Episodes
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
Lorenzo Montesini's Vietnam War love story, and life after Pitty Pat
Feb 13 2020
In 1990 Lorenzo shocked Sydney society by leaving heiress Primrose Dunlop at the altar in Venice to run off with his best man. But behind the headlines was an epic love story which began in the Vietnam War
Benny and the pact with God
Feb 12 2020
When doctors told Benny Agius her baby son had Down syndrome, she was full of anxiety about his future. Then Richard grew up to defy everyone's expectations
Taking the pulse of a dopesick nation
Feb 11 2020
The opioid crisis is destroying hundreds of thousands of American lives and Beth Macy has been up close to it (R)
Villainesses, Vulcans, and a new sort of sexuality: the life of Judith Anderson
Feb 10 2020
After a long career on stage, Australian Judith Anderson found screen stardom in 1940s Hollywood, then became a lesbian icon. Writer Desley Deacon tells her story
Fish, frogs and a photographer
Feb 07 2020
Nature photographer Gary Cranitch on his working life floating off the Great Barrier Reef to capture a split-second image of the 'biggest orgy on the planet'
Steve's life in the London squats
Feb 06 2020
Steve Bevington talks about his years in the thick of an underground movement of London squatters, who would break into abandoned buildings, change the locks and claim them as their own
When Robert met Maida
Feb 05 2020
Former politician Robert Tickner grew up in country NSW, 'showered with love' by his adoptive parents. When he began the search for his biological mum Maida in his 40s, he discovered she'd been much closer than he ever knew
Life in 248 dimensions
Feb 04 2020
Mathematician Geordie Williamson spent eight years cracking the code to find the weight of atoms in space (R)
The truth about space junk
Feb 03 2020
Space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman on the unexpected artefacts of the space age (R)
Higher ground — rebuilding a town after disaster
Jan 31 2020
Jamie Simmonds on the successful relocation of Grantham, Queensland after it was destroyed by catastrophic flooding
Grantham — the town that washed away
Jan 30 2020
When an inland tsunami smashed into a rural Queensland town in January 2011, people were killed and the town destroyed. Jamie Simmonds became the right-hand-man of Mayor Steve Jones, and they led an audacious recovery project
1956: Australia's pivotal year
Jan 29 2020
Historian Nick Richardson on the year that changed Australia forever
Toad vs toad: outwitting the cane toad with ingenious biology
Jan 28 2020
Rick Shine used one toad to defeat another, by a process of evolutionary conditioning, to save the snakes he was studying in Northern Australia (R)
William McInnes on being a dad
Jan 27 2020
William wanders through stories of fatherhood, from growing up in Queensland in the 1970s, to raising his own children as a single dad (R)
After triple zero — a paramedic's tale
Jan 24 2020
Benjamin Gilmour describes the hectic work of saving lives, and what it's like to bring people back from the brink of suicide
Mary's three gurus
Jan 23 2020
How a young woman fell under the spell of spiritual cult leaders in the 1970s
How Sean Sweeney found his deaf heart
Jan 22 2020
Sean was the first hearing baby to be born to his mother’s family in four generations. He became an Auslan interpreter, and an instantly recognisable figure during Australia's bushfire crisis
Claire G. Coleman's many lives
Jan 20 2020
Claire grew up running wild in the Banksia forests of Southern Western Australia. As an adult she had a period of homelessness, living on the streets of Melbourne. After learning the truth of her family's story, Claire found her focus
Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church
Jan 19 2020
Megan Phelps-Roper grew up inside the notorious Westboro Baptist Church family. In 2012 she left the church, and her family, to live in the world she once reviled
Best of 2019 — Bryan Brown
Dec 20 2019
Bryan’s played more than 80 roles on stage and screen. Raised in working-class Sydney, his talent, hard work, and unmistakable presence have been his ticket to the world (R)
Best of 2019 — Ron McCallum
Dec 19 2019
Left totally blind by treatment he received as a premature baby, Ron credits technology, love, and good timing with his success in life and the law (R)
Best of 2019 — Archie Roach
Dec 18 2019
Archie tells of writing Took the Children Away and playing it in public for the first time, of his belated reunion with his siblings, and his love story with Ruby Hunter (R)
Best of 2019 — Pia Winberg
Dec 17 2019
Pia began her own seaweed farm after decades as a marine ecologist. One ordinary working day there was a terrible accident (R)
