Conversations

Writer Tanya Heaslip on swapping life on an Alice Springs station for the fairytale streets of Prague, and the remarkable parallels she found between these two magical worlds.Tanya was in a pub in London in 1989 when she watched on the television as the Berlin Wall came down.She was the tail end of a solo backpacking trip, which didn’t quite live up to what she’d imagined it might be as a little girl growing up on a remote cattle station near Alice Springs.But Tanya booked to go to Berlin the very next day, beginning an obsession with learning about what life was like behind the Iron Curtain.Several years later she would return to Europe, this time to the East, to the Czech Republic.There in fairytale Prague, not long after the Velvet Revolution, Tanya would fall in love with the city and into a relationship with an older man.And she would draw unexpected parallels between the magic and isolation of Prague and that of Central Australia – their people and their stories.Tanya has written several memoirs about her life from the great expanse of the Northern Territory, to the cobbled streets of Prague.Alice to Prague, An Alice Girl and Beyond Alice are published by Allen & Unwin.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores country Australia, rural Australia, boarding school, Northern Territory, mustering cattle, expat Australians, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, Fall of the Wall, travelling Australians, falling in love, grief, grieving, relationships, love for country, central Australia, Adelaide, bullying, studying law, working in the legal system, teaching English abroad.

The late Widjabul Wieybal woman of the Bundjalung Nation Rhoda Roberts lived through great loss and grief, in the midst of becoming one of Australia's most influential cultural leaders in the arts (R). Content Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned that this episode of Conversations includes the names and voice of someone who has died, used in accordance with the wishes of their family.Aunty Rhoda Roberts AO, a guiding force in Australia's arts scene and the woman who coined the term "Welcome to Country", died in March at the age of 66 after being diagnosed with cancer.Rhoda grew up with the lessons her father taught her and her siblings about ignoring racism in their town and not allowing themselves to become victims.Rhoda is a member of the Bundjalung nation, Widjabul clan of Northern New South Wales and South East Queensland; and her father grew up on a mission near Lismore, where his family fought to maintain their language and culture.Rhoda had a twin sister called Lois, but their relationship was shattered just days before their 21st birthday, when Lois was left with a brain injury in an horrific car crash.Rhoda went on to become an actor, journalist, broadcaster, director and festival programmer.It was during her role as creative director of the Awakening segment of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Opening Ceremony that her sister Lois went missing.Six months later, Rhoda's fears were realised when a hiker found a body in the bush.Originally broadcast in September 2016.Listen to Rudi Bremer's episode of Awaye about the legacy of Rhoda Roberts.This episode of Conversations was produced by Pam O'Brien.It explores grief, death, tragedy, traumatic brain injury, TBI, First Nations, Aboriginal Australians, racism, prejudice, fathers and daughters, sibling relationships, losing a sister, performing arts, Aboriginal arts, race relations, family trauma, Lismore, Northern Rivers.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Nick Orchard on how a tough childhood, mental health issues, couch surfing and hip hop have helped him learn how to help others recover from burnout and impostor syndrome.When Nick was growing up, his mum struggled with her mental health and when he was on a date as a teenager he got the worst call of his life, and went to be with his mum when she needed him most.Nick turned to the Melbourne hip hop scene for a sense of community and purpose.It’s also where Nick would go looking for a couch to sleep on after he found himself with no permanent home to go to.Just when things hit rock bottom, a call from a stranger helped turn his life around.Nick eventually landed a very big job in government, but that imploded in burnout and he found himself in a different, despondent place - driving 130km down a deserted road, with no memory of how he got there.That experience flicked a switch in him, and today he uses what he has learned to help others as a burnout coach.This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores mental wellbeing, executive burnout, bouncing back, mental health, mental illness, childhood trauma, boxing, purpose, meaning, life, counselling, boxing, professional coach, senior management, anxiety, impostor syndrome, leadership.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Melina Marchetta grew up in Sydney in a close-knit Sicilian family, but she never wanted to be seen as 'that Italian girl'. Years later, she drew on her story to write an Australian classic (R).Growing up, Melina lied about the fact she was forbidden to go out on the weekends, and instead told her friends she had to attend lots of weddings.At 19 years old, she visited Italy for the first time and met her great aunts, still grieving the siblings who had left for Australia decades earlier.Melina was working in the Commonwealth Bank when she began writing the novel inspired by her family's story.Looking for Alibrandi was rejected five times before it was published some years later.Then it became an Australian classic.Originally broadcast in April 2019.Melina's latest novel The Place on Dalhousie was published by Penguin in 2019.And her latest children's book in the What Zola Did series, was published in 2022.This Conversation was produced by Nicola Harrison. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.It explores Australian literature, writing, books, memoir, semi-autobiographical, novels, youth literature, teen literature, romance, coming of age, migrant stories, Italian-Australian stories, movie adaptation, Pia Miranda, Kick Gurry, Anthony LaPaglia.