Days Like These
Days Like These is a podcast from ABC Australia that features compelling stories told by the people who lived them. Each episode presents a narrative that aims to be the best story you'll hear all week. The podcast is no longer in production.
Episodes
INTRODUCING — The Weather That Changed Us
Australia is a wild continent with some of the most intense weather on the planet. From massive bushfires to severe cyclones and devastating flooding; extreme weather is becoming part of our everyday lives. How do we take what we’ve learned from our past to better prepare and adapt for our future?
How to build a dragon
When Anita realises Bendigo's golden dragon will soon be too old to parade, she’s catapulted into the project of a lifetime: build a new dragon, the longest in the world, and make sure the over-a-century-long streak won’t be broken.
Miriam in Disney World
Perhaps a peek behind the curtain of America’s dream factory will be the inspiration Miriam needs for her own storytelling journey? The experience proves to be clarifying… just not in the way she expects.
How Brent served up solutions to diet-related disease
When Brent’s sister is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, he swaps crash dieting for something sustainable. Now he just needs to figure out a way to translate healthy eating beyond his 'āiga and into his community.
Jess Ho is done talking sh*t
Hospitality became a refuge for Jess after the trauma of their childhood. But despite the ostensibly powerful position they find themselves in - calling the shots on the door of Melbourne’s trendiest restaurant - they soon realise this refuge is toxic too.
Dumplings and violins
It’s a recognisable sound for those who frequent inner Sydney: the 75 year old Chinese Australian restaurateur is known for playing his beloved instrument during work hours, wowing crowds of customers over freshly steamed dumplings.
The Brazilian Package
Fee is prepared for a ‘trip of a lifetime' when she lands in Brazil for a tour of the Pantanal wetlands. But when her tour guide asks her for a seemingly simple favour, Fee finds herself in a terrifying situation that she can’t find a way out of.
Music is Ronny’s weapon of choice
Ronny is inspired by the power of the songs of slain freedom fighter Arnold Ap, and he too takes up music as his weapon of choice. He sets about writing his own song to strengthen the movement in the hopes his people will see the Morning Star flag raised over a free West Papua
Sam tries to save Christmas
Like so many children of divorce, Sam has pretty much always hated Christmas. Yet, year after year, the Melbourne transplant would return to Western Australia and face his family. Why did he think this year - with his new girlfriend in tow - would be any different?
Sooji gets hit and runs
Sooji wakes up on the concrete of a busy road in Strathfield in Sydney. She’s been hit by a car, but instead of waiting for help to arrive she does the one thing no one expects her to do – she runs.
Mary breaks her silence
Now retired, Canberra’s most prominent self described ‘child mime’ recounts a storied career: from falling out of a tree at age seven, to miming through an electrical storm, to unnerving the late great Marcel Marceau… and the day the wheels came off and it all went to sh*t.
Scott Wilson puts on a superhero cape
Gooniyandi and Gadgerong man Scott Wilson grew up in Broome, WA, steeped in the yarns of his dad riding horses through the Kimberly. But Scott’s not the rugged outdoorsman his old man is, so he escapes into the pages of comics to find some new role models. But why can’t he see any Blak faces in these superhero adventures?
Margie and the Sheep
Margie is a go-with-the-flow kind of person, a free spirit. But all good things come to an end...
Jess ditches the leg
Jess Walton is a childhood cancer survivor and amputee. For years they've used a prosthetic leg, despite the discomfort. This is the story of how they went from being an ‘inspiring disabled speaker’ to finally saying f*ck the leg.
Geoff takes on the world's tallest Christmas tree
It’s 1999, and the last Christmas of the century is fast approaching. Geoff Law gets a call from Bob Brown that sends him on a tall task: to decorate the world’s tallest Christmas tree.
Out of the closet and into the frat house
Growing up, AJ Lamarque was always just ‘one of the girls’. But in his twenties, he inadvertently joined a very big, very American college fraternity. Strangely enough, this crash course in male friendship — in the strangest of settings — taught him a great lesson.
