For journalist Kate Halfpenny, moving to a beachside town during Melbourne's lockdowns seemed like the perfect way to unwind and escape her huge mortgage. Then she had to contend with the triple whammy of perimenopause, her husband's alcoholism and distance from family and friends.

For the first time in her life, Kate had an empty house, no job commitments and no city life to distract her.

She was able to indulge daily in her love of boogie boarding and surf-side walks with her dog, Maggie.

One day at the beach, Kate saw her elderly father struggling in the surf.

Kate's husband Chris was in the water next to him, but was acting strangely and couldn’t manage to haul him out of the dangerous water.

That evening, Chris confessed his alcoholism to Kate and the couple faced the inevitable decisions they would have to navigate, together and apart.

Further information

Boogie Wonderland is published by Affirm Press.

This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan.

Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.

This episode of Conversations deals with good divorce, Melbourne covid lockdowns, seachange, addiction, alcoholism, supporting an alcoholic, women in media, perimenopause, midlife, being alone, boogie boarding and relationships.

From relationships and loneliness, to indecision and burnout, Jemma Sbeg is your guide to navigating your 20s, and looking back on that decade with a new perspective.

When Jemma Sbeg started recording a podcast in the back of her Subaru about her quarter life crisis, she had no idea just how many people she would reach.

But other people her age were desperate for guidance through their 20s - a decade a lot of us romanticise before we get there, and after we leave.

It's a decade of massive growth for humans, when we make big decisions about relationships, careers and our own identities, but Jemma felt like she had no idea HOW to make the right choices.

She had studied psychology at university, and so looked to psychological research papers to help her and her friends navigate attraction, heartbreak, friendship, imposter syndrome, career anxiety, burn out, mental health and living a happy life.

Jemma's biggest lesson is realising while time is finite, we do have so much of it to "figure it out", and chances are you'll still be working many things out in your 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.

Person in Progress: A Roadmap to the Psychology of Your 20s is published by Hachette Australia.

Jemma's podcast is called The Psychology of your 20s.

If you liked this episode of Conversations, you might also enjoy listening to Doctor Hilton Koppe on his experience of PTSD, journalist Ros Thomas on her research into loneliness or psychologist Dr Tracy Westerman on psychology in remote Australia.

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.

This episode of Conversations explores psychology, podcasts, research, books, writing, anxiety, TikTok, social media, ADHD, self-diagnosis, growing up, how to survive your 20s, stay at home dads, heartbreak, mortality, death anxiety, social anxiety, university, what to study, how to get over heartbreak, first loves, building a career in media.

Loneliness is a universal experience, for each of us at some point in our lives. Journalist Ros Thomas travelled the world to investigate, and find the antidote. 

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.

Ros spent a year travelling around the world to research something all of us have experienced — loneliness.

She met an old man who had learned to thrive through crushing grief with the help of a small, desktop robot.

Ros visited a share house in Sweden where pensioners live with young asylum seekers, who care for each other like grandparents and grandchildren.

And she explored her own early and devastating experience of loneliness — when her father abandoned the family when Ros was a tiny child.

This episode of Conversations touches on loneliness, isolation, being a friend, social connection, community modern history, life story, fatherhood, absent fathers, personal stories, family dynamics, fathers, solutions to loneliness, the loneliness epidemic, Churchill Fellowship and connection.

The renowned physician discusses the role of trauma in our lives, showing up as addiction, chronic disease and mental illness — and how recognising his own led to true healing.

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.

Dr Gabor Maté was born in Budapest to a Jewish family, just before Nazi tanks rolled into the city.

His mother risked handing him to a stranger on the street to try and get him to safety.

Many years later, after establishing himself as a successful physician in Canada, Gabor looked at the problems in his work and marriage and wondered if they were linked to that early trauma.

He uses his own experiences as the test case for the effects of trauma on the body and is now internationally renowned for arguing that trauma casts a long shadow in our lives, showing up in addiction, ADHD, chronic disease and mental illness.