Best of 2019 — Vickie Roach
Dec 16 2019
Vickie's met with trouble all through her life, starting with a police record at the age of two. She went on to challenge a Federal law on the rights of prisoners (R)
Peter Helliar's gothic side
Dec 15 2019
When comedian Peter Helliar was a child, he was fascinated by the idea of death, and wrote about it endlessly. Then he grew up to become the 'world's happiest comedian'
Summer Holidays: a story collection
Dec 13 2019
Tales of the great Australian summer holiday from Mark Trevorrow, Alice Pung, Jack Hoysted and Steph Tisdell
Ben and the Big Issue
Dec 12 2019
Ben grew up in Drumchapel, a Glasgow housing estate. As a young man, he built a thriving career as a musician, went to University and married. But some years later, he was homeless
Helen Garner: from Paris to Moonee Ponds
Dec 11 2019
Helen recently published her diaries from 1978-1987. They include her thoughts on writing and work, parenting, love affairs, the quest for the right pair of shoes, and the pleasures of mowing the grass
The end of the Milky Way
Dec 10 2019
Astrophysicist Lisa Harvey-Smith on how Andromeda is due to collide with our galaxy in five billion years time (R)
The true history of the Ark before Noah
Dec 09 2019
How Irving Finkel stumbled upon the true story of the Ark before Noah on a Babylonian clay tablet
British actor Timothy Spall digs deep
Dec 06 2019
Timothy’s stellar screen 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
Dylan Moran and the white-knuckle ride of stand up comedy
Dec 05 2019
Irish comic Dylan Moran on his unusual childhood, the story behind Black Books, and why he's given up drinking for good
Craig Foster and the battle to save fellow footballer, Hakeem al-Araibi
Dec 04 2019
After Hakeem was imprisoned while on his honeymoon in Thailand, Craig fought the power of two monarchies, a military junta, and the world's largest sporting institution to free him
The doctor known as 'The God of Sight'
Dec 03 2019
Nepalese surgeon Dr Sanduk Ruit on his work in the villages of Nepal which has restored the sight of more than 150 000 people (R)
Rescuing the boys from the cave — Richard Harris
Dec 02 2019
An anaesthetist and cave diver, Richard had the exact combination of skills needed to help save the lives of a Thai soccer team trapped deep underwater
Paul Kelly and the poetry
Nov 29 2019
Australia's storyteller in song on poems he's loved since childhood, and how reading and learning great poetry has changed his song writing
Drones and forgiveness
Nov 28 2019
How a young computer scientist found his way out of a traumatic childhood
War crimes, bombings, secret lives — Tony Jones turns truth into thrillers
Nov 27 2019
The retiring host of Q&A reflects on his time with the show, and how his years reporting from the former Yugoslavia have helped him craft best-selling fiction
How Christos found radical compassion
Nov 26 2019
Writer Christos Tsiolkas broke away from the Christian church as a teenager. As a grown man, in a moment of personal crisis, he rediscovered the letters of St Paul and saw them in a different light
Inside the engine room of power
Nov 25 2019
How Samantha Power became one of world's most influential foreign policy thinkers
The honourable fight: 16 years as Director of Public Prosecutions NSW
Nov 22 2019
Nicholas Cowdery oversaw some of Australia's most sensational cases during his 16 years in the role. His decisions often made him enemies in politics and the media, but he was always motivated by the prospect of a fair trial
Watching the universe from the Hubble Space Telescope
Nov 21 2019
NASA astronomer Jennifer Wiseman on exploring the design of the universe (R)
Hidden histories of Chinese Australia
Nov 20 2019
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
Capturing the souls of abandoned pets
Nov 19 2019
When Peter Sharp's severe back pain forced him to give up work, he believed he was unemployable. Then began photographing lost and abandoned dogs, cats, guinea pigs and chickens
Ray Bonner, Bolivia and the big risk
Nov 18 2019
New York Times journalist Ray Bonner spent decades reporting from some of the world's most dangerous places. Then he moved to Australia, and made one of the riskiest decisions of his life
Postcards from God — artist William Robinson
Nov 15 2019
William is considered one of Australia's greatest living artists. But it took years for his work to be recognised as brilliant
The ferocious power of Rebekah
Nov 14 2019
At the age of 2, Rebekah Robertson's son George calmly explained to his mum that he was a girl. After years of turmoil in the family, Rebekah began devoting much of her life to helping Georgie be herself. In the process, she changed history