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Tracy Drain is Chief Engineer of the Europa Clipper, a NASA spacecraft currently travelling to Jupiter on a journey that will take six years.Europa is one of Jupiter’s four largest moons, and scientists believe there could be an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust.Having water would make Europa one of the best places to look for signs of life in the solar system.Tracy Drain has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab for more than two decades.She is also a National Geographic Explorer and was in Australia for the World Science Festival in Brisbane.This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the executive producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores NASA, robotic space travel, Jupiter, Jupiter's moons, Europa, The Europa Clipper, mechanical engineering, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols, Uhura, solar system, mechanical engineering, AI, Mars Reconnaisssance Oribter, Keiper Project, Alien life, Earth-like planets, asteroids, moon landing, the space race, SpaceX, Elon Musk.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Together with his husband, Vinko Anthony runs a matchmaking agency for gay men looking for the type of enduring commitment and love that they found. As part of his role as matchmaker, Vinko shares what he's learnt about love and listening through the ups and downs of his own relationships.Vinko grew up on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, where he spent a lot of his childhood with his Nonna.The two of them would walk together for hours in silence, listening deeply to the birds, the waves and the wind.Then, when they got home and sat down to eat, VInko and his Nonna would listen to each other.Vinko took these lessons in listening and love very seriously, and he brought them with him when his family migrated to Australia and also into his vocation as a matchmaker.When Vinko finally got the courage to tell the love of his life a secret he had been hiding for five years, he had to trust that all that love and listening would be gracefully given back to him.Vinko has written a book about his love story and his matchmaking business. It's called All In: How to Make Love Stick.Vinko and his husband, Andrea, co-founded a dating agency called Beau Brummell Introductions, for gay men in Australia, the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores dating, online dating, homosexuality, growing up gay, Croatia, Dubrovnik, Italy, Puglia, travel, STI, living with HIV, falling in love, relationship advice, dating agency, matchmaking, masculinity, affair, love, listening, how to date, finding true love, travel, business, falling in love, family, coming out, mardi gras, love at first sight, building a business with your partner, HIV/Aids, Prep, communicating in relationships, commitment, long-term relationships, how to communicate with your partner, reactivity, how to listen, accepting yourself, how to find love, dating apps, tinder, hinge, bumble, grindr, feeld.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Stephanie Wood was new to online dating when she met a sweet man named Joe. But within weeks, she realised 'farmer' Joe was not who he claimed to be (R).Stephanie was a successful and well-travelled journalist when she met a sweet man named Joe 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 her story, Stephanie realised there were hundreds of other women, and a few men just like her.Fake is published by PenguinSince Sarah first spoke with Stephanie in 2019, her story has been turned into an acclaimed TV series starring Asher Keddie.Stephanie's newsletter Vamp is available on Substack.This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.It explores online dating, dating apps, catfishing, the Tinder Swindler, betrayal, deceit, love, relationships, modern dating, grief, dating for women, manipulation, narcissism, is my partner a narcissist, gaslighting, is my partner gaslighting me, ripped off, lies.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Charles Lomu on being privileged to see love in action in his grandparents, how a spiral into grief and anger led him to periodic detention, and how cutting hair today helps him steer young men away from a dark path (R). When Charles was born, he was lovingly given to his grandparents, in the Tongan adoption custom of pusiaki.He lived a gentle, religious life in Tonga, and saw love in action through his grandparents' care.The family moved to Australia, where Charles grew to be an up-and-coming Rugby League player.When grief shook his family, Charles turned down a dark path, which ended in periodic detention in jail.Originally broadcast July 2022.This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.This episode of Conversations explores masculinity, love, boyhood, manhood, toxic masculinity, mentoring boys, family life, sports, men in sports, grief, trauma, trauma response, manosphere, Louis Theroux, HSTikkyTokky, Waller, Sneako, men for boys to look up to, recidivism, incarceration, criminal justice system, repeat offending, turning your life around, father figures, grandfather.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Benjamin Gilmour describes the hectic work of saving lives, and what it's like to bring people back from the brink of suicide. (R)Ben was been a paramedic for twenty six years and was based in inner Sydney for more than a decade.A regular working week for Bondi's ambulance crews would see them called out to cardiac arrests, drug overdoses, domestic disputes, and to suicides.Their patch included a notorious cliff known as 'The Gap', where it would often be Ben’s job to convince people to come back from the edge.Content WarningThis episode deals directly with suicide, and may be distressing for some people.Please do seek help if you need it. There is always someone who can talk with you.If you or anyone you know needs helpLifeline on 13 11 14Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467BeyondBlue on 1300 22 46 36Headspace on 1800 650 890Further informationOriginally broadcast January 2020.The Gap was published by Penguin.Listen to Benjamin's conversation with Sarah on directing his feature film, Jirga, in Afghanistan (2018).This episode was produced by Michelle-Ransom-Hughes and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.It deals with suicide, mental health, mental illness, PTSD, mateship, colleagues, work friends, The Gap, cardiac arrest, first on the scene, front line workers, ambos, ambulance, paramedics, emergency, 000.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

