)
When Jeanne was Jean: sailing the high seas disguised as a man
Feb 24 2021
Danielle Clode with the story of the adventurous Jeanne Barrett, a French peasant from Burgundy who became the first woman to sail around the world
Trump's Last Stand
Feb 23 2021
Political reporter Jonathan Swan with the inside story of Donald Trump’s last few months in office
The history of libraries from before stone tablets to printed books
Feb 22 2021
Stuart Kells' life as a bibliophile began with one ancient, leather-bound, blue book (R)
The race to live on Mars
Feb 19 2021
Cosmologist Tamara Davis on the complicated scientific quest to explore and colonise the Red Planet
Curlew Man of the south west
Feb 18 2021
After Kim Scott became a teacher and a father, he started looking for his Aboriginal family *CW: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners please use discretion when listening as the following program references people who have died.
Mary Wilson: Dream Girl
Feb 16 2021
The late Mary Wilson rose up from Detroit's housing projects to find worldwide fame with The Supremes (R)
Oumuamua's secrets
Feb 15 2021
Avi Loeb was Harvard's top astronomer when he became intrigued by reports of a pancake-shaped object the size of a football field hurtling through our solar system
Secret agents in the suburbs: a real life family spy story
Feb 12 2021
Sue Ellen Kusher’s father was an ASIO agent, and she and her siblings were taught to memorise number plates, spot unusual behaviour, and keep the family business secret at all costs
Upside down in Bass Strait
Feb 11 2021
Ocean racing navigator Will Oxley first learned his trade through celestial navigation, using a sextant and the stars. He then began ocean racing around the world, and in 1998, he found himself upside down in a storm-wrecked Bass Strait
The mystery of Lasseter's Reef
Feb 10 2021
Warren Brown with the story of the fever sparked by claims of a gold reef in the Central Australian desert during the Great Depression (R)
The secret life of George
Feb 09 2021
Georgina Godwin grew up in Zimbabwe with a father who was the model of a British gentleman. Many years after she fled Africa for London, she discovered his secret identity
The hunt for Hitler's horses
Feb 08 2021
Art detective Arthur Brand met neo-Nazis, billionaire collectors and underground art dealers on his hunt for the two enormous bronze horse sculptures once owned by Hitler
Gail Force
Feb 05 2021
Gail Austen was 7 years old when she started her first business, selling hand-made billycarts on the streets of Redfern. She grew up to become a legendary surf shop entrepreneur with a habit of hiring her shoplifters
Philippa Perry says yes to feelings
Feb 04 2021
Philippa's parents wanted her to move in the 'right' circles, so they sent her to a Swiss finishing school. Instead she became a debt collector, went to Hamburger University then became a psychotherapist
When Robert found Maida
Feb 03 2021
Former politician Robert Tickner grew up in country NSW, 'showered with love' by his adoptive parents. When he was reunited with his biological mum in his 40s, he realised she'd been much closer than he ever knew (R) *CW: This conversation discusses adoption. Please use discretion when listening
A life inside the rock 'n' roll circus - Part 2
Feb 02 2021
In 1973, Tana Douglas found her calling. She became the world's first woman roadie in rock and roll, touring with AC/DC, Iggy Pop and Elton John *CW: discussion of drugs and drug use
A life inside the rock 'n' roll circus - Part 1
Feb 01 2021
In 1973, Tana Douglas found her calling. She became the world's first woman roadie in rock and roll, touring with AC/DC, Iggy Pop and Elton John
The strange new science of ageing
Jan 29 2021
Andrew Steele on the race to crack the scientific code of why we get old, and whether we can delay or suspend ageing for good
Pink Diamonds and Crocodiles: A Kimberley Tale
Jan 28 2021
How Frauke Bolten-Boshammer raised a farm, a family and a diamond empire from the red dirt of Kununurra (*CW: this episode contains discussion of suicide) (R)
Benjamin's epic flight
Jan 27 2021
When Benjamin Jordan landed his paraglider in a swarm of millions of Monarch butterflies over-wintering in a Mexican valley, the experience changed his own course
Hidden histories of Chinese Australia
Jan 26 2021
Tim Watts MP has a deeply personal reason for wanting to resurface stories about Chinese migrants to Australia. From pre-Federation, to the Kelly gang, to the Melbourne Olympics, he tells how their influence weaves right through our culture (R)
The story of the Bible in Australia
Jan 25 2021
Historian Meredith Lake with the Bible's Australian history, from the convict era, to the Mabo land rights campaign, and the modern-day Pentecostal churches
The life of Anna Meares
Jan 22 2021
Anna's stellar cycling career saw her smash Australian Olympic records and become the World Champion 11 times. Then to the surprise of many, she walked away from cycling for good
Lighthouses, daring rescues, and an ANZAC tortoise
Jan 21 2021
Shona Riddell on the adventurous lives of women lighthouse keepers
Wilma Reading's life in song
Jan 20 2021
Cairns-born Wilma Reading was 16 when her friends first urged her to get up and sing in a Brisbane cafe. Her show-stopping voice later made her internationally famous, and led to unexpected encounters with Liberace
Cyrus the Great: 'the anointed one'
Jan 19 2021
Stephen Dando-Collins with the story of the life and deeds of the Persian King Cyrus the Great, whose exploits inspired Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar
Dr Fish Feelings
Jan 18 2021
Dr Culum Brown's work on fish cognition has proven fish have long memories, sharks have friends, and sting rays know when it's the weekend (R)
Best of 2020 — Joy McKean
Dec 11 2020
Joy's travels with her late husband Slim Dusty brought both challenges and rewards (R)
Best of 2020 — John Doyle
Dec 10 2020
