Conversations

Before and after Monty Python's Flying Circus

A guide to the investigation of sudden or unexplained deaths

Steven Bradbury nearly died on the ice when he was 20. Then he won history's most unexpected gold medal (R)

Lisa Millar has reported some of the world's biggest stories, including acts of terrorism, political upheaval, and gun massacres

Jan Owen’s work as a champion of young people has its roots in her own story

A wander through some of the strange habits, rituals and obsessions people have developed around food and eating

Astrophysicist Lisa Harvey-Smith on how Andromeda is due to collide with our galaxy in five billion years time

Historian Paul Ham explains the short life and terrible death of Christendom's most defiant sect

When Johnathan was a boy he was written off as too skinny and too wild for rugby league

How Frauke Bolten-Boshammer raised a farm, a family and a diamond empire from the red dirt of Kununurra

Chris Watson worked alongside David Attenborough for 20 years, pioneering up-close field recording of birds and animals (R)

David began his working life digging ditches, before he found his calling as a writer

Susan Francis was in her 50s when she met Wayne, who became the great love of her life. But their story together didn't turn out as planned (R)

A century ago the little town of Pozieres was known as the worst place on earth

A cave network in France with thousands of signatures, written in pencil by Australian soldiers from the First World War

The story of two men who fought for different sides on the western front, and an unexpected friendship between their descendants

While struggling to conceive her son, Liz faced infertility head on. She found it hard to access reliable information on the subject (R)

Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire inadvertently began a grassroots democracy movement which contributed to the removal of Robert Mugabe

The girl from a Queensland cane farm who became Candy Devine, Northern Ireland's first black radio star

Steph Stephens-Davidowitz says what, how and when we Google is deeply revealing

Lennie Gwyther was 9 years old when he rode Ginger Mick from country Victoria to Sydney to be at the opening of the Bridge (R)

Bernie Shakeshaft was a wild teenager who grew up become a jackeroo and a dingo trapper. Then he began helping kids in trouble

Richard Glover revisits the landscape of his Australian childhood, when parenting was lackadaisical, and avocados were a rarity

Anne has worked in the midst of power on both sides of the Pacific, as a prominent journalist, policy advisor and magazine editor

Veteran reporter Jean Lee did the seemingly impossible from within Pyongyang

After losing both legs to an IED, veteran and Paralympian Dave Henson is applying his unique insight to developing advanced prosthetics

Bruno Guevremont was working in a bomb disposal team in Afghanistan when he was called to dismantle the vest of a live suicide bomber

How a doctor's brave escape led him to Australia, and extraordinary medical advancements for amputees (R)

In 1957, Moreno Giovannoni's family left Tuscany for Australia. Twelve years later they returned to San Ginese, but struggled to make it their home

Exploring the drawings of children who've survived Syria's conflict. Australian artist Ben Quilty has made several visits with World Vision to camps in Greece, Lebanon and Serbia, housing refugees from the Syrian conflict.On his first visit to Lebanon’s Bekka Valley, Ben asked the children there to draw for him.The power of their pictures, expressing what they’d seen before fleeing their homeland, was immediate.Ben has since made a number of visits back to the camps, often holding drawing workshops for the children, and has collated their artwork in a book.Further informationHome: Drawings by Syrian Children is published by Penguin(Proceeds from the book go directly to World Vision's work with children in the Middle East)This conversation was recorded at the Brisbane PowerhouseListen to Ben Quilty's 2014 conversation with Richard FidlerLive events with Ben Quilty and Richard Flanagan (for the School of Life):Melbourne: Wednesday 28 November; Goldfields Theatre, MCEC 7pmSydney: Tuesday 27 November; Wesley Conference Centre 7pmTo 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.

Michelle Garnaut created one of the world's most famous restaurants in Shanghai

Pixar was $50M in the red when Lawrence was hired (R)

David's is the first mind in the world to be tested on an MRI machine while solving cryptic clues

Melissa Fagan reveals the scandals entwined in the McWhirters department store story

Maggie Dent’s ideas on growing up good men stem from her professional work, and having brought up four sons

Robyn Mundy has adventured in some of the world's wildest places (R)

While reflecting on his life's work, Mike uncovered his parents' controversial love affair

Matt Norman's late uncle Peter won a silver medal at the 1968 Olympics, but he was notoriously cast out of Australian sport

Saving the orphaned kangaroo joeys of Central Australia

Cecilia Alfonso learned how to sell art when she was a child, and now brings millions of dollars a year to the Central Australian town of Yuendumu

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

Tony works with couples in which one partner has Asperger's, helping them navigate relationships and parenting (R)

In 2014, Leigh went through an event which changed her profoundly. She was left questioning how we cope when the unimaginable happens

Noeline Brown went from librarian to household name during the 60s, and here remembers some of the era's most distinct pop culture and political moments (R)

Palm Island, Mer Island, and Australia are the cornerstones of this hard-working actor and director's story

Rick Shine used one toad to defeat another, by a process of evolutionary conditioning, to save the snakes he was studying in Northern Australia

Rosie Jones and Chris Johnston have unearthed the origins of the bizarre Australian cult known as The Family (R)

Journalist Laura Tingle asks if it's time to update our idea of what makes a great leader

Kristina Olsson's brother Peter was stolen from their mother's arms as a baby (R)

Tim Minchin's bruising Hollywood experiences have helped bring him a new perspective on comedy