When Anna Ferguson was a little girl she was badly hurt in a roller coaster accident. Although she made a full physical recovery, emotionally everything was different, and for many years she couldn't understand why she remained either angry or numb.Anna was 10 years old when she went with her family to the Melbourne Royal Show.Anna was excited to ride a roller coaster for the first time, but something went wrong on the ride, and Anna and her sister were trapped for hours.Both of them needed major medical treatment, and while they made a fully physical recovery, overnight Anna changed from a happy, outgoing little girl into a child carrying a lot of anger and resentment.As the years went on, Anna realised she was still carrying the legacy of that accident in her nervous system.So she set about bringing her nervous system back into balance, first through becoming a champion Muay Thai fighter, and then by going to university to study psychology. Anna is now a counsellor who specialises in teaching people practical ways to get regulate their nervous system - whether that's by calming or by energising it.Anna's latest book, 21 Days To A Less Anxious You is published by HarperCollins.You can read more about Anna's work at her website.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores mental health, mental wellbeing, dysregulation, neurodivergence, cancer, terminal cancer, brain tumour, parenting, regulated parenting, vagus nerve, trauma, PTSD, childhood trauma, how to regulate yourself, breath work, meditation, tapping, yoga, Anna the anxiety coach, depression, fight, flight, freeze, fawn, the wellness industry, psychology, Muay Thai, boxing, fighting, exercise for mental health, carers, caring for a spouse, the NDIS, therapy, overwhelm.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Military strategist Jennifer Parker on the story behind the biggest disruption to oil supplies in world history, happening now in the Strait of Hormuz.The narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf has a particular geographical importance to the world, as the land on one side belongs to Iran, and the country has a history of using it to pressure its enemies in times of conflict.A quarter of all oil production passes through it so disrupting that flow can have an enormous impact on the global economy.Right now, in response to heavy bombardment from the U.S and Israel, Iran has effectively shut down this waterway by attacking commercial vessels trying to get through. Jennifer Parker served for more than 20 years as an officer with the Royal Australian Navy and has travelled through the Strait of Hormuz during her multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf.She is currently an associate at the ANU’s National Security College and a fellow at the Lowy Institute. This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Produce is Nicola Harrison.It explores Iran, The Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, conflict, war, global oil production, the US, Israel, war, attacks, commercial shipping, Royal Australian Navy, China, US submarines, international law, Donald Trump, the Persian Gulf States, global economy, fuel prices, drones, ballistic missiles, nuclear weapons, Russia, Venezuela.

Jenny Briscoe-Hough on the uncomfortable truths which saw her set up Australia's first ever not-for-profit funeral home (R).After her mother died, Jenny Briscoe-Hough had an epiphany about the business of funerals.Although her family brought in their own flowers and had a simple service, the bill came to $11,000. A short time later, Jenny began thinking about setting up a not-for-profit funeral service in her local area.With the help of a documentary and a crowdfunding campaign, she and the community of Port Kembla raised more than $120,000 to buy an old fire station in town.This is now where Tender Funerals operates, helping families prepare their dead for burial or cremation.On the day of the funeral, family and friends can wash and dress the body themselves, bring flowers from their own gardens, and run the service the way they want it.Learn more about the Natural Death Care Movement.Watch the trailer for Lynette Wallworth's documentary which helped begin the funding campaign.Watch the Australian Story episode about Tender Funerals.This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison. The executive producer was Pam O'Brien.It explores death industry, funerals, grief, grieving, how to grieve, Western attitudes towards death, funerals, ritual, charity, crowd funding, power of community, dying, how to die well, mothers, daughters, filmmaking, Lynette Wallworth, after life.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

