Days Like These

Jason grows up with saltwater in his veins and adventure in his bones. In a little seaside Queensland town with the Coral Sea as their playground, Jason and the locals tie up mud crabs for sport ... with their toes. When opportunity calls him to a seafaring job in Thailand, he leaves home behind — the crabs, the family, the quiet fishing life he knows. He couldn’t imagine the mayhem ahead and what it would cost him. Jason’s journey home to Stanage Bay is long and difficult ... but ultimately triumphant.

Narelle Grech was a teenager when she first discovered that she'd been conceived using donor sperm. As her shock turned to deep curiosity, Narelle decided — she had to meet this man.All she has to go on is his donor code, T5.It leads her on a search that spans two decades, take her across continents and results in a landmark law that allows donor-conceived people to learn the identity of their donor — and vice versa.Thanks to the ABC's Damien Carrick and Sarah Dingle for the use of archival interviews in this episode.

An actor's life can be punishing. It's competitive, unpredictable and, no matter how hard you work, success is often down to dumb luck. There are no guarantees, and maintaining a thick skin is essential.When actor Kate McNamara wins an award that could potentially transform her career, her life does change. Just not in the way she expected. From a miserable night in Sydney to an energy healer in Bali, how will she make peace with what could have been?

A decade ago, Jennifer Mills found out there was a watercolour painting of her on the wall of a major gallery. The thing is, she’d never sat for one, and she’d never spoken to an artist about being in a portrait. So, what was the picture? How did it come to be there? How would it connect her to more than three hundred other women, all called Jennifer Mills? Follow our Jenni as she enters a portal to a global adventure, where a stranger with the same name has the power to revive her deepest and most precious memories.

A police officer with his knee on a man's neck in Minneapolis. Guards rushing a cell in Sydney's Long Bay jail to stop a man from eating biscuits. George Floyd and David Dungay Junior are dead and the world is catching fire around law student Taylah Gray. It sets her own smouldering sense of justice aflame.She's not a lawyer yet, but Taylah spearheads the legal case to hold a Black Lives Matter protest in Newcastle during the first heightened days of the pandemic. It makes her a lightning rod for criticism and also for the hope of the movement. Under threat of wearing the legal cost from the authorities, she takes her protest all the way to The Supreme Court — will she emerge victorious?

Russell Cheek spent his thirties touring Australia in the beloved performance group, The Castanet Club. He poured himself into the art and the lifestyle. For him, the band was his life, there was no Plan B. So, when The Castanets breaks up, he finds himself middle aged, broke and at a creative loose end. His solution: he writes away to Sale of the Century. But does he have what it takes to win eight nights in a row — and take home the jackpot?A big thanks to NBN Newcastle and Fremantle Australia for providing access to some of the archival audio in this episode. Archival audio is used courtesy of Fremantle Australia.

Guts. Justice. Surprise families. Playing Elton John’s piano. Deep disappointment. Risking it all on a gameshow. Danger on the high seas and low roads. Perseverance. Hope for the future. Days Like These is BACK and things are wilder than ever before.Russell is staking everything on winning Sale of the Century. Taylah has a fire in her belly that only justice can quench. And Jennifer? She’s just trying to find out why someone would paint a portrait of her without asking and stick it on a gallery wall. New episodes every Wednesday from April 28, 2021.

The Days Like These team is off whipping up more wild and wonderful true stories for your listening pleasure.

A boyhood visit to the dentist turns Tim Rogers into a lifelong fan of The Rolling Stones. But when the Aussie musician's dream comes true and his band is picked to support the bad boys of rock'n'roll, an inside joke aimed at his idols threatens to tip the whole relationship off the rails.

If someone told you they could hear their own eyeballs moving, their blood pumping through their veins and their voice echoing inside their own head would you believe them? Get ready to go inside the minds of two young women struggling with all those symptoms and one of the world's most disturbing medical conditions. Prepare for a sonic trip of swerves you never saw coming as we take you inside the operating theatre for a world-first procedure to try and fix the syndrome.

In the rough-as-guts Bondi breaks of the 1980s, rising surf star Pauline Menczer was one of the only women in the water. And, boy, did she pay for it. Hot on the heels of her idol Jodie Cooper, both women discover it's not only big waves that can wipe you out. When they finally face each other in the water, they also take on the conservative, sexist world of professional surfing… and change it forever.

When Marisa and Peter Skillen set off with their kids for their first family camping trip, they're expecting a peaceful couple of days among the gum trees. But when one of their young twins slips away with only his bumblebee backpack, their dream weekend turns into a living nightmare as they desperately scour the bush to find him before it's too late.

When a young Jenna Holmes discovers the magic of The Oprah Winfrey Show while channel surfing one afternoon, it cracks open a whole new way of thinking for the Toowoomba schoolkid. The undisputed master of daytime TV becomes Jenna’s guide for life. Chutzpah, visualisation, Celin Dion’s legs... the education Jenna’s getting is a little different to the other nine-year-olds. Can Jenna use what she’s learned to realise her dream of meeting Oprah in person?

