Conversations

UK writer Zadie Smith became a world-wide sensation with the publication of her first novel White Teeth when she was 24. Now aged 50, she's bringing her trademark intelligence and wit to the subject of midlife.

Her latest work is Dead and Alive, a new book of essays, where she writes about black British history, paintings, politics, our online lives and getting older.

She also talks about up growing in North West London and where she's returned to live with her own family.

Zadie will be in Australia next month as part of the All About Women festival at the Sydney Opera House on March 8th and at The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne on March 10th.

Further Information

All About Women at Sydney Opera HouseZadie Smith at The Wheeler Centre

This episode explores growing up in North West London, immigrants, black British history, the internet, smart phones, social media, the technology of the book, mid life, being 50, free university, Cambridge, diversity, academia, tap dancing, painting, politics, being a writer, non-fiction, young novelists, find success at young age.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

Jessica Kirkness with the story of her grandparents, who both grew up profoundly deaf in a hearing world, and how she navigated the space in between sound and silence. (R)

Jessica grew up in the outer suburbs with a big extended family, with her grandparents living right next door.

Her grandparents, Melvyn and Phyllis, were affectionate, kind and wise and Jessica often spent more time after school in their house than her own.

But their house was distinctly different.

The doorbell never rang, the alarm clock never sounded, and the television was on but the audio was off.

Melvyn and Phyllis were profoundly deaf, and they lived in two worlds - among the hearing, and within the deaf community which had its own language and way of doing things.

Jessica grew up in that space between two worlds.

She felt that her grandparents' lives were both extraordinary and ordinary, and that their deafness was so exquisitely misunderstood that every part of her felt summoned to translate.

Jessica has recently written down the story of her life growing up between the two worlds of the hearing and the deaf, as a GODA, or a grandchild of deaf adults.

The House with All the Lights On is published by Allen and Unwin.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison, Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

It explores deafness, living with a disability, profound deafness, hearing loss, AUSLAN, language, sign language, CODA, grandparents, love, family, relationships, granddaughter, grandchildren, intergenerational families, mixed families, technology, deaf accent, lip reading, migrants, hearing world, accessibility, head injuries, meningitis, hospital, acquired disability, deaf gain, communication, music, translation.

Saul Eslake grew up knowing he was adopted. For many years he knew nothing about his biological parents, but when he adopted his own children, he began the search for his birth family.What he discovered in his adoption file revealed a very complicated story, and It took him more than two decades to unravel the mystery.

En route, he discovered a confected newspaper scandal, a story of British pilots at an orgy, and a complicated divorce.

Then years on, he experienced the joy of meeting the siblings he never knew existed.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores adoption, family history, secrecy, orgies, pilots, British scandals, unusual family stories, strange family history, family history, adoption records, secrets, family secrets, divorce, pilots, tabloid press, adopted siblings, birth records, adoption process, adoption file, records, rejection, history, crime, fraud, genealogy, blood relatives, siblings, Tasmania, growing up in the UK, data, mystery.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

Dave Pearson runs Bite Club, a support service for anyone who has survived a shark attack. Dave’s own brush with death came in 2011, when a three-metre-long bull shark almost took his arm. (R)

Dave lived that day, but it’s what happened during his recovery that he didn’t see coming.

Dave Pearson was with his mates on the NSW Mid North Coast back in 2011, and couldn’t get in the water fast enough to try out his brand new surfboard.

He’d caught a few waves when he was slammed by what felt like a freight train.

Under the water, through the bubbles and the shock, Dave saw something huge, brown and grey.

Dave survived that day, but it’s what happened during his recovery that he didn’t see coming.

He founded Bite Club to support survivors through the mental heath challenges following their shark attacks.

Bite Club is a closed Facebook group available to those who have survived an attack by an apex predator.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan, Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

It explores sharks, attacks, bull sharks, near death experience, grief, survival, recovery, water sports, surfing, ocean, water safety, summer in Australia, summer holidays, increasing shark attacks, what to do if you're attacked by a shark.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

In 2007, Vicki McAuley's husband Andrew set off from Tasmania in a kayak, aiming to become the first person to paddle to New Zealand, but a month later authorities received a distress call and then his kayak was found with no sign of Andrew.