Comedian John Doyle (aka Rampaging Roy Slaven) was raised in a mining town in a Catholic family. Behind closed doors, family life was often turbulent, as his sister Jen had been born profoundly autistic at a time when the condition had no name (R)
Best of 2020 — Peggy McDonald
Dec 09 2020
Peggy has spent much of her life as wildlife carer specialising in helping wedge-tail eagles, falcons, owls and other raptors recover their ability to fly (R)
Best of 2020 — Peter O'Brien
Dec 08 2020
The lessons Peter learned as a brand new teacher in a one-room bush school in 1960, in the tiny town of Weabonga, New South Wales. The living was hard, but the job was incredibly sweet (R)
Best of 2020 — Nardi Simpson
Dec 07 2020
Yuwaalaraay writer and storyteller, Nardi Simpson of the band, Stiff Gins, talks about her life, art and the meaning of country (R)
Judy Brewer's Mudgegonga love song
Dec 04 2020
Judy on life with her late husband, the politician Tim Fischer, and how her son Harrison helped inspire a new beginning on her farm
Kai and the 99th koala
Dec 03 2020
Arborist Kai Wild used his tree-climbing expertise to rescue burned, injured and orphaned koalas during the Black Summer bushfires (*CW: this episode contains descriptions of the recent fires which may be distressing)
Sir Michael Parkinson — my father John
Dec 02 2020
Broadcaster Michael Parkinson with the life story of his late father John William - Yorkshireman, miner, humourist and fast bowler
Fabulous Ada Delroy — serpentine dancer and vaudevillian
Dec 02 2020
Kaz Cooke traces the dramatic life of a singular woman (R)
A very William McInnes Christmas
Dec 01 2020
William returns to reminisce about the Christmases of his childhood and his brief but brilliant stint as a department store Santa
Dara McAnulty and the joys of nature
Nov 30 2020
The young naturalist shares his deep connection to the wild landscapes and creatures of Northern Ireland. Dara's first book has been highly awarded, and is all the more exceptional for his being just sixteen years of age
Australia's fearless women pilots
Nov 27 2020
Kathy Mexted with true stories of extraordinary Australian women compelled to take to the skies in Spitfires, Tiger Moths, Cessnas and fighter jets
The girl from Orroroo — Fleur McDonald
Nov 26 2020
Fleur grew up in a fuel depot in a tiny South Australian town. As a girl she would ride along in road trains with her Dad, singing songs and eating steak sandwiches. She became a jillaroo, a farmer, then an advocate for women in the bush escaping domestic violence
Intrepid and curious Charlotte Waring Atkinson — as told by Kate Forsyth
Nov 25 2020
Charlotte was Australia's first children's author. She came to the colony of NSW from London in 1826, and now her trailblazing, tragic and dramatic life story has been written by her descendants, Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell
The true history of the Ark before Noah
Nov 24 2020
How Irving Finkel stumbled upon the true story of the Ark before Noah on a Babylonian clay tablet (R)
A very modern history of swearing
Nov 23 2020
Amanda Laugesen with the rich history of Australian 'bad language', and how the words we classify as swearing have changed over time. *CW: Discussion of swearing and offensive language
From the ashes of a failed farm
Nov 20 2020
Robert Pekin lost his family’s 4th-generation farm, and in despair, walked away from everything and into the wilderness. After much soul-searching and trial and error, he developed a new way to link food producers more directly with those who eat the produce. *CW: mentions suicide
The hunt for the world’s largest owl
Nov 19 2020
Wildlife biologist Jonathan Slaght on his adventurous quest to save the rare, shaggy fish owls of Russia's Far East
Falafel and Fatherhood
Nov 18 2020
John Birmingham found himself rebuilding his life years after the devastating loss of his father (R)
Ben Folds' dream of lightning bugs
Nov 17 2020
Ben on his musical career, the art of song writing and his brief stint as a one-man polka band in a German restaurant (R)
The animal that walked into my life — story collection
Nov 16 2020
A cat, a hawk, a monkey, a crow and a lop-eared rabbit: animals who walked into the lives of five people leaving the humans to wonder, 'What am I to this creature?'
Alannah Hill — behind the mask
Nov 13 2020
At sixteen, Alannah fled Tasmania and a traumatic past. In Melbourne, she began her wildly distinctive fashion label, which became an empire. Then the empire fell apart, and she began again (CW: Sexual Assault)
What happened to the USA?
Nov 12 2020
Nick Bryant reports from New York for the BBC. It's a city he's loved since his first visit in the 1980s. Now when he looks at the USA he wonders if the nation's decline is irreversible
Tim Cope in the footsteps of Genghis Khan — Part Two
Nov 11 2020
Tim continues his epic three-year adventure on horseback across the Eurasian Steppe, in this episode journeying from Kazakhstan all the way to Hungary (R)
Tim Cope in the footsteps of Genghis Khan — Part One
Nov 10 2020
Tim's epic journey across the Eurasian Steppe on horseback, in the style of the Mongol nomads, took him three years (R)
Night of the midget subs — Sydney under attack
Nov 09 2020
In 1942 three midget submarines armed with torpedoes made their way into Sydney Harbour to launch an attack on Allied warships. They were sent by the Imperial Japanese Navy
Sophie and the red balloon
Nov 06 2020
Mary Li was a star ballerina when she fell in love with Li Cunxin, her dance partner at the Houston Ballet. When their daughter Sophie was born profoundly deaf, Mary walked away from dance for many years
Born to climb the Dawn Wall — Tommy Caldwell
Nov 05 2020
Yosemite’s most punishing climb is the 3000ft sheer face of El Capitan mountain called the Dawn Wall. Tommy grew up exploring Yosemite and in 2015 he and his partner Kevin Jorgeson became the first to free-climb the wall (R)
Cheat!
