Good Reading Podcast

Cassie has settled into life in Hedgely when, out of the blue, her troubled cousin, Sebastian, comes to stay for Hallowe'en. Sneering and scornful, Sebastian trails after Cassie and her friends, interfering with their coven projects and belittling the dangers of the faery world. But Cassie, Rue and Tabitha have bigger problems - as the nights grow longer, a dark shadow creeps out of the Hedge and villagers start behaving strangely, possessed with the desire to find a mysterious object.

When the Hedgewitch is called away, the girls decide to investigate and discover that whoever is controlling the villagers is seeking a faery relic: an ancient and dangerous weapon, hidden somewhere in the village. Their magical training will be put to the test as they venture deeper into the Hedge and race to find the faery treasure before it falls into the hands of the Erl King.


In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Skye McKenna about discovering the land of Faerie and the dangerous people a reader might encounter in the Forest of Hedge, the magical people and places in the village of Hedgely everyone should visit, and Cassie Morgan's journey from fledgeling to fully qualified witch.

Nedingar is the story of a young child who wants to meet their Ancestors (Nedingar), to know them, learn from them and follow their ways. The child's mother gently explains that they have already met their Ancestors, yesterday, today and tomorrow, and that they are everywhere in Country, walking close behind them. Beautifully illustrated by Leanne Zilman, Nedingar is a lyrical, dual language picture book from two debut Noongar creators that celebrates the beauty of Country and family.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Isobel Bevis about her own indigenous heritage, the significance of the willy-wagtail in Noongar culture, and unlocking the door to reading and understanding a dual language picture book.

Bush Bugs is a colourful array of Australian insects that will captivate young children. From spiky stick insects to hairy spiders, from blood-sucking mosquitos to dung-eating blow flies and feasting wasps, this is a fun and easy-to-read book introducing tiny readers to tiny bush critters.

Crow Baby tells the story of a baby born with two spirits – one human and one crow. The baby grows up to be Daisy Crow, a girl who lives with humans by day and flies with the crows in her dreams. Crow Baby is a bittersweet story of sacrifice, metamorphosis and change. It introduces key First Nations concepts of dream journeys and spiritual gifts to young readers aged 6+ and gives them much to think about and discuss.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Helen Milroy about creating a shortlist of our amazing bush bugs, finding the beauty in a blowfly, tracing the origins of the Daisy Crow character and how her background in mental health shapes her approach to storytelling.

On a Bright Hillside in Paradise, tells the story of a family of convict descendants in the back-blocks of Tasmania, on a farm in a place called Paradise. They lead hard-scrabble lives. The drama begins when strangers arrive, Christian Brethren evangelists who hold big revival meetings in local barns.

On a Bright Hillside in Paradise tackles big questions of faith and family but remains grounded in the dreams and strivings of its beautifully drawn characters. Higgs takes lives that history might have judged as small and imbues them with immense dignity and complex and compelling inner lives.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Annette Higgs about the long journey from idea to great story in a first novel, the fascinating family connection she has to the characters in the story and the social impact of the arrival of the Christian Brethren on the isolated communities of north-western Tasmania.

Three couples, friends since high school, rent a luxurious house in the mountains for an unplugged weekend of drinking and bushwalking. No internet, no phones, no stress. On the first night, the topic of partner-swapping comes up. It's a joke - at first. Not everyone is keen, but an agreement is made. The lights will be turned out. The three women will go into the three bedrooms. The three men will each pick a room at random. It won't be awkward later, because they won't know who they've slept with - or can pretend they don't.

When the lights come back on, one of the men is dead. No one will admit to being his partner. The phones still don't work, and now the car key is missing. They're stranded. And the killer is just getting started ...

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Jack Heath about the hidden dangers within an adult game of truth or dare, the virtues of a murder case where everyone and no one appears to be the killer, and how dark humour can make murder fun.

Two women from different worlds in Renaissance France cross paths in a way that changes both their lives. One is Marguerite de Navarre, a King’s sister. Powerful, privileged and widely admired, Marguerite must nonetheless marry where she is told to, regardless of her feelings, and – despite the thrilling new ideas of religious reform causing upheaval in France – must toe the line for the good of her brother’s kingdom. Ever a risk-taker, she does what she can to protect her reformist friends.

