Lech Blaine with the strange true story of his childhood, shaped by love, religious zealotry, and four wildly different parents. CW: descriptions of foster care and child removal. 

Lech grew up in a big family in country Queensland, where his dad Tom ran pubs for a living. 

He had six older siblings, who had come to the family as foster kids before he was born.

It was a happy, knockabout, sports-obsessed childhood. But in the midst of all the love and warmth, Lech's mum Lenore lived with a creeping sense of dread.

She knew that one day, the troubled biological parents of three of the children in the family would appear in their lives.

Michael and Mary Shelley were Christian fanatics wandering from place to place, in and out of jail and psychiatric hospitals, and notorious for stalking politicians and judges.

One evening, when Lenore was at home with some of the children, Mary Shelley knocked on her door, changing the family's life forever.

This episode of Conversations explores family, origin stories, adoption, foster care, religion, Christianity, mental health, mental illness, family dynamics, parenting.

Further information

Australian Gospel is published by Black Inc.

Help and support is always available. You can call Lifeline 24 hours a day on 13 11 14.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison and presented by Sarah Kanowski.

It explores family dynamics, origin stories, adoption, foster care, religion, Christianity, mental health, mental illness, parenting, blended families, biological children, adoption, Australia, books, writing, journalism, memoir.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

For journalist Kate Halfpenny, moving to a beachside town during Melbourne's lockdowns seemed like the perfect way to unwind and escape her huge mortgage. Then she had to contend with the triple whammy of perimenopause, her husband's alcoholism and distance from family and friends.

For the first time in her life, Kate had an empty house, no job commitments and no city life to distract her.

She was able to indulge daily in her love of boogie boarding and surf-side walks with her dog, Maggie.

One day at the beach, Kate saw her elderly father struggling in the surf.

Kate's husband Chris was in the water next to him, but was acting strangely and couldn’t manage to haul him out of the dangerous water.

That evening, Chris confessed his alcoholism to Kate and the couple faced the inevitable decisions they would have to navigate, together and apart.

Further information

Boogie Wonderland is published by Affirm Press.

This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan.

Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

This episode of Conversations deals with good divorce, Melbourne covid lockdowns, seachange, addiction, alcoholism, supporting an alcoholic, women in media, perimenopause, midlife, being alone, boogie boarding and relationships.

Hannah Diviney made history in 2022 when she became the first person with a disability to film a sex scene for Australian television. Then she went viral when she confronted both Lizzo and Beyonce over an ableist slur in their song lyrics.

When Hannah was growing up, the only people she saw on TV who used a wheelchair like her were Paralympians or in Road Safety ads.

Hannah spent a lot of her childhood feeling lonely and left out, though she was sure she wanted to be a writer when she grew up.

She was still at pre-school when she realised that names on the front of books belonged to the people who had written them.

It was also around this time when Hannah became aware that her body didn’t work in the same way as her friends at childcare.

Hannah has since started the Krazy Kosci Klimb, which supports young people with Cerebral Palsy to climb Australia's highest peak.

Hannah always knew representation was important for young, disabled people like her to be reflected in pop culture and to belong.

So she wrote to Disney, requesting they create their first princess who uses a wheelchair.

That petition secured Hannah's first job in journalism with Mamamia — at the age of 15.

She has since made history, becoming the first person with a disability to film a sex scene for Australian television.

in 2022, Hannah went unexpectedly viral for confronting musician Lizzo about an ableist slur in her song lyrics.

Several weeks later, Beyonce used the same slur, and Hannah realised she had to take on the biggest pop star in the world.

Further information

Hannah’s collection of autobiographical essays, I’ll Let Myself In is published by Allen & Unwin.

This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan.

Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

Hollywood actor Tim Pocock was tricked by his dying, devout mother into undergoing gay conversion therapy. After she died, Tim finally learned how to be himself, without fear and self-loathing.

Tim grew up under the thumb of his charismatic, pious mother.

He went to a school with links to the controversial, secretive and conservative Catholic organisation, Opus Dei.

There, he desperately tried to hide his sexuality, and was ruthlessly bullied for his musical and stage talents.

Despite Tim's success in Australian opera, television, and in Hollywood blockbusters, he continued to harbour many secrets about himself and his family.