Nov 04 2020
The most audacious sports cheats aren't always elite athletes. Titus O'Reily takes a look at the ignoble art of winning by breaking, or bending, the rules
How Richard Glover survived a strange upbringing
Nov 03 2020
Richard's family story is hard to beat in a game of who has the strangest parents. The Sydney broadcaster began to understand more about his eccentric mother when he met a clutch of relatives he didn't know he had (R)
Comedian Fiona O’Loughlin on living in the light
Nov 02 2020
Fiona’s alcoholism took her a long time to acknowledge and cost her a great deal. In recent years she’s been reckoning with all that’s happened since she joined the comedy circuit and its culture of heavy drinking, as well as how she wants to live now
Losing baby Miles
Oct 30 2020
When Annabel Bower’s fourth child Miles was stillborn, she decided to begin to break the silence around stillbirth and miscarriage
From the meatworks to mending men's souls
Oct 29 2020
Peter Stojanovic was working in a Melbourne meatworks when a spiritual epiphany led him to a new life, working with violent men to help change their thinking
Introducing — Days Like These
Oct 28 2020
During Australia's worst bushfires Cate Tregellas and her family were forced to evacuate their home in Mallacoota and retreat to the local wharf as fire closed in. That long, terrifying night was a New Year's Eve they'll never forget. This is an episode of Days Like These, a new ABC podcast
How to catch a wild bull
Oct 28 2020
Lach McClymont mustered hundreds of wild cattle, untouched for decades, from a remote area of the Northern Territory (R)
When Cathy went to Canberra
Oct 27 2020
Cathy McGowan never imagined a future for herself as a politician. So when she became Federal Member for Indi she began doing politics very differently
Bill Bailey on happiness
Oct 26 2020
From playing Crazy Golf with his dad, listening to birdsong, and fixing the dishwasher — to swimming in Arctic waters and skydiving, Bill dips into a cache of joyful moments, great and small, to understand what makes us happy
Ajay Rane and the gift of the earthenware pot
Oct 23 2020
Ajay is an obstetrician and urogynecologist who grew up in rural India. His father, born to one of India’s lowest classes, was also a surgeon — an improbable career that was the brainchild of Ajay’s grandmother, and funded by a whole village
Lamorna and the sea
Oct 22 2020
When Lamorna Ash began to explore her Cornish ancestry she started work on a rusty yellow fishing trawler called the Filadelfia, scaling fish, gutting them and hauling in the nets
Finding Stalin's wine cellar
Oct 21 2020
John Baker on hunting down a cache of rare and impossibly valuable French wine which had been hidden away by Josef Stalin, deep in the Republic of Georgia
Jacqui Lambie — the unlikely Senator
Oct 20 2020
From painkiller addiction to parliament, Jacqui's life has been a rollercoaster (R)
Mary-Louise and her fourth pandemic
Oct 19 2020
Epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws on life during COVID-19, the virus she classifies as both vulnerable and ruthless
On the Salt Path
Oct 16 2020
When Raynor Winn and her husband Moth lost their home then faced a terrible diagnosis, they found solace in walking more than 1000 kilometres of the English coast
Robert Dessaix — just as I please
Oct 15 2020
Robert built a whole life out of things which sparked his curiosity, whether they were languages, people or places. But when he met his birth mother in middle age, she didn't approve of his choices
Psychotherapy on the couch
Oct 14 2020
Demystifying the art of talk therapy and the complex relationship between therapist and patient (R)
Harry and the monster croc
Oct 13 2020
Harry Bowman tells adventurous tales from his three decades driving tour boats in the crocodile-infested Adelaide River, including the day he saved the life of a croc named Brutus
Robin Ince — inside the comic mind
Oct 12 2020
Becardiganed polymath Robin Ince on the fascinating brains of stand-up comics (R)
Jimmy Barnes — a broken homecoming
Oct 09 2020
Jimmy Barnes grew up as a boy called James Swan in Glasgow, then in South Australia. In his late teens, he joined a band called Cold Chisel and became a huge star. But on and off stage Jimmy was battling the demons of his troubled childhood
Hetty McKinnon — lessons from my mother's kitchen
Oct 08 2020
Cookbook author Hetty McKinnon was raised by a mum who was a passionate and creative cook. But Hetty was never particularly interested in cooking herself, until something happened as she grew up which changed everything
David Astle's brain on puzzles
Oct 07 2020
How one of the world's most influential crossword setters became increasingly interested in the science behind them (R)
Richard and the island
Oct 06 2020
Richard Flanagan on writing his apocalyptic novel on a remote island, as bushfires burned through Tasmania's forests
Kumi's Japanese inheritance
Oct 05 2020
Television presenter Kumi Taguchi's story of searching for her Japanese heritage began with searching for her grandparent's house in Tokyo, which none of her relatives had visited for decades (R)
The railway child - Monica from Clare
Oct 02 2020
Monica McInerney grew up in a family of railway children, as her Dad was the stationmaster in the tiny South Australian town of Clare. At 16, she left home to work as Humphrey B. Bear's wardrobe designer. Years later, she made a new life in Ireland and became a best-selling writer
Sick in the Land of the Well
Oct 01 2020
Jacinta Parsons was in her 20s when she became horribly unwell with Crohn's disease, a chronic disease of the digestive system. Then, doctors gave her the news she feared most
Sophie and Russell and Bear and Poppy
Sep 30 2020
How Sophie Townsend kept on, after losing her beloved husband to a sudden illness
Tracking the trial of a Mississippi murder
Sep 29 2020
John Safran had a personal interest in the death of white supremacist, Richard Barrett. What he discovered when digging into the case revealed more than Barrett himself ever did (R)
A restaurant named Parwana — Afghan treasure in Adelaide
Sep 28 2020
Durkhanai Ayubi and her family keep alive the stories and flavours they carried to Australia from Afghanistan, in the dining room of their 'accidental' and thriving restaurant
Wil Paterson aka Mr Ordinary — Not Quite What I Had Planned
Sep 25 2020
Wil Patterson was a suburban dad who wanted all the good things in life for his family. Then he made a decision which upended everything
Helen Elliott — Not Quite What I Had Planned
Sep 24 2020
Helen was working as a psychologist when she became so ill she was held in a locked psychiatric ward. There she was given ECT, one of the most extreme treatments for depression (R)
Zenith Virago — Not Quite What I Had Planned
