Conversations

The oud virtuoso reflects on his path to the instrument, via a stamp collection and an Egyptian movie starWhen Joseph was 10, his dad swapped an iron and $100 for a second-hand oud at Sydney's Glebe markets. The oud is a traditional middle eastern instrument – the ancestor of the modern guitar.Joseph had fallen in love with its sound and style when watching the classic films of Egyptian cinema with his family.Today the oud virtuoso and composer plays with orchestras in concert halls all over the world. 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.

Best-selling crime writer Candice Fox has written 17 books. But she also has a second life hurtling around Sydney rescuing stranded wallabies, cockatoos, possums, lizards and frogs

David Goodwin spent years working the graveyard shift at his local service station in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. The grungy work quickly took over his life

Australia's first Pasifika university Professor, Jioji Ravulo was just a boy with the flu when a trip to his father's homeland turned him into a chief

Anton Clifford-Motopi didn't see a face that looked like his until he became a father. And it would take several more years before he learned who he truly was

Ecologist David Lindenmayer first went into the Mountain Ash forests of Victoria in search of the tiny Leadbeater Possum, and he discovered an amazing world of songbirds, rare gliders, and fierce leeches

Football tragic Andy Paschalidis was in his 50s when a dear friend and fellow player died during an over-35s soccer game. The tragedy altered the course of his life

The former frontman uncovered boxes from his adolescence in his attic, and he was amazed at his early, detailed plans to take over the music industry (R)

What would a human settlement on Mars look like? How would humans procreate in space? And what on earth is a 'snuggle tube'? These are all questions Dr Kelly Weinersmith is trying to answer

When Jonathan Rosen was a child he had a neighbourhood friend called Michael Laudor. Their very similar pathways in life dramatically, and darkly, diverged after they graduated from Yale University

When Zoya Patel became besotted with horses as a child, she could never have imagined how they would help shape her life and relationships

Shaun Christie-David's parents came to Australia fleeing civil war in Sri Lanka. By age 13, he knew he wanted to be a banker. But life inside the world of money and Maseratis was nothing like he'd imaginedShaun Christie-David's family migrated to Australia during the Sri Lankan civil war.The family's three sons grew up in a house full of home-cooked food and love, with dishes like 48-hour Mudcrab on the menu at Christmas.In 2019, Shaun set up Colombo Social, a restaurant giving jobs to refugees and people seeking asylum, serving food straight from his mum's cookbook.Starting the restaurant was a sharp turn in his own life.Shaun had left Sydney's Western suburbs at 18 determined to make a lot of money in the finance world. But at 28, at the pinnacle of his career in banking, a trip to Sri Lanka changed everything.Further informationLearn about Shaun's restaurants and social enterprise work at Plate It Forward 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.

Marcus Fillinger has taken his military experience and wildlife rescue charity to Ukraine, where, as a civilian, he evacuates abandoned lions, wolves and caracals from active war zones

After a dispiriting stint as a Chartered Accountant, Ross found his perfect job: explaining the Australian economy, in plain English, to millions of people

As a teenager, Jodi Rodgers got a job as a disability support worker and met a 6-year-old girl who would change her life

When Pauline McGrath's husband David was diagnosed with a brain tumour, she supported him as he chose a different path to death (CW: discussion of death and dying)

Some of the wildest stories about Roman emperors involve playing the violin while watching the city burn, and appointing a horse as consul. Classicist Mary Beard is fascinated by how much truth there could be to these tales

Deeply ashamed of what he had done, Mic Whitty retreated into the Welsh wilderness for almost a year. Eventually an unexpected goal pulled him out of homelessness and back into the world

Satu Vanska grew up in Japan as the child of Lutheran Missionaries. When the family moved back to Finland, she felt isolated and alien. But Satu knew she had a ticket out - her violin

The podcaster and comedian on her early life in Queensland, where she yearned to wear a coat; lessons from improv comedy; and how eyebrows were the key to finding her biological family (R)

As a child Trent was a quiet observer of the drama of his family and his neighbourhood. He became an award-winning writer (R)

Brigitte Muir's dream to climb the seven highest mountains on each of the seven continents took much longer and cost her more than she expected, but she also discovered more about herself than she could have imagined

Dr Jayashri Kulkarni on her Indian-Australian upbringing and her groundbreaking research into women's hormones and mental healthTo binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversation 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.

