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

Ray Collins — life in the black, and the blue

Ray was a coal miner when an accident underground left him lying prone in a tunnel a kilometre beneath the earth. What he did next changed the course of his life

Apr 07, 2020•48 min

Julia Baird on finding shards of light in dark times

After journalist Julia Baird survived a terrible bout of cancer, she began to think about what sustains us when the world goes dark

Apr 06, 2020•53 min

Doll's prams and hand-knitted togs: a Hockney family portrait

John Hockney grew up in an unconventional family of five siblings in post-war Yorkshire. As a child, his brother David drew constantly on any paper he could find. He grew up to become the world's most famous living artist

Apr 03, 2020•51 min

A father and son odyssey

When Daniel Mendelsohn signed up for a Mediterranean cruise to Ithaca with his aging father, neither of them could have predicted what would happen next

Apr 02, 2020•48 min

Bill Bailey — seriously funny amateur naturalist

Bill Bailey's passion for twitching began as boy growing up in England's west country (R)

Apr 01, 2020•52 min

Tales from captivity

Stories of imagination, poetry and menace while living in captivity, from Kari Gislason and Candice Fox

Mar 31, 2020•48 min

Elizabeth Gilbert on love and letting go of normal

How a flash of insight about her life saw Liz upend almost everything in it

Mar 30, 2020•49 min

Bringing life-saving dialysis to Central Australia

Sarah Brown always wanted to be a remote area nurse. Then she began a medical revolution (R)

Mar 27, 2020•52 min

Saving tiny lives — the mission of a flying midwife

Jan Becker on saving the lives of newborn babies in the 'golden minute' after birth (R)

Mar 26, 2020•52 min

Graham Martin on going from doctor to patient

Psychiatrist Graham Martin learned a lot of new things about medicine when he unexpectedly and painfully became the patient (R)

Mar 25, 2020•51 min

Nursing on Sydney's streets

When working with people experiencing homelessness, Erin Longbottom looks to their strengths to help them find their way to health, and a home (R)

Mar 24, 2020•52 min

The man who saved a million brains: Creswell Eastman's pioneering work with iodine deficiency disorder

Abolishing iodine deficiency throughout the world was this doctor's mission (R)

Mar 23, 2020•52 min

The Queen of Country — Joy McKean

Travelling Australia with her husband Slim Dusty brought challenges and rewards

Mar 20, 2020•52 min

Ten women — a series of murders in Depression-era Sydney

Tanya Bretherton tells the story of the victims whose killings were largely ignored by police, and whose fate haunted the streets of eastern Sydney

Mar 19, 2020•47 min

The story of the Snowy

When Siobhan McHugh set out to write a history of Australia's Snowy Scheme, she unearthed stories of pugnacious unionists, drowned towns and a love story on a laundry floor (R)

Mar 18, 2020•52 min

The life of Angela Lansbury

The warm, funny and slightly terrifying Angela Lansbury opens up about her seven-decade long career on stage and screen (R)

Mar 17, 2020•52 min

Life after Troll Hunting

After she was trolled online, Ginger Gorman turned to face her attackers, and developed a completely new understanding of why people abuse others online

Mar 16, 2020•49 min

Building a school for the world’s poorest children — Gemma Sisia's story

A donation of land and $10 was all Australian-born Gemma needed to establish The School of St Jude in Tanzania

Mar 13, 2020•52 min

Parenting our parents — Jean Kittson on looking after Mum and Dad

As Jean negotiated the maze of caring for her ageing parents, she began collecting the information she found useful, as well as asking herself and others deeper questions about aged care

Mar 12, 2020•51 min

Hannah Kent and the Good People of Ireland

The fairies of Ireland's folk culture were capricious twilight creatures who could bestow favour or grave misfortune (R)

Mar 11, 2020•52 min

The miracles and limits of modern medicine

Doctor Karen Hitchcock peers into the culture of modern medicine, from the flu season to female viagra, to dementia and the humble sick day

Mar 10, 2020•39 min

Devices and democracy: will Big Tech control us?

Jamie Susskind on how digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics and virtual reality are transforming our political systems

Mar 09, 2020•48 min

Changing how we talk about rape

Extraordinary survivor Sohaila Abdulali was seventeen when she was gang raped and forced to fight for her life (R)

Mar 06, 2020•51 min

This anxious life: Dr Mark Cross

Mark is an experienced consultant psychiatrist who also suffers from Australia's most common mental health condition, anxiety. His direct insight helps him understand how people with anxiety can thrive at work and in life Mark is a consultant psychiatrist with thirty years' experience, a senior university lecturer, and specialist in the mental health of young people. He came to public attention in Australia through the landmark ABC TV series, Changing Minds. The series went inside Campbelltown H...

Mar 05, 2020•51 min

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