Sep 23 2020
Zenith Virago married at seventeen, and had two children. Then she left her young family to create a life of her own on the other side of the world (R)
Akmal Saleh — Not Quite What I Had Planned
Sep 22 2020
When Akmal and his wife decided to have a treechange by moving to Byron Bay, almost immediately a comedy of errors ensued, involving a python in the roof, a half-finished home and rats in the wall (R)
James Earl Jones — Not Quite What I Had Planned
Sep 21 2020
How the man who voiced Darth Vader and Mufasa overcame a childhood stutter to build a career on his rich, resonant voice (R)
Dave Graney — a musician's take on the art of the bludge
Sep 18 2020
Dave looks back on the many forms of employment and unemployment to have sustained him as a hard working musician (R)
The Salami Sisters, Puberty Blues, and beyond
Sep 17 2020
In the late 70s, Gabrielle Carey co-wrote a blisteringly honest novel about the real lives of teenage surfie chicks in Cronulla which caused a storm of public outrage. What happened next saw her make a new life far from the limelight
The story of a tank named Mephisto
Sep 16 2020
Why the only remaining WW1 German A7V tank is in Brisbane, Australia (R)
A Herdwick shepherd's epiphany
Sep 15 2020
A new conversation with James Rebanks on how he saved his family farm by returning to ancient ways of growing crops and meadows
Fifa Riccobono — godmother of Australian music
Sep 14 2020
Fifa started in the music industry at 16, and worked her way up the ranks of Albert Music to become CEO. In the 1970s she formed a beautiful friendship with AC/DC's wild lead singer Bon Scott
Jane Fonda - writing her own script
Sep 11 2020
Jane Fonda's big life has included Barbarella, activism, three husbands, workout videos and hair epiphanies. Now in her 80s, she's devoting her energy to raising awareness about climate change
Mudlarking and beachcombing — a family story of London rubbish
Sep 10 2020
Lisa Woollett's family made their living from combing through London's waste for treasures. Her great-grandfather was a scavenger and her grandad was a dustman, and as she grew up she also began mudlarking on the Thames
Bangarra's bold leader: Stephen Page
Sep 09 2020
When they were kids, Stephen and his brothers would climb onto the laundry roof and put on a show for their neighbourhood. Stephen's since made an exceptional career as a dancer, and at the helm of Bangarra Dance Theatre (R)
How Dyarubbin became the crucible of a colony
Sep 08 2020
Grace Karskens with the story of the riverlands of the Hawkesbury-Nepean, where ancient and modern Australia first collided
Maggie Dent - helping teenage boys grow into good men
Sep 07 2020
Maggie grew up around boys, then raised four sons of her own. Now she helps parents understand the changes teenage boys are going through as they cross the bridge from boyhood to manhood
Ivan Milat, tribal law, and making my father proud — Andrew Boe's story
Sep 04 2020
Andrew was a 4 year old when his family migrated to Australia from Burma. By his mid-20s he had his own criminal law practice. When he took on a client named Ivan Milat, his career became front page news
One thumb, one toe — Billy's escape from paralysis
Sep 03 2020
When a powerful wave he was riding sent him smashing into the sand, breaking his neck, former Army Ranger Billy Hedderman came within a breath of dying. Good fortune and an iron will featured in his recovery
Craig Foster's fight to save Hakeem
Sep 02 2020
After young Australian soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi was imprisoned in Thailand, Craig fought the power of two monarchies, a military junta, and the world's largest sporting institution to free him (R)
Geoff Goodfellow's poetry captures the spirit of working-class Australia
Sep 01 2020
A former boxer and builder's labourer, Geoff is now a highly successful poet (R)
The amazing life of Frida DeGuise
Aug 31 2020
How a girl from the suburbs of Melbourne grew up to become Australia's first female Muslim standup comedian
Melina Marchetta — that Italian girl
Aug 28 2020
The true story behind Looking for Alibrandi (R)
Richard Fidler's Prague
Aug 28 2020
Richard shares stories gathered while writing his biography of the city of Prague. Some emerged from his research trip of 2019, others involved deep historical research, and others are altogether more personal
Taking your cat for a walk and why dogs never stop loving — Jeffrey Masson
Aug 27 2020
Jeff's latest book on animal behaviour tackles grief — the loss we feel when a beloved pet dies, as well as the understanding other species have of death
Timothy Spall — the British actor digs deep on screen and in life
Aug 26 2020
Timothy’s stellar career, including roles in ‘Mr Turner’, ‘Secrets and Lies’, the Harry Potter films, and his latest, ‘Mrs Lowry & Son’, was almost cut short by a life-threatening illness (R)
Ray versus the road toll — a lifelong campaign against road deaths
Aug 25 2020
Dr Raymond Shuey saved countless lives during his career with Victoria Police, driving significant change to road rules, as well as how police respond to incidents involving the mentally ill. Ray is Victoria's Senior Australian of the Year 2020
The great hope of Isaiah Dawe
Aug 24 2020
Isaiah lived in 17 places in his first 18 years, none of them with his parents. Now he's established an organisation to give Indigenous young people in the out-of-home- care system everything he wanted back then: love, cultural and family connections, and a sense of pride
A daughter's unswerving love — Sarah Holland-Batt and her father
Aug 21 2020
Sarah Holland-Batt's dad Tony was a loving father, her intellectual mentor and her friend. At 18, she became one of his carers. Later she battled an aged care system which let him down in the worst way possible
The ancient trails of the South East Forests
Aug 20 2020
After decades walking in the South East Forests of NSW, John Blay thought he knew them well. Then Indigenous friends showed him the Bundian Way, a trail from the mountains to the coast predating both the Silk Road and the Roman Empire
Dylan Moran and the white-knuckle ride of standup
Aug 19 2020
Dylan Moran on his County Meath childhood, making Black Books, and why he gave up drinking for good (R)
Rozanna's curious life
Aug 18 2020
Rozanna Lilley was raised in a bohemian household by her parents, writers Dorothy Hewett and Merv Lilley. In her early teens, her childhood was carelessly broken. Later she made a good life for herself as a writer and an autism academic ***CW: This episode discusses sexual assault
Walking from Camooweal to Birdsville with nine goats
Aug 17 2020
Owen Davies on his 98-day trek with goats and dogs, walking more than 990 kilometres down the Georgina River in outback Queensland (R)