Vicki and their little son Finn, were waiting with friends and family for Andrew at Milford Sound when the devastating news came through.Further information 

Vicki McAuley's book Solo was published in 2010.

The documentary about Andrew's attempt is also called Solo, directed by Jennifer Peedom and released in 2008.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores love, mountaineering, sea kayaking, solo sea kayaking, extreme adventure, psychology, adventurer, the Tasman Sea, gale force storms, ocean currents, waves, swells, Fortescue Bay, rescue, kayak design, hypothermia, family, grief, yoga, writing.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

Debra Richardson joined the police at age 18 in the 1980s, working undercover as a prostitute and surviving the Russell Street bombing. Years later, she met her foster son, Yuri, who had also survived disaster.

Deb and her family met Yuri after they agreed to care for one of the many children brought to Australia for short-term stays following the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.

Decades later, a journey to help that foster son, now living in a war zone, ended up helping Deb in ways she never expected.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake and the Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.

It explores women in the police force, police academy training, sexism, undercover police work, the Russell Street Bombing, car bomb, PTSD, Chernobyl disaster, Chernobyl children, John Farnham, Russian mafia, Project Yuri, charity, war in Ukraine, aid work, family, foster care.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

From Wollongong to London, via Alice Springs, this is writer Nikki Gemmell on her deeply romantic life, and how she defied expectations to become a famous author. (R)

Nikki grew up the daughter of a coalminer father who thought writers were a burden on society, while her mum taught Nikki that only success was worthy of love.

So Nikki went above and beyond to prove her beloved father wrong, and to get the attention of her mother through her achievements, publishing 20 books in the process, including the wildly successful The Bride Stripped Bare.

Now the mother of four children, Nikki has also been determined to live her own life and raise her own children very differently, being generous with her love and pride for her sons and daughter.

Content warning: Please take care when listening as this conversation mentions suicide.

Help is always available.

If you need to talk, 24/7 crisis support is available from Lifeline by calling 13 11 14.

You can also text with them and chat online with counsellors here

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores parenthood, mothers, fathers, attachment, fawning, people pleasing, striving for achievement, accomplishment, writing, books, novelist, coal mining, family separation, divorce, childhood trauma, healing, generational differences, romance, love, mental health, Australian literature.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

Professor George Williams was uninterested in school, instead spending his time melting down lead to sell to a nearby scrap yard. Then a special primary school teacher gave him permanent detention, which changed his life.

Growing up in Sydney, he was the rebellious child of a single mum who worked in a fruit shop to support the family.

George was so disruptive at primary school that no teacher wanted him in class.

At first he was flabbergasted at the unfairness of this punishment, but with this teacher’s undivided attention, George began to enjoy learning and found that he was smart.

His grades improved, and George became interested in studying Law.

He has had a long career in Constitutional Law and working in university leadership.

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

It explores tertiary education, international students, online learning, lectures, tutorials, the casual workforce, academics, higher learning, lifelong learning, sandstone universities, student debt, HECS, affordable learning and poverty.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

Brisbane teacher and author, Sita Walker on the strong, religious matriarchs who have helped her weather the storm of family tragedy, divorce and the beauty of a new love.

Sita grew up in Toowoomba in Queensland, descended from five powerful women — three aunts, her grandmother and her mum.

They were Baha’i women who came to Australia via Iran and India.

Tragedy struck the family when Sita was a child, and her matriarchs descended on the home — to cook, clean, and comfort.

Sita always saw herself as good Baha’i girl, and she went on to marry a good Baha’i boy and start a family. 

When things started to unravel, Sita found herself drifting away from her nightly prayers and accounting for her deeds, and it took a divorce and a new love for her to admit to herself, and her parents, how things had changed.

This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.

It explores faith, grief, religion, Baha'i, grandmothering, losing a sibling, evil eye, Queenslander, youth camp, marrying young, nightly prayers, falling in love, leaving religion, girl dinner, fiction writing, being a teacher, high school teacher, Mary Oliver and poetry.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations 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.

Rob Hirst, the former drummer for the band Midnight Oil has died at age 70. In 2018 Sarah sat down with Rob for a wide-ranging conversation about music, nature and reconnecting with family (R)