Aaron Fa’Aoso on the mistakes, heartaches, and lucky breaks on his path to success as an actor and producer

 Dale Kent is an esteemed scholar of the Italian Renaissance who grew up in Australia. Rejecting her Christian Science upbringing, she forged an unapologetic life of her own design (R)

Crime writer, Peter Doyle delves into the notes and photographs kept by his uncle, Detective Sergeant Brian Doyle on the Kingsgrove Slasher and other cases that he helped crack 

From Scotland's Orkney Islands, stories of how a chance meeting in a pub led Andrew Greig to climb the Himalayas, how golfing helped him recover from a near-death experience (R)

From walking alone across Antarctica, to crossing the Simpson Desert using wind, Geoff Wilson has led a life full of adventure. Content Warning: Graphic discussion of natural disaster death toll

Chris Pepin-Neff grew up as an identical twin in a small town in Connecticut. When he was four years old, his family suffered a terrible loss. Then Chris grew up to help change history (CW: loss and grief) 

Recorded in 2013, celebrate the seven-decade long stage and screen career of the remarkable actor (R)

The late Angela Lansbury has taken on a wildly diverse range of roles since she began working as an actor more than 70 years ago.

She played the conniving cockney maid in Gaslight, and a terrifying spy in The Manchurian Candidate.

She was the voice of the singing teapot in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

For many years Angela played a detective novelist in TV series Murder She Wrote.

When she was in Australia to perform the lead in a stage production of Driving Miss Daisy in 2013, Angela opened up to Richard about her childhood in pre-war London, coming to America, and her starring roles in Broadway musicals.

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.

Further information

Angela Lansbury died in October 2022, aged 96

Originally broadcast in February 2013

Presenter: Richard Fidler

Producer: Michelle Ransom-Hughes

Executive Producer: Carmel Rooney

Dai Le tells the story of her family fleeing Saigon and travelling across 2 oceans to make it to Australia, and how a sense of fairness drew her into public life 

Dr Christina Zdenek wants to change our minds about Australia’s deadly snakes, not just because their venom holds healing secrets