Brigitte Muir's dream to climb the seven highest mountains on each of the seven continents took much longer and cost her more than she expected, but she also discovered more about herself than she could have imagined (R)

Brigitte Muir fell in love with the outdoors and adventure as a teenager in Belgium.

Initially she was exhilarated by going caving, deep in the earth, and then rock-climbing, until she made her way closer and closer to the heavens and became a mountaineer.

In her thirties Brigitte became fixated on a big dream — to climb the seven highest mountains on each of the seven continents.

To achieve what she set out to do, she pushed her mind and her body to their limits, and was even left for dead near the summit of Mount Everest.

Brigitte lost loved ones along the way, but also found some unexpected truths about herself.

This episode of Conversations explores epic adventures, explorers, expeditions, extreme conditions, the Himalayas, Nepal, the lives of Sherpas, grief, death, natural disasters, avalanches, nearth death experiences.

For poet David Whyte, the power of poetry lies in its unmatched ability to meditate and focus on what's right in front of us -- whether it's a mountain, a loved one, or our own reflection. He explains how one line of poetry is enough to change your life.

David grew up amongst the moors and fields of West Yorkshire, with an English father and an Irish mother who had a gift for lyricism and language.

He started writing poems at just seven years old, but it wasn't until he was working as a guide in the Galapagos Islands that David truly understood what poetry was and what it could do for us.

A near-death experience there prepared him for life as a poet by teaching him to pay attention to what lay right in front of him at any given time.

Since then, David has written hundreds of poems loved by the world, recited as often at weddings and funerals as they are on less auspicious occasions.

This episode of Conversations explores literature, language, prose, philosophy, epic stories, nature, marine biology, zoology, near death experiences, mortality, grief, love, origin stories, adventure, Charles Darwin, Ted Hughes, William Blake, Bronte sisters, Carl Jung

Further information

David has written and published several collections of poems and essays. His latest is Consolations II, published by Canongate.

David is currently in Australia on tour. He is speaking in Sydney on 22 February and in Melbourne on 25 February.

When Dannielle Miller became a teacher, she was given the classes no one else could handle. She was given a whistle on her first day, to call for help. She didn’t need it — in fact, she had something in common with some of her students.

Dannielle Miller is the CEO of Enlighten Education and Director of Education for Women's Community Shelter.

As a young teacher, fresh from university, Dannielle was given a class of vulnerable students no other teacher could handle in a Western Sydney school.

Dannielle took to these students immediately, and found they responded to her with trust and affection.

Dannielle shared a certain understanding with her students —as a child, she saw domestic abuse and gaslighting in her house.

When she was very small, Dannielle was burned in a shocking attack.

The care she received following her burn has stayed with Dannielle and has informed her resilience, which she now uses to shepherd teenage girls and boys through one of life's most challenging times.

This episode of Conversations touches on epic life stories, origin stories, domestic violence, family violence, respectful relationships, teenage girls, teenage boys, teens, adolescence, burns, women's shelters.

Historian, Professor Clare Wright tells the story of a formative moment — before the Mabo decision — in Australia’s democracy that you may not have heard of.

Historian Clare Wright moved her family to Yirrkala in North-East Arnhem land in 2010. 

She became a part of the Yolngu community and kept in touch after the family returned to Melbourne.

Little by little, Clare learned about an extraordinary moment in Australian history, when Yolngu people used their artwork and their language, Yolngu Matha to petition the Federal government over a planned bauxite mine on their traditional lands.

The bark petitions were not sent in the traditional sense, pleading up to an authority, but rather asserted Yolngu custodianship of the land, and spoke as equal partners to the Australian government.

This episode of Conversations touches on Indigenous stories, Yolngu, Yirrkala, Australian democracy, the Bark Petitions, Naku Dharuk, Yolngu Matha, mining, the Australian Government, Menzies, Kim Beazley Snr.

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb on how growing up as the child of an Oklahoma preacher opened up a door to music, and inspired his songwriting (R)

Jimmy Webb grew up poor in Oklahoma, where his mother encouraged him to play the piano, revealing a prodigious musical talent.

After moving to Los Angeles, Jimmy wrote his first hit for the Fifth Dimension: Up, Up And Away.

Shortly after, he met Glen Campbell, who had already recorded Jimmy's song By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

Glen asked Jimmy to write a song especially for him - Wichita Lineman, which became another huge hit for Campbell.

Jimmy's many other famous songs, including MacArthur Park, Adios, and The Highwayman, have been recorded by artists including Frank Sinatra, Isaac Hayes, Barbra Streisand, Art Garfunkel and Donna Summer.

While he's best known as a songwriter, Jimmy is a renowned performer in his own right.

This episode of Conversations explores music history, rock music, Americana, Hollywood, the recording industry, the Mid-west, middle America, religion, origin stories, personal stories, celebrity culture, country music, rock n roll, songwriting, yacht rock.

