Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast

British comedian and broadcaster Bill Oddie has died at the age of 85. Although best remembered to ABC audiences as part of 1970s comedy trio The Goodies, Bill was also a devoted conservationist and passionate bird lover. Sunday Extra shares a section of an interview with Bill Oddie from the ABC archives, in which he talks about his love of birdwatching and why he sees it as a means of futureproofing conservation for the next generation.

Archive audio: Extract of interview with Billie Oddie from 1992, with ABC presenter Peter Jeppesen for ABC Regional Radio

Mohammed Massoud Morsi is an Egyptian-Danish-Australian author, journalist and photographer who spent almost two decades working as a freelance journalist and photographer in places of conflict and crisis across Asia and the Middle East. Today, Morsi writes novels about love in places of war. 

Morsi's first novel The Palace of Angels was short-listed for the 2020 NSW Premier's Literary Award, and his latest novel The Hair of the Pigeon won the 2025 Dorothy Hewett Award.

8 years before Morsi was born, war caused his father to make a decision that rippled through Morsi's life in ways he is still unravelling today.

Guest: Mohammed Massoud Morsi, author, journalist, and photographer.

Fatimah Omran is a Sydney mum who’s built a massive following on social media - over quarter of a million followers on TikTok for example - all on the strength of delicious Middle Eastern home cooking, and a particular knack for making it simple and easy enough to do at home yourself.  

Now Fatimah has created her first cook book, Middle Eastern Simple. It’s a collection of mouth-watering recipes full of even more mouth-watering photos.

Guest: Fatimah Omran, author of Middle Eastern Simple.

When author Yumna Kassab decided to write about her home suburb of Parramatta, she did so in an unconventional way: through a dictionary. But Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place Memory is anything but dry, weaving together personal reflections, quirky details and a heartfelt portrait of the place she loves.

Guest: Yumna Kassab, author of Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory, and the 2023 inaugural Parramatta Laureate in Literature

On August 2 1945, Australia’s first Immigration Minister Arthur Calwell gave a speech in parliament that The Museum of Australian Democracy described in an article titled “Arthur Calwell and the gift of immigration”. Arthur Calwell's legacy is a complicated one though, because that gift of immigration was very much wrapped up with his staunch and lifelong support for the White Australia policy. 

Guest: James Franklin, Honorary Professor at the University of New South Wales School of Mathematics and Statistics, and author of Arthur Calwell (Australian Biographical Monographs 20)

Why do people join groups based around coercion and control, including people who we think should know better?

At the Festival of Dangerous Ideas later this month there will be a discussion on cults, and the lead speaker is journalist Anke Richter whose 2022 book Cult Trip went right inside some of the world’s most insidious cults.

Anke is also a foreign correspondent based in New Zealand and is the founder and convenor of Decult - an annual conference on “cult education for professional networks and survivor support”.

Guest: Journalist and author Anke Richter. Anke will be speaking at The Festival of Dangerous Ideas on August 22.

Indonesia's Rupiah has been losing value over the last two years, after decades of steady growth. This week's resignation of the Bank Indonesia Governor has prompted fresh concerns about the economic outlook, and the independence of the central bank.

Guest: Arianto Patunru, economist at the ANU Indonesia Project and editor of the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies

The contest for the top job at the UN is well under way, this week the first straw polls were held at the Security Council in New York.

The results show that Costa Rica’s candidate, former Vice President Rebeca Grynspan is the current front runner, followed by candidates from Guyana and Argentina.

Current Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s term ends on December 21, 2026 and whoever take over from him faces the immense task of revitalising the organisation, which has lost some its former prestige due to US antagonism, financial constraints and the sheer number of crises worldwide.

Guest: Jeremy Dicker, former Australian diplomate, now managing editor of International Intrigue

This week's small but colourful caller searches the tropical rainforest of Cape York Peninsula for seeds and fruit – the Red-cheeked Parrot.

On The Year That Made Me, former Liverpool football star Craig Johnston reflects on an extraordinary life that extends far beyond his success on the pitch, from winning Europe's biggest trophies to his influential career after football.