From wearing red stilettos on her first day of university and travelling solo into rural Egypt, to relocating to the United States with four kids in tow, Margie Warrell created her own life for herself off the dairy farm.Margie grew up on a dairy farm in Victoria, the eldest daughter in a big Catholic family. It was assumed she would either enter the convent or marry a farmer. But Margie knew she wanted a very different life.First, she branched off into the big smoke to go to university; then she packed her terrible backpack from the Army Disposal Store for a yearlong solo adventure around the world.Margie went on to survive an eating disorder, an armed robbery, and family tragedy to create her own big, bold, beautiful story.Now, she helps other people make big, bold choices for their lives.Content Warning: this episode of Conversations includes reference to eating disorders, armed robbery and suicide.Margie's latest book is called The Courage Gap, and is published by Berrett-Koehler.You can find more information about Margie's work and her other books at her website.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores farming, agriculture, invisible siblings, moving out of the country, motherhood, miscarriage, eating disorders, bulimia, anorexia, marriage, expatriate life, Washington DC, politics, Congressional chiefs, leadership, coaching.

Writer Tony Birch with tales of his Fitzroy childhood including his grandmother Alma's 'op shop fever', his love for pine cones and blankets, and the macabre holiday he lived through when he was 5 years old (R).Tony grew up in inner city Melbourne in the 1950s and '60s.His grandmother taught him to waste nothing. So Tony and his siblings would scour the streets for bottles, lead and copper to sell, and for wood from demolished houses to use for firewood.His grandmother even ran a sly grog shop on Sundays to make extra money.One day, however, Tony was sent to spend Christmas with a nice middle-class family in a leafy suburb.When they insisted he stay on with them, he began plotting his escape.Tony's short story collection, Dark As Last Night was published in 2021 by UQP.Tony's other books include Women and Children, published in 2023, and his latest book Pictures of You.This episode of Conversations explores Australian life, Melbourne, Thrift Shops, Saving, grandparents, frugal living, social history, social life in Australia, families, origin stories, books, writing, Australian literature, short stories, penny pinching.

Writer Drusilla Modjeska has built a career exploring the extraordinary lives of pioneering women writers and artists, who have never stopped asking important questions about gender, freedom and expression.Drusilla was born in England right at the end of the Second World War.She was raised to be a well-behaved and self-effacing young woman, in a very conservative time in history.But Drusilla escaped this version of herself by marrying very young and moving to Papua New Guinea, and then to Australia.On the other side of the world, her eyes were opened to different ways of being, and Drusilla went on to build a big career exploring the lives of pioneering women writers and visual artists.In writing about the lives of women artists, Drusilla was eventually led to writing about her own mother, Poppy, whose creativity and independence were stymied by marriage and who was committed to a psychiatric institution when Drusilla was 12 years old.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores surrealism, surrealist art, art of the Pacific, Claude Cahun, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Clara Westhoff, Rainer Maria Rilke, Marcel Moore, Gabriele Münter, Kandinsky, Lee Miller, Dora Maa, Picasso, painting, World War 2, boomers, conservatism, trad wives, feminism, manosphere, Louis Theroux, toxic masculinity, equal rights, misogyny, psychiatric treatment for women, institutionalised, women of world war 2, The First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, the fany.To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

New York Times columnist and author M.Gessen on the slow strangulation of democracy, happening right now in Trump's America.M Gessen grew up in the Soviet Union and migrated to the US as a teenager before returning to Russia in the 90s to cover the country's brief attempt at democracy and then the slow slide back into autocratic rule under Vladimir Putin.M's insight into the mindset of the autocrat offers some clarity on why such leaders do the things they do and how they see the world.This Conversation was recorded at the Brisbane Powerhouse, as part of the Brisbane Writers Festival.Further Information M Gessen is an author and New York Times columnist, their latest book is Surviving AutocracyThis episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan, Nicola Harrison is the Executive Producer.It covers US politics, President Donald Trump, democratic institutions, the Soviet Union, state terror, state tyranny, Vladimir Putin, journalism, protest, ICE, Minneapolis, autocratic rulers, power, dogma, mindset, democratic freedom, voting in elections, Hannah Arendt, Milan Kundera, mutual aid, organising.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Colin's band, Men At Work, was one of the biggest acts of the 1980s. Their first album shot the band to international fame. Then quite quickly, everything unravelled, and Colin had to begin again (R).Colin's band, Men At Work, was one of the biggest acts of the 1980s.Their first album shot the band to massive international fame, giving them two simultaneous number ones on the US charts, for album and single.Along with Who Can It Be Now? and Overkill, another enduring hit for the band is the song, Down Under, a song now marked by a tragic legacy.Men At Work enjoyed just four years of intense success, but according to Colin, they band was "over before it began", and they officially broke up after just three albums.When his status as a global star evaporated almost overnight, Colin had to rediscover his origins as a solo performer, re-build his audience, and himself.Songs played in this episode: Overkill, Who Can It Be Now, and Waiting for My Real Life to Begin.Colin's Hay's fifteenth studio album, Now and the Evermore, was released on March 2022.Find details of Colin's 2026 tour on his website.This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.It explores music, Aussie music, Aussie Rock, pub rock, INXS, recording, music industry, fame, fortune, life after fame, relationships, heartbreak, brief, origin story.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