Gabor argues that realising the impact of trauma of all kinds allows for real healing — as has happened in his own life.

Dr Gabor Maté's new book written with Daniel Maté is called The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture and is published by Penguin Random House.

This episode of Conversations deals with trauma, early childhood trauma, mental illness, addiction, ADHD, chronic illness, epic life stories, origin stories, healing, autoimmune disease, and therapy.

Two of the most important men to Gus Worland departed his life in shocking and unexpected ways. Gus' grief led him to dig deeper into what it means to be a strong man and re-frame vulnerability as something powerful.

TV and radio host Gus Worland grew up with some deeply rooted ideas about what it meant to be a man and a good bloke.

When Gus was just 10 years old, his father left the family home for reasons Gus didn't understand or even know about until many years later.

Then, when Gus was an adult, the role model who had filled the gap left by his father also disappeared.

All the unresolved grief he felt prompted Gus to almost spontaneously open up one morning on his radio program on Triple M.

What began as an impulsive moment of vulnerability turned into a national conversation, and led Gus to dig deeper into his own understanding of what it means to be a strong man.

Content warning: this episode of Conversations discusses suicide and mental health issues.

If you or anyone you know needs help there is always someone available at:

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978

This episode of Conversations explores sexuality, fatherhood, parenting, love, homosexuality, male suicide epidemic, masculinity, vulnerability, honesty, origin stories, opening up, seeking help, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideations, speaking up, mateship, friendship, the Grill Team, mental fitness, coming out stories.

Further information

You can learn more about Gus' work in suicide prevention at the Gotcha4Life Foundation here.

Boys Do Cry is published by Penguin.

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, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Jelena Dokic overcame adversity, poverty and violence to rise to the top of the tennis world. Years later, her revelations about her father's abuse stunned the world. (CW: discussion of domestic violence and coercive control).

Jelena Dokic overcame adversity, poverty and violence to rise to the top of the tennis world. Years later, her revelations about her father's abuse stunned the world. (CW: discussion of domestic violence and coercive control).

After arriving in Australia with her family as a refugee, Jelena Dokic became a tennis champion while still a teenager.

But her father’s drunken outbursts at Jelena’s tournaments got even more headlines than her playing.

What the world didn’t know was that Jelena’s father was also violently assaulting her and had been since the day she first picked up a tennis racquet.

Jelena finally found the courage to tell the truth about what happened to her, but she discovered that was only the first step in escaping her father.

Further information

The documentary Unbreakable is out now

Help and support is always available

You can call 1800 Respect on 1800 737 732

Lifeline on 13 11 14

Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673

Content warning: this episode of Conversations contains discussion about domestic violence and coercive control.

This episode of Conversations also talks about sport, training, family, origin stories, parenting, relationships, childhood trauma, sports commentary, online trolls, refugees, security, control, family violence, therapy, mental health, identity, disordered eating, books, documentary film, reflection, culture, meaning, Australian, counselling, conversational story, and memoir.

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, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Dr Tracy Westerman grew up in the Pilbara, where suicide and mental health issues have deeply scarred Indigenous communities. So this Nyamal woman decided to do something about it.

Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia, moving from a station to a town called Useless Loop, eventually landing in the mining town of Tom Price.

Tracy, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, became the first person who was educated entirely in Tom Price, from kindergarten to year 12, to go on to University.

When she arrived in Perth, she had never been on a bus or on an escalator, but she was fired up to study psychology.

Tracy wanted to use the skills she learned in the city to deliver practical mental health care to Aboriginal people, and to help entire communities reeling from the impact of suicide and other mental health issues.

Along the way to obtaining her doctorate, Tracy has become a businesswoman, the WA Australian of the year, and she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal.

Her next mission is to build an army of Indigenous psychologists to continue the work she's already started.

Further information

Jilya is published by University of Queensland Press.

You can learn more about Dr Westerman's work here.

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, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia, moving from a station to a town called Useless Loop, eventually landing in the mining town of Tom Price.

