Conversations
Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption. Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling.
Episodes
From the Nazis to the Stasi, how ordinary citizens live through extraordinary times
Historian Katja Hoyer was born in 1985, under the old regime of the GDR and grew up in the 1990s, watching many former East Germans struggle in the years after reunification.Learning about the Nazi era was a big part of her education but Katja left school feeling unsatisfied about what she’d been taught about the period when the Nazis rose to power.She knew about all the big poli
Encore: The family secret which inspired 'The Teacher's Pet'
Journalist Hedley Thomas grew up knowing that his grandmother Gladys had vanished in the sea off Sydney in the 1950s. The mystery of what happened to Gladys helped to inspire his hit podcast 'The Teacher's Pet'.Hedley has had a storied career in journalism which has seen him win many Walkley Awards and expose a lot of corruption and dodgy dealings.But it has also placed Hedley an
Loving my dad, who has younger-onset Alzheimer's
Millie Robinson’s family had been through enough as it was before her devoted dad Jim Rogers received his diagnosis in 2021. Today they navigate the unknown together and stay in the moment to enjoy their tight-knit community.Millie is a celebrant, mum and author living in Brisbane.She also supports her dad, Jim, who has younger-onset Alzheimer’s. Millie started life in the UK, in
Encore: An infamous WWII prison and the soldiers who tried to escape
British writer Ben Macintyre on the eerie history of Colditz Castle which the Germans used as a prisoner of war camp during World War II.Since the Middle Ages, Colditz Castle has existed in some form, perched on the edge of a cliff in eastern Germany.Colditz has served as a royal hunting lodge, a madhouse, and most famously as a prisoner of war camp during World War II.It was sai
The day my big, fat Egyptian wedding went pear-shaped
Author Tess Woods had always dreamed of her big day, growing up watching her beloved Nana create in-demand bridal gowns. The stories of these dresses became a way for Tess to understand her family’s origins in North Africa, which she left in the late 1970s. (Warning: This episode references the loss of a child.)Tess moved to Melbourne from Egypt when she was five years old.At lar
The Kennedys—inside the infamous political dynasty and their summertime secrets
Who are the Kennedys, really? And what has made the legacy of America's political dynasty so famous, divisive and enduring? The Kennedys are often described as the closest thing the United States has to a royal family, with fiercely competitive and divisive figures taking up space in American political and public life for generations.Even now, the influence of the Kennedy family
Encore: My beloved husband's path to Voluntary Assisted Dying
After Pauline McGrath's husband David was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he chose to use Voluntary Assisted Dying. Pauline supported him through the journey as he took the steps to end his life.A few years ago, Pauline came home from work and found the lights on and the dog already fed.This was something which had never happened in her 30-year marriage to David, a director of pa
Top-secret cake recipes and a 'Garden of Eden'—nourishing the soul with homestyle Jewish cooking
Monday Morning Cooking Club's Merelyn Chalmers her family's story of survival, and piecing together hundreds of treasured family recipes from Jewish communities around the world, including her mother's top-secret yellow cake recipe.Merelyn grew up tied to the apron strings of her mother, an Hungarian Jew who had survived Auschwitz and eventually ended up in Western Australia.In P
Encore: A father and a son and The Odyssey
Author and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn was teaching a university class on Homer's The Odyssey, when his elderly father decided to enrol in it.Daniel became fascinated by the stories of the ancient world as a child and grew up to study the classics and then write books and essays to share his knowledge with the wider world.Eventually he began teaching the Ancient Greek epic, The
Richard Flanagan on belonging in books and in Australia
