After years away from his home town of Melbourne, Luke Harris is back on track. All he wants is a normal job, his own house and a dog. But Luke is a man with a past, when life was anything but peaceful and his skills ran to the dark side. A past not easily forgotten – or forgiven. When he crosses paths with Gus Alberici – the brutal criminal he worked for as a teenager – he's dragged reluctantly back to his old life. Luke's father has vanished, along with a chunk of Gus's cash. And something is up with his new girlfriend's father. As his past and present collide, can Luke keep his long-held secrets – and outsmart a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants?

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Tanya Scott about the long journey to her first novel, how her work in mental health informs her fiction writing, and why accountancy is the perfect cover for a criminal lifestyle.

Bryce Courtenay was one of Australia's highest-selling and most-loved authors. From his first book, The Power of One, he captivated readers. Many of his fans would have thought they knew him, and they did - they knew the version of him that he wanted to present to the world. To his son Adam, Bryce Courtenay was larger than life, mercurial, and impossible to know completely. In this moving, unforgettable memoir, Adam searches for the real Bryce. His father was a natural born storyteller and occasional fabulist whose tales never quite felt true. He was a man who forever publicly grieved the loss of his son Damon, the subject of April Fool's Day, but who seemed reluctant to connect with his remaining two sons.

Several years after his death, Bryce still looms large in Adam's life. In seeking to understand his father, who made so many people happy with his books, Adam recounts his own 1960s and 1970s childhood, Bryce's career in advertising and his metamorphosis into bestselling novelist. In the years after The Power of One, Bryce became a household name even as his personal life was plagued by tragedy and heartbreak - some of his own making. All the while Adam did his best to love his father and hang on through the wild ride of his life.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Adam Courtenay about his idyllic childhood, his father's rollercoaster career in advertising, and how his father's talent for storytelling was present from the very early years. 

News cowboys – it was the nickname the reporters and camerapeople at Seven Network’s Los Angeles bureau jokingly gave themselves as they headed off on assignments, not knowing what to expect and often unprepared for what they found. It was a way of coping, of not taking too seriously what was often deadly serious, as they witnessed some of the worst moments in recent world history.

For 18 years Mike Amor was one of those journalists. He was on the ground during 9/11 and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He reported on mass shootings from Port Arthur to Sandy Hook, covered the earthquake in Haiti and the astonishing rescue of a little girl named Winnie, investigated Mexican drug cartels, came under fire in Gaza – and much more. There were good times, too – following the Olympics or Chloë McCardel’s record-breaking Cuban swim.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Mike Amor about his pathway to a career in journalism and as a foreign correspondent, the sometimes grim reality of covering some of the biggest news stories in the world, and the mental and physical toll it has taken on him, on his wife and on his son. 

Where’s Moon?’ follows a day in the life of June, a toddler who is searching for the moon! The story was written by Speech Pathologist, Olivia Purvis, and edited by her sister, Amelia. The story was inspired by their young nephew, Sebastian, who innocently enquired about the Moon’s whereabouts one day. Olivia’s inner Speech Pathologist could not resist weaving a strong narrative with a variety of language features to support emergent literacy during shared book reading. The story works in harmony with the illustrations to invoke a sense of wonder while making subtle references to Australian culture. This “cheeky” book is sure to capture the hearts of young and old!

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Olivia Purvis about the origins of Where's Moon?, how elements of her speech pathology training found their way into the book, and the importance of an enthusiastic caregiver in engaging young children and enhancing language development.

The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson tells the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s friendship with the charming Eugene Chantrelle and the murder mystery that contributed to Robert’s need to create a novel focused on the dualistic nature of the psyche.

From a séance with the Shelleys at Boscombe Manor to a haunted wardrobe made by an infamous Scottish criminal, the novel is underscored by the story of two writers very much in love. Fanny and Robert were married in 1880, when she was forty and he was twenty-nine. An American who divorced her philandering husband to marry Robert, she was already the mother of children, a self-supporting writer, and with intelligence and wit very much the rock in their relationship.

Brilliantly told in Fanny’s voice, this atmospheric novel is both the story of an unconventional literary relationship and a page-turning mystery that reveals the truth about the people, objects and events that inspired Stevenson to write The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. 

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Belinda Lyons Lee about her fascination with all things nineteenth century, the remarkable Fanny Osbourne Stevenson, and how a haunted wardrobe may have been the genesis of a literary classic.

In the dying days of the Roman republic, a remarkable woman steps out of the shadows and beyond the boundaries imposed on her sex, driven by an unstoppable ambition. Kaarina Parker's stunning debut novel, told in the compelling voice of this brilliant woman from history, brings Fulvia and the society in which she lived vividly to life.

