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

Falling for a fake - the journalist and the romantic manipulator

Stephanie Wood was an acclaimed newspaper journalist when she fell for a romantic fraudster Stephanie Wood was a successful and well-travelled journalist when she met a sweet man online. They spent many romantic weekends away and discussed a future where they would live together in the country. But after months of his last minute cancellations and no shows, Stephanie finally ended the relationship. What she discovered next was a shocking tale of deceit and manipulation. Once she began telling he...

Jul 04, 2019•52 min

The seaweed scientist who survived being scalped

After decades as a marine ecologist, Pia Winberg began her own seaweed farm. One ordinary working day there was a terrible accident

Jul 03, 2019•48 min

Australia's Romani Gypsies

Mandy Sayer has uncovered the history of a thriving Gypsy community (R)

Jul 02, 2019•51 min

Born blind at the right time: Ron McCallum

Left totally blind by treatment he received as a premature baby, Ron credits technology, love, and good timing with his success in life and the law

Jul 01, 2019•52 min

A dirt bike and a secret: Heather Ellis

When she rode her motorbike solo across the Silk Road, Heather thought she had nothing to lose. Her HIV positive diagnosis was far more serious in the 1990s than it is today

Jun 28, 2019•52 min

The murderer who wasn't there

Zak Grieve was 19 when he was found guilty of murder, although the judge said he wasn't at the scene of the crime. Steven Schubert tells his story

Jun 27, 2019•49 min

A shipwrecked French cabin boy and his Australian Aboriginal family

The astounding fate of Narcisse Pelletier, taken in by the people of Night Island after being abandoned on the coast of far north Queensland in 1858

Jun 26, 2019•44 min

A sizzle in the brain changed Lavinia Codd's life

After a stroke at age 31, Lavinia Codd lost part of her memory, and half her vision. Then she became fascinated by her brain's ability to regenerate (R)

Jun 25, 2019•52 min

Inside the comic mind

'Becardiganed polymath' Robin Ince on the fascinating brains of stand-up comics

Jun 24, 2019•51 min

Stories from Elmswood Farm

Patrice Newell was a model and a TV host before she began again as a biodynamic farmer

Jun 21, 2019•53 min

Richard Tognetti: 'Je suis Wollongong'

Richard Tognetti was a boy when he first showed a brilliant talent for playing the violin. But in the town where he grew up, his talent made him a target

Jun 20, 2019•50 min

Rozsy's terrible secret

Angela Hamilton was raised by a tyrannical father, who terrorised his family. Decades later, she found out the truth about what he'd done during WWII

Jun 19, 2019•51 min

The evolution of Poh

How a shy Mormon girl named Sharon became Poh Ling Yeow (R)

Jun 18, 2019•49 min

State secrets and marsupials

Australia through the eyes of The New York Times Australia bureau chief, Damien Cave

Jun 17, 2019•51 min

Midnight Oil's Rob Hirst

Chasing the back beat and adventures in wide open spaces, Rob remains essentially the same as the boy he was (R)

Jun 14, 2019•51 min

Not your average dentist

After treating a patient named Anna, Sharonne Zaks saw the power relationship with her patients differently. She developed a new branch of dentistry to help care for survivors of sexual assault Sharonne Zaks grew up in a family of dentists, and when she too became a dentist, she developed an empathetic relationship with her patients, never judging them even if they'd avoided the dentist for years. After some years, a patient named Anna profoundly changed Sharonne's understanding of a patient's e...

Jun 13, 2019•52 min

Water, Water: a story collection

Eight stories exploring the pleasures and perils of water

Jun 12, 2019•49 min

Barrie Cassidy and Private Bill

Barrie unearths a family wartime secret after fifty years (R)

Jun 11, 2019•52 min

The rise of the land dragon

Alex Landragin was born into a champagne-making family in the French village of Verzenay. When he was five, his family began a new life in Australia. Then a freak accident changed everything.

Jun 10, 2019•52 min

Finding the erotic in everyday life with Esther Perel

Esther is a therapist who spent years studying intimacy, monogamy and sexuality. She became the world's most well-known expert on modern love When Esther was a teenager she was voraciously curious about human behaviour. She thought she'd become a journalist or a translator, but instead she grew up to become the world's most famous contemporary psychotherapist. Esther became known around the world after the release of her podcast "Where Should We Begin?" in which she counsels real-life couples wh...

Jun 07, 2019•53 min

A mother I never knew — the secret of Peter Papathanasiou

The story of family bonds so strong that one couple gave their child to another, to be raised in a country far away

Jun 06, 2019•53 min

Liz Jones and the fire at La Mama

The matriarch of La Mama on life in and out of Melbourne’s beloved theatre

Jun 05, 2019•49 min

The 'Angel of Death' of Sydney's underworld

Dulcie Markham was one of the most notorious characters of Sydney in the 1930s, but many of her lovers met a grisly end

Jun 04, 2019•51 min

The memory whisperer

Lynne Kelly became a senior memory champion after she began researching ancient ways of transforming landscapes, objects and the human body into 'memory palaces.'

Jun 03, 2019•51 min

Operation Babylift

In the dying days of the Vietnam War, hundreds of orphans were airlifted from Saigon to safety. Ian Shaw tells the story of two Australian women at the heart of Operation Babylift

May 31, 2019•52 min

Psychotherapy on the couch

Demystifying the art of talk therapy and the complex relationship between therapist and patient Psychotherapy, also known as 'the talking cure', is based on a profound and usually ongoing connection between a person and their therapist. This type of work, often dealing with long buried events or feelings, can be transformative for patients. Gill Straker has a lifetime of experience as a psychotherapist, in Australia and in her birthplace, South Africa. Her work counselling victims of brutality a...

May 30, 2019•52 min

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