Conversations

By ABC Radio

Society & Culture

What's Conversations about?

Spend an hour in someone else's life. 'Conversations with Richard Fidler' draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met.

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LAST EPISODE

Pygmy dinosaurs and blue-ey...

08.16.2019

Tim Flannery on the bizarre geography of prehistoric Europe, and how an asteroid the size of Manhattan ruptured everything

Conversations episodes:

08.16.2019 Pygmy dinosaurs and blue-eyed Neanderthals: Europe's startling deep past Tim Flannery on the bizarre geography of prehistoric Europe, and how an asteroid the size of Manhattan ruptured everything
08.15.2019 Discovering a partner’s secret: online child sexual exploitation material Natalie Walker supports the innocent partners and families of perpetrators of online child sex offences. She founded an organisation to provide peer support, and transform the stigma applied to secondary victims
08.14.2019 The sculptor's son Hung Le and his family made a terrifying escape from Saigon in 1975. All they had with them was one suitcase, a box of biscuits and some seasick pills. As they left, they saw Saigon on fire. Later, Hung's father ...
08.13.2019 Jurors behaving badly Law Professor Jeremy Gans with stories of jurors using ouija boards in court, falling in love with advocates and snoozing through proceedings (R)
08.12.2019 How brutal politics and righteous prayers toppled a Prime Minister Niki Savva on the bungled coup which ousted Malcolm Turnbull and installed his surprise successor, Scott Morrison
08.09.2019 Bryan Brown’s ticket from Bankstown to Palm Beach Bryan’s played more than 80 roles on stage and screen. Raised in working-class Sydney, his talent, hard work, and unmistakable presence have been his ticket to the world
08.08.2019 Tommy Caldwell: born to climb the Dawn Wall Yosemite’s most punishing climb is the 3000ft sheer face of El Capitan mountain called the Dawn Wall. Tommy grew up exploring Yosemite and in 2015 he and his partner Kevin Jorgeson became the first to free-climb the wall
08.07.2019 A heartbreaking, Machiavellian drama: what went on inside the Banking Royal Commission Dan Ziffer had a front row seat for the testimony of victims, financial advisors and bankers offered up to Australia's Banking Royal Commission
08.06.2019 Exposing the banks: the journalist who sparked a royal commission Adele Ferguson on the dishonest dealings of Australia's banks and financial institutions, and the damage done to customers and whistleblowers
08.05.2019 Peter Bell and the singular quest of Kyung Ae Peter's Korean birth mother spent years searching for her son in America. Then she discovered an AFL star living in Perth (R)
08.02.2019 The Lumiere brothers, Louise Brooks, and The Humorous Rollerskater Writer Dominic Smith on the glittering, perplexing history of the silent film era
08.01.2019 When a strong man broke Grant Edwards won the title of The Strongest Man in Australia for four years in a row by pulling trains, planes, trucks and ships. At work, he fought child exploitation and human trafficking. But while protecting others, Grant forgot to ...
07.31.2019 The man with five lives Roger Pulvers lived an adventurous life in the Soviet Union, Japan and Poland, before he chose a whole new identity in 1976
07.30.2019 The determination of Dr Dinesh Palipana A severe spinal injury could not crush Dinesh Palipana's drive to become a doctor (R)
07.29.2019 The arachnologist with a fear of spiders Robert Raven puts aside his long-held fear of spiders to collect them and uncover hundreds of new species. (R)
07.26.2019 Candy Devine: from a cabaret in Cairns to Belfast's Downtown Radio Faye McLeod took on a stage name when she became a performer, and followed her star to the UK in the 1960s (R)
07.25.2019 Against the death penalty: barrister Julian McMahon When Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by the Indonesian Government, their lawyer of 9 years was not far away. Theirs are among the deaths which continue to drive Julian’s efforts to have capital punishment abolished worldwide
07.24.2019 The deep time dreaming of an ancient continent Historian Billy Griffiths on the complex history of Australia's indigenous archaeology
07.23.2019 John Marsden's manifesto on teaching and raising children John on what he's learned in more than 30 years as an educator, parent, and founder and principal of Candlebark and Alice Miller schools
07.22.2019 Micro-dosing, magic mushrooms, and Michael Pollan At 59, Michael became a 'reluctant psychonaut'. While on LSD he felt his sense of self disintegrate into a storm of Post-it notes
07.19.2019 The silver medal that changed Laurie Lawrence As a child, the superstar swim coach lived with a chronic lung condition, and had part of a lung removed. In 1956, a huge event held in his family's backyard changed the course of his life
07.18.2019 Nursing at altitude: the story of a Royal Flying Doctor flight nurse Louise Burton has worked with the Royal Flying Doctor Service Qld for twenty years
07.17.2019 Why Australia should prepare to fight alone Hugh White on the conundrum of how Australia can defend itself in the Asian century
07.16.2019 Helping hoarders let go Psychologist Jessica Grisham on working with people whose wellbeing is threatened by their attachment to 'stuff' (R)
07.15.2019 Voicing velociraptors and capturing the dawn chorus Sound designer and naturalist Douglas Quin makes field recordings from everywhere on Earth and uses them to create soundscapes for film and tv, galleries and museums
07.12.2019 A magical country childhood: Alison Lester From Antarctica to Arnhem Land, the pages of the books of this prolific author and illustrator are fuelled by adventure (R)
07.11.2019 Backing the wild dreams of youth: Jan Owen Jan’s work as a champion of young people has its roots in her own story (R)
07.10.2019 A Hong Kong childhood during WWII Barbara Laidlaw pieces together the mystery of what her parents endured as internees in Hong Kong (R)
07.09.2019 Helping troubled kids find a way back: Bernie Shakeshaft Bernie was a wild teenager who became a jackeroo and a dingo trapper. Then he began helping kids in trouble (R)
07.08.2019 Trent Dalton: the rise of a watchful boy As a child Trent was a quiet observer of the drama of his family and his neighbourhood. He grew up to become an award-winning writer (R)
07.05.2019 International brickie Bricklaying takes him around the world as a teacher and expert, but Troy Everett still finds deep satisfaction in laying bricks
07.04.2019 Falling for a fake Stephanie Wood was an acclaimed newspaper journalist when she fell for a romantic fraudster
07.03.2019 The seaweed scientist who survived being scalped After decades as a marine ecologist, Pia Winberg began her own seaweed farm. One ordinary working day there was a terrible accident
07.02.2019 Australia's Romani Gypsies Mandy Sayer has uncovered the history of a thriving Gypsy community (R)
07.01.2019 Born blind at the right time: Ron McCallum Left totally blind by treatment he received as a premature baby, Ron credits technology, love, and good timing with his success in life and the law
06.28.2019 A dirt bike and a secret: Heather Ellis When she rode her motorbike solo across the Silk Road, Heather thought she had nothing to lose. Her HIV positive diagnosis was far more serious in the 1990s than it is today
06.27.2019 The murderer who wasn't there Zak Grieve was 19 when he was found guilty of murder, although the judge said he wasn't at the scene of the crime. Steven Schubert tells his story
06.26.2019 A shipwrecked French cabin boy and his Australian Aboriginal family The astounding fate of Narcisse Pelletier, taken in by the people of Night Island after being abandoned on the coast of far north Queensland in 1858
06.25.2019 A sizzle in the brain changed Lavinia Codd's life After a stroke at age 31, Lavinia Codd lost part of her memory, and half her vision. Then she became fascinated by her brain's ability to regenerate (R)
06.24.2019 Inside the comic mind 'Becardiganed polymath' Robin Ince on the fascinating brains of stand-up comics
06.21.2019 Stories from Elmswood Farm Patrice Newell was a model and a TV host before she began again as a biodynamic farmer
06.20.2019 Richard Tognetti: 'Je suis Wollongong' Richard Tognetti was a boy when he first showed a brilliant talent for playing the violin. But in the town where he grew up, his talent made him a target
06.19.2019 Rozsy's terrible secret Angela Hamilton was raised by a tyrannical father, who terrorised his family. Decades later, she found out the truth about what he'd done during WWII
06.18.2019 The evolution of Poh How a shy Mormon girl named Sharon became Poh Ling Yeow (R)
06.17.2019 State secrets and marsupials Australia through the eyes of The New York Times Australia bureau chief, Damien Cave
06.14.2019 Midnight Oil's Rob Hirst Chasing the back beat and adventures in wide open spaces, Rob remains essentially the same as the boy he was (R)
06.13.2019 Not your average dentist After treating a patient named Anna, Sharonne Zaks saw the power relationship with her patients differently. She developed a new branch of dentistry to help care for survivors of sexual assault
06.12.2019 Water, Water: a story collection Eight stories exploring the pleasures and perils of water
06.11.2019 Barrie Cassidy and Private Bill Barrie unearths a family wartime secret after fifty years (R)
06.10.2019 The rise of the land dragon Alex Landragin was born into a champagne-making family in the French village of Verzenay. When he was five, his family began a new life in Australia. Then a freak accident changed everything.

