Conversations

By ABC listen

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Category: Relationships

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Subscribers: 4176
Reviews: 11
Episodes: 239

Calum
 Jun 1, 2024

Harry
 Oct 25, 2021


 May 9, 2021


 Aug 17, 2020


 Jul 18, 2020

Kara
 Mar 25, 2020

MargotK
 Feb 20, 2020
Beautifully-constructed, interesting and informative long-form interviews.


 Oct 12, 2019


 Jul 8, 2019

Karen
 Aug 16, 2018

A Podcast Republic user
 Jul 28, 2018

Description

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. Whether it's an exploration of Australian and American politics, the intricacies of mental health, or the mysteries of ancestry and origin stories, our episodes offer a conversational approach that brings topics to life. We uncover epic tales of war and peace, the complex dynamics of relationships and family, and the profound impact of grief and loss. Follow Conversations for thought-provoking discussions, heartfelt stories, and a deeper understanding of the world around us. Conversations explores the meaning of life, history, relationships, motherhood and fatherhood, love, religion and the origins of human life through a contemporary and conversational Australian lens. From distinctive accounts of crime, mental health, ancestry, cults, grief, family and parenting, to discussions about science, books, art, music, war, spies and economics, Conversations traverses myriad topics. Our interviews focus on pioneers of the natural world, wildlife, oceans, fungi, archaeology, palaeontology and megafauna. Our guests speak about geopolitics, being a refugee and the experience of migration. They come from all walks of life — First Nations, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples, CALD communities and ancestors of Australia's first fleeters. We explore Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, Sikh and Hindu faith traditions, among other beliefs, including atheism. We look at social history as well — close encounters with the ancient world, the Stolen Generations, and adventurers on an explorative odyssey. In a Conversations interview, you will hear personal stories of secrets, lies, adoption, and living with disability, neurodiversity or chronic illness. We traverse a person's life story, full of human interest topics, including redemption, love at first sight, spirituality, poverty, having children, family dynamics and even hidden families. We hear from individuals who have struggled with drug addiction, jail, family violence, political imprisonment, persecution, abuse, depression, anxiety and mental health issues. Conversations also speak to the public figures of Australian and international society — leaders, artists, politicians, authors, sports stars, actors and musicians. A writer, a builder, a neurologist, a Paralympian, an Olympian, an amputee, a historian, a comedian, a funeral director, a bird photographer, an ethicist, a doctor, a spy, a pilot, a choreographer, a firefighter, a bookseller, an astrophysicist, a martial artist, a principal, an oud virtuoso, an ecologist, a carer, a demographer, a chess master, a forensic archaeologist, a biologist, a chef, a surfer, a button shop owner, a costume and set designer, a boxer, a drummer, a conductor, a dog behaviourist, an AFL player, a longevity expert, a barber, a Matilda, and a psychologist have all appeared on our program.   After almost 20 years of digging into the lives, stories and worlds of thousands of people, Conversations continues as the ABC's most popular podcast, providing Australians with a social history of our country and paying close attention to the small, personal details that make up a life.