One day his mother, who loved Tim deeply in her own way, and who was dying from ovarian cancer, convinced her only son to come with her to therapy. 

Instead of finally being able to talk about his struggles, Tim found himself being tricked into gay conversion therapy.

For the last few months of his mother's life, he went to be hypnotised by a 'Catholic psychologist' every week, until eventually she died, and Tim was set free to learn how live by and for himself.

Further information

The Truth Will Set You Free: Growing up gay in Opus Dei is published by Hachette.

You can stream the Four Corners report into schools with ties to Opus Dei, which features Tim, on ABC iview.

The Pared Foundation's full responses to questions from Four Corners can be read here.

Opus Dei Australia provided Four Corners with this statement.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris and presented by Richard Fidler. The executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

This episode explores sexuality, LGBTQI+, homophobia, family dynamics, books, writing, mother-son relationships, shame, the Church, infidelity, cancer, death, grief, losing a mother, acting, a career in acting, memoir, epic life story, origin story, Marvel, Wolverine, Cyclopse, Dance Academy, Tangara, Redfield.

American novelist Ann Patchett reflects on Frank, Mike and Darrell, the men who made her, going a year without shopping and her power to make herself invisible (R)

Ann Patchett is an acclaimed American novelist and the owner of an independent bookstore in Nashville.

Ann has had three fathers — Frank, Mike and Darrell, who have each provided her with material or motivation for her writing.

In 1974 Frank signed up for a subscription to the “100 Greatest Books of All Time” from the Franklin Library, every page complete with gilded edges, and a sewn-in satin-ribbon bookmark.

Once all three fathers had died, Ann could finally see what they had given her throughout her life — strength, adoration and acceptance.

In her new book, Ann weaves the stories of her fathers into a book of essays about going a year without shopping and becoming dear friends with Tom Hanks’ assistant.

Further information

These Precious Days is published by Bloomsbury.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

This episode of Conversations explores fatherhood, fathers and daughters, male role models, writing, Tennessee, growing up, origin stories, personal stories, parenting, life story, family dynamics, America, United States, grief, death, loss of a parent, writing, books, bookstores.

In April 1980, a group of armed men invaded the Iranian Embassy in London, taking hostages, and issuing demands in the name of a cause almost no one had ever heard of.

The 'Group of the Martyr', a collection of Iranian Arabs, wanted independence for their province of Iran, but their demands were impossible for the British Government to meet, and so the then-little known Special Air Service (SAS) were told to plan an invasion of the building to rescue the hostages.

They had taken 26 people hostage, including staff, visitors and a police officer named Trevor who was guarding the building at the time of the attack.

What followed was a six-day siege, that was eventually broken by the SAS.

Their storming of the embassy galvanised the world, as people watched it all unfold on live television.

Historian and author Ben McIntyre takes a deeper look at this dramatic siege and rescue operation, uncovering the real, powerful story of ordinary people responding as best they could to lethal jeopardy.

Further information

The Siege is published by Penguin Random House.

This episode was recorded live at the 2025 Sydney Writers' Festival.

It explores Iran, Tehran, terrorism, violence, threats, diplomacy, rescue missions, epic history, western democracy, dictatorship, foreign affairs, global politics, east vs west, occupation, war, civil war, BBC, journalism, live television, media ethics, Afrouz, MI5, Hyde Park, surveillance, Stockholm Syndrome, Mustapha Karkouti, Syria, Operation Nimrod, Jassim Alwan al-Nasiri, Abbas Lavasani, murder, execution, Saddam Hussein, Iraq, Iran-Iraq War, the Middle East, history books, writing.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

China's cultural revolution was murderously violent and culturally devastating; millions of people, artefacts and ideas went up in smoke. So what's fuelling today's Neo-Maoist movement and nostalgia for that period?

In 1966, the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong went to war against his own government.

What followed was ten years of murderous violence and utter insanity, until Mao's death in 1976.

Children were urged to denounce their parents, teachers were beaten to death in front of howling mobs, youths were 're-educated', the economy was ruined, and so much of the precious cultural heritage of a great, ancient society went up in smoke.