Tracy, the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and a white father, became the first person educated entirely in Tom Price, from kindergarten to year 12, to go on to University.

When she arrived in Perth, she had never been on a bus or on an escalator, but she was fired up to study psychology.

Tracy wanted to use the skills she learned in the city to deliver practical mental health care to Aboriginal people, and to help entire communities reeling from the impact of suicide and other mental health issues.

Along the way to obtaining her doctorate, Tracy has become a businesswoman, the WA Australian of the year, and she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal.

Her next mission is to build an army of Indigenous psychologists to continue the work she's already started.

This episode of Conversations discusses mental health care, mental health struggles, First Nations mental health, remote communities, interracial relationships, psychology, university, PhD study, tertiary education, the Pilbara, Nyamal, traditional owners, Indigenous psychologist.

Joh Jarvis was a high-flying boss when grief from a terrible loss began to overwhelm her. She tried therapy, exercise and healthy eating. Then she found Vedic meditation, and the experience was 'psychedelic'.

Joh Jarvis is a Vedic meditation teacher.

Every week, she travels into Rikers Island Prison — a notorious jail in New York City — to teach meditation to hardened criminals.

Joh grew up in Adelaide and had always wanted to live amidst the bright lights of New York.

After a stint as a bicycle courier, she worked her way up to management at the ABC.

As she approached 50, she had a well-paying job, a nice house, and strong connections with friends and family. 

But long-term grief had hollowed her out, and she asked herself, is this all there is?

Then she was introduced to Vedic meditation, and she says her first encounter was 'psychedelic'.

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.

This episode touches on epic life stories, family dynamics, grief, loss, reflection, Vedic meditation, meditation, personal stories, origin stories, death, career, giving back, New York City, Rikers Island prison, incarceration, justice system, prison system, mindfulness and mantras.

While struggling with PTSD, social researcher Rebecca Huntley chose an unconventional and underground path to healing — MDMA therapy.

Rebecca Huntley is well known to many Australians for her formidable intellect and career as a broadcaster, an author and a social researcher.

But despite her impressive public-facing life, in private, Rebecca's trauma from a difficult upbringing refused to leave her.

At 50, she walked the Camino in Italy and realised that after 30 years of therapy, she was still living with a great deal of anger about what had happened to her as a child.

She decided to take a radical step to deal with her PTSD and her suffering. 

She had three sessions of MDMA therapy, delivered by an underground healer. 

The treatment changed Rebecca's life and her view of the world.

This conversation discusses therapy, trauma, psychedelics, drugs, parenting, grief, family, mothers, ancestry, fathers, family dynamics, domestic violence, going no contact, exploration and loss.

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.

When psychologist Ariane Beeston started having delusions after the birth of her son, and hallucinating that he was a dragon, she had to learn how to become the patient.

Ariane Beeston thought that when her son was born, she would feel that immediate rush of love that everyone told her to expect, and that motherhood would come naturally to her.

But that's not what happened.

Instead, Ariane started having delusions about her own death, she became paranoid that social services would take her child away from her, and she hallucinated that her baby boy was actually a dragon.

For months, Ariane hid her symptoms, afraid and ashamed of what she was feeling and seeing.

When she gathered the courage to ask for help, Ariane, a trained psychologist, had to learn how to become the patient, as she navigated a diagnosis of postpartum psychosis.

Further information

Because I'm Not Myself You See is published by Black Inc. Books

Resources

COPE: Centre of Perinatal Excellence

Support lines and resources recommended by COPE

PANDA National Helpline 1300 726 306 — available Monday to Friday, 9am to 7.30pm, Saturday, 9am to 4pm AEST/AEDT.

PANDA: Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia post natal psychosis information

Pregnancy Birth Baby information on postpartum psychosis (Australian Government website)

Gidget Foundation Australia (focuses on emotional wellbeing of expectant parents)

Postpartum psychosis fact sheet from COPE

Postpartum psychosis information (Royal Women's Hospital Melbourne)

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, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.