The brutal and beautiful world of Australia's native bees
Aug 14 2020
Sugarbag bees who headbutt their queen to death are among the many Australian bee species which fascinate ecologist Toby Smith (R)
Stranded — what Claire learned from falling
Aug 13 2020
Claire Nelson was in the Joshua Tree National Park hiking alone when she strayed from the trail and slipped, shattering her pelvis. Her phone was out of range, and she knew she had to stay alive long enough for someone to realise she was missing
Falling for a fake
Aug 12 2020
Stephanie Wood was a successful, confident journalist when she fell for a romantic fraudster (R)
The apartment on Memorial Drive
Aug 11 2020
Natasha Trethewey was 19 when her mother Gwendolyn was brutally murdered. During this great rupture in her life Natasha began to garner acclaim for her poetry. In 2012 she was named America's Poet Laureate
The Weabonga lessons
Aug 10 2020
Peter O'Brien was a new minted teacher in 1960 when he took a job at a one-room bush school in Weabonga, NSW. The living was hard, but the job was incredibly sweet
Myth and Legend — Kate Forsyth on the dark origins of beloved fairytales
Aug 07 2020
The stories which preceded modern iterations of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood were often much more disturbing (R)
Myth and Legend — Battles, fairie curses and the evil eye: why old Irish tales still delight us
Aug 06 2020
Irish novelist Paedar O'Guilin weaves old myths into startling new stories (R)
Myth and Legend — the creation of Wonder Woman
Aug 05 2020
Historian Jill Lepore untangles the secret history of one of the 20th Century's most striking superheroes. She explains the myths, politics and eccentric genius behind behind the Wonder Woman story
Myth and Legend — Neil Gaiman on classic Norse mythology
Aug 04 2020
Neil explores some of the stories from Nordic mythology which have captivated him since childhood (R)
Myth and Legend — the monsters and morals of Sarah Perry
Aug 03 2020
Sarah's life took a gothic turn as she crafted her version of Melmoth (R)
The dark Lithgow childhood of Rampaging Roy Slaven
Jul 31 2020
Comedian and writer John Doyle was raised in a mining town in a music-loving Catholic family. Behind closed doors, his family life was often turbulent, as his sister Jen had been born profoundly autistic at a time when the condition had no name
The world of the holocaust's 'hide-away' children
Jul 30 2020
Author Bart van Es with the story of the young Jewish girl Lien de Jong, hidden by Bart's Dutch grandparents during WWII when they joined the resistance
Bronze age pigs and ancient dingoes — stories from the bones
Jul 29 2020
How zooarchaeologist Melanie Fillios uses the remains and fossils of animals, including dingoes, to understand more about ancient humans
The sister who stayed behind
Jul 28 2020
Writer Favel Parrett’s grandmother fled Prague as a teenager, but her sister stayed on, and then lived through both Nazism and Stalinism (R)
Stan Grant's life in storytelling
Jul 27 2020
Stan Grant on his life as a journalist, author and filmmaker from the Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharawal First Nations of Australia
Swimming, the Sisters of Mercy, and the search for meaning
Jul 24 2020
At 15, Rebecca McCabe was on track to compete in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics for swimming. As swam, she would often ask herself big questions about the meaning of life. When her life in the pool ended abruptly, she decided to take a huge leap of faith
Fascinating fungi — the intelligent kingdom
Jul 23 2020
Biologist Merlin Sheldrake's extreme experiments, many of which involve his physical body and varying forms of fungi, have led to equally remarkable discoveries
Rise and fall of the Rock Star
Jul 22 2020
David Hepworth charts our fascination with that most earth-bound of gods, the rock star; and discusses some of music history's striking examples
Eddie Woo on finding the right formula
Jul 21 2020
Despite never really liking maths at school, Eddie made up his mind in the teaching sign-on queue, to become a maths teacher. This split-second decision changed his life, and the lives of many of his future students (R)
Floating though the dolines
Jul 20 2020
Cave diver Stefan Eberhard has spent decades exploring the vast underwater caves of the Nullarbor Plains, where the water teems with blind shrimp and colourless fish, and curtains of bacterial slime hang glistening from the ceiling
From a mountain monastery
Jul 17 2020
Paul Haller grew up Catholic in Belfast, and his pursuit of meaning has since taken him around the world. Now a Zen priest, Zen practice and teaching became Paul's calling: from retreating to a cave in Thailand; to teaching meditation, to the incarcerated, and the dying, in San Francisco
Lying on the job — the story of an undercover officer
Jul 16 2020
Keith Banks spent twenty years in his dream career with the Queensland Police. He was awarded for bravery several times, but left the job angry and disillusioned. He now reflects on what the job and police culture were like in the 1980s and the cost of lying for a living
Bill Bryson and the wonders of the human body
Jul 15 2020
Why is scratching an itch so pleasurable? How can someone leap from a burning plane in the sky and survive with a few bumps and scratches? A journey through the wondrous complexity of the human body (R)
Territory taxidermist — Jared Archibald
Jul 14 2020
Jared spent his childhood behind the scenes at the Museum of the Northern Territory, up close to prehistoric kangaroo fossils, opulent trading pearls, and sacred crocodiles flown in from Arnhem Land. Then he became the museum's taxidermist
Nardi Simpson on Crocodile Country
Jul 13 2020
Yuwaalaraay writer, storyteller and performer, Nardi Simpson of the Stiff Gins talks about her life, art and the meaning of country
A boy, his pony and the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Jul 10 2020
Lennie Gwyther was 9 years old when he rode Ginger Mick from country Victoria to Sydney to be at the opening of the Bridge (R)
In Pico Iyer's Japan the air is thronged with ghosts
Jul 09 2020
Pico was a journalist in New York when a 20-hour layover at Narita airport in Japan made him question everything. He decided to begin again as a monk at a Zen temple in Kyoto. But things didn't go entirely to plan
The raptor whisperer
Jul 08 2020
Peggy McDonald has spent much of her life as wildlife carer who specialises in helping wedge-tail eagles, falcons, owls and other raptors recover their ability to fly
Magic mushrooms, micro-dosing and Michael Pollan
Jul 07 2020
How Michael Pollan 'shook the snowglobe' of his mind by investigating the therapeutic effects of psychedelic substances
The heart expands to fit — a family's adoption story
Jul 06 2020
