Conversations

How a former ballerina revolutionised Australia’s dance landscape

How Travis Saunders and his son Patch are helping rewrite the story of autism.

At five, Shane Jenek won his first talent quest. Sixteen years later he became Courtney Act, one of the world's most recognisable drag queens

When Kuranda Seyit was thrust into the public eye after 9/11, he unearthed a history which had to be told

Leigh Straw tells the story of Lillian Armfield, arch enemy of serial criminals Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh et al (R)

Sohaila Abdulali was seventeen when she was gang raped and forced to fight for her life

A songwriter's songwriter, John has turned his often bemused view of people and politics into songs for fifty years

Caro Llewellyn was in her 40s when she got a distressing diagnosis: Multiple Sclerosis

Journalist David Sanger on how the internet became 'the perfect weapon'

Cheryl is a Wadjuk traditional owner, playing the long game in her Swan Valley community

What is it like when home is a country that doesn't want you? Deepak Unnikrishnan's family story

Carly was born with facial difference, and says the rudeness of strangers has sometimes been more painful than the disability she's grown to embrace

Irishman John Connell was an acclaimed journalist when his life began to unravel

When Dorothy Hoddinott became Principal of Holroyd High School, she began a wave of change for her students

The rewards and challenges of working in orthopaedics

Chris Barns always knew he wanted to work with animals. Then he began his own sanctuary for orphaned baby kangaroos (R)

Award-winning novelist Ann Cleeves lived many lives before her career as an author took off (R)

When Joan Marie Larkin was given a guitar at the age of 13, she was on the path to becoming the Godmother of Punk

Historian Clare Wright on the true story of how Adelaide's Muriel Matters began to change the world

The life of 'Smithy' Australia's greatest aviator

Zenith Virago married at 17, and had two children. Then she left her young family to create a life of her own on the other side of the world

Growing up on the biggest council estate in Western Europe, Jeff Green dreamed of a life in Australia. Then he got his own chance to emigrate

Osher Gunsberg was living in Los Angeles when his mental health took a dramatic turn for the worse

Louisa Hope was seriously injured in the Sydney siege. From her hospital bed, she began a charity to help her nurses

Choir master Stephen Taberner was raised a Christadelphian, but in his adult life he celebrates the pleasure of music

In the 1980s, Lydia Pearson began a wildly successful fashion label with her best friend. In 2016, everything changed

Renowned biographer Jacqueline Kent recalls her volatile year of love with Kenneth Cook

Comedian Judith Lucy has been reflecting on what has gone right, and wrong in her relationships with men

Peter Venn built his first hovercraft in the early 1970s. By 1988 he had a fleet of them on the Brisbane River, and was giving joyrides to 140 000 World Expo visitors (R)

Hugh Mackay on how our neighbourhoods hold the key to the isolation felt by so many (R)

Lach McClymont mustered hundreds of wild cattle, untouched for decades, from a remote area of the Northern Territory

Samantha Wheeler’s daughter Charlotte has Rett Syndrome, a rare ‘locked-in’ disorder

Melanie Lewis is the secret hand behind many wedding ceremonies

From Annie to Sweet Charity, by way of The Voice and Rumour Has It: Naomi on music that's shaped her career so far

Uncovering the little-known history of the late Roman Empire in Serbia

How scars and physical differences affect our idea of human beauty

Margaret Harrod grew up as her father's 'proxy wife'. To escape him, she became a nun, until a chance conversation changed everything

Journalist Sam Vincent on the lingering questions about Canberra's most notorious murder

William’s stories of fatherhood (R)William is one of Australia's best-known storytellers and actors.As his children become adults, he's been reflecting on what it means to be a father.William’s dad was a gregarious character, a veteran of World War II who ran a hire business in Queensland.Despite the many colourful names his father coined for him, William remembers his dad as a very kind man and a loving father.William's been thinking about the memories he's creating in the minds of of his own kids, particularly after the death of his wife some years ago.Further informationFatherhood: Stories about being a dad is published by HachetteListen to Richard's conversation with William McInnes from 2017 on life after the death of his wife, Sarah WattTo 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.

Sarah Brown always wanted to be a remote area nurse. Then she began a medical revolution (R)

How an elusive copper-coloured snake species terrorised post WWII North Queensland (R)

After a bruising experience with her own mother's funeral, Jenny Briscoe-Hough set up a d.i.y. funeral home in an old fire station (R)

Colleen rescued her mum from a violent marriage. Later, she solved one of Australia's most complicated murder cases (R)

How the Men at Work front man managed the trip to mega-stardom and back again (R)

Natalie Millar is at the centre of a 20 000-strong network of mothers in Logan City

Jack Hoysted tells of the violent standover man and extortionist who was the first local criminal to be described by Australian police as a gangster (R)

Mathematician Geordie Williamson spent eight years cracking the code to find the weight of atoms in space

Psychiatrist Robert Kaplan on the strange illness which altered the personality of Bea Miles, making her one of her city's most famous eccentrics

How a Birmingham boy became best-selling thriller writer, Lee Child

Two botanical conversations: plant-hunter Bruce Dunstan, and great gardens with Georgina Reid