After Nova Weetman's partner died, the children's author started writing from and about grief

True crime journalist Jack Hoysted tells the story of the life and times of the man known as the 'Mr Big' of organised crime

Rachel Perkins' is one of the country's great storytellers, and now she's turned the lens on the bloody conflicts that broke out across the continent after the arrival of the British colonists

Reverend Bill Crews on the moment which changed how he saw his own life story, and his ideas on how we can all cultivate compassion, tolerance, empathy and love in difficult times.

Mike's evolution came as a shock, when he was fired from Columbia University and started working in a deli

The story of an Austin-driving Australian maverick who died in mysterious circumstances (R)

Alice was a quintessential, mould-breaking young woman of the roaring twenties.

Raised in country Victoria, she was capable and confident, and not interested in what was considered proper.

Alice opened a motor touring company in Melbourne during the first world war.

The business grew and by the 1920s Miss Anderson's Motor Service included a mechanic's shop, staffed entirely by young women known as 'garage girls'.

Loretta Smith has spent a decade researching the story of Alice's life and tragic early death.

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

A Spanner in the Works: the extraordinary story of Alice Anderson and Australia's first all-girl garage is published by Hachette

You can visit the recreation of Alice Anderson's garage at the National Motor Museum in South Australia

The former frontman recently uncovered boxes from his adolescence in his attic, and he was amazed at his early, detailed plans to take over the music industry

The author describes his early life during the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war and how arthouse films and illegal street photography provided him with an escape

Uncle Jack was forcibly removed from his mother as a baby and denied his Aboriginality. A one-off trip to Fitzroy connected him with a family he didn’t know about, and promptly landed him in jail (R) (CW: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners please be aware — this interview contains the voice of someone who has died)

Sarah Donnelley on her life working at Wilcannia Central School, on Barkandji Country 950 kilometres west of Sydney