Teacher and single Mum Alex is escaping the city in search of new start with her young daughter; Bellbird River matriarch Victoria finds herself at a crossroads when globe-trotting, opera-singing cousin Gabrielle moves back home; town baker and Bellbird River fixture, Janine is confronting her past and her present; and newcomer Debbie is trying to leave a painful past behind and create something new. Amid the melodies and camaraderie of the Bellbird River Country Choir each of these women will f...
Jul 29, 2022•20 min
Jason Bourne has faced many killers in his time but none more dangerous than the assassin that calls himself Lennon. Bourne believes this elusive killer has a new employer called the Pyramid. The only clue to the group's agenda is a young German woman whose identity turns out to be a lie and who now lies dead in a Washington D.C. Park. Finding the truth about this woman may be Bourne's only chance to finally catch Lennon and undercover the conspiracy behind the Pyramid. The trail leads Bourne fr...
Jul 19, 2022•20 min
To the first European colonists, Australian wildlife was bewildering. Marsupials, monotremes and the vast array of birds and snakes were strange and hostile. A bustling animal trade soon developed in both directions. While rabbits, foxes and starlings were unleashed on the Australian landscape, native animals soon found themselves as stuffed or live specimens in zoos and private collections around the world. Into this picture stepped a remarkable band of enthusiastic amateurs determined to get t...
Jul 13, 2022•22 min
As liberating Allied forces surged towards Paris following the D-Day landings of 1944 a group of downed airmen were being held in the infamous Fresnes Prison. Amid great secrecy, 168 airmen – including several from Australia and New Zealand – were evacuated to the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp, accompanied by orders for their execution. At Buchenwald they witnessed such extreme depravity that it would haunt them all their days. Colin Burgess has personally interviewed and corresponded ...
Jul 11, 2022•17 min
Meet Carol, Sofia and Bonnie whose lives have been intertwined since primary school. Their hopes, dreams and heartaches have been shared for decades. Through the observant eyes of journalist Melissa, we witness the pressures that threaten to unravel some long-held secrets that have never been shared. Together they are the Tap Cats, a Queensland-based tap-dancing group facing unexpected challenges when they enter the Seniors Superstar competition. Set in the stunning landscape of the Sunshine Coa...
Jul 11, 2022•16 min
Young journalist Jules Roth is handed an intriguing assignment: to find a painting stolen by the Nazis 75 years ago. Little does she know that ruthless art dealer and powerful heiress, Margaux de Laurent, is on the same mission. De Laurent gets everything she wants and has the money and resources to back it up. Their goal is to locate Ernst Engel's expressionist masterpiece that has deep family connections with links to the Holocaust. Woman On Fire invites readers into the world of the powerful ...
Jul 10, 2022•15 min
Dean is a small-time thief funding a drug habit. Sarah is a junior police officer on extended stress leave. Mary, a former school teacher, is an alcoholic living on the edge. Their paths cross at the local leagues club when Dean's grand plan for an armed robbery comes undone. Now irreversibly linked, each must decide who to betray, who to trust and who to protect. What they choose to do will change the course of their lives. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to James O'Loghlin about leaving a ...
Jun 28, 2022•24 min
Twenty years ago, Cyrus Haven's family was murdered by his paranoid schizophrenic brother Elias. Now Elias is being released from a secure psychiatric hospital and the question of forgiveness is on Cyrus' mind. As Cyrus prepares for the Elias' homecoming two women go missing and one man is dead. Evie Cormac, now the ward of Cyrus, has an incredible gift for spotting a liar and was a witness to one of the abductions. Dark secrets are revealed as the crimes are unravelled but Cyrus and Evie know b...
Jun 27, 2022•21 min
In Telltale, Carmel Bird seizes on the enforced isolation of the pandemic to re-read a rich library of books from her past and to reconnect with people, time, place, myth, image and the whole experience of her writing life. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Carmel Bird about the reading rules she set for herself during pandemic lockdowns, how an early memory was sparked by a fascination with literary bridges, and the influence her childhood reading library has had on her work as an author, ...
Jun 26, 2022•23 min
A discarded nineteenth century painting depicting a magnificent horse and its proud black groom is the starting point for Geraldine Brooks' deep dive into one of the darkest periods in American history. Kentucky 1850. Enslaved groom Jarret, forges a close bond with a foal that will carry it to the highest echelons of thoroughbred racing in America. On the eve of the Civil War an itinerant young artist makes his name from painting the horse reconnects with Jarret on a perilous night far from the ...