Episode Date
Brattle and Dod - the lesbian poet, and the evangelical Christian
Apr 01, 2025
Encore: Doctor Koppe — PTSD and me
Mar 28, 2025
Shaking — escaping the grip of a lifelong tremor
Mar 27, 2025
Loneliness — it's not only you
Mar 26, 2025
The fearless Kate McClymont — weathering death threats and court cases for work
Mar 25, 2025
Encore: Krystyna Duszniak and Poland's lost histories
Mar 21, 2025
Life on the lam — how Peter escaped from under his fugitive father's shadow
Mar 20, 2025
Martha, baby Michael and the police officer who cried
Mar 19, 2025
Undercover hitmen, shady drug deals and covert surveillance — life as a top cop
Mar 18, 2025
Encore: Andy Paschalidis on the death on the football pitch which changed everything
Mar 14, 2025
Tim Winton on staying alive, in extremis
Mar 13, 2025
Love, death and duels — Marie Curie's radioactive life
Mar 12, 2025
Could you live forever? The neuroscience behind brain preservation, consciousness and death
Mar 11, 2025
A life in the law, on the Glitter Strip
Mar 10, 2025
Encore: A restaurant named Parwana — Afghan treasure in Adelaide
Mar 07, 2025
How Geraldine Brooks learned how to live again through grief
Mar 06, 2025
Singing for her life: Camille O'Sullivan on Ireland and her dearly departed friends
Mar 05, 2025
Finding my dad, and myself — unravelling a family's secret
Mar 04, 2025
Encore: Let them ring — Paul Livingston on making a great big noise
Feb 28, 2025
Gabor Maté on transforming trauma
Feb 27, 2025
My Moroccan matrescence
Feb 26, 2025
Gus Worland on the men who made him and Australia's male suicide epidemic
Feb 25, 2025
Encore: Brigitte and the seven peaks
Feb 21, 2025
David Whyte on writing poetry the world loves
Feb 20, 2025
Translating adolescence and speaking Teenage Girl
Feb 19, 2025
The Bark Petitions — how Yolngu tradition changed democracy
Feb 18, 2025
Encore: the life of songwriter Jimmy Webb
Feb 14, 2025
Surviving bombs and starvation on a Mediterranean island paradise
Feb 13, 2025
How tiny crystals reveal the secret history (and future) of volcanic eruptions
Feb 12, 2025
Birtles, Brown and Bean: Warren's madcap world tour, in a vintage car
Feb 11, 2025
Encore: The making of Nazeem Hussain
Feb 07, 2025
Drug bazaars, hitmen and hackers — why Eileen went deep into the dark web
Feb 06, 2025
The family secret that inspired 'The Teacher's Pet'
Feb 05, 2025
Lucinda Light on MAFS, living with ADHD, and her search for love
Feb 04, 2025
Encore: The Toilet Warrior's origin story
Jan 31, 2025
The spy who kept secrets for the self-made man
Jan 30, 2025
Dressing drag queens in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Jan 29, 2025
Singing as 'sweet relief' — Meg Washington on stuttering, spirituality and song
Jan 28, 2025
Encore: From Yugoslavia to Australia — Jelena Dokic on tennis and the truth
Jan 24, 2025
How a teen father used the local skate park to change the world
Jan 23, 2025
43 carolling magpies, CPR on a blue tongue lizard and Claire's animal ambulance
Jan 22, 2025
Bite Club: Surviving a shark attack, and the aftermath
Jan 21, 2025
Voicing velociraptors and capturing the dawn chorus
Jan 20, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Shanelle Dawson
Jan 17, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Tony Bull
Jan 16, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Sue Ellen Kusher
Jan 15, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — John Prine
Jan 14, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Peter Lalor
Jan 13, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Ken Faulkner
Jan 10, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Gisela Kaplan
Jan 09, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Robyn Davidson
Jan 07, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Archie Roach
Jan 06, 2025
Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Brendan James Murray
Jan 05, 2025
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Peter Hoysted
Jan 03, 2025