Born into a wealthy but unimportant family, Fulvia is raised in the peace of the Etruscan countryside but longs for a life of excitement and influence. When her father dies and her inheritance is threatened, she makes her way to the city of Rome to secure her future.

Motivated by both passion and opportunism, Fulvia marries Clodius, a hedonistic young senator. They are perfect partners - risk takers, scornful of convention and eager for change. Although Clodius is heir to a leading aristocratic family, he has spent his life criticising the rules of his class and championing the common people. As a wife and mother, Fulvia fulfils her role in a society that denies women any influence outside the home - but she is also a ruthless political strategist, intent on seeing her husband rise through the ranks of Rome's governing body, the senate. And, through him, wielding her own authority. But Rome is a dangerous place, and power can become notoriety overnight. Fulvia soon learns just how high the stakes really are, and that her ambitions may come at a terrible cost.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Kaarina Parker about her passion for Roman history, the hedonsim of the late Roman Empire, and how Fulvia, a young woman from the provinces, rose to become one of its most influential citizens.

The liver's ability to heal and regenerate can greatly improve your wellbeing. Clinical nutritionist and bestselling author Sarah Di Lorenzo’s four-week plan has helped hundreds of her patients repair their inner health and now she’s sharing it with you.

One in three Australians have a fatty liver, one of the most prevalent liver conditions worldwide. Revitalising your liver health can increase energy, aid weight-loss, improve sleep, slow aging, reduce headaches, improve skin health, reduce brain fog and lower anxiety.

The Liver Repair Plan offers practical guidance, easy-to-follow meal plans, and more than 50 delicious, nutrient-dense recipes that will support your liver's health and vitality.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Sarah Di Lorenzo about what this incredible organ does for our body, it's amazing capacity for repair and the simple steps we can all take to imp[rove every aspect of our wellbeing.

As animals our brains float above the planet’s surface. We were made to be mobile and carry our intelligence with us. A huge leap for mankind is happening right now. Contained within our minds and everything around us is the solution to our anxiety. Ecologist and naturalist Simon Mustoe shows us how to consume a more balanced variety of knowledge to become healthier and happier by reconnecting with nature. The key to avoiding disaster is to work within the natural balance of our beautiful world. Cats can make us too conservative (or just enough). Grasshoppers, eels and blue gropers teach us to solve global obesity and food crises. Simply saving wildlife in our own backyards can reduce cost of living by sixty or seventy times. How to Survive the Next 100 Years unlocks the power of our relationship with animals and nature and shows us we are already on our way to rebuilding a healthy, habitable planet.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Simon Mustoe about how our consumption of negative news about the environment can affect our hope for the future of the planet, how animals and re-wilding can change our environment in a very short space of time, and how positive change is happening at all levels – from the corporate down to your local environment. 

Erna Walraven on her memoir about zoo-keeping and feminism, 'Hear Me Roar'
In the early 1980s, when Erna Walraven decided to follow her dreams and become one of the first female zookeepers in Australia, she thought her biggest challenges would be feeding big cats and subduing irate gorillas. In fact, it was her male colleagues who made work miserable, harassing and humiliating her for doing a 'man's job'. So, she looked to the animals under her care to prove them wrong.

Despite what Erna's colleagues seemed to think, the females of the animal world were far from weak and demure. Elephant matriarchs led their herds; female bonobos revelled in sexual exploration; emu mothers abandoned their chicks to the care of their fathers. Her colleagues wouldn't dare tell a female tiger that hunting was a 'male's job' - why were they so intent on limiting Erna? 

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Erna Walraven about the sexist, male-dominated culture that greeted her when she first started working as a zoo-keeper at Taronga Zoo in 1983, the wonders of the animal world and what animals taught her about feminism, and how the culture of zoo-keeping has changed for the better.

In the magical city of Nevermoor, long-buried secrets are coming to light, and Morrigan Crow's life is about to turn upside down. When Morrigan is invited into Nevermoor's wealthy Silver District, she discovers a world of extravagance and a family mystery she's eager to unravel. She could never imagine where it will lead: a white wedding, a golden dragon and a red pool of blood.

Embroiled in suspicion and danger, Morrigan leaps headfirst into a murder investigation, while also grappling with her ever-growing Wundersmith powers. And although her friends are there to help, she fears that could change if they learn she's keeping a terrible secret of her own. As shadowy forces awaken in Nevermoor, can Morrigan find a killer and solve the mystery in her own past before the clock strikes midnight?

In this episode Gregory Dobbs gets a first-hand tour of the world of Nevermoor, direct from it's creator, Jessica Townsend. Jessica also talks about the developing powers of the exceptional Wundersmith that is Morrigan Crow in this spellbinding tale of magic, mystery and murder.