Good Reading Podcast

In December 1943, five courageous war correspondents join a British air raid on Berlin. They are Australians, Alf King from the Sydney Morning Herald and Norm Stockton from the Sydney Sun; Americans, Ed Murrow from CBS and Lowell Bennett from the International News Service; and Norwegian journalist and activist, Nordahl Grieg. Each is assigned to one of the 400 Lancaster bombers that fly into the hazardous skies over Germany on a single night. Of the five, only two return to file their stories.

After parachuting out of his doomed aircraft, one reporter is taken prisoner. From there his captors take him on a remarkable tour of bombed-out German cities. In Despatch from Berlin, 1943, Anthony Cooper and Thorsten Perl uncover this incredible true story of life on both sides of the war.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Anthony Cooper about the massive operation that was supposed to end the war, the rationale for undertaking one of the most ambitious air raids in history, and the five correspondents who risked their lives to support the war effort.

When Kerri Sackville decided to stop filling every idle moment with distraction and learn to be comfortable alone, her quality of life soared. From boosting creativity and productivity, improving self-awareness, building resilience and moral courage, to improving relationships and connection with others, a bit of alone time is vital to wellbeing. But with smart phones, social media, endless streaming and podcast options, as well as the demands of work, family and friends, spending meaningful time on your own can feel impossible, unnecessary, or even indulgent.

In The Secret Life of You, Kerri Sackville analyses society’s attitude towards solitude – why is it okay to eat breakfast at a café on your own but faintly tragic to dine alone? She identifies the roadblocks in the way to unplugging, contemplates aloneness as opposed to loneliness, and looks at the difference between true connection and mere connectivity. Kerri provides practical advice on how to become comfortable in your own company, in order to enjoy – and even cherish – time alone.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Kerri Sackville about the difference between loneliness and being alone, why a little alone time can build resilience and mental toughness, and some of strategies we can all use to cultivate our inner lives and build stronger connections.

'The Prize' revisits the 1943 Archibald Prize scandal, when portrait painter William Dobell was temporarily stripped of the prize for his expressionistic portrait of Joshua Smith. The Art Gallery of New South Wales trustees were taken to the Supreme Court of New South Wales by vexatious competitors Mary Edwards and Joseph Wolinski, claiming that the winning painting was a caricature, not a portrait. The fallout from the case was devastating for both Dobell and Smith who had been likely lovers in a socially conservative Sydney. In the aftermath, never met or spoke to each other again.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Kim Anderson about the tensions arising from a nation extracting itself from a culturally conservative past and embracing a modernist future, and the challenges in characterising the intimate relationship between William Dobell and Joshua Hill.

Meet Leslie Bird, the irascible matriarch of a big bonkers Bird family, coming-of-age and to the boil, as the secrets and slights that have shaped her and her hapless husband's lives impact their children in the most profound and complex ways.

'Things She Would Have Said Herself' is a darkly funny, deeply moving novel that documents the lengths and breadths one woman will go to, to ignore her own and others' pain and what happens when she's confronted by it one sweltering Christmas day.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Catherine Therese about the things that have shaped her main character Leslie Bird – a life full of regret, the habit of her Catholic faith, and now menopause, along with the words that cannot be spoken in the Bird household and how humour maintains this author's sanity.

The islands of Prospera lies in a vast ocean in splendid isolation from the rest of humanity, or whatever remains of it. Citizens enjoy privileged lives dedicated to the highest creative ideals. When their life time is up they are despatched to the mysterious island, The Nursery, to be 'reiterated' as a fresh-faced teenagers. Proctor Bennett is a Ferryman, a specialist enforcer whose job it is to shepherd the soon-to-be 'reiterated' into their next life cycle. But Proctor is experiencing strange dreams and puzzling connections to people he has never met before and an unshakeable feeling that something is wrong with this world: something important, something greater than anyone could possibly imagine, something which could change the fate of humanity itself.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Justin Cronin about crossing genre borders, what it takes to build a science fiction-fuelled dystopian world and the bureaucracy required to run it, and his exploration of the physical and psychological limitations of the increasing life span of the human race.

