The First Time

This interview is with Mia Freedman. Mia Freedman needs no introduction! But we'll introduce her anyway.

Mia Freedman is the co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of the Mamamia Women’s Media Company in Australia.She very famously started Mamamia sitting at her kitchen table in the the aftermath of walking away from a big job in TV that was a TOTAL disaster.

Mamamia now has an audience of more than six and a half million women every month and is also the largest women’s podcast network in the world, with over 173 million listens and 52 different shows. Mia has written multiple books, include Strife, which was the inspiration for the recently released TV series of the same name on Binge.

She also founded Lady Start up, is a business activation course for women.

She’s great on Instagram and she got a newsletter called Babble that might even be home to her best work.

Mia Freedman is someone who’s consistently ahead of the curve, she takes very interesting next steps. And she’s a big of supporter of women – that’s a thing that comes across in this interview.

Welcome to the very first episode of The First Time podcast's spin off series, The Next Step. The Next Step is all about figuring out what to do next in life. This episode is on manifestation. It's a bit woo woo but probably it’s less woo woo that you might expect.

Longer time listeners of The First Time podcast might remember Katherine mentioning To Be Magnetic last season. To Be Magnetic ('TBM') describes itself as a modern guide to manifestation. Jessica Gill is TBM's chief content officer and co-host of the TBM podcast, EXPANDED.

Check out show notes for this episode or subscribe for regular updates via katherinecollette.com or get in touch via Instagram @katherinecollettewriter. 

It's finally arrived! Many of you will know that The First Time is taking a break in its current format this year BUT! Katherine is hosting a spin off series called The Next Step. 

The Next Step is figuratively (but also literally in this case) what happens after The First Time. It’s about figuring out what to do next in life... 

It'll still feature interviews with writers but other creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs as well. 

This the teaser episode, the first proper episode will drop on Wednesday 13th March, right here! 

Show notes for The Next Step will be available via katherinecollette.com or you can get in touch via Instagram - Katherine @katherinecollettewriter, Kate @kmildenhall or The First Time Podcast @thefirsttimepod. 

Welcome to the last episode in Summer Series -- a chance to catch up on some episodes you may have missed out on the first time around.

If you listened to the season 6 finale, you'll know that The First Time is taking a break in it's current format in 2024 BUT! Don't delete the feed just yet, Katherine will be back (solo) as of next week with The Next Step.

The Next Step is figuratively but also literally in this case, what happens after The First Time. It’s about figuring out what to do next in life. The Next Step will will still feature interviews with writers but other creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs as well. First episode will drop on on Wednesday 13th March! 

This episode we talk to pop culture, TV writer and Real Housewives guru, Brian Moylan.

Brian Moylan is the New York Times best-selling author of The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives and has written about television and pop culture for the New York Times, The Guardian, Vice, NBC News, and a few outlets that are NSFW.

Katherine and Brian discuss: 

Welcome to our Summer Series -- a chance to catch up on some episodes you may have missed out on the first time around.

If you listened to the season 6 finale, you'll know that The First Time is taking a break in it's current format in 2024 BUT! Don't delete the feed just yet, Katherine will be back (solo) in March with something new. It'll feature interviews with writers but also creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs.

Finally, to celebrate six years of the pod and to kick off the coach-sulting (coaching/consulting) work she'll be doing this year (see here), check out Katherine's tips on interviewing and being interviewed (via Instagram).

This episode Katherine speaks to author Garry Disher. Garry is the author of more than 50 books across multiple genres including crime thrillers, general/literary novels and fiction for children and teenagers. They discuss how he researches his novels, perseverance, and how you need to write with a blue pen in order for the magic to happen.

Check out show notes for this episode on our website www.thefirsttimepodcast.com or get in touch via Instagram - Katherine @katherinecollettewriter, Kate @kmildenhall or The First Time Podcast @thefirsttimepod.

Welcome to our Summer Series -- a chance to catch up on some episodes you may have missed out on the first time around.

