Dads on the Air

With special guest:

Dr Norman Swan
… in conversation with Bill Kable

Our health is such an important topic for all of us, maybe the most important.

But as our guest in today’s program Dr Norman Swan points out this sometimes leads to unnecessary worry about doing the right thing for ourselves. In fact the topic of what we should be worrying about is the one that comes up most often from his audiences. In his new book So You Think You Know What’s Good for You? Australia’s most trusted medical practitioner tells us what really is good for you and as a bonus what is bad for you.

Norman’s popularity over so many years is due to his ability to present the up to date research in a friendly non-technical manner, with even a dose of humour thrown in. All that comes out when we get to speak with him. What is more, Norman often illustrates points by drawing on his own experience which adds to the authenticity.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

Dr Will Davies
… in conversation with Bill Kable

The battlefields of World War 1 are now mostly beautiful green fields with some still hiding bullets and ordinance from over 100 years ago. To fully appreciate the sacrifices made in the First World War by young Australians from “the Golden Generation” you have to know what you are looking at when you see these fields more than 100 years after the shots were fired. Our guest today Dr Will Davies can help visitors get the most out of a visit.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

Chris Hammer
… in conversation with Bill Kable

This is the first of Chris Hammer’s books to be set in the Australian outback.

There is a murder in a fictional opal mining town loosely based on Lightning Ridge in a far corner of NSW.

We go immediately to the gruesome murder scene. The early indications are that so-called “ratters” are involved and that is a story in itself as Chris explains to us what a ratter is in the context of small mining operations.

What a pleasure it is to get the latest book from Chris Hammer. Treasure and Dirt includes new characters each with a flaw that we discover just as the characters in the book do. We have to make a decision about which character we can trust.

Chris describes the town so well that we can almost taste the dust and feel the isolation. And there is the suspicion of opal fever throughout. When you throw in some big business shenanigans by rogue billionaires and even a religious cult there is plenty of action to follow as you get into this page turner.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

Thomas Keneally AO
… in conversation with Bill Kable

A Bloody Good Rant you might expect from the title that this is going to contain some wild and extremist views.

However on the contrary except for some well-deserved and unapologetic criticism of one group of economists, you will not find in this book that sort of ranting and raving. It is instead Tom Keneally writing with intimacy and insight and an invitation to share his insight and humanity.

Tom Keneally has, on occasion, been branded as being “unAustralian”. Our guest is very much Australian, born in Homebush Sydney in 1935. Tom describes growing up with an ingrained primitive sense of being fortunate to live in Australia. The white society would frequently say it was the best country in the world while the outrageous treatment of Indigenous Australians and refugees was usually glossed over.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

RWR (Rob) McDonald
… in conversation with Bill Kable

This story can stand alone. But if you have read the first book in the series, The Nancys, you will be even keener to see what happens in Rob McDonald’s new book Nancy Business.

For anyone who loves the British murder mysteries such as Frost, Inspector Linley, Taggart and all the others Nancy Business is a treat. But there are a few twists that you do not often find. The narrator and main character is a young girl in Otago a small town on the South Island of New Zealand whose father died about a year ago. Her name is Tippy Chan and with her uncle Pike and his boyfriend Devon they make a formidable team for solving a mysterious murder mystery.

This is a modern family story and the relationships are explored with all the black comedy and snappy dialogue we might hope for. Given that the author is himself in a “rainbow family” he has special insights and we explore with Rob some of how this type of family compares with other families.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

Peter FitzSimons
… in conversation with Bill Kable

The title tells it all in the latest book by Peter FitzSimons whom we are excited to welcome back to Dads on the Air.

In The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins we hear about the life of a genuine Australian hero with so many adventures that a fraction of them would seem to fill the quota to qualify for that description. This man was decorated in World War 1 while not a combatant, described by another hero, Monash, as the bravest man he had ever had under his command, and yet few Australians had heard of him prior to the release of this book by our guest.

Any exploration of this anomaly could start with his name. Wilkins was known through most of his life as George but when he was prevailed upon to accept a knighthood he insisted on accepting the award as Sir Hubert, this being his middle name. The reason? The King’s name was George so this self-effacing man did not think it was appropriate to receive an award in the same name.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

Bon Scott as his name might suggest was born in Scotland but after his parents signed up to be £10 Poms he arrived in Australia at the age of 6 to a new life. That short life was filled to the brim and Bon provided plenty of his own commentary on his wild adventures before and during his time with the world beating rock band AC/DC.

Our guest today is writer Jeff Apter the author of Bad Boy Boogie, a new book published by Allen & Unwin. Jeff is very familiar with the AC/DC story having previously written about other members of the band the Young brothers and original bass player Mark Evans. When we speak with Jeff again today we are able to go behind the scenes to find out how Bon fitted in so quickly and easily with the Young brothers in their closely guarded troupe. We find out more about the real Bon Scott, his wild side where a party could go on for days but also how many women who came into his orbit described his as a real gentleman.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

Marco Renai
… in conversation with Bill Kable

What comes across very clearly when we speak with Marco Renai is that he is a ball of energy.

After Marco left school he had a path available to him in his family’s catering business. His first solo business venture was to set up a gym where members could improve their physical condition and wellness under Marco’s guidance. This was Marco’s first attempt at interacting with the community but alas Covid 19 struck. When the members stopped coming, the business folded.

This is where Marco’s strong family background and personal experience in the field of education shaped what happened next. While Marco had struggled with the discipline and uncompromising system of education he always had his loving and supportive family to fall back on. But when he was asked to volunteer some mentoring to local youth in the Gold Coast region of Queensland he realised that for many young men this safety net was not available. Sure enough, for many of the young men dropping out of the education system led on to big trouble with society and the law.

Having recognised the problem Marco set about doing something about it. Marco rounded up some 100 local businessmen for an Italian lunch and over a pasta or two came up with a plan to raise $1million to help these young men. Being a force of nature this daunting sum did not pose a problem.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

David W Cameron
… in conversation with Bill Kable

Port Arthur is a beautiful setting for what our guest today describes as “misery of the deepest dye”.

In his book Convict-Era Port Arthur David Cameron takes us back to the days before it became a convict settlement, before its charms were viewed in a completely different light by the British newcomers.

Its advantages as a proposed convict settlement included that it was surrounded by wild impenetrable bush except for one narrow access route that was easily secured. The security at what became known as The Dog Line involved half-starved dogs that were waiting for any convicts trying to escape. You could not swim away from confinement but just in case food scraps were often scattered to keep the sharks interested.

Podcast (mp3)

With special guest:

Chrissie Foster
… in conversation with Bill Kable

This is the story of how Chrissie Foster responded and refused to back down when confronted by an all-powerful secretive protected institution. Chrissie Foster’s family tragedies and the tepid response by the Catholic Church changed her from living a life of domestic harmony and peace in a totally unexpected way.

No doubt when the choice of schools had to be made for their daughters there were discussions between Chrissie and her husband Anthony. Because of Chrissie’s background being raised and educated in the Church they chose a Catholic primary school. Years later they discovered what their daughters had endured.

Podcast (mp3)