Jun 11, 2022•21 min
In 1977 Vera 'Toddie' Hays and Florice 'Beezie' Bessire thought they were about to embark on the trip of a lifetime when Vera's nephew Vern Jr made them an unbelievable offer: drive a camper van from Stuttgart to Bombay and finally to Australia. Little did they know the van was packed with two tonnes of hashish. 'Betrayed' is the fascinating inside story of Toddie and Beezie's wild ride across continents, their arrest by Australian narcotics agents and all that the women faced in their desperate...
Jun 04, 2022•23 min
In the 1990s Phil Barker left the male-dominated world of the Daily Telegraph to work on magazines such as NW and Woman's Day. It was the golden age of Australian magazines with circulation at an all-time high. But along came the internet. A failure to deal with the challenges of the digital age saw a once great industry fall into decline. In 'Axed! Who Killed Australian Magazines', Phil Barker tracks the highs and lows of Australia magazines' journey from prince to pauper. From the bad content ...
May 29, 2022•22 min
A violent workplace attack nearly 30 years ago left Wendy Davis with trauma that has permeated her entire life. The police investigation at the time was woefully inadequate and Wendy found herself virtually ignored while the perpetrator faced only relatively minor consequences. Despite being plagued by anger and guilt, Wendy tried to bury the incident and move on with her life. The experience resurfaced when Wendy was contacted by police in 2016 in relation to the investigation surrounding the C...
May 28, 2022•18 min
Dr John Tickell is a medical doctor, health researcher and author who has spent decades studying the health and longevity of people around the world. His formula of Activity, Coping and Eating, draws on his medical experience, extensive international research, and the lifestyle patterns of the longest living people on earth. 'Your Best Immunity: Build Resistance the ACE Way' is your guide maintaining and increasing your immunity. How the immune system works and the factors that can depress our i...
May 22, 2022•14 min
Adam Bowman, a second-string journalist at a Sydney newspaper, may be the only person with enough inside knowledge to uncover the links between a murder on the grounds of a private school and the notorious 'Blue Moon Killer'. But Bowman will have to venture into the darkest places of his childhood to piece together a series of shocking crimes. Detective Sergeant Rose Riley is part of the taskforce desperately trying to find the killer before he strikes again. Bowman may turn out to be her trump ...
May 21, 2022•18 min
Margaret Cunneen worked for 30 years as a Crown Prosecutor on cases involving murder, pedophiles and rapists and became a specialist in child sexual assault law. In 2019 Margaret took up practise as a defence counsel. The Boxing Butterfly is Margaret Cunneen looking in the rear-view mirror. It chronicles an eventful career which included cases such as the Skafs gang rapes, the Robert “Dolly” Dunn pedophilia case and the so-called “Butcher of Bega” for unspeakable medical practice. This is grueso...
May 11, 2022•24 min
Carolina Fonçeca is a lonely sixteen-year-old girl confined to a remote Brazilian sugar plantation in the 1850s. Her life changes when the French explorer, naturalist and diplomat, the Count de Castelnau stumbles out of the Amazon rainforest, delirious and near death. With a head full of Balzac and dreams of Parisian life, she nurses him back to health and makes the decision to follow him back to Paris as his lover. What Carolina doesn’t know is that François has a wife and son back in France. T...
May 10, 2022•15 min
Austria, 1936. Esther Simpson works for a British organisation that rescues academics from the cruel Fascist and anti-Semitic regimes taking hold in Europe. On a dangerous trip to Vienna, Esther falls in love with Harry Singer, a young Jewish academic and musician. When Harry is detained on the Isle of Man while waiting for news of his parents, Esther pleads with the government for his release. When Harry is eventually liberated, they each face an impossible choice. In this episode Gregory Dobbs...
Apr 30, 2022•16 min
By the age of twenty-five, Sophie Cachia was a happily married mother and digital marketing expert with a very successful business powered by documenting her every move online. Then, in a single moment, everything changed. Sophie met a woman who prompted her to question her own life and relationship. 'And Then There Was Her' is a frank and deeply honest memoir, documenting Sophie's path to greater awareness, empowerment and acceptance as she navigated identity, sensuality and the true meaning of...
Apr 29, 2022•18 min
May 1915. As war rages in Europe, Australian nurse, Sister Cora Barker, leaves her home in Adelaide for England, determined to make her own contribution. She arrives at Harefield House – a stately home donated by its expatriate Australian owners. There she helps transform it into a hospital that is also a little piece of home for recuperating Australian soldiers. As casualties mount, the hospital sends out a desperate call for help. Jessie Chester, a quiet young seamstress from Harefield village...