For writer Richard Flanagan, the political belief that white Australians do not belong in this land is wrong and it's damaging any progress we might hope to make as a collective people.Richard has spent the last 30 years writing award-winning pieces of fiction and non-fiction, tackling the climate crisis, the meaning of art, free speech and the stubborn necessity of hope.Threaded
A Palestinian family story
Micaela Sahhar grew up hearing stories of her Palestinian family's life in Jerusalem before 1948, and what happened when they had to leave.There was her grandfather’s tourism business, her grandmother’s wedding necklace, and the dramatic circumstances of her father’s birth.Most of all there was the house, built by her grandfather for his extended family, at 8 Asa Street Jerusalem
Encore: Maggie Dent on guiding young girls to become confident young women
Raising girls in an age of smartphones and early sexualisation is tough and in this complex arena, parenting educator Maggie Dent says we can't leave these lessons to chance.Growing up Maggie was a tomboy and noticed when she was treated differently from little boys, who were allowed to be their exuberant selves when she was not.She can clearly recall her indignation at being mad
The three shocks that changed Australia
Political journalist, George Megalogenis has mapped key areas in our population, workforce and geopolitical standing in recent decades, and looks at how these shifts are impacting our collective political future.For the first time since Federation, Australia’s population is mostly made up of migrants and their children. Professional women have now replaced men doing blue collar j
Encore: How a teen mum named Melissa proved everybody wrong
Melissa Redsell was in Year 12 when her doctor told her she was going to have a baby. After her baby was born, she was told she had 'ruined her life'. Then she set out to prove all her doubters wrong.When Mel broke the news to her parents, they were disappointed and at school, the Principal instructed her to not expect any special treatment.At 7 months pregnant, Mel graduated, a
The forensic psychiatrist fascinated with the minds of lone mass killers
Paul E Mullen has spent decades interviewing and studying men who have committed unthinkable acts of violence and says these tragic events represent the endpoint of a slow-building private narrative of resentment, isolation and rage. (CW: descriptions of violence)Now retired, Paul dedicated much of his life's work to the extreme end of the human condition.First focusing on victim
The post-punk guitarist who decided to finally live openly as herself, a trans woman
Guitarist and engineer Josie Scott battled crippling gender dysphoria for decades before finally deciding to live openly as a trans woman in her 60s.In 1984 in Adelaide, two brothers formed a pioneering alternative rock band called The Mark of Cain.They wanted to make music that was heavy and intense with lyrics about war, and death, and being misunderstood.Over the years the ban
Encore: Catching killers and breaking up bikie gangs
Former Detective Sergeant, Deb Wallace on policing the heroin hotspot of Cabramatta in the 1990s and how Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' gave her new ideas for clamping down on illegal gang activity.When Deb joined the NSW Police Force in 1983, there were very few women on the front line. She quickly discovered she had the cool-headed resilience ideal for police work, and she was dete
Helping other people became my business success story
Mark Woodland is an unexpected CEO — he started his career in the Army as a tribute to his late brother, then went on to revolutionise his mum's paper-based childcare company.As a young man Mark Woodland was at a loss with what to do with his life.After years of moving around, the family — headed by Mark's single mum — settled in Ipswich, Queensland, where Mark showed himself to
Encore: Falling in love with 'Mao's Last Dancer'
Mary Li was a star ballerina when she fell in love with her dance partner Li Cunxin. When their daughter Sophie was born profoundly deaf, Mary walked away from dance for many years.Mary says she was the least likely girl to grow up to be a ballerina,She grew up in a family of eight kids in the rough and tumble of the Queensland country town of Rockhampton.But in a little timber
The doctor who learnt to walk again, using exercise
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.