Kids of Liberty
Many years ago, when MySpace reigns supreme, a young Marty Smiley takes a leaf straight out of the American Revolution playbook and stages a boycott of his high school canteen. The cause? The skyrocketing price of muffins. The unlikely name of his rag-tag group of revolutionaries? The Kids of Liberty.
New episodes — Main character energy
There are times where you feel like you're just a side-character in someone else's narrative, or maybe you're off-stage waiting in the wings. But then something happens and suddenly you're the main character, the hero — or villain — of your own story.
The guinea pig years
As the demands of school, teenagerhood, and family life increase, so do the numbers of Vanessa's guinea pig herd.
Love story
In this one, Romeo is Kesh. And Juliet is aptly, Jules. And they are fearless.
Beth, two men, and a baby
Beth meets two men in a cafe. They’ve been chatting online for a while, but how will things go in person?There’s a lot riding on this first date, more than romance or short-term fling.
Laurie goes to clown school
When Laurie Luxe decided to pursue the art of clowning, one name kept coming up: Philippe Gaulier.
What Alex didn't expect when she was expecting
Alex doesn't want kids. She's learnt first-hand from the women in her family how hard it can be when relationships don't work out. But then she meets Tom.Tom desperately wants to be a dad and Alex wants to be with Tom, so they come to a compromise: they'll have one child together.But the family Alex ends up with is very different from the one she expects.Reporter Tamar CranswickS
Timmy and the moon
Timmy Rubin grew up in Melbourne in the '70s and '80s, the child of two Holocaust survivors who let their children run wild.
For the love of trams
When Patricia Santiago moves from Manila to Melbourne, her new schoolmates make fun of her American accent, her Filipino cuisine, her skin colour.
The most intense fourth date ever
Alyssa Hodges always wanted to be a mum, just not at 19 years old. Then 17 weeks into her pregnancy, her partner left.Overwhelmed and grieving, dating was the last thing on her mind. But a friend suggested she give Tinder a go, as it would be even harder to date once the baby arrived.She didn't expect to meet and start falling for Max Silvy. And she definitely didn't expect to go
New episodes – All you need is love
I’m just a girl, standing in front of your media player, asking you to join us for our new season of Days Like These on Feb 14 — where we’re celebrating love. We’ve got a story about a fourth date that ends in a trip to the hospital.Another one about finding out who you are and then finding love; learning to love your inner clown; guinea pig love (yes, you read that correctly); a
DJ Kool Herc brings the Bronx to Hau Latukefu’s house party
Raised in Queanbeyan, Country NSW, Hau Latukefu is a world removed from hip hop’s ground zero in New York City. But like his Tongan heritage, he’s fully immersed in the culture and works hard to find his own hip hop voice.As one half of Koolism, Hau is a card-carrying pioneer in the local scene. And when Koolism is nominated for an ARIA award, Hau comes face to face with another
Tiana Penitani picks up the ball and runs with it
Tiana Penitani played every sport she could when she was a kid. Her family were sport obsessed. But when the family suffers an unbearable loss, she gives it all up. That is, until footy comes calling. This is a story about family, grief and healing. It's also about those times you've just got to take the ball and run with it.
When holidays attack
Kelly Eng hasn’t gone on a big family holiday since she was a kid. She’s excited to go to Malaysia for a wedding with the whole gang: her mum, dad, brother, and sister-in-law. But some uninvited guests turn their holiday upside down -- and Kelly is left wondering if she’ll get out of there alive.
Melissa swipes right
Melissa Mason is 35, single, and her biological clock is ticking. But before she dips her toes in the dating pool again, she decides to have one last hurrah and sets out to snag the sexy Irish actor, Paul Mescal. The only catch? He’s a decade younger than her.
The Long Way Home
Reporter Edwina Storie needs to get from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to Sydney. It’s usually a 10-hour drive, but in the rain, in the floods, who knows? She’s got a delivery to make and a secret to keep, and nothing’s going to stop her.