Justine Flynn's five children were all born in South Korea and adopted into her family
The epic hunt for the deadly Taipan
Jul 03 2020
Brendan James Murray on the elusive copper-coloured snake species which terrorised post WWII North Queensland (R)
Not your average dentist
Jul 02 2020
Sharonne Zaks was working as a dentist when an encounter with a patient named Anna led her to develop a radical new branch of dentistry (R)
The life of 'Mr Eternity'
Jul 01 2020
Throughout the 1930s and 40s, Arthur Stace rose before dawn to write a one-word sermon in chalk on the footpaths of Sydney. Writer Roy Williams unearthed the truth about Arthur Stace's life story with the help of those who knew him personally (R)
Leigh Sales and the days after the worst possible day
Jun 30 2020
Leigh went through an event in 2014 which changed her profoundly. She was left questioning how we cope when the unimaginable happens (R)
Tim Rogers' daydreams
Jun 29 2020
The frontman of You Am I on his life in music, his Kalgoorlie childhood, and his battles with anxiety (R)
Glennon Doyle's untamed life
Jun 26 2020
Glennon was the world's most famous Christian mummy blogger when she fell wildly in love with U.S Women's Soccer star Abby Wambach
Deborah Feldman: rejecting my Hasidic roots
Jun 25 2020
Writer Deborah Feldman grew up inside the claustrophobic world of an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect in Brooklyn, and as a teenager she was married off to a man she barely knew. In her 20s she fled to Berlin to make an entirely new life
The daredevil of Monte Cristo
Jun 24 2020
Lawrence Ryan grew up in a dilapidated Victorian-era homestead called Monte Cristo. From when he was young, he knew he'd grow up to become a professional stuntman, jumping his motorbike over cars, buses and planes
Peter Norman and the day that shook the Olympic movement
Jun 23 2020
Matt Norman's late uncle Peter won a silver medal at the 1968 Olympics, then was notoriously cast out of Australian sport (R)
The Nazi Brigadeführer who got away
Jun 22 2020
Philippe Sands on how a cache of letters sent him on the trail of Nazi war criminal Otto Von Wachter, who escaped to Rome on the 'Ratline'
The women of Steel City
Jun 19 2020
Robynne Murphy, film-maker and former steel worker, on the Wollongong women who took on BHP for the right to work alongside men at the steelworks
What Jack Reacher did next
Jun 18 2020
How a Birmingham boy became best-selling thriller writer, Lee Child (R)
How Johnathan Thurston became one of the greats
Jun 17 2020
When Johnathan was a boy he was written off as too skinny and too wild for rugby league (R)
Jesse Blackadder: when Lucie left
Jun 16 2020
The late writer with the story of a terrible accident in 1976 which completely changed her family (R)
Outposts — what Dan found at the ends of the Earth
Jun 15 2020
Dan Richards follows his curiosity to some of the most remote habitable places in the world including an Icelandic cabin and a monastery high in the mountains of Japan
Vika and Linda Bull — on song and in harmony
Jun 12 2020
Hearing their Tongan mother’s powerful voice rise above the congregation in church, primed Vika and Linda for a life in song. Their distinctive harmonies and dazzling energy have seen them grace stages and studios for thirty five years
The girl from Kilkivan
Jun 11 2020
In the midst of Lisa Millar's brilliant career as a journalist, she found herself in the grip of aviophobia, a crippling fear of flying (R)
Opium everywhere — on the trail of the 'Milk of Paradise'
Jun 10 2020
Historian Lucy Inglis on humankind's greatest painkiller and how its trade and cultivation are threaded through the story of civilisation, and the lives of every one of us
The comic genius of Jennifer Saunders
Jun 09 2020
The co-creator of Absolutely Fabulous says her success rests on a series of happy accidents and calls herself an extreme procrastinator (R)
Conspiracy theories and me
Jun 08 2020
When Danna Young's husband Mike received a terrible diagnosis, she found herself drawn to conspiracy theories in the search to find someone, or something to blame
Hannah Gadsby and the point of no return
Jun 05 2020
The Australian comedian on Nanette, her 'farewell' to stand up comedy; being diagnosed with high-functioning autism as an adult; and on Douglas, the show and the dog
Pasi Sahlberg — making school the happiest place to be
Jun 04 2020
When Pasi was a boy he would sneak into his father's empty schoolroom in northern Finland and pretend to be a teacher. Now he's one of the world's leading voices in education, encouraging schools to help kids find their passion in life, and to follow it
Talking magpies, grieving tawny frogmouths and canny galahs
Jun 03 2020
Gisela Kaplan fell under the spell of birds when she hand-reared a magpie nestling. When it learned to speak, she was so intrigued she switched careers to study avian behaviour. Her books on Australian native birds have been ground-breaking (R)
Voicing velociraptors and capturing the dawn chorus — the soundscapes of Douglas Quin
Jun 02 2020
Meet a sound designer and naturalist who makes field recordings all over the world. He then puts them to use in soundscapes for film and television, galleries, museums and apps (R)
Uncle Jack Charles — not true blue, true blak
Jun 01 2020
Uncle Jack was forcibly removed from his mother as a baby and denied his Aboriginality. A one-off trip to Fitzroy connected him with a family he didn’t know about, and promptly landed him in jail (R)
From the Festivals — Tim Flannery on Europe's bizarre prehistory
May 29 2020
Europe's startling deep past explained: pygmy dinosaurs, blue-eyed Neanderthals; and how an asteroid the size of Manhattan ruptured everything (R)
From the Festivals — Andrew Sean Greer
May 28 2020
The Pulitzer Prize winning author of Less was working as an odd-jobs man for an Italian Baroness when a phone call upended his life (R)
From the Festivals — Cheryl Strayed
May 27 2020
Walking through grief and facing up to life on the Pacific Crest Trail, the true story of Wild (R)
From the Festivals — Lemn Sissay
May 26 2020
Celebrated British poet Lemn Sissay grew up not knowing his given name or his Ethiopian parents. His life was shaped by being adopted, and then raised in state care (R)
From the Festivals — James Rebanks the Herdwick shepherd
May 25 2020
James explains the traditions, language and pleasures of shepherding in England's Lake District (R)
Chasing Robert Cutter
May 22 2020
When Darleen Bungey set out to uncover her father's past she discovered a Hollywood heartthrob and a singer whose records outsold Bing Crosby's
Maira Kalman: 'I fall in love so many times during the day'
May 21 2020
Maira's daily life as a New York-based artist who likes to paint trees, dogs and hats, and why the contents of her mother's closet became famous