If you listened to the season 6 finale, you'll know that The First Time is taking a break in it's current format in 2024 BUT! Don't delete the feed just yet, Katherine will be back (solo) in March with something new. It'll feature interviews with writers but also creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs.

Finally, to celebrate six years of the pod and to kick off the coach-sulting (coaching/consulting) work she'll be doing this year (see here), check out Katherine's tips on interviewing and being interviewed (via Instagram).

This is a conversation Kate has been dying to have for awhile now - keen for the lowdown on The Letdown and generally a massive fan of Alison Bell's work.

Alison is the co-creator/co-writer/producer/director and star of the award winning ABC and Netflix co-production The Letdown. Together with her co-writer, Sarah Scheller, Alison won the 2016 AACTA Award for Best Television Screenplay.The Letdown also won the AACTA Award for Best Comedy Program for both seasons 1 + 2 (20017 + 2019). Alison’s performance was recognised with the AACTA for Best Comedy Performer for her work in the second season of The Letdown, her fourth performance nomination. Other nominations include the 2019 AACTA Award for Best Direction in a Television Comedy or Drama for her TV directorial debut, (The Letdown).

In 2021, Alison developed and led the writing team on the critically acclaimed Binge series, LOVE ME.. The show picked up 7 Logie nominations. She wrote and starred in an episode of Summer Love, an ABC anthology series, which aired in August 2022, and in the ABC drama, Significant Others, airing October 2022. She has worked as an assessor for Playwriting Australia, a script consultant on theatre productions and short films and has contributed pieces to Marie Claire and Vogue Australia. She’s worked with production companies both here and in the US, including Sharon Horgan’s Merman, the FX Network, Kapital Entertainment, EKO, Giant Dwarf, Wooden Horse, Endemol Shine and the ABC. Prior to making The Letdown Alison was best known for her dramatic work on the stage, for which she won multiple Helpmann and Greenroom Awards, as well as her starring role in the AACTA Award winning comedy Laid. She has guest starred in many Australian series and her US credits include the HBO’s The Leftovers, No Activity for CBS All Access and the reboot of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories on AppleTV+.

Alison is currently appearing in the MTC production of What If If Only this August and September in a double bill.

The conversation covers: 

Alison's advice: Truth. Truth is the most interesting thing. The human experience in its truest form.

Alison's debut recommendation: Room for a Stranger - Melanie Cheng


Get in touch via Instagram - Katherine @katherinecollettewriter, Kate @kmildenhall or The First Time Podcast @thefirsttimepod.

Welcome to our Summer Series -- a chance to catch up on some episodes you may have missed out on the first time around.

If you listened to the season 6 finale, you'll know that The First Time is taking a break in it's current format in 2024 BUT! Don't delete the feed just yet, Katherine will be back (solo) in March with something new. It'll feature interviews with writers but also creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs.

Finally, to celebrate six years of the pod and to kick off the coach-sulting (coaching/consulting) work she'll be doing this year (see here), check out Katherine's tips on interviewing and being interviewed (via Instagram).

Kate travelled to Castlemaine to record this interview in person with Cate Kennedy in her beautiful home amongst overflowing bookshelves. Kate attempted to edit down this episode, she really did, but Cate Kennedy just shares so much writing wisdom it was hard not to just give you the uncut super long version! Settle in with a cuppa if you can.

Cate Kennedy has published several collections of both poetry and fiction. Her story collections Like a House on Fire and Dark Roots are widely studied in Australia and her poetry collections include The Taste of River Water, Signs of Other Fires, Joyflight, and Crucible and Other Poems. She is a two-time winner of The Age Short Story Competition, and a recipient of the 2013 Steele Rudd Award, the 2002 Vincent Bucklet Poetry Prize, and the 2001 Victorian Premier's Literary Award, among others. Her highly acclaimed novel The World Beneath, won the People's Choice Award in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards in 2010 and she is also the author of travel memoir Sing and Don’t Cry.

Kennedy works as a writing teacher and advisor on the faculty of Pacific University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program in Portland, Oregon, and received her PhD in Creative Writing from LaTrobe University in 2021. She lives in Castlemaine, Victoria on Dja Dja Wurrung country.