Never Mind the Bollocks, here’s a penis piercing
Join us on the wild adventure of a punk kid turned anarcho-activist, through wild nights, fierce politics, and an afternoon involving a video camera, a bit of permaculture, and some pretty delicate body piercing.
Alphrisk finds his voice as a rapper. But will ice addiction silence his success?
With his rap group Deceptikonz, Taupe Daniel ‘Alphrisk’ Maoate is making noise across Australasia. He’s tight with his bandmates, but they’re in the dark about an important detail – Alphrisk is addicted to ice, and it might just sabotage his career.
How do you solve a problem like Joey?
Joey Joleen Mataele plays the lead in a story about royalty, tradition and reputation, and how having just one person in your corner can let you lead a life that’s truly yours (and meet Sean Connery in a castle while you’re at it.)
Introducing – Days Like These – Connections
Hey you! We’re back and we can’t wait to share our new collection of stories with you – they’re stories about connection, about finding those people who accept you for just the way you are. From September 13, join us for a new story every week, about the day when everything changed.
DJ Kool Herc brings the Bronx to Hau Latukefu’s house party
Australian hip hop kingpin Hau Latukefu comes face to face with another pioneer, the legendary Bronx DJ Kool Herc. Will he get the nod of approval from the father of hip hop?
ANZACs in LEGOLAND
An innocent school fundraiser goes awry at Denmark’s LEGO House thanks to 900 ANZAC biscuits and a family meltdown.
Kiribati is the Pacific’s disappearing island – can Marita’s words raise it up?
When a tsunami threatens to wipe out Kiribati, a young woman returns to her grandmother’s land to reckon with a heritage she’s never truly known.
Infidelity in Iran: Why Noosh found happiness
After a dream wedding, a young wife learns her new husband isn’t what he seems.
How Rudi embraced love, Laura – and leggings
Two people fall in love in a cinema and, like all good romantic comedies, there’s a plot twist. As Rudi and Laura find out, staying true to who you are doesn’t necessarily mean staying the same.
How a scientist built the biggest hip hop battle in Australia
A Korean-Australian kid risks everything when he throws himself into the underground world of dance battles.
Frida Deguise learns the art of the donut, but her teacher's a guy in a Trump MAGA hat
A talented chef leaves the high-end life to find the donut king – but he's wearing a statement hat she is far from keen on.
Introducing – Days Like These – A Fork in the Road
This time round on Days Like These, we’re looking at fork-in-the-road moments which lead down entirely different life paths.
A birthday cancellation
At Alice’s 30th birthday, a friend gives a speech that shows a 14-year-old version of Alice – then things go downhill. Will she be cancelled for good?
Tyson in the city
Tyson Koh’s world moved around nightclubs until the day they were locked up. This is the story of how he battled to prise them open again.
Very worldly behaviour indeed
Eunice and her family are part of the tight-knit Plymouth Brethren, and they have an impossible choice to make: follow the leader and go to heaven, or say goodbye to everyone they’d ever known.
Wag the dog
Dressed in a dog suit for the TV show Wilfred, Jason Gann has a VIP pass to Hollywood. But can he escape from the dog suit that got him there?
Wing vs the machine
Wing Kuang has been in Australia since she was 17. But before she gets on with her life as a journalist, she needs to prove to a machine she can speak English.
Fran Kelly meets a rock god
Fran Kelly is offered the chance to meet her idol. But will the reality of meeting a real-life rock legend match her wild expectations?
Introducing – Days Like These – The Real You
“I just want to be authentic, you know?” Yes, sort of. Who is our authentic self? This season we bring you stories from people who are looking for the answer.
A pandemic romance
Bec never thought of herself as a spontaneous person, but one flirty fire emoji would lead to the biggest surprise of her life.
Extreme focus on not dying
Dave was always a skateboarding thrill seeker. But he came as close as you can to death without dying the day he decided to take on Devil’s Mountain.
