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Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption.

Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling.

Conversations Live is coming to the stage! Join Sarah Kanowski and Richard Fidler for an unmissable night of unforgettable stories, behind-the-scenes secrets, and surprise guests. Australia’s most-loved podcast — live, up close, and in the moment. Find out more at the Conversations website.

Conversations

Actor and author Tasma Walton was enjoying her big break on TV show Blue Heelers in the 1990s in Melbourne when a transformative visit from her grandmother launched her in a new direction.

Boonwurrung/Bunurong woman, Tasma grew up in windy Geraldton, in Western Australia in the 1970s, hearing stories from her grandmother about baby whales and women who lived in kelp forests. 

These stories always featured a bay and very cold water — neither of which were in Geraldton.

Many years later, while Tasma was filming Blue Heelers and living in St Kilda in Melbourne, her grandmother came to stay, and the stories she had told Tasma over and over again started to make sense.

Except for one tale that had been sanitised for children’s ears — a supposed love story between Tasma's great-great-great grandmother, Nannertgarrook, and a vicious sealer man.

As an adult, Tasma started to research the truth of what had happened to Nannertgarrook, generations ago.

Further information

If you need help, you can call the National domestic family and sexual violence counselling service on 1800-RESPECT — 1800 737 732.

I Am Nannertgarrook is published by Simon & Schuster Bundyi.

Tasma was named joint winner, with Robbie Arnott, of the $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize for 2025.

Watch Reckless on SBS from Wednesday 12 November on SBS, NITV, and SBS ON DEMAND.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.

This episode explores heritage, ancestral legacy, inherited trauma, intergenerational trauma, DV, family violence, method acting, mob, Indigenous, First Nations, Aboriginal, slavery, blak, blak mothers, reconnecting with culture, bunurong strong, Nerrm, Narrm, Wilsons Prom, Wilsons Promontory, mermaids, dolphins, asthma, asthma attacks, medea, monologue, auditions, acting auditions, SBS, reckless, St Kilda, Blue Heelers, Luna Park.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Uncovering the heart of my Nana’s saltwater stories

Historian William Dalrymple had a rarefied childhood on the windswept coast of Scotland. As an adult he fell in love with India, and later discovered his family's own deep ties to the country.

Born into the Scottish aristocracy, William followed his three older brothers and left for boarding school at just 8 years old. While still an university William set off to follow Marco Polo's journey across the width of Asia and he wrote a best-selling book about that adventure.

But after then moving to India, William started to see the many gaps and biases in his understanding of history and ever since he's been working to find the stories and people his education had left out.

William also began uncovering his own family’s connections to India which stretched back generations and eventually a discovery relating to his own father's experience in India as a young man. It seemed to answer the question of why his Dad chose never to go back.

The episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores history, Scotland, North Berwick, Marco Polo's journey to South Asia, India, Delhi, archaeology, witches, family history, aristocracy, partition, history writing, large families, family secrets, the golden road, Palestine, Ampleforth College, Catholic Education, Robbie Burns, travel writing, Scottish history. 

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

William Dalrymple's own curious history, from the Scottish coast to