Older episodes

Conversations

What's Conversations about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Conversations episodes:

Pygmy dinosaurs and blue-eyed Neanderthals: Europe's startling deep past

Discovering a partner’s secret: online child sexual exploitation material

The sculptor's son

Jurors behaving badly

How brutal politics and righteous prayers toppled a Prime Minister

Bryan Brown’s ticket from Bankstown to Palm Beach

Tommy Caldwell: born to climb the Dawn Wall

A heartbreaking, Machiavellian drama: what went on inside the Banking Royal Commission

Exposing the banks: the journalist who sparked a royal commission

Peter Bell and the singular quest of Kyung Ae

The Lumiere brothers, Louise Brooks, and The Humorous Rollerskater

When a strong man broke

The man with five lives

The determination of Dr Dinesh Palipana

The arachnologist with a fear of spiders

Candy Devine: from a cabaret in Cairns to Belfast's Downtown Radio

Against the death penalty: barrister Julian McMahon

The deep time dreaming of an ancient continent

John Marsden's manifesto on teaching and raising children

Micro-dosing, magic mushrooms, and Michael Pollan

The silver medal that changed Laurie Lawrence

Nursing at altitude: the story of a Royal Flying Doctor flight nurse

Why Australia should prepare to fight alone

Helping hoarders let go

Voicing velociraptors and capturing the dawn chorus

A magical country childhood: Alison Lester

Backing the wild dreams of youth: Jan Owen

A Hong Kong childhood during WWII

Helping troubled kids find a way back: Bernie Shakeshaft

Trent Dalton: the rise of a watchful boy

International brickie

Falling for a fake

The seaweed scientist who survived being scalped

Australia's Romani Gypsies

Born blind at the right time: Ron McCallum

A dirt bike and a secret: Heather Ellis

The murderer who wasn't there

A shipwrecked French cabin boy and his Australian Aboriginal family

A sizzle in the brain changed Lavinia Codd's life

Inside the comic mind

Stories from Elmswood Farm

Richard Tognetti: 'Je suis Wollongong'

Rozsy's terrible secret

The evolution of Poh

State secrets and marsupials

Midnight Oil's Rob Hirst

Not your average dentist

Water, Water: a story collection

Barrie Cassidy and Private Bill

The rise of the land dragon

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