Good Reading Podcast

To the first European colonists, Australian wildlife was bewildering. Marsupials, monotremes and the vast array of birds and snakes were strange and hostile. A bustling animal trade soon developed in both directions. While rabbits, foxes and starlings were unleashed on the Australian landscape, native animals soon found themselves as stuffed or live specimens in zoos and private collections around the world.

Into this picture stepped a remarkable band of enthusiastic amateurs determined to get to know these strange creatures. Over the next 150 years they would advance the understanding of Australian fauna and transform public attitudes. Of Marsupials to Men is the story of those fearless and sometimes foolish individuals who were prepared to risk their lives in the name of science. 

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Alistair Paton about the 'gentlemen' naturalists in the early days of the Australian colony and their curious approach to the 'exotic', the first collectors and the legacy of John Gould, the emergence of the 'snake men', and more recent portrayals of Australian naturalist in the media.

As liberating Allied forces surged towards Paris following the D-Day landings of 1944 a group of downed airmen were being held in the infamous Fresnes Prison. Amid great secrecy, 168 airmen – including several from Australia and New Zealand – were evacuated to the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp, accompanied by orders for their execution. At Buchenwald they witnessed such extreme depravity that it would haunt them all their days.

Colin Burgess has personally interviewed and corresponded with dozens of the surviving airmen in the process of research Destination Buchenwald, including New Zealand Squadron Leader Phil Lamason who led the group through their darkest hours. Destination Buchenwald is a compelling story of extraordinary bravery, comradeship and endurance, 

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Colin Burgess about the state of the war in August 1944, the corrupt administration of Buchenwald and the appalling treatment and conditions these prisoners suffered, and why the Australian government continued to deny that Australian and New Zealand servicemen had ever been interned at Buchenwald.

Meet Carol, Sofia and Bonnie whose lives have been intertwined since primary school. Their hopes, dreams and heartaches have been shared for decades. Through the observant eyes of journalist Melissa, we witness the pressures that threaten to unravel some long-held secrets that have never been shared. 

Together they are the Tap Cats, a Queensland-based tap-dancing group facing unexpected challenges when they enter the Seniors Superstar competition. Set in the stunning landscape of the Sunshine Coast, the women tap their way through their own trials and tribulations, united by the thrill of the dance and the challenge of competition.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Christine Sykes about the inspiration behind Tap Cats, the secret to ageing gracefully and finding common ground through dance, and exploring the issue of forced adoption and that dark period in Australian social history.

Young journalist Jules Roth is handed an intriguing assignment: to find a painting stolen by the Nazis 75 years ago. Little does she know that ruthless art dealer and powerful heiress, Margaux de Laurent, is on the same mission. De Laurent gets everything she wants and has the money and resources to back it up. Their goal is to locate Ernst Engel's expressionist masterpiece that has deep family connections with links to the Holocaust.

Woman On Fire invites readers into the world of the powerful elite and the obsessions and emotional tension that drive it. Here is a tale of secrets, love and sacrifice and a work of art that burns brightly in the minds of those that desire it. 

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Lisa Barr about creating powerful female characters, the lengths to which people will go to to pursue and satisfy their passions, and the remarkable truth behind the cache of masterpieces stolen by the Nazis and the legacy that lingers to this day.

Dean is a small-time thief funding a drug habit. Sarah is a junior police officer on extended stress leave. Mary, a former school teacher, is an alcoholic living on the edge. Their paths cross at the local leagues club when Dean's grand plan for an armed robbery comes undone. Now irreversibly linked, each must decide who to betray, who to trust and who to protect. What they choose to do will change the course of their lives.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to James O'Loghlin about leaving a career in corporate law for the inglorious side of criminal law, creating likeable, loveable characters from ordinary people, and the moment when life spins out of control and paths cross for better or worse.

Twenty years ago, Cyrus Haven's family was murdered by his paranoid schizophrenic brother Elias. Now Elias is being released from a secure psychiatric hospital and the question of forgiveness is on Cyrus' mind.

As Cyrus prepares for the Elias' homecoming two women go missing and one man is dead. Evie Cormac, now the ward of Cyrus, has an incredible gift for spotting a liar and witnessed one of the abductions. Dark secrets are revealed as the crimes are unravelled but Cyrus and Evie know better than anyone how the past can come back to haunt you.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Michael Robotham about the developing characters of Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac, the trouble with having a character like Evie Cormac in the mix, and solving the crime, finding the criminal and keeping your options open in the process of writing.

In Telltale, Carmel Bird seizes on the enforced isolation of the pandemic to re-read a rich library of books from her past and to reconnect with people, time, place, myth, image and the whole experience of her writing life.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Carmel Bird about the reading rules she set for herself during pandemic lockdowns, how an early memory was sparked by a fascination with literary bridges, and the influence her childhood reading library has had on her work as an author, essayist and storyteller.

A discarded nineteenth century painting depicting a magnificent horse and its proud black groom is the starting point for Geraldine Brooks' deep dive into one of the darkest periods in American history. 

Kentucky 1850. Enslaved groom Jarret, forges a close bond with a foal that will carry it to the highest echelons of thoroughbred racing in America. On the eve of the Civil War an itinerant young artist makes his name from painting the horse reconnects with Jarret on a perilous night far from the glamour of the racetrack.

In this sweeping story of spirit, obsession and injustice Geraldine Brooks sets the reader on a journey from the antebellum to the present day in a powerful and compelling portrait of the enduring consequences of slavery.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Geraldine Brooks about her mid-life obsession with horses and the research that led her to one of the greatest thoroughbred racing stories story in history, the exploitation of enslaved black trainers, jockeys and grooms and the plundering of their expertise for the benefit of their white owners, and why it was important to connect this grim history with events in the 21st century.

In 1977 Vera 'Toddie' Hays and Florice 'Beezie' Bessire thought they were about to embark on the trip of a lifetime when Vera's nephew Vern Jr made them an unbelievable offer: drive a camper van from Stuttgart to Bombay and finally to Australia. Little did they know the van was packed with two tonnes of hashish.

Betrayed is the fascinating inside story of Toddie and Beezie's wild ride across continents, their arrest by Australian narcotics agents and all that the women faced in their desperate fight for release. Sandi Logan was on the ground at the time and draws from the women's diaries and interviews to tell the incredible tale of the infamous 'drug grannies'.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chars to Sandi Logan about the proposition put to Toddie and Beezie by their nephew Vern Jr, the arduous journey across Europe and the sub-continent, and the struggle for freedom in an Australian political environment that was stacked against them.

In the 1990s Phil Barker left the male-dominated world of the Daily Telegraph to work on magazines such as NW and Woman's Day. It was the golden age of Australian magazines with circulation at an all-time high. But along came the internet. A failure to deal with the challenges of the digital world saw a once great industry fall into decline.

In Axed! Who Killed Australian Magazines, Phil Barker tracks the highs and lows of Australia magazines' journey from prince to pauper. From the bad content deals to a lack of understanding of the Australian market and a failure to prepare for the future, this book brings together all the sordid details, the downfalls that didn't need to happen, and the great characters that defined Australian magazines.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Phil Barker about the golden age of Australian magazines in the 1990s, the largesse and the excess of an industry at its peak, the challenges of the digital world that were barely met, and casualties and the survivors of a once great industry.