Conversations

Military historian Gwynne Dyer is surprisingly upbeat about the future of humanity

Leah Purcell was working in a small-town meatworks during her school holidays, when she discovered she had a rare talent

Simon McCartney was a young mountaineer when he met a fellow climber who altered his life

Political commentator Bea Campbell grew up communist in northern England

Wil Patterson was a suburban dad who wanted all the good things in life for his family. Then he made a decision which upended everything

Growing up, Louisa Deasey knew very little about her late father's life. Then she found a bundle of his lost love letters

Dr Wendell Rosevear's upbringing gave him an unexpected sense of mission

Stephen Dando Collins with the story of Robert Stigwood, the boy from Port Pirie who went on to become the entertainment industry's most powerful tycoon

How an ex-butcher in the midst of a career crisis began a social movement

When the Pakistani Secret Service denied Benjamin Gilmour permission to make a feature film he crossed the border to Afghanistan

When Helen Jukes was given a colony of bees it helped release her from the numbing grind of her working life

Patrick Nunn on the real life stories of volcanic eruptions, meteor crashes and encounters with megafauna, recorded long before written language

Greg de Moore tells the forgotten story of psychiatrist Dr John Cade

The 'dog whisperer' Guy Hull on the dogs that made Australia, from life-saving Kangaroo dogs to plane flying Alsatians

John Bevins helped change Australians' minds about smoking and drink driving

Fiona Katauskas wrote a funny, charming book for children about the facts of life. Then she discovered the book had a life of its own

Anne Poelina, the daughter of a Timorese pearl diver and an Indigenous mother, has always been drawn back to her home town of Broome

Pat Lowe was working as a prison psychologist in Broome when she met the artist Jimmy Pike, who was serving a life sentence

Artist Davida Allen's true feelings about some of the trials of parenthood, bushwalking, and a raging attraction to actor Sam Neill have poured out through her paintbrushWhen Davida Allen was in her 30s and stuck at home looking after her four young children, she'd reward herself on a Sunday night by watching the TV series Reilly, Ace of Spies, starring Sam Neill.Davida is a painter, and around this time she made a series of works featuring Sam Neill as the object of her erotic fantasies, which culminated in the short film Feeling Sexy.The Australian press went into a frenzy, calling Davida a 'Sex Mad Housewife'.The reality is that she has rarely behaved the way that the world expected her to, in her art or in her life.Davida won the Archibald Prize in 1986.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.

Now a wildly popular author, for many years Marian doubted her ability to write (R)

Helen Pitt on how the luminous shells of the Sydney Opera House nearly didn't get off the drawing board

Jaroslav Kovaricek was there for the violent crushing of the Prague Spring

David Coles is known as the 'pigment-whisperer'

The award-winning novelist lived many lives before her career as an author took off

Matt Haig's candour about his depression and anxiety has resonated around the world

Jimmy Shu's childhood in Sri Lanka planted the seeds for his later life as a legendary restaurateur

At 19, Colleen Gwynne rescued her mum from a violent marriage. Then she joined the police and solved one of Australia's most complicated murder cases

Michael Veitch's great-grandfather arrived in Australia on a ship dubbed 'the floating charnel house'

From painkiller addiction to parliament, Jacqui's life has been a rollercoaster

In 2017 Rupert Guinness, a veteran cycling journalist, embarked on a 5000 km endurance ride that would permanently change his outlook on a sport he loved

Lemn Sissay grew up in the UK as a child of the state. At 18 he was given a letter written in 1968 from his Ethiopian mother pleading for his return

George Megalogenis thinks that Australia's political leaders should learn from football

Rutger Bregman is calling for new thinking about the kind of world we want to live in

From Antarctica to Arnhem Land, the pages of the books of this prolific author and illustrator are fuelled by adventure

When the Japanese began bombing New Guinea, Peter Phelp's granddad was forced to trek through some of the most rugged terrain on earth, but he wasn't a soldier.

Rick Morton was growing up on a cattle station when his parents split up. His mum was left to raise three children in poverty

Tales ranging from growing up in 70s Queensland, to raising children as a single dadWilliam 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.

Dominic Rowe is asking how common degenerative brain diseases begin

Nic Newling believes sharing his story of living with mental illness will help others

Bruce Hopkins set out to walk the length of New Zealand, with the ashes of his father and brother

In 1975, Ivonne Ranisch’s brother Christoph disappeared from an East German hospital. Her parents now believe he was stolen by the state

At 17, Gail Bell was shot in the back. The shooter was never found

Gwen Cherne has become an advocate for war widows after the death of her husband Pete

Major Paul Moulds and his calling to ‘run a rescue shop within a yard of hell’

Jay Ludowyke has traced the story of RMS Carpathia, from Titanic rescue mission to the bottom of the ocean

Sarah Percy explains the history and motivations of unconventional combatants (R)

Lech Blaine grew up in a large family of foster siblings. When he was ten years old, his childhood ended suddenly (R)

Aminata Conteh-Biger was kidnapped during the Sierra Leone Civil War, and endured months of terror at the hands of rebel soldiers.

Sari Braithwaite is drawn to making films on things we don't like to talk about

Osamah Sami wrote and starred in the hit Australian comedy film Ali's Wedding.