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Gill Hicks
Jan 01, 2025
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Ross Gittins
Dec 31, 2024
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Gregory Smith
Dec 30, 2024
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Uncle Jack Charles
Dec 29, 2024
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Sandy MacKinnon
Dec 26, 2024
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Elizabeth Chong
Dec 25, 2024
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — William McInnes
Dec 24, 2024
Richard's Most Memorable Guests — Shaun Christie David
Dec 23, 2024
Richard's Most Memorable Conversations — Magda Szubanski
Dec 22, 2024
Best of 2024 — Bhawani O'Brien
Dec 21, 2024
Best of 2024 — Ruth Shaw
Dec 19, 2024
Best of 2024 — Ken Wyatt
Dec 18, 2024
Best of 2024 — Kasey Chambers
Dec 17, 2024
Best of 2024 — Candice Fox
Dec 16, 2024
Best of 2024 — Gideon Haigh
Dec 15, 2024
Best of 2024 — Pauline McGrath
Dec 14, 2024
Best of 2024 — Rafael Bonachela
Dec 12, 2024
Best of 2024 — Anita Heiss
Dec 11, 2024
Best of 2024 — Jack Beaumont
Dec 10, 2024
Best of 2024 — Rebecca Huntley
Dec 09, 2024
Best of 2024 — Troy Cassar-Daley
Dec 08, 2024
Helen Garner's love letter to her grandson, and football
Dec 06, 2024
Cyclone Tracy 50 years on — the epic survival stories of a cub reporter and a woman in the navy
Dec 05, 2024
Love, jail, Jesus, and pubs — a tangled tale of four very different parents
Dec 04, 2024
Professor Richard Scolyer — Melanoma expert turned brain cancer patient
Dec 03, 2024
Antarctica, Kiribati and outback Australia — the adventures of a GP doctor
Dec 02, 2024
Jonathan Haidt on 'attention fracking' and how to stop tech companies from stealing your child's focus
Nov 29, 2024
The secrets in the stars — what we can learn about habitable planets, alien life and ourselves
Nov 28, 2024
Alice Zaslavsky's hunger for life
Nov 26, 2024
Pip Williams — from dyslexia to the Dictionary of Lost Words
Nov 26, 2024
Jon Ronson on psychopaths, sociopaths and how to spot them
Nov 25, 2024
Heroin, Ivan Milat, rehab and redemption — the incredible life of Claude Robinson
Nov 22, 2024
Darren Hayes on the bruising truth behind his Savage Garden stardom
Nov 21, 2024
Alice Roberts on the skeletons' secrets
Nov 20, 2024
Cows on a plane — an epic journey from Tullamarine to Chennai
Nov 19, 2024
From Jaipur with love — building a romantic life in Australia
Nov 18, 2024
The magic of metallurgy — inside the ancient trade of blacksmithing
Nov 15, 2024
'It was meant to be me' — the teenage TV star who feels 'lucky to be paraplegic'
Nov 14, 2024
Exploring death and grief with heart and healing
Nov 13, 2024
How a macabre country childhood spawned a best-selling dressmaker’s tale
Nov 12, 2024
The epic mystery of a female pope and the birth that was her undoing
Nov 11, 2024
From Yugoslavia to Australia — Jelena Dokic on tennis and the truth
Nov 08, 2024
Journey inside Africa's cave of Great Apes to upend your understanding of the human origin story
Nov 07, 2024
Why Andrew sets the table under the stars in the Australian Outback
Nov 05, 2024
Byron Bay, reality TV and Shane Warne's bowel movements — why Akmal Saleh hates the jungle
Nov 04, 2024
From the Commonwealth Games to Everest and the Channel swim — Gerrard doesn’t need to see to believe
Nov 01, 2024
What Jack Reacher did next — Lee Child on our favourite lone wolf
Oct 31, 2024
From the Pilbara to Perth and beyond — the Indigenous psychologist doing things differently
Oct 30, 2024
How a famous, broken bible changed the story of a family
Oct 29, 2024
From Bankstown to the Barossa: the story of Maggie Beer
Oct 28, 2024
Panic attacks, pride, the navy, and Nate Byrne
Oct 25, 2024
A life-changing quince, backyard butchery, and ethical food obsession
Oct 24, 2024
Lee Miller: surrealist photographer, war correspondent, and gourmet chef
Oct 23, 2024
Helping people die on their own terms — why Bhawani became a VAD practitioner
