Claire Nelson was in the Joshua Tree National Park hiking alone when she strayed from the trail and slipped, shattering her pelvis. Her phone was out of range, and she knew she had to stay alive long enough for someone to realise she was missing (R)

Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard on witnessing the events of September 11th, 2001 from the window of a Washington hotel room (R)

Debra Gavranich with the story of her mother Marija, who left her tiny Croatian island to make a life with a man she’d never met, in Far North Queensland's Cassowary Valley

When the red-headed Englishman deserted the East India Company in 1827 to conduct his own archaeological digs in Afghanistan, he never imagined the Company would find him again, or try to blackmail him into spying

Dr Edmund Richardson tells the story of Charles Masson, a red-headed Englishman, who embarked on a series of adventures and misadventures in Afghanistan after deserting from the East India Company Army in 1827.

When Charles arrived in Kabul it was one of the wonders of the world, a wealthy and tolerant city in Asia and he fell in love with its bazaars, its fruit orchards, and its storytellers.

Charles was on the trail of Alexander the Great.

He set out to find one of Alexander’s lost cities, "Alexandria Beneath the Mountains".

Along the way, Charles uncovered many treasures from Afghanistan’s Buddhist past.

He visited the giant Bamiyan Buddhas (since destroyed by the Taliban) and discovered a 2000-year-old golden casket, which featured the earliest known face of the Buddha.

And while Charles was digging up the past, the East India Company was tightening its net around him.

Further information

Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City is published by Bloomsbury

To binge even more great episodes of the 'Conversation 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.

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