Conversations

Tom Gilling with the story of how a Scottish-born soldier named Jock McLaren became one of Australia's greatest World War II guerrilla fighters

Bill began his dream job as the ABC's China Correspondent in 2015. Five years later, seven State Security police officers visited him in the middle of the night to tell him he was barred from leaving the country

Sean Dooley's passion for birdwatching began with the coo of a spotted turtle dove. Decades later he broke the Australian birdwatching record (R)

When Mark McKenna set out to write a history of the centre of Australia, and Uluru, he unearthed new evidence about an 86-year old cold case *CW: For our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners please be advised that today’s conversation contains the voice and names of people who have died.

Serafina Tanè was born into a doomsday cult led by a charismatic and abusive man who claimed he'd been abducted by aliens

Eight thrilling encounters in and on the water, as told by previous Conversations guests (R)

Danielle Clode with the story of the adventurous Jeanne Barrett, a French peasant from Burgundy who became the first woman to sail around the world

Political reporter Jonathan Swan with the inside story of Donald Trump’s last few months in office

Stuart Kells' life as a bibliophile began with one ancient, leather-bound, blue book (R)

Cosmologist Tamara Davis on the complicated scientific quest to explore and colonise the Red Planet

After Kim Scott became a teacher and a father, he started looking for his Aboriginal family *CW: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners please use discretion when listening as the following program references people who have died.

Gavin Pretor-Pinney loved gazing at clouds as a child. As an adult, his fascination with clouds drew him from England to Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria to see the Morning Glory, the world's most spectacular cloud formation

The late Mary Wilson rose up from Detroit's housing projects to find worldwide fame with The Supremes (R)

Avi Loeb was Harvard's top astronomer when he became intrigued by reports of a pancake-shaped object the size of a football field hurtling through our solar system

Sue Ellen Kusher’s father was an ASIO agent, and she and her siblings were taught to memorise number plates, spot unusual behaviour, and keep the family business secret at all costs

Ocean racing navigator Will Oxley first learned his trade through celestial navigation, using a sextant and the stars. He then began ocean racing around the world, and in 1998, he found himself upside down in a storm-wrecked Bass Strait

Warren Brown with the story of the fever sparked by claims of a gold reef in the Central Australian desert during the Great Depression (R)

Georgina Godwin grew up in Zimbabwe with a father who was the model of a British gentleman. Many years after she fled Africa for London, she discovered his secret identity

Art detective Arthur Brand met neo-Nazis, billionaire collectors and underground art dealers on his hunt for the two enormous bronze horse sculptures once owned by HitlerArthur Brand is an art sleuth based in Amsterdam.His clients ask him to find stolen works of art, and to find out whether a painting or sculpture being sold on the black market is the real thing. One day, he received an email with an image attached of two gigantic horse sculptures.The unknown owner of these statues was claiming that they had once belonged to Adolf Hitler and had stood outside his chancellery building in Berlin. This led Arthur into a murky world of black market art dealers, billionaire collectors, and Neo-Nazis. Further informationHitler's Horses will be published by Penguin on February 16To 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.

Gail Austen was 7 years old when she started her first business, selling hand-made billycarts on the streets of Redfern. She grew up to become a legendary surf shop entrepreneur with a habit of hiring her shoplifters

Philippa's parents wanted her to move in the 'right' circles, so they sent her to a Swiss finishing school. Instead she became a debt collector, went to Hamburger University then became a psychotherapist

Former politician Robert Tickner grew up in country NSW, 'showered with love' by his adoptive parents. When he was reunited with his biological mum in his 40s, he realised she'd been much closer than he ever knew (R)*CW: This conversation discusses adoption. Please use discretion when listening

In 1973, Tana Douglas found her calling. She became the world's first woman roadie in rock and roll, touring with AC/DC, Iggy Pop and Elton John *CW: discussion of drugs and drug use

In 1973, Tana Douglas found her calling. She became the world's first woman roadie in rock and roll, touring with AC/DC, Iggy Pop and Elton John

Andrew Steele on the race to crack the scientific code of why we get old, and whether we can delay or suspend ageing for good

How Frauke Bolten-Boshammer raised a farm, a family and a diamond empire from the red dirt of Kununurra (*CW: this episode contains discussion of suicide) (R)

When Benjamin Jordan landed his paraglider in a swarm of millions of Monarch butterflies over-wintering in a Mexican valley, the experience changed his own course

Tim Watts MP has a deeply personal reason for wanting to resurface stories about Chinese migrants to Australia. From pre-Federation, to the Kelly gang, to the Melbourne Olympics, he tells how their influence weaves right through our culture (R)

Historian Meredith Lake with the Bible's Australian history, from the convict era, to the Mabo land rights campaign, and the modern-day Pentecostal churches

Anna's stellar cycling career saw her smash Australian Olympic records and become the World Champion 11 times. Then to the surprise of many, she walked away from cycling for good

Shona Riddell on the adventurous lives of women lighthouse keepers

Cairns-born Wilma Reading was sixteen when her friends first urged her to get up and sing in a Brisbane cafe. Her show-stopping voice later made her internationally famous, and led to unexpected encounters with Liberace

Stephen Dando-Collins with the story of the life and deeds of the Persian King Cyrus the Great, whose exploits inspired Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar

Dr Culum Brown's work on fish cognition has proven fish have long memories, sharks have friends, and sting rays know when it's the weekend (R)

Joy's travels with her late husband Slim Dusty brought both challenges and rewards (R)

Peggy has spent much of her life as wildlife carer specialising in helping wedge-tail eagles, falcons, owls and other raptors recover their ability to fly (R)

The lessons Peter learned as a brand new teacher in a one-room bush school in 1960, in the tiny town of Weabonga, New South Wales. The living was hard, but the job was incredibly sweet (R)

Yuwaalaraay writer and storyteller, Nardi Simpson of the band, Stiff Gins, talks about her life, art and the meaning of country (R)

Judy on life with her late husband, the politician Tim Fischer, and how her son Harrison helped inspire a new beginning on her farm

Arborist Kai Wild used his tree-climbing expertise to rescue burned, injured and orphaned koalas during the Black Summer bushfires (*CW: this episode contains descriptions of the recent fires which may be distressing)

Broadcaster Michael Parkinson with the life story of his late father John William - Yorkshireman, miner, humourist and fast bowler

Kaz Cooke traces the dramatic life of a singular woman (R)

William returns to reminisce about the Christmases of his childhood and his brief but brilliant stint as a department store Santa

The young naturalist shares his deep connection to the wild landscapes and creatures of Northern Ireland. Dara's first book has been highly awarded, and is all the more exceptional for his being just sixteen years of age

Kathy Mexted with true stories of extraordinary Australian women compelled to take to the skies in Spitfires, Tiger Moths, Cessnas and fighter jets

Fleur grew up in a fuel depot in a tiny South Australian town. As a girl she would ride along in road trains with her Dad, singing songs and eating steak sandwiches. She became a jillaroo, a farmer, then an advocate for women in the bush escaping domestic violence

Charlotte was Australia's first children's author. She came to the colony of NSW from London in 1826, and now her trailblazing, tragic and dramatic life story has been written by her descendants, Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell

How Irving Finkel stumbled upon the true story of the Ark before Noah on a Babylonian clay tablet (R)

Amanda Laugesen with the rich history of Australian 'bad language', and how the words we classify as swearing have changed over time. *CW: Discussion of swearing and offensive language

Robert Pekin lost his family’s 4th-generation farm, and in despair, walked away from everything and into the wilderness. After much soul-searching and trial and error, he developed a new way to link food producers more directly with those who eat the produce. *CW: mentions suicide