Meet the Tobin family... Joy is an immigrant who left Ireland with her three children under difficult circumstances. She is a troubled mother who has spent her life running and hiding from her past while trying to raise her children in New Zealand as best she can. Conor, the high-achieving son is a high-profile media figure and CEO. He's walking a fine line between self-promotion and self-detonation. Frances, the 'perfect' middle child - now a wife and mother - is about to make a mistake that could destroy her marriage. And then there's Sinead, the youngest daughter and acclaimed writer who is wrestling with writer's block. Sinead resorts to desperate measures to deliver her next book to her publishers. When Joy's children receive the news that she has only days to live, they rush to her side. Each is at a crossroads in their lives and together they must deal with their collective past in the hope of ensuring up their future.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Anne Tiernan about the trauma of dislocation and the void it creates, how a mother's dysfunctional life can cast a long shadow over her children, and even in tragedy there is light at the end of the Tobin family tunnel.

This is a story about Clare, Louisa and Chris. And sometimes Paul, and less often, Beth. It is about what to do when your husband tells you that he doesn't love you anymore. And what to do when your wife leaves you after too many rounds of IVF. It's about helping your new friend with her funeral catering business, and discovering that, sometimes, the most unlikely of pairings are the very, very best. It is about food that is outrageously good and comforting to sad people.

Catering, like life, doesn't always go according to plan, and as Clare, Louisa and Chris's stories become more intertwined, they learn that life will always manage to break in to remind you of just how good it can be. And, for once, not being sensible, and throwing away everything you know. This is a book about living. After all, the thing about death is that it makes life important.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Dianne Yarwood about how opposites attract and even complement each other, the skill in finding the right tone for food at a wake, and plenty of great food ideas for celebrating life and death.

Kylie Schnabel has a perfectly ordered life - but that's about to be disrupted by one disastrous week. As the eldest child in a single-parent family, Kylie's always had more important things on her mind than smiling for random strangers. Controlling her job, her home, her romantic life and - most importantly - her family takes all her concentration. She's always succeeded, though, because that's just who Kylie is. When her fiercely independent mother breaks an ankle and needs help, it's up to Kylie, as usual, to fix things. She reluctantly packs her bags and moves in, but back in her childhood home, things start to unravel. Could it be that Kylie's carefully curated life is not so perfect after all?

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Toni Jordan about looking deeper into the Schnabel family dynamics through the controlling figure of Kylie, why syncing with your partner's Fitbit is not always a good idea, and how losing control might just be good for you.

The Laughter Effect is a timely reminder that we could all do with a little more lightness in our lives. Ros Ben-Moshe shares the science of laughter and the practical ways to include more of it in our days.

Drawing on positive psychology and neuroscience, along with practice and wisdom from humour and laughter therapy, Ros Ben-Moshe offers a new dimension to self-care, elevating mindfulness, gratitude and self-compassion. Enriched by case studies from around the globe, Ros shares how the Laughter Effect enhances resilience to stress, and awakens a positive change.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Ros Ben Moshe about the science behind the healing power of laughter, finding and celebrating the humour in our lives, and discovering the pathway to a laughter mindset as the foundation for joy and wellbeing. 

Novelist JB Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. For days they sail in the sun. They lie about drinking, reading, sleeping, having sex. Patrick is a legendary film director and JB's one-time professor. Much older than JB, Patrick is a maverick film director and a cult figure - a god in the eyes of many. But now his success is waning while JB is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize.

When a storm strikes the cruise, the bliss is shattered. With nothing but dark water all around, under mysterious circumstances, Patrick falls overboard. As the search for Patrick's body, the consequences of his death and the truth about their relationship ripple through JB's consciousness. 

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Stephanie Bishop about  JB Blackwood's journey of creative emancipation from beneath her husband's shadow, how to write an authentic sex scene, and the intense psychological thriller that emerges out of the process of exploring the depths of JB's creative consciousness.