When Linda Peek's mother Margaret died, Linda collected the scraps of handwritten notes strewn around the home and put together Margaret's remarkable tale of survival on Malta during WWII

When Linda was growing up, Margaret, would tell her these remarkable stories from her wartime childhood -- stories of survival, friendship and tragedy.

Margaret had spent her most formative years on the island of Malta during World War Two.

The Mediterranean island was not only an idyllic paradise, it was also a British stronghold in a highly strategic position, and Adolf Hitler wanted it.

And so the Axis powers laid siege to Malta for more than two years, dropping thousands of bombs and trying to starve the island into submission.

Somehow, Malta survived, and so did Linda's mother.

This episode of Conversations explores Italy, Sicily, island life, modern history, the second world war, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill, Royal Engineers, air raids, personal history, family history, family dynamics, life story, ancestry, travel.

Further information

Malta: A Childhood Under Siege is published by Woodlands Publishing.

Volcanologist Teresa Ubide opens volcanoes up from the outside, like a doll's house, searching for tiny crystal balls to help her predict when the next eruption might occur

Humans have always had a complicated relationship with volcanoes — they are striking to look at and create fertile soils for farming, but they can be destructive and deadly.

Today, around 10 per cent of the world's population lives within 100km of an active volcano, which means volcanology — the science of studying volcanoes — is becoming increasingly important.

Volcanologists like Teresa Ubide, spend their time getting to know the 'personalities' of different volcanoes: how they work, the composition of the magma, the likelihood of eruption, and how spectacular that explosion of lava could be.

When Teresa was a little girl, a teacher opened her imagination up to what she calls the 'guts of a volcano' and today, as an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and a lecturer at the University of Queensland, she travels the world visiting volcanoes and predicting their future by looking at tiny crystal balls.

This episode of Conversations explores natural disasters, Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, La Palma, Stromboli, Spain, Italy, Argentina, copper mining, sustainable mining, electric vehicles, smartphones, geology, magma, exploration, epic history, chemistry.

Warren Brown drove through 80 countries in searing heat and pouring rain in a vintage Bean car to recreate the 1927 world tour of Australian motorist, Francis Birtles

Today we bring you the next chapter in the adventurous exploits of author and cartoonist Warren Brown.

Some years ago Warren Brown stumbled on the true story of a pioneering Australian motorist, Francis Birtles, who set out to drive a 'Bean' car from London to Melbourne in 1927.

For nine months he rattled through Europe, Turkey, Iran and India, through murderous mountain ranges and blustering blizzards.

Warren has just returned from his own recreation of Birtles' epic journey, in the very same model of car and 1920s outfits. 

He and his co-pilot Matthew Benns travelled through 80 countries in the open-top car in searing heat and pouring rain while recreating Beans' escapades.

To his great surprise, while they were en route, their trip made them accidental celebrities in Saudi Arabia.

This episode of Conversations explores modern history, Australiana, Australian explorers, car rallies, Peking to Paris, motorsport, motoring, motoring history, automobiles, Gaza, Suez Canal, travel, Ford, historical re-enactment, politics, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Middle East, Cairo, Pyramids, royal family, Laurence of Arabia.

Nazeem Hussain honed his comedy in Melbourne's suburbs in the 1990s. After his father left the family, his fearless mother taught Nazeem how to use humour to get bullies off his back. (R)

Comedian, Nazeem Hussain honed his comedic chops in the suburbs of Melbourne in the 1990s.

It was there, after his father left the family, that his fearless mother taught him how to use humour to get bullies off his back.

Since then Nazeem has performed all over the world.

He hosted his own Netflix special and opened for Dave Chappelle in New York City, before deciding to write a children's book to celebrate his journey into parenthood.

This episode of Conversations touches on personal story, origin story, fatherhood, dads, absent dads, fatherless children, father figures, Nazeem Hussain, comedy, ASIO, 9/11, September 11, racism, family and kids.

Lawyer turned journalist Eileen Ormsby on her journey deeper and deeper into the internet's 'evil twin', where, under the cloak of anonymity, people sell buy and share anything a person is willing to pay for. 

Eileen Ormsby had just returned to university to study journalism when her friend told her about a website called The Silk Road.

Created by American libertarian, Ross Ulbricht, it was essentially like any other e-commerce marketplace, the kind that people use to order books and homewares, except that it sold illicit drugs and fake ids.

Eileen became fascinated with the platform, how it operated, who used it and where existed -- in a secretive part of the internet colloquially known as 'the dark web'.

As Eileen journeyed further and further into the darkest corners of the underbelly of the internet, she came across scammers, hit men and horrendous truths, some of which spilled out into her real life.

This episode of Conversations explores the dark web, Ross Ulbricht, libertarian, drug dealing, the deep web, FBI, CIA, AFP, undercover agents, Facebook, Meta, Google, Instagram, social media, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, AlphaBay, illicit drugs, addiction, murder, hitman, scams, bitcoin, crypto, crypto currency, investigative journalism, presidential pardon, assassination.