Apr 27, 2022•14 min
When Chloe Hooper's partner is diagnosed with an aggressive and deadly cancer she had to find a way to tell their two sons. Could the news be broken as a bedtime tale? To find out, Chloe Hooper went on a quest to find the book that might help. From the Brothers Grimm to Frances Hodgson Burnett to Tolkien and Dahl, Hooper followed the trail of the world's favourite authors. The result is a profound and moving exploration of the books and the lives of iconic authors in search of the perfect bedtim...
Apr 25, 2022•16 min
You might know them as Isabelle, Kerry and Emmie Silbery from Foxtel’s and Channel 10’s series Gogglebox, a program where they share their thoughts on the week’s TV offerings. But even from the comfort of the couch it was clear that the Silbery's were a connected, supportive and loving family. In 'Out of the Box', these three strong, independent women open up, sharing intensely personal stories and thoughtful opinions on the female experience across three generations. Motherhood, infidelity, gri...
Apr 24, 2022•29 min
Ricky Bird loves making up wild stories for her little brother Ollie. Her outlandish plots and whimsical characters help fortify them against the hopeless reality of their lives. Her father has abandoned her and her family has moved to a bleak new neighbourhood. Worse still, her mother's new boyfriend has come with the furniture. Ricky's greatest weapon is her imagination and she uses it to set her world to rights. But despite her best efforts Ricky's world starts to spiral out of control, that ...
Apr 22, 2022•14 min
The small town of Nannine was once a thriving outback centre but years of punishing drought have taken their toll. Nannine still has one claim to fame: the unsolved disappearance nineteen years ago of Evelyn McCreery from the bedroom she shared with her twin sister Mina. Mina McCreery's life has been defined by intense and ongoing public scrutiny. That reaches a whole new level when private investigator Lane Holland rolls into town with the million-dollar reward in mind. WAKE is a powerful story...
Apr 21, 2022•19 min
Soar into a world where unicorns are real but also deadly and can only be tamed by the riders who hatch them. Skandar Smith has always wanted to be a unicorn rider but when the terrifying Weaver steals the most powerful unicorn in the world, becoming a unicorn rider turns out to be very dangerous idea. And what if Skandar turns out to be the villain rather than the hero? In this episode Gregory Dobbs is joined by young reader Grace Grenfell to chat with Annabel Steadman about what draws her to t...
Apr 19, 2022•10 min
When writer Catherine Deveny faced the end of a seventeen-year relationship with the father of her children she knew she had to create space for a new life. She had no idea what lay on the other side of months of tumult but it wasn't the first time Catherine had taken a plunge into the unknown. In this heartfelt memoir, Catherine traces the path of a tumultuous life from a chaotic childhood to finding herself in share-houses in the 1980s and navigating the highs and lows of a creative life, fami...
Apr 04, 2022•17 min
Jackie Huggins and Ngaire Jarro are sisters from the Bidjara and Birri Gubba Juru nations. One hundred years since the birth of their father John Henry 'Jack' Huggins III, they decided to research and write about about a man they hardly knew. Jack Huggins was one of only fifty indigenous servicemen to enlist in the Australian Armed Forces in WWII. 'Jack of Hearts QX11594' is a great story of tradition and survival that spans more than a century as two sisters look deep into their family history....
Mar 30, 2022•18 min
Mark Tedeschi AM QC has worked as a Barrister and Crown Prosecutor on some of Australia's most significant criminal cases. He led the prosecution in the conviction of Bruce Burrell for the brutal murders of Kerry Whelan and Dorothy Davis. Together these cases were a high watermark in the Australian criminal justice system and resulted in important reforms around how a jury makes decisions. In this fascinating factual account, Missing Presumed Dead begins with an examination of the life of Bruce ...
Mar 30, 2022•43 min
At the age of seventy Ruth Wilson found herself grappling with both a physical diagnosis that affected her hearing and balance and unfathomable feelings of sadness. Ruth took the radical decision to leave her conventional life and reclaim her voice in search of personal healing. In this poignant and insightful memoir of love and self-acceptance Ruth discovered the curative power of reading. From a young age, Ruth had looked to Jane Austen's heroines as the models for whom she wanted to become. U...
Mar 29, 2022•29 min
Jo Baaker is drawn back to the island of Texel to investigate the provenance of a 17th century silk dress unearthed by a local diving team. It offers a tantalising opportunity to explore the way people lived during Holland's Golden Age. Jo's research leads her to artist and intellectual Catharina van Shurman and her companion Anna Tesseltje and the mystery deepens as she delves into Anna's history. The beautiful silk dress soon becomes emblematic of lives and fortunes won and lost. And Jo has ot...
Mar 27, 2022•17 min