A Deadset Sick Warrior – Fred Leone’s family story about a king, escape and connection to country
Fred Leone is an award-winning musician and a descendant of a great Garrwa warrior named Garrinjamaji. This is his story.
The Flak Jacket – Edita escapes Sarajevo
Edita Mujkic’s story of escaping war-torn Bosnia, and her attempts to keep her family together and safe, in the middle of a war.
Punchline Drunk – James gets sober
Kiwi comedian James Nokise was on a roll, intoxicating audiences with his stand-up. So why can’t he get out of bed?
Why don’t we give it a crack? Karni learns to swim
Karni Liddell was born in Rockhampton with a neuro-muscular wasting disease. Her parents were told she'd never crawl, walk or even live past her teenage years.
INTRODUCING — Series 7 of Days Like These
Days Like These is back with new host Farz Edraki. Strap in for a brand new season of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Brenden finds his wave
As Brenden Newton grows up along Sydney’s Northern Beaches in the 1990s, bodyboarding reigns supreme.He loves the physicality, how it brings him into such close contact with the water. And after a fateful trip to Tahiti, he decides to try going pro in the sport.But just as his career takes off, strange thoughts surface over and over, threatening to engulf his mind and his body.An
The politician who grew pot
The day Gough Whitlam is dismissed from office, in November of 1975, Catherine is sitting in the uni library when she hears the news over the loudspeaker. She’s incredulous, incensed.She decides it’s time to formally join the Labor party and, shortly after, Catherine herself is elected as a local member in a harbor-side Sydney council. And it’s there, in the busy, chaotic world o
Craig survives the mine field
Craig was a happy go lucky 19 year old when an accident changes his life forever.Forced to pay off a debt he decides to go work as a miner in Western Australia.What was a temporary gig to get cash becomes a ten year career avoiding responsibility, danger and exhaustion.
Moving sideways
Caroline Winter had a perfectly lovely life with her husband, until the day it all changed. Despite everything she tried, she just couldn’t move forward, so she moved sideways instead. This is a story of loss, loneliness and the ways we keep going.
The Professor and the spy
Konrad has dedicated his life to studying the history of the Jewish people. In the 1980s, he’s invited to work with an East German historian to complete his magnum opus, making frequent trips behind the Berlin Wall and back again. But little does Konrad know that while he is researching in East Germany, East Germany is researching him, too.
Flashdance for fame school
Chris Ryan grew up in India in the 1980s, so despite being born in Australia, the pop culture of the time was so exotic she could hardly believe it was real. Moving countries is hard, you leave behind a lot and making new friends is hard. This was the challenge for nine-year-old Chris, she felt like an outsider even though she looked like she fitted in just fine. To tackle her pr
The Camera that spent 25 years in a glacier
It's 1997 and friends Richard and Steve are climbing to the peak of Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. They're carrying 40 kilos of climbing gear and food. But when the climb takes a dangerous turn, much is lost.Then, almost 25 years later, a backpack turns up on Mount Cook. Inside, there's a camera with the film intact, memories long-buried make their way back to t
Monkey escape at Taronga Zoo!
Alan Hale makes a teenage escape from Launceston when he gets work at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It's the mid 1960s and Taronga's chief benefactor, Sir Edward Hallstrom, is pouring much of his fortune into acquiring new and exotic animals to add to zoo's collection.Alan is apprenticed to the Head Keeper for monkeys and he's charged with cleaning out the cages each morning. He loves t
Days Like These returns
Days Like These is back with a new season. There’s chaos when thirty monkeys escape from a Sydney zoo. Melting snow on a mountainside unearths a long-buried secret. A misfit kid tries to dance her way to fame. And one woman is forced to choose between politics and pot. Starting June 1 more true stories from across Australia about the day when everything changed.
Bonus - Lifeline
13 11 14 is one of the most recognisable phone numbers in the country. It connects callers to Lifeline’s free crisis support at any time of the night or day, and for some, it’s a call that saves their life. In this bonus episode, we go behind the scenes to meet the volunteers who answer calls from strangers going through the darkest times of their lives.***Warning: this episode t
Penny and the catfish
Penny married John in the 80s. She always believed marriage was forever, and she felt comfortable in her role of wife and mother. Then one day, 30 years into her marriage, she receives a message that shatters her reality.It sets Penny off on a journey to confront the lies and deception that litter her love life.
