Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast

Mary Penfold was the driving force behind Penfolds wines, which grew from a small vineyard outside Adelaide in the 1850s to the wine-producing powerhouse that we know today.

Being a woman in the agriculture sector in the mid-1800s meant that Mary didn't get much recognition for her contribution to running Penfolds. But following the death of her husband she continued to direct production and expansion of the business.

Guest: Dr Julie McIntyre, associate professor at the University of Newcastle, specialising in the history of wine production in Australia.

The number of countries planning to relocate their capital cities now also includes Mongolia, where building works are underway on a new capital.

'Good character' as a mitigating factor of sentencing is poised to be abolished in NSW courts. The proposed new bill in NSW parliament relies on the recommendations in the report from the NSW Sentencing Council, but not all members of the council were in agreement. 

Barrister Felicity Graham explains why she dissented from the council's recommendations and what the unintended consequences of the change might mean for vulnerable defendants. 

Guest: Felicity Graham, Barrister at Black Chambers

17 months after the revolution that ended the 15 year rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League, Bangladesh goes to a general election on February 12.

Have you ever heard of water cremation? It sounds like a misnomer but it is an increasingly popular way of cremating the dead, which its proponents choose for it's gentle effect on their loved ones, and the environment. 

The death industry in Australia mostly consists of funeral homes as we’ve known them, but business owners like Luke Cripps have begun to offer new options for grieving Australians.

Guest: Luke Cripps is a Director of Alluvium Water Cremations in Tasmania: one of the few businesses in Australia offering the service of water cremation.

This week's mystery caller is a common, aerobatic predator of small insects – the Welcome Swallow.

John Birmingham is perhaps best known for his documentation of the "horror and madness" of Australian share-house living in his 1994 book He Died With A Felafel In His Hand.

His book Leviathan: An Unauthorised Biography of Sydney won the Australian National Prize for Non Fiction Award in 2002, and his (self-called) “airport novels” including The Axis of Time series are loved across the world.

1989 was an eventful year for John, which set him up for the Felafel book and the successful writing career he has today. He reflects on life in Bjelke-Petersen Queensland, the amount of couches he's slept on, his gonzo stints on the streets of Kings Cross and a Brisbane jail cell, and meeting his wife in the midst of a violent student protest.

A group of researchers have been (gently) scouring works of art and objects connected to the great Renaissance painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci in a search for his DNA. 

Tyree Barnette arrived in Australia in 2012 with rose-coloured glasses for the laid-back, multicultural, egalitarian nation. But he soon found that being African-American on stolen land was more complex than he could imagine.

Guest: Tyree Barnette, author of Stolen Man on Stolen Land.

You know the jingle but do you know the story of the family behind Australia's iconic hardware retailer and sausage sizzle fundraiser?