When Megan Gilmour's son was 10 years old, he spent nearly two years in isolation at the Sydney Children’s Hospital. The months he missed at school didn't just affect him academically. Megan, her daughter and her husband all relocated from Canberra to be with Darcy in Sydney as he underwent life-saving medical treatment, and lived at hospital.Over his many months in hospital, Darcy missed a lot of school. What worried Megan wasn’t just that he was falling behind academically, it was his loneliness and the way he was losing connection to his friends and his community.Over time Megan watched how Darcy’s sense of belonging vanished because he wasn’t physically at school.So along with two other mums she met through the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Megan decided to do something about it.Not just for the kids who are missing out of school because they are in hospital, but for the growing number of kids who are away from school for a whole host of reasons.Megan is the CEO and co-founder of Missing School, and she was the 2025 ACT Australian of the Year.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores chronic illness, sick kids, school non attendance, school refusal, my kid doesn't want to go to school, young carers, neurodiverse children, autism, ADHD, AuDHD, learning difficulties, childhood cancer, blood disorders, lonely children, invisible siblings, parenting, motherhood, online learning, COVID, digital schooling, bone marrow transplant.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

It was a Sunday night in the garage of their family home when journalist and author Kate Legge found out her husband of 30 years had been cheating on her for decades.After a downward spiral as she came to terms with the news, the two of them took a road trip to Broken Hill to investigate the four generations of cheaters in his family line.The process led Kate to look into the murky waters of how love was expressed in her own family, with an intellectually frustrated mother who could be surprisingly cruel.This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.It covers topics including marriage, divorce, cheating, infidelity, relationships, alcohol, lies, counselling, research, memoir, family history, writing, psychology.Further information Infidelity and Other Affairs is published by Thames and HudsonKate Legge's new book coming out in April is series of essays on food and friendship called Delicious, published by Allen and Unwin.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.I

Lisa Petty began her dance career in 1980s New York, intoxicated by the grime and flamboyant life of the city. She witnessed countless friends lose their lives to AIDS, and the lessons she learned in closeness have stayed with her.As a young woman, Lisa Petty was visiting her aunt in a retirement home when she started to speak to the older people there about the role of wartime dance halls in their lives.These were stories of luminous intimacy. The old men and women’s faces would light up as they remembered being close enough to attractive strangers to smell them, to move together with music, and to have a few hours reprieve from the stress of war.These stories inspired Lisa’s masters studies and she moved to New York to pursue a career in dance.There, she found a friend soulmate in a man called Raymond, and they lived together for several years, before and after he became sick with AIDS.After Lisa returned to Melbourne, she left her dance career behind and began working as an intimacy and movement director, helping performers to channel their character’s energy and translate that into the language of touch.Further informationThis episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It covers topics including intimacy, touch, single mum, AIDS, New York, Kaposi sarcoma, dance, intimacy co-ordinator, movement coach, theatre.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

For the last decade or so we’ve looked on as the United States has radically changed itself, but the UK has been changing too as it continues to struggle with economic stagnation and the fallout from Brexit.The British people, famous for their aversion to radical and emotional politics, have embarked on a course which was supposed to take them back to the comforting certainties of the past, but has instead, brought them into an uncertain new world.It began with the huge shock of Brexit, then the constant turnover of Prime Ministers including Liz Truss whose term in office was famous outlived by a head of lettuce.In 2025 British Labor won government in a massive landslide, which saw many hope things might settle down, but now Kier Starmer is hanging on by his fingernails.And for those looking to the monarchy for a sense of continuity and national unity, that’s not going well either.So what on earth has happened to the land of toast and tea? Ian Dunt is a British political journalist and author of How Westminster Works and Why is Doesn't Ian is also a regular contributor to Late Night Live on Radio National.This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores British politics, Brexit, the financial crash, austerity, David Cameron, The Conservative Party, referendum, European Union, New Labor, populism, government services, the UK-US alliance, Christianity, Marxism, puberty, disillusioned, dogma, ideology, psychedelic, journalism, political discourse, British public school system, elites, power, Prime Ministers, Margaret Thatcher, John Major, immigration.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.