The other is a cast out, itinerant child who longs to be a printer like her late father. Jehane goes dressed as a male by the name of Josse, at first for safety’s sake and then by choice, fending off the risks of being alone, unprotected and born female, poor but trying to live in freedom. These two women, the rich and poor come together in the most unexpected of ways.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Tracy Ryan about the challenges facing women in Renaissance France, how inventing a fictional character to complement the real Queen of the Navarre opened up storytelling possibilities, and how poetry, journal entries and Queen Marguerite's own writing have enriched the social and political fabric of this story.

A woman abandons her city life and marriage to return to the place of her childhood, holing up in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of the Monaro. She does not believe in God, doesn't know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive life almost by accident. As she gradually adjusts to the rhythms of monastic life, she finds herself turning again and again to thoughts of her mother, whose early death she can't forget.

Disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations: a terrible mouse plague, the return of the skeletal remains of a sister, presumed murdered, who left the community decades before to minister to deprived women in Thailand, and a troubling visitor to the monastery pulls the narrator further back into her past.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Charlotte Wood about how she came to choose a nameless narrator as her storyteller, why the Monaro plains hold such meaning for her, and the benefits of writing someone else's memoir.

Over seventy years had passed since Mira Unreich was freed from a concentration camp in Germany. On that spring day in 1945, she found herself alive, against all odds. In the decades that followed, she never explained the mystery underpinning her survival. How could Mira say that in the Holocaust 'I learned about the goodness of people'?

When Mira's journalist daughter Rachelle realised time was running out for Mira, who was ill with cancer, she resolved to ask her mother questions. It would be the most important interview of her life: a chance to discover the secrets to her mother's joy, and an opportunity to fit together the jigsaw puzzle pieces of her own life. Mira's words would lead Rachelle along a surprising path, where she learned for the first time what a truly extraordinary life her mother had led.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Rachelle Unreich about her mother's idyllic childhood interrupted by war, the time spent in concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and Mira's incredible capacity to survive and to thrive despite the horrors of her past.

Penny Albright is a daughter of the thorn coven, forced to patrol the veil between the realms of Life and Death. Each night, one thorn witch—and only one—must cross the veil by burning at the stake. Each morning, that witch draws on their magic to return. Failure to follow the rules risks the veil and risks them all. Thorns, Tides, Embers, Storms, and Ores. All five covens are bound in servitude to the tyrant High Warden of Halstett.

But one morning, Penny's favourite sister Ella doesn't return. And that night, determined to find her, Penny breaks the rules. She burns in secret. And she discovers that all isn’t as it seems in Life or Death. Her journey leads her to Malin, a devastating lord with too many secrets; to Alice, a mysterious captive prophet; and to a rebellion brewing in the shadows beneath the city. And as Penny's world splits, she’ll face a devastating choice. Because it’s not just her sister’s life that hangs in the balance. It’s the fate of all magic.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Katharine J Adams about the three words that led to her imagining a vast new magical universe, the hierarchy of characters and their rituals that drive the kingdom of Halstett, and why libraries are good places to hang out.

Crown Resorts, the Bond Group, James Hardie, HIH Insurance, Geoffrey Edelsten’s Allied Medical Group, 7-Eleven and Rio Tinto, the list goes on…

Australia has suffered from the continual sting of business scandals since corporate cowboys like Alan Bond and Christopher Skase wrought so much damage during the 1980s. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Australians have been affected, with many left traumatised when corporations collapse due to gross mismanagement and profits being put before people.

Award-winning author Quentin Beresford takes us inside corporate Australia’s highest-profile scandals and the factors that drive them — the rise of celebrity CEOs, timid regulators, inept boards, the murky links between big business, governments, banks, media and lobby groups — and explores a path towards higher ethical standards from organisations. It’s a wild ride into the heart of corporate Australia.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Quentin Beresford about the continuous string of corporate scandals that has plagued Australia over the last forty years, the gallery of rogues who have been at the helm of these scandals, and the scourge of crony capitalism and the lack of regulation that has allowed these scandals to proliferate.