The 'Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution' left such deep scars on China, that subsequent leaders have tried to bury its memory.

But, still some young Chinese people — 'Neo-Moaists' — have a sense of nostalgia for the violent revolution they didn't even live through.

In order to understand what's going on in China today, you need to know what happened in those strange and terrifying years, and how it affected President Xi Zinping, who had a front row seat to the terror.

Further information

Bombard the Headquarters is published by Black Inc.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

This episode of Conversations explores political violence, revolution, propaganda, China, Asia, totalitarianism, Farewell my Concubine, Asia Pacific, Lenin, Marxism, Socialism, civil war, the long march, neo-Maoist movement, great leap forward, political upheaval, class warfare, status quo, drain the swamp, mass murder, infanticide, conspiracy theories, Tiananmen Square, red guards, coup, dictatorship, nostalgia.

Liz Cameron was 18 years old when a stranger approached her in a book shop. It was the beginning of her induction into a cult, and it was an experience Liz barely survived.

The process of brainwashing happened gradually, first came the love-bombing and the allure of finding a new purpose in life. Then came the isolation from friends and family, along with sleep deprivation, overwork and sexual manipulation.

Liz was one of the many women chosen to become a kind of bride for the leader of an infamous Korean religious group.

It wasn’t until she became critically ill, that her family were able to get the help she needed to escape and to begin the process of being deprogrammed.

Liz Cameron’s memoir is called Cult Bride: How I was brainwashed and how I broke free.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode was produced by Jennifer Leake.

This episode of Conversations touches on cults, brainwashing, religious groups, eating disorders, sexual manipulation, deprogramming, sexual assault, sleep deprivation, family, recovery, healing, trauma, biography, psychology, Providence, JMS, Jesus Morning Star, Pastor Joshua, Jung Myung-seok.

When Kerstin Pilz found out that her charming husband Gianni had been cheating on her while he was dying and she was taking care of him, she had to decide what to do next (R)

She had fallen madly in love with this Italian man when she was in her 40s.

The two married and began travelling the world together.

Then Gianni suddenly fell ill.

As he was in the hospital undergoing surgery for life-threatening cancer, Kerstin discovered her husband was not the man she thought he was.

Further information

Loving my Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband is published by Affirm Press.

Originally broadcast in June 2024.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison and presented by Sarah Kanowski.

It explores narcissism, narcissistic personality disorder, infidelity, terminal cancer, caring for your spouse, marriage breakdown, illness, betrayal, grief, writing, origin stories, love, lust, trust, couples counselling, couples therapy. cheating, dying, grief.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

Author Katia Ariel tells the story of Ephraim Finch, a man synonymous with death in the Melbourne Jewish community. He started life as Geoffrey William, the son of a butcher, who would go on to become a master builder before his life became unrecognisable to him.

Several years ago, Melbourne author and book editor, Katia was invited to write Ephraim's biography.

Katia was already familiar with his name.

She had seen the way mourners uttered his name and felt a sense of calm and ease within their sorrow, because they trusted Ephraim as a master of death who would know how to lead them through the world of mourning.

Ephraim started life as Geoffrey William Finch, the son of a butcher in the working class suburb of Ashfield in Sydney in the 1940s. 

He learned his love of reading from his pop, who would come home from his job at the abattoir and read Oscar Wilde’s work over a cigar on the porch. 

From a young age Ephraim felt an ineffable pull toward monotheism and converted to Judaism, along with his wife, Cas, after the pair met as teenagers at the Wagga Wagga Royal Show.

Eventually he was drawn to his vocation — the sacred and quiet ritual of preparing bodies for burial. 

And he became the go-to man in Melbourne, where over his career he has buried more than 10,000 people.

Further information

Ferryman: The life and deathwork of Ephraim Finch is published by Wild Dingo Press.

Katia's first book, a memoir is called The Swift Dark Tide, published by Gazebo Books.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan.

This episode of Conversations touches on death, grief, mourning, burial, Judaism, Jewish, chevra kadisha, Ephraim Finch, Melbourne, Orthodox Judaism, conversion, Jewish conversion, Wagga Wagga, Herman Wouk, deathwork, funerals, epic life stories, origin stories, loss, reflection and biography.