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. Conversations Live is coming to the stage! Join Sarah Kanowski and Richard Fidler for an unmissable night of unforgettable stories, behind-the-scenes secrets, and surprise guests. Australia’s most-loved podcast — live, up close, and in the moment. Find out more at the Conversations website.

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Episodes

My second family is in Vanuatu

Physiotherapist Sky Fosbrooke’s stint as a volunteer health worker led to a deep attachment to the people of a small South Santo village

Nov 06, 2019•51 min

A life in dance after being told he wouldn't make it with David McAllister

When David McAllister was a little boy growing up in Perth he would tuck tea towels into his undies and dance around in front of the TV. He watched his own reflection, as he twirled, and leapt around the lounge room. At 7, David went to his first ballet class at a suburban scout hall, and loved it right away. But doing ballet was a kind of social death for a boy, in the 1970s in Western Australia. David says the torment he went through at school helped to spur him on to become one of the best da...

Nov 05, 2019•51 min

William Dalrymple on the ruthless rise of the British East India Company

The outrageous story of a group of financiers from a poor and damp island on the outer rim of Europe, who created a private company that became the biggest military and political power in all of India

Nov 04, 2019•53 min

Archie Roach: turning spirit into song and connecting with family

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 Widely admired for his powerful lyrics and the grace of his pin-drop performances, Archie has overcome blow after blow throughout his life. He was just two years old when he was taken from his Aboriginal mother and given to the Cox family to raise. His foster family brought him up with love, in a house filled with music. But whe...

Nov 01, 2019•53 min

Di Morrissey and the tragedy on Lovett Bay

Di Morrissey grew up in a tiny village only accessible by rowboat, with film star Chips Rafferty and poet Dorothea Mackellar as her neighbours. In 1954, a terrible accident on Lovett Bay changed everything

Oct 31, 2019•52 min

The writer and the Prince

While fleeing the aftermath of a failed marriage, Hilary McPhee accepted a job in Jordan to write the autobiography of a Hashemite Prince. Living alone for the first time, she was plunged into extreme loneliness

Oct 30, 2019•50 min

Murgon's shining star: Leah Purcell

Leah was a teenager working in a small-town meatworks when she discovered her true path in life (R)

Oct 29, 2019•52 min

The force of Will

Winemaker Will Rikard-Bell was working at Hunter Valley winery when a catastrophic explosion knocked him off his feet. He sustained burns to 70% of his body, and his skin needed to be almost entirely rebuilt (R)

Oct 28, 2019•47 min

In the shadowlands: McMafia author Misha Glenny on organised crime

As a young man studying in Europe, Misha formed underground links that would propel his whole career. The former BBC correspondent interviews criminals all over the world to understand the all-pervasive webs of modern organised crime

Oct 25, 2019•52 min

Que Minh Luu doesn’t need a hug

How hot young widows, perceptive friends and twitter kept television executive Que afloat after the death of her husband

Oct 24, 2019•52 min

Tara Westover's escape from ignorance

Tara was raised by parents who were radical Mormon survivalists, preparing for the End of Days. Although they didn't believe in traditional schooling, Tara taught herself in secret and made it to Cambridge and Harvard (R)

Oct 23, 2019•52 min

Life in the shadow of Long Bay

Patrick Kennedy on growing up next door to some of Australia's most violent criminals (R)

Oct 22, 2019•51 min

Surviving kidnap in Sierra Leone

Aminata Conteh-Biger was kidnapped by rebel militia when they stormed her village and ransacked her family home. A strange series of events saw her released, but then she was still being hunted (R)

Oct 21, 2019•53 min

The chair with five legs

As a girl, Davida Allen was brought up to be a proper young lady. Instead, she covered her naked body in paint and rolled around to make art. She grew up to become one of Australia's most famous painters (R)

Oct 18, 2019•53 min

Child convicts, lost boys and the murder at Point Puer

British boys as young as nine were transported to Van Diemen's Land for petty crime. 3000 of them were incarcerated at Point Puer, the first prison in the world built exclusively for children

Oct 17, 2019•51 min

Strange rescuers: my father's Holocaust

Juliet Rieden traces the story of her Czech father, who was taken as a child refugee to Britain a week before the Nazis arrived in Prague, and thus spared the fate of his extended family

Oct 16, 2019•51 min

Kumi’s Japanese inheritance

Australian journalist Kumi Taguchi grapples with divided loyalties after the death of her father

Oct 15, 2019•51 min

Story of a blood red rose

Kate Forsyth tells the origin story of a fairy tale staple, the ever-flowering red rose. Her version has its roots in Imperial China, and arrives via the French Revolution

Oct 14, 2019•47 min

Dear Dolly Doctor, Am I normal?

Dr. Melissa Kang explained sex, puberty and periods to teen girls in her role as Dolly magazine's ‘Dolly Doctor’. She spent 23 years answering questions sent by mail, that young people were too embarrassed to ask out loud

Oct 11, 2019•51 min

Dinosaur fields: finding fossils on the family farm

The random find of a dinosaur bone on her Queensland property led Robyn Mackenzie to develop an outback museum of international importance, and a deep sense of wonder at prehistoric geology

Oct 10, 2019•52 min

Chasing the dream that was Prague

Author Favel Parrett’s grandmother escaped from Czechoslovakia as a teenager, but her sister stayed behind - suffering the twin nightmares of Nazism and Stalinism

Oct 09, 2019•48 min

Finding the right formula with Eddie Woo

Waiting in line to enrol for a teaching degree in history and English, Eddie was persuaded to pursue maths instead. Despite never really liking maths at school, he signed up. The split-second decision changed his life, and the lives of many of his future students

Oct 08, 2019•51 min

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