Finding my mother alive and becoming invincible
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
Encore: A parenting educator on making sense of his own childhood
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 o
Zoonoses — the diseases that jump from animals to people
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 peop
Encore: The cop who stared down Peter Falconio's outback killer
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
What seven ancient traditions can teach us all about living a good life today
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, th
Growing the goodness of the world—Hannah Moloney on why we garden
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
Encore: How Zenith became a death walker, and her true self
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 childr
Rasputin's killer and the Australian conductor
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
Encore: The compulsive and complex behaviour I kept hidden for years
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 learn
Teaching boys behind the razor wire, inside Australia's juvenile detention system
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
The doctor, the near-death experience, and the saint-in-waiting
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 inexpli
Encore: Designing for the drag queens in 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'
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
Australia’s ‘Bench Queen’ on her salvation — the gym
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 oper
Encore: Jarvis Cocker and the Pulp masterplan
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
Hannah Richell: loving my husband Matt, and finding my way after his death
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
Jacinda Ardern on her life as the ex-Mormon girl who became New Zealand's Prime Minister
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 discovere
Remembering Sam Neill, the shy boy from Dunedin who became a movie star
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 Zeal
Everyday magic, witch hunts and fairies in medieval Scotland
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 stu
Encore: My year in Japan, in stillness and silence
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 o
How the Liberal Party lost its hold on Australia
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 Go
NAIDOC 2026: From an iron lung to the page — Gayle’s life in comics and words
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 mot
NAIDOC 2026: Troy Cassar-Daley: the boy from Halfway Creek
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 listeningTroy Cassar-Daley is a proud Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung man, and one of Australia's most beloved country music stars.As a 17-yea
NAIDOC 2026: Anita Heiss with stories of love and war from the Wiradjuri people
Writer Anita Heiss has based her novel Dirrayawadha on stories from the 1800s during the frontier wars in Bathurst, when martial law was declared.
NAIDOC 2026: Rachel Perkins on 'The Australian Wars'
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 th
NAIDOC 2026: Victor the fire man on burning country to heal it
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 year
Finding love, compassion and God after a lifetime of drugs and crime
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 f
Encore: Gina Chick's wild grandmother, and embracing her life as 'an element'
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
Nuking the moon and mirrors in space—man's wildest attempts to control the weather
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 ci
Encore: A brother's insight into the genius of artist David Hockney
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, th
The mysteries, ghosts and healing powers of the Abbotsford Convent
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
How limitations in life, love and creativity can actually set you free
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 constraint
Encore: The traits I was teased about are now my trademarks
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
The adoptive mum who now fights to keep families together
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
Encore: How not to be a d***head with singer Kasey Chambers
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
A race against time to help my friend dying from mesothelioma
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-
"ELVIS IS ALIVE AND RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT" The story behind the nonsensical Weekly World News
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 th
Encore: Darren Hayes on the dark side of his fame with Savage Garden
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 outskir
Why this private investigator loves the cases others have given up on
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
Encore: My eerie week inside Kanye West's Hollywood mansion
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 m
Rowing against the current—the Australian heroine of the Titanic's 'lifeboat 16'
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 i
From party trick to pop star — meet Molly Lewis, professional whistler
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 fo
Encore: My adventures on the high seas with a fugitive on the run
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 informationMarele
Algorithms, accountability and the 'manosphere'—empowering men to be the solution
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 platfo
Encore: The remarkable life of Professor Richard Scolyer
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
How Japanese spirituality can help make everyday life more beautiful
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
Hip Hop, home, and humanity—'trials' on reckoning with his origin story
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 rollin
Learning from the mighty matriarchs of the animal kingdom
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 d
Brooke Boney quit her ideal job to pursue her secret dream
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
Encore: Australia's TV mum Noni Hazlehurst on her life on stage and screen
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 N
'Angertainment', algorithms and the online outrage industry
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
Luke Bateman on surviving a gambling addiction and the magic of his mum’s love
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 the
How a teen father used the local skate park to change the world
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
Jimmy Wales says it is possible to have a collaborative, trusting world online
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
Changing prisoners' minds with Vedic meditation at Rikers Island
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
Patrick Radden Keefe digs into the mysterious death of a man posing as a Russian oligarch's son
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
Special Collection: Alain de Botton on the true hardwork of love and relationships
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 Lo
Special Collection: Transforming trauma with Gabor Mate
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,
Special Collection: How I made peace with my mother and our complicated relationship
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
Special Collection: An unexpected later in life love story
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
Special Collection: The teenage TV star who feels 'lucky to be paraplegic'
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 terrib
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