Oct 22, 2024
Kanye and me — why John Safran squatted in Ye's Hollyweird mansion
Oct 21, 2024
Changing prisoners' minds with Vedic meditation at Rikers Island
Oct 18, 2024
A wild Bollywood adventure — from Sydney to Mumbai and back again
Oct 17, 2024
Aunty Ruth Hegarty’s life of defiance, faith and finding her voice
Oct 16, 2024
Arnhem Land to Everest — surviving worst case scenarios in the wilderness
Oct 15, 2024
I was a political prisoner in Myanmar — and I could never hate the Burmese
Oct 14, 2024
The coal miner's daughter and the bride stripped bare
Oct 11, 2024
A Sri Lankan hotel, a Harlem nightclub and orgasm-induced amnesia — Dasha Ross' epic adventures
Oct 10, 2024
Prostate cancer, testosterone and Tim Baker's masculinity
Oct 09, 2024
Obsessive-compulsive disorder and how Penny loosened its anxiety-inducing grip
Oct 08, 2024
Melbourne's seedy underbelly and the gangsters who run the joint
Oct 07, 2024
Play School's Noni Hazlehurst — Australia's TV mum
Oct 04, 2024
Kasey Chambers on how not to be a d***head
Oct 03, 2024
Into the wild with Gina Chick
Oct 02, 2024
Shakespeare's stories aren't boring — we are teaching them wrong way
Oct 01, 2024
How Tolstoy and Chekhov schooled George Saunders on life's great lessons
Sep 30, 2024
The unexpected plot twist: how a solo hiker stayed alive after shattering her pelvis in Joshua Tree National Park
Sep 27, 2024
The unexpected plot twist: the story of how suicide survivor Oceane, who became a beloved midwife
Sep 26, 2024
The unexpected plot twist: The story of Toni Jordan's lucky life
Sep 25, 2024
The unexpected plot twist: The tech nerd who changed course to help the homeless
Sep 24, 2024
The unexpected plot twist: From the David Jones food hall to Opera Australia
Sep 23, 2024
An odyssey across Australia — how 11,000 sheep were walked from Victoria into the outback
Sep 20, 2024
Antibiotic resistant superbugs and how to fight them
Sep 19, 2024
A life spent making — ‘Mr Millimetre’s’ memories
Sep 18, 2024
Fish sperm sausages, and eyeball icecream: the Josh Niland story
Sep 17, 2024
The architects of ancient Arabia – speaking to the sky
Sep 16, 2024
The epic highs and lows of Ji's life on the trampoline
Sep 13, 2024
Treating dementia — a new way of caring for the elderly
Sep 12, 2024
The story of James Earl Jones, and his legacy
Sep 11, 2024
Epic sharks — the ancient origins of the monsters of the sea
Sep 10, 2024
Words of love — writing stories of Aboriginal land
Sep 09, 2024
My brother's death — writing the story of a family's grief and loss
Sep 06, 2024
Quitting alcohol – the story of how Seana got sober
Sep 05, 2024
How dogs think — and what they think of us
Sep 04, 2024
My Stolen Generations story: how Brenda was taken from her family, twice
Sep 03, 2024
The story of the melancholy spy
Sep 02, 2024
The psychedelic revolution — how MDMA mended Rebecca's mind
Aug 30, 2024
Smuggled out of Wewak — Carolyn's dramatic escape from Papua New Guinea
Aug 29, 2024
When the pirate got paid on the island of Corfu
Aug 28, 2024
The spark that saw Andy become solar-powered
Aug 27, 2024
The sprawling history of the human soul — part two
Aug 26, 2024
The trailblazing papergirl, lawyer and playwright
Aug 23, 2024
My aunt was smuggled to Tashkent by Stalin
Aug 22, 2024
Heavenly beings: the icon paintings of Michael Galovic
Aug 21, 2024
Dave Gleeson needs a damn good lie down
Aug 20, 2024
The sprawling history of the human soul — part one
Aug 19, 2024
The Natural Horseman
Aug 16, 2024
The woman who was lucky in love
Aug 15, 2024
The farm that Carol built
Aug 14, 2024
Mummy bundles, fossils and DNA
Aug 13, 2024
'More than cheesecake' — humanity's shared musical history
Aug 12, 2024
Conversations Gold: The silver medal that changed Laurie Lawrence
Aug 09, 2024
Conversations Gold: Jana Pittman's turning point
Aug 07, 2024
Conversations Gold: Paralympian Christie Dawes is super/normal
Aug 05, 2024
Conversations Gold: The life of Anna Meares