The pigment whisperer
May 20 2020
One of the world's only master paint-makers, David Coles on how he found a life creating colours like Lapis Blue and Rose Madder (R)
This is your Captain speaking
May 19 2020
On 9/11 Captain Beverley Bass diverted her American Airlines jet to a tiny town in Newfoundland, along with thousands of other airspace refugees (R)
With a shark under each arm: Dr Fish Feelings
May 18 2020
Dr Culum Brown's work on fish cognition has proven fish have long memories, sharks have friends, and sting rays know when it's the weekend
Miranda Tapsell — Kakadu, Cannes and love stories that matter
May 15 2020
Miranda's story from growing up in Kakadu National Park as a Larrakia Tiwi girl, to finding fame in The Sapphires, and co-creating Top End Wedding, the first romantic comedy set in the Northern Territory
Moomins, motherhood and me — Sheila Heti
May 14 2020
Sheila Heti on the life of Finnish writer Tove Jansson who created the Moomins, and some of her own reflections on her choice about whether or not to become a mother
Helen Garner — from Moonee Ponds to Paris
May 13 2020
Helen recently published her diaries from the years 1978 to 1987. They include her thoughts on writing and work, parenting, love affairs, and the quest for the right pair of shoes (R)
A true Lord of the Flies story and what we got wrong about human nature
May 12 2020
Rutger Bregman takes a new look at the accepted idea that humans are just one disaster away from bad behaviour. He says our species' survival has long depended on the best aspects of our nature, such as kindness and the sharing of ideas
Hayley Katzen's unexpected life as a farmer's wife
May 11 2020
When Hayley moved to a cattle property to live with her farmer girlfriend, the rural idyll wasn't quite as she imagined
Marian Keyes on growing up
May 08 2020
A new conversation with the Irish novelist, on what it means to be a grown up, and standing her ground on Ireland’s moral questions
Adrian Mole and the Shropshire postman
May 07 2020
Young Robert Lukins modelled himself on the fictional character Adrian Mole, a prodigious reader and writer (R)
Sandy Mackinnon's fantastic voyage through the canals of Europe
May 06 2020
Sandy was teaching at a school in the English countryside when he set off in a Mirror dinghy, intending to sail as far as Gloucester (R)
William Dalrymple on the ruthless rise of the British East India Company
May 05 2020
How a group of financiers from a poor and damp island on the outer rim of Europe created a private company which came to rule India (R)
The speech collector
May 04 2020
Tony Wilson was always drawn to the world's great speeches. Then, without warning, he was called on to make the most difficult speech of his life
Kindness and coincidence — Naomi Shihab Nye
May 01 2020
Naomi is an American poet and author living in San Antonio, Texas. Her family story is marked by life-changing coincidences, and narrow escapes
Not fourteen for ever
Apr 30 2020
How Shannon Molloy survived the worst year of his life, as a gay teenager at an all boys' school on the coast of Central Queensland
Magda Szubanski — my father, the assassin
Apr 29 2020
A much-loved performer digs into the challenging truth of her father's past (R)
Christiaan Van Vuuren's fully sick life
Apr 28 2020
While confined to a hospital room for months with a rare form of tuberculosis, Christiaan found love and an entirely new path in life
Disappointing Dickens — Charles Dickens' son in the Australian outback
Apr 27 2020
Tom Keneally with the story of Edward 'Plorn' Dickens who was sent to live in Australia when he was sixteen in the hope he might redeem himself
The life and death of boxer Davey Browne
Apr 24 2020
In 2015, Sydney boxer Davey died of brain swelling after he was knocked out in the ring. When journalist and boxer Stephanie Convery reported on the inquest, she found a sport in a collective state of denial
A therapist peers inside her own mind
Apr 23 2020
When therapist Lori Gottlieb found herself in therapy after a devastating breakup, she began to rethink her own life story
John Prine — from Paradise to Nashville
Apr 22 2020
A songwriter's songwriter, John turned his often bemused view of people and politics into songs for fifty years (R)
16 sunrises and sunsets in a day — life aboard the Space Shuttle
Apr 21 2020
Astronaut Jim Bagian on working, eating and sleeping in micro-gravity while orbiting the earth at 28 000 kilometres an hour
The healing power of dogs
Apr 20 2020
Kate Leaver became fascinated by the curative qualities of dogs after her Shih Tzu Bertie helped her through her darkest days
Big Adventures — aviator Charles Kingsford Smith
Apr 17 2020
Biographer Ann Blainey with the tale of Smithy, king of the Milky Way, and his audacious flight across the Pacific in his plane the Southern Cross (R)
Big Adventures — Alexander McCall Smith
Apr 16 2020
How a lifetime exploring different landscapes inspires the author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, who's also one of the world's most prolific writers (R)
Big Adventures — Paula Constant Part 2
Apr 15 2020
Walking the Sahara, towards the fabled city of Timbuktu and into Niger (R)
Big Adventures — Paula Constant Part 1
Apr 14 2020
A breathtaking Saharan adventure: camels, bandits and one fearless woman (R)
Min Jin Lee's good fortune
Apr 10 2020
The author of bestselling novel, Pachinko, explores the lives of generations of Koreans in Japan (R)
Bonus: when Sarah's Dad's fruit shop map went viral
Apr 09 2020
Thanks to her dad’s hand-drawn map, a shopping trip Sarah Kanowski made for her parents during the Covid-19 crisis gladdened hearts on social media around the world. In this father-daughter chat, meet Sarah’s dad, 89-year-old Peter Kanowski
Hugh Mackay on building community in a crisis
Apr 09 2020
Social researcher Hugh Mackay on the many ways Australian society can pull together while we're meant to live apart
Paul Kelly and the poetry
Apr 08 2020
Australia's storyteller in song on poems he's loved since childhood, and how reading and learning great poetry has changed his song writing (R)
Ray Collins — life in the black, and the blue
Apr 07 2020
Ray was a coal miner when an accident underground left him lying prone in a tunnel a kilometre beneath the earth. What he did next changed the course of his life
Julia Baird on finding shards of light in dark times
Apr 06 2020
After journalist Julia Baird survived a terrible bout of cancer, she began to think about what sustains us when the world goes dark
Doll's prams and hand-knitted togs: a Hockney family portrait
Apr 03 2020
John Hockney grew up in an unconventional family of five siblings in post-war Yorkshire. As a child, his brother David drew constantly on any paper he could find. He grew up to become the world's most famous living artist
