Sally Warhaft and Kerry O'Brien — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Kerry O'Brien at the Wheeler Centre — Photo: Jon Tjhia

‘We absolutely cannot make any assumptions about the future of democracy in this country.’

Kerry O'Brien, in conversation with Sally Warhaft

He’s interviewed Nelson Mandela, David Bowie, Margaret Thatcher, Herbie Hancock and Mikhail Gorbachev. As a journalist, he’s watched 13 Australian prime ministers come and go and he’s personally interrogated most of them, live on The 7.30 Report. Kerry O’Brien is a singular figure in Australian journalism – a broadcast journalist, foreign correspondent, columnist and feature writer – who has interviewed some of the most influential Australian and global figures, across politics, art and sport over a career of 50 years.

In Kerry O’Brien: A Memoir he shares behind-the-scenes tales of talks with the likes of Tony Blair and the Dalai Lama as well as his insights on the social, political and media upheavals he’s witnessed up close.

Appearing in conversation with Sally Warhaft, O’Brien talks about what he’s learned from grilling the great, the good and the not-so-good over five decades.

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