Aug 02, 2024
Conversations Gold: Lisa Curry on winning gold and losing Jaimi
Jul 31, 2024
Conversations Gold: Patrick Johnson's golden run
Jul 29, 2024
Bruce McAvaney — what a legend, what a champion
Jul 26, 2024
Louise Kennedy on Belfast, bombs and a disastrous pav
Jul 25, 2024
It's 'all sweet' for Tony Armstrong
Jul 24, 2024
Lele's home under the Morning Star
Jul 23, 2024
Tidying up the crematorium
Jul 22, 2024
PRESENTS — I Was Actually There | The Boxing Day tsunami 2004
Jul 20, 2024
The many magnificent, mysterious faces of Monte Punshon
Jul 19, 2024
Winnie Dunn — the first
Jul 18, 2024
The power and determination of Nas Campanella
Jul 17, 2024
The megadeath of megafauna
Jul 16, 2024
Sketchbooks, ghosts and a lost sister
Jul 15, 2024
The BMW of standup comics
Jul 12, 2024
The tin hut that's still standing
Jul 11, 2024
Bindi — always looking forward
Jul 10, 2024
Nardi Simpson on Crocodile Country
Jul 09, 2024
Ken Wyatt - the Noongar boy who made history
Jul 08, 2024
Surviving Pinochet, living for art
Jul 05, 2024
Married at the Wayside Chapel
Jul 04, 2024
Beyond the hills and into the mountains
Jul 03, 2024
Finding home on the Tooraweenah Aerodrome
Jul 02, 2024
Risking everything
Jul 01, 2024
Disaster specialist Lucy Easthope
Jun 28, 2024
Ben Lee: chutzpah mystic
Jun 27, 2024
The ferryman from life to death
Jun 26, 2024
Life and death in the holy city
Jun 25, 2024
Like oil and water
Jun 24, 2024
Pack ice, seal fat and the big slide: Tim and Ernest's incredible journey
Jun 21, 2024
How Leila saw birds anew
Jun 20, 2024
Avani Dias on the rise of Narendra Modi
Jun 19, 2024
The beauty of the brain
Jun 18, 2024
Michael Theo's childhood dream
Jun 17, 2024
The strange true tale of the tattooed arm regurgitated by a shark
Jun 14, 2024
The girl who turned her head away
Jun 13, 2024
Free will, liberty and Aristotle in the animal kingdom
Jun 12, 2024
Michael Mosley’s legacy: empowering science for the everyday
Jun 11, 2024
The 700-room nightmare
Jun 10, 2024
Tabletop, Spank, and Spycraft
Jun 07, 2024
The charming Italian narcissist
Jun 06, 2024
Nick Bryant's America: polarised forever
Jun 05, 2024
Psyche, the curious and brave goddess of the soul
Jun 04, 2024
The secret psychosis of a first-time mother
Jun 03, 2024
Japanese gangsters: the secrets of the Yakuza
May 31, 2024
Bonnie Garmus on becoming a global phenomenon in her 60s
May 30, 2024
David Wengrow: everything we know about the human story is wrong
May 29, 2024
Matt Hall's life at supersonic speed
May 28, 2024
The forgotten treasures of desert dwellers
May 27, 2024
Billy Bragg — the boy from Barking
May 24, 2024
How Rafael Bonachela let his inner showgirl out
May 23, 2024
The power of the extra dad
May 22, 2024
Bronnie and the jaws of life
May 21, 2024
Riding for a fall
May 20, 2024
The velveteen rabbit at the end of the world
May 17, 2024
A Latvian Fairytale
May 16, 2024
Naomi and the smudge of luminous stars
May 15, 2024
Sean Fong dominating life on the jiu-jitsu mat
May 14, 2024
The highs and lows of the ALP
May 13, 2024
Troy Cassar-Daley: the boy from Halfway Creek
May 10, 2024
Troy Cassar-Daley: the boy from Halfway Creek
May 10, 2024
When Bonnie just kept paddling
May 09, 2024
Uncovering Tasmania's gruesome past
May 08, 2024
Fantastic and fascinating fungi
May 07, 2024
Chris Haywood's life in character
May 06, 2024
The soup bar saving lives
May 03, 2024
How our brains use autocorrect
May 02, 2024
Nick Cave's broken-hearted optimism
May 01, 2024
Terry's long goodbye
Apr 30, 2024
Learning to read with Manisha Gazula
Apr 29, 2024
Mother Courage
Apr 26, 2024
ANZAC Day: letters from the front
Apr 24, 2024
How Rhonda defied expectations
Apr 24, 2024
Dr Sutapa Mukherjee on how to sleep well
Apr 23, 2024
Ray and the great language recovery
Apr 22, 2024
Theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama on making peace and living in poetry
Apr 19, 2024
Carly-Jay on dying, living, and learning to breathe
Apr 18, 2024