A father and son odyssey
Apr 02 2020
When Daniel Mendelsohn signed up for a Mediterranean cruise to Ithaca with his aging father, neither of them could have predicted what would happen next
Bill Bailey — seriously funny amateur naturalist
Apr 01 2020
Bill Bailey's passion for twitching began as boy growing up in England's west country (R)
Tales from captivity
Mar 31 2020
Stories of imagination, poetry and menace while living in captivity, from Kari Gislason and Candice Fox
Elizabeth Gilbert on love and letting go of normal
Mar 30 2020
How a flash of insight about her life saw Liz upend almost everything in it
Bringing life-saving dialysis to Central Australia
Mar 27 2020
Sarah Brown always wanted to be a remote area nurse. Then she began a medical revolution (R)
Saving tiny lives — the mission of a flying midwife
Mar 26 2020
Jan Becker on saving the lives of newborn babies in the 'golden minute' after birth (R)
Graham Martin on going from doctor to patient
Mar 25 2020
Psychiatrist Graham Martin learned a lot of new things about medicine when he unexpectedly and painfully became the patient (R)
Nursing on Sydney's streets
Mar 24 2020
When working with people experiencing homelessness, Erin Longbottom looks to their strengths to help them find their way to health, and a home (R)
The man who saved a million brains: Creswell Eastman's pioneering work with iodine deficiency disorder
Mar 23 2020
Abolishing iodine deficiency throughout the world was this doctor's mission (R)
The Queen of Country — Joy McKean
Mar 20 2020
Travelling Australia with her husband Slim Dusty brought challenges and rewards
Ten women — a series of murders in Depression-era Sydney
Mar 19 2020
Tanya Bretherton tells the story of the victims whose killings were largely ignored by police, and whose fate haunted the streets of eastern Sydney
The story of the Snowy
Mar 18 2020
When Siobhan McHugh set out to write a history of Australia's Snowy Scheme, she unearthed stories of pugnacious unionists, drowned towns and a love story on a laundry floor (R)
The life of Angela Lansbury
Mar 17 2020
The warm, funny and slightly terrifying Angela Lansbury opens up about her seven-decade long career on stage and screen (R)
Life after Troll Hunting
Mar 16 2020
After she was trolled online, Ginger Gorman turned to face her attackers, and developed a completely new understanding of why people abuse others online
Building a school for the world’s poorest children — Gemma Sisia's story
Mar 13 2020
A donation of land and $10 was all Australian-born Gemma needed to establish The School of St Jude in Tanzania
Parenting our parents — Jean Kittson on looking after Mum and Dad
Mar 12 2020
As Jean negotiated the maze of caring for her ageing parents, she began collecting the information she found useful, as well as asking herself and others deeper questions about aged care
Hannah Kent and the Good People of Ireland
Mar 11 2020
The fairies of Ireland's folk culture were capricious twilight creatures who could bestow favour or grave misfortune (R)
The miracles and limits of modern medicine
Mar 10 2020
Doctor Karen Hitchcock peers into the culture of modern medicine, from the flu season to female viagra, to dementia and the humble sick day
Devices and democracy: will Big Tech control us?
Mar 09 2020
Jamie Susskind on how digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics and virtual reality are transforming our political systems
Changing how we talk about rape
Mar 06 2020
Extraordinary survivor Sohaila Abdulali was seventeen when she was gang raped and forced to fight for her life (R)
This anxious life: Dr Mark Cross
Mar 05 2020
Mark is an experienced consultant psychiatrist who also suffers from Australia's most common mental health condition, anxiety. His direct insight helps him understand how people with anxiety can thrive at work and in life
The secret life of the Grey Plover
Mar 04 2020
Andrew Darby flew around the world on the trail of a small, unassuming migratory shorebird called the Grey Plover. In the middle of his journey, without warning, he began to fear for his own survival
The songs of trees
Mar 03 2020
Biologist David George Haskell on how he discovered the unique songs of trees, and the way they interconnect (R)
Julia's forgetful heart
Mar 02 2020
Julia Stevens was one of Australia's top triathletes when doctors told her they needed to implant a tiny defibrillator inside her chest wall to keep her alive
Matt Okine on growing up when everything is falling apart
Feb 28 2020
Matt on his Brisbane childhood, losing his mum at the age of 12, and how a chance conversation with his university drama teacher altered the course of his life
Jackie French and the Valley
Feb 27 2020
Jackie has lived in the Araluen Valley of NSW for 46 years, where powerful owls boom through the nights and lyrebirds scratch up the garden. In recent months hundreds of native animals have arrived, seeking shelter from Australia's worst-ever fires
How a former ironman made the beach accessible to everyone
Feb 26 2020
For a time, surf-loving athlete Nick Marshall was a professional Ironman. Then he created a new way for kids with special needs to be included at the beach
A revolutionary idea to stop good food going to waste
Feb 25 2020
Ronni Kahn saved 45,000 tonnes of food from landfill and changed how we think about food waste
Eric Idle's life on the bright side
Feb 24 2020
Eric on life before and after Monty Python's Flying Circus (R)
Mike Hayes and the Holy Grail of winemaking
Feb 21 2020
Mike was 15 when he left school to chip weeds in a Queensland vineyard. Forty years later he found himself in Portugal holding one of the world's oldest grapevines trying to discover if grapes can survive global warming.
Thea Hayes the walkabout nurse
Feb 20 2020
When Thea was hired as a nurse on one of the largest cattle runs in the world, the job expanded to include hostessing and saving cows with clover bloat. In 1975 she was at Wave Hill Station when Gough Whitlam handed the Indigenous owners back their land
Botox, castrations and beauty pageants: Inside the world of Australia's only camel vet
Feb 19 2020
Margie Bale's car is loaded with ultrasounds, milk crates and angle grinders. All the things needed when you're tending to 7-foot tall camels in the middle of nowhere without a clinic in sight
Young Hitler
Feb 18 2020
How WWI helped a homeless vagabond named Adolf Hitler become the dictator of the German Reich (R)
The pavlova in the suitcase
Feb 17 2020
Michelle Garnaut on how she began one of the world's most famous restaurants in communist-era Shanghai (R)
The unusual life of Rima Hadchiti
Feb 14 2020
At 100cm tall, Rima is one of the smallest people in the world. But throughout her life, she's demanded to be heard