Get in touch via Instagram - Katherine @katherinecollettewriter, Kate @kmildenhall or The First Time Podcast @thefirsttimepod.

Welcome to our Summer Series -- a chance to catch up on some episodes you may have missed out on the first time around.

If you listened to the season 6 finale, you'll know that The First Time is taking a break in it's current format in 2024 BUT! Don't delete the feed just yet, Katherine will be back (solo) in March with something new. It'll feature interviews with writers but also creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs.

Finally, to celebrate six years of the pod and to kick off the coach-sulting (coaching/consulting) work she'll be doing this year (see here), check out Katherine's tips on interviewing and being interviewed (via Instagram).

This episode Kate talk to someone she has wanted to speak with for ages: New York Times and internationally bestselling author Amie Kaufman! Not only has Amie's multi-award winning work been translated into nearly thirty languages, and is in development for film and TV, but she is incredibly experienced in talking and teaching about writing and the strange world of BEING a writer.

Raised in Australia and Ireland, Amie has degrees in literature, law, history and conflict resolution, and is currently undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing. Her series include The Illuminae Files, The Aurora Cycle, the Other Side of the Sky duology, The Starbound Trilogy, the Unearthed duology and The Elementals Trilogy. Her work has taken home multiple Aurealis Awards, an ABIA, a Gold Inky, made multiple best-of lists and been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Check out Amie's podcasts Amie Kaufman On Writing and Pub Dates with Kate J. Armstrong and her newsletter Finding North.

Get in touch via Instagram - Katherine @katherinecollettewriter, Kate @kmildenhall or The First Time Podcast @thefirsttimepod.

Welcome to our Summer Series -- a chance to catch up on some episodes you may have missed out on the first time around.

If you listened to the seas 6 finale, you'll now that The First Time is taking a break in it's current format in 2024 BUT! Don't delete the feed just yet, Katherine will be back flying solo in March with something new. It'll feature interviews with writers but also creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs.

Finally, to celebrate six years of the pod and to kick off the coach-sulting (coaching/consulting) work she'll be doing this year (see here), check out Katherine's tips on interviewing and being interviewed (via Instagram).

We are thrilled to present this conversation with Australian literary legend - Tim Winton. This is a conversation Kate has been hoping to have since...well, since she was sixteen years old. The interview covers Winton's latest project - the television documentary Ningaloo - along with his writing life and environmental advocacy.

Tim Winton has published twenty-nine books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). He lives in Western Australia.

Winton is the 2023 recipient of the The ABIA Lloyd O’Neil Award - presented for a lifetime of distinguished and outstanding service to publishing and literary culture.

Tim’s latest project is a three-part documentary series Ningaloo premiering in Australia on Tuesday 16 May at 8:30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.

Get in touch via Instagram - Katherine @katherinecollettewriter, Kate @kmildenhall or The First Time Podcast @thefirsttimepod.

We're kicking off our Summer Series -- a chance to catch up on some episodes you may have missed out on the first time around.

If you listened to the seas 6 finale, you'll now that The First Time is taking a break in it's current format in 2024 BUT! Don't delete the feed just yet, Katherine will be back flying solo in March with something new. It'll feature interviews with writers but also creatives, comedians and entrepreneurs.

Finally, to celebrate six years of the pod and to kick off the coach-sulting (coaching/consulting) work she'll be doing this year (see here), check out Katherine's tips on interviewing and being interviewed (via Instagram).

In this episode, Katherine speaks to Chloe Hooper about writing about difficult things, nuance and approaching non-fiction like it's a thriller. 

Chloe Hooper is a novelist and non-fiction writer. Her first novel, A Child’s Book of True Crime, became a New York Times Notable Book, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. Her non-fiction, including The Tall Man and The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire, have won literary awards and been widely published internationally. Her latest book is Bedtime Stories. 

Get in touch via Instagram - Katherine @katherinecollettewriter, Kate @kmildenhall or The First Time Podcast @thefirsttimepod.