Federal MP Andrew Leigh is a former professor of economics who is fascinated by how economics can create magic

How Jeanne Ryckmans fell for a dashing Irish Professor who was far from what he appeared to be

Historian Alison Bashford with the story of the Huxley family, who founded one of the great dynasties of the world

Dominic Riley on how a chance encounter with a bookbinding monk named Brother Bede changed the course of his life (R)

Australia's storyteller in song on the poems he's loved since childhood, and how reading and learning great poetry has changed his songwriting (R)

Artist David Rankin on his turbulent early life as a the son of a bootmaker, his unexpected path into painting, and his passionate love story with writer Lily Brett (R)

Sophie Matterson spent five years preparing to cross the Australian continent with five camels she caught and trained herself (R)

Nick Clemann is one of Australia's leading lizard experts, but took an unconventional path into research. After working for years as a tradie, Nick plucked up the nerve to go to university, walking into what he thought was territory reserved for the intellectual elite

Victoria Vanstone was just 13 years old when she had her first drink, and the booze quickly consumed her. It wasn't until she was in her 30s that Vic realised she needed to do something radical

Sue Lowry originally trained as an opera singer, but while living in London she fell in love with teaching children with special needs

The actor on the late love of his life, his wife Joan Washington, and the final message she left him (R)

Dr Kira Westaway has been on a ten-year mission to solve the mystery of how, why and when a giant ape called Gigantopithecus Blacki became extinct, and why nothing remains of this beast but thousands and thousands of teeth

Nazeem Hussain honed his comedy in Melbourne's suburbs in the 1990s. After his father left the family, his fearless mother taught Nazeem how to use humour to get bullies off his backTo binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversation 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.

Mark Balla was on a business trip to India when he met two young men on a train. They invited him back to see their home, one of the world's biggest slums. This meeting changed the course of Mark's life

Dr Ameliah Scott pilots herself around remote NSW to take care of animals and have a cuppa with their owners.

As a teenager Adele Dumont started pulling out her hair from the root.Eventually she created a bald spot the size of a 20-cent piece at the crown of her head.Adele would sometimes enter a trancelike state, covertly sitting on her bathroom floor, picking at her scalp for hours on end.The urge to pull at her hair was uncontrollable, and secret.When Adele finally put a name to her behaviour, she learnt that trichotillomania has a complex history and psychological understanding, much of which remains unknown.Further informationThe Pulling is published by ScribeSome helpful resources on trichotillomania include Trich Stop and The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive BehavioursTo 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.

After feeling burnt out, Jackie Carpenter spontaneously applied for NASA's Space Camp. She was the first Australian accepted, and it was the most transformative experience of her life

Julia Baird has been sustained through hard times by acts of "moral beauty". In a world marked by division, these gestures have the power to restore our shared humanity

Dr Robert Waldinger on what it takes to live a happy life

The hardship, cruelty and loneliness of the mission system during the Great Depression didn't crush Aunty Ruth Hegarty's spirit. She found her voice, God and her family.In 1929 during the Great Depression, Ruth Hegarty travelled with her mother and grandparents to Barambah, later known as Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission. After being told someone there would help them find a new home, they soon discovered they weren't allowed to leave.At 4 years of age, Ruth was separated from her family. She grew up as a dormitory girl, and was sent out to work as a domestic servant when she turned 14.But the cruelty and loneliness of the mission system didn't crush Ruth's spirit.Ruth found her voice, she found God, and she became a matriarch to five generations of descendants.Content warning: this episode contains discussions about abuse, family violence, and Stolen GenerationsFurther InformationRuth's books Is that you, Ruthie? and Bittersweet Journey are published by University of Queensland Press.Ruth's life story has been adapted into a play written and directed by Leah Purcell.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.

After a life of controversy, crime and corruption, disgraced former police detective Roger Rogerson died last week, aged 83. Peter Hoysted met with Rogerson on several occasions

Louise Pryke is one of few people in the world who can read the ancient language in which The Epic of Gilgamesh is written. The mammoth, wild tale is still being deciphered from thousands of clay tablets

Dr Liz Allen is a demographer fascinated by Australia's demographic trends. But her own story is a remarkable case study in deviating from the norm

Nancy Withers has been breeding and training kelpies for 50 years, but one dog stands out from the rest, and he changed her life forever

These are just some of the remarkable and quirky people who helped write the Oxford English Dictionary

At 19 years old Jane Perlez visited China in the middle of the Cultural Revolution. She would return there as a journalist decades later to cover the biggest story of the 21st century

In 1927 Francis Birtles set off on a grand adventure from London to Melbourne, through murderous mountain ranges and blustering blizzards, in a Bean motorcar