Aidan and his dads
Aidan Jones is a stand up comedian. Jokes and stories are his stock in trade. But the defining story of his life happened before he was born: when his mum was in her 20s, she returned home from an extended trip around South America only to realise that she'd just fallen pregnant to her Colombian boyfriend. Aidan was the result. It's a series of events that would take almost thirt
Karen forgets everything
Think about where you are stored in your brain. Your sense of self and identity, who you are basically. What if your brain decided it wanted to shut a few things down?That's what happened to ABC broadcaster Karen Tighe. As an experience sports journalist she's covered the world's biggest events with a career's worth of memories and experiences to reference.But after Karen contrac
Alyce and the pregnancy test
Alyce Nelligan is used to being a trailblazer. Born with minicore myopathy, a rare muscle disease, she was the first kid at her primary school in a wheelchair, and the first person with a physical disability to graduate from her high school in Toowoomba, Queensland. She’s also used to being told what she is and isn’t capable of achieving. But Alyce, hasn’t met a barrier she ha
What to do when you're struck by lightning
Out of nowhere, the lightning bolt struck both of them. A last minute visit to the beach becomes a bigger ordeal than anyone could have imagined, enough to change the course of their lives. But that’s not exactly how publishers Kevin and Hannah see things. Especially when they keep getting asked about that day over and over again.
Dave beats the Best
Sporting heroes can seem so far away, out of reach like sporting gods. Only in our dreams could we play with such deities. David Jack's had an idol like that, George Best. A Manchester United legend, footballing genius and style icon who was known as the fifth Beatle. Like a lot of kids in Manchester, David was brought up on a diet of football and David's dream was to play with B
Our Lady Takes a Trip
Barb grew up in a large Irish Catholic family headed by her father Dave, an eccentric and devout man. Barb’s childhood is steeped in her father's faith like the power of saintly examples, repenting for your sins and messages passed to the world through apparitions of Mary, Our Lady. As a young adult, Barb forms her own opinion and walks away from the Church and everything her fa
Nazeem Hussain's date with the spy
It's 2011. Australia is in its tenth year of the War on Terror. Reports of hate crimes are on the rise. And 20-something Nazeem Hussain is a tax specialist.Before he was selling out shows and touring stand-up internationally, Nazeem Hussain wore a suit and clocked in at 9am for his day job.At evenings and weekends, he was also media spokesperson for the Islamic Council of Victori
Days Like These is back
Days Like These is back — with spies, comedians, lost parents and a lightning strike — oh, and then there’s a pilgrimage of the agnostic and the atheist, travelling from Sydney to Ireland with a wooden statue of Mary. And that’s just for starters. So join us, for more stories of the day when everything changed.
BONUS | Earshot | Easy Love
Days Like These is taking a break for the summer, but while we’re away we wanted to share with you some of our favourite true story podcasts. One Sunday evening, widower Warren Kirk was home alone and decided to do something he'd never done before in his life.He rang an escort service. Hear other great stories like this on Earshot, on Radio National and on podcast.
BONUS | History Listen | Henson Park
Days Like These is taking a break for the summer, but while we’re away we wanted to share with you some of our favourite true story podcasts. History, tragedy, and triumph. Marrickville’s Henson Park is an icon of Sydney's inner west.But before the unshakable Newtown Jets footy fans called it home, the community oval was a giant hole in the ground supplying Sydney's building boom
BONUS | Tall Tales and True | The Things You Miss
Days Like These is taking a break for the summer, but while we’re away we wanted to share with you some of our favourite true story podcasts. Holidays can stir up memories of loved ones no longer with us. They can be a time to remember things that were once a bone of contention but now speak to a beautiful understanding between husband and wife. As told by our Executive Producer,
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