During a renovation in Canberra, a World War II dog tag is found in a pile of rubble. This discovery sets off a remarkable chain of coincidence, synchronicity and luck, bringing together families whose long-dead loved ones shared a journey of survival through some of the war's most notorious chapters.

Havi watches from the car as the Rabbi holds a cloth up to the sunlight, peering at it for answers. It's a moment that will change her life forever... and set her on a new path beyond the stringent framework of the Orthodox Judaism she grew up in... where a complex system of rules shapes every aspect of life, from cradle to grave.

Grainne goes to school in 1980s Dublin when it's all nuns and compulsory Irish Gaelic. Not a good place to be dyslexic, especially if you've never heard the word "dyslexia" let alone understand its meaning. Grainne's dream is to be zoologist and to get there she uproots to Australia. Her challenges follow her here, but a developing love of magpies and other native birds helps Grainne find her own voice and, eventually, the people who appreciate her unique read on the world.

Rupert's beloved bike is stolen from his work garage. Stricken and desperate to see it returned, he's put in touch with an obsessive ex-cop who's made it his personal mission to fight bike crime. Working with a motley crew of bike lovers and justice seekers, they'll stop at nothing to get it back.

Bill Edgar is a private investigator from Australia's Gold Coast who's become know internationally as "The Coffin Confessor". His popularity soared when his very strange side hustle hit headlines all over the world. Bill says the deceased pay him (before they die) to rock up at their funerals and deliver previously-unsaid "truth bombs" to loved ones. But, what the media blitz about Bill Edgar didn't uncover was the secret he's been keeping all of his life — until now.

Carefree and dancing on the podium at a Perth nightclub, aspiring actress/comedian Nikki Britton spies a strapping man with a prominent tongue ring. It's lust at first sight, quickly morphing into a whirlwind romance... then a long-distance relationship. But when her dashing courtier invites her to uproot her life to be with him, Nikki's hit by a curveball that will change her... and provide a lifetime of standup material.

Mesmerised by the hard-headed glamour of bikie culture, the son of Afghan refugees finds brotherhood in an outlaw motorcycle club. But when death strikes twice close to Mahmood Fazal, he’s forced to confront his own mortality. Will he be allowed to cut the ties that bind him to Melbourne’s underworld?

"Stephen saved us." Those words transport us from a glittering harbourside wedding to the grime-filled depths of internet dating. It's time to peek inside the heady and secretive world of the professional wedding celebrant, where random acts of kindness can (and will) change your life.

It's a hot jolt of dread in your stomach, the cold sweat breaking out on your palms. You're watching the clouds cruise by from the cabin of the plane when turbulence hits. Usually, it's short-lived. You tell yourself 'everything will be okay'. But British Airways Flight 09 was far from usual. For the passengers and crew aboard, that one terrifying moment would stretch out into the longest 12 minutes of their lives.

Imagine you spend your whole life searching for the elusive, perfect fiery opal. And then, one day, you realise you're holding — literally in the palm of your sweaty hand — a glittering prize of a gem that burns with a secret that could unlock the history of the Australian continent. Welcome to the crazy world of opal mining at Lightning Ridge, NSW, where fossicker Mike Poben is facing a choice that will change his life forever.

Conspiracy theorists are easy to laugh at, right? Well, yeah, until it's your loved one spewing out those convoluted and plainly BS beliefs at the family dinner. This is exactly what happened to Kasey when her mum disappeared down some deep QAnon rabbit holes. It's been devastating for her family. FaceTime with gran is likely cancelled this Christmas.

Will rock god Jon Toogood surrender? Or will the Shihad singer keep fighting his fate? Jon built a career as frontman for the New Zealand band Shihad, infusing stadium-sized songs with his avowed atheism. But when he fell in love with a Muslim woman, he was forced to wrestle with his identity and belief — and forces way beyond his control. From Wellington to Melbourne and Los Angeles and back, Jon charts his journey through an epic tale of love, identity, empathy and belief... plus a few things he could never have seen coming.

A distracted moment during a shopping trip with her toddler goes horribly wrong for Marisa. During hours of desperation and anguish, she gets a surprising peek behind the curtain of a suburban Melbourne mega mall. A hilariously-told story confirming the kindness of strangers... and the awesome power of the online "mummy mafia".

During Australia's worst bushfires, Cate Tregellas and her family are forced to evacuate their home in Mallacoota, retreating to the local wharf as fire closes in on their small seaside town. But, in an effort to protect each other through a long, terrifying night, the family discovers a big secret they're all keeping from each other. It's a New Year's Eve they'll never forget.

A kiss on a crowded dance floor in another country offers Spencer a chance at two great loves ... but at what price? A unique, yet universal, love story about making a family ... and a miraculous birth.

Heartbreaking and hilarious, each episode of Days Like These introduces you to a regular human as they live through something wild. In surprising stories of love and joy, they'll triumph against the odds, face their darkest days, and occasionally fall flat on their face. Because these are strange times and sometimes you just need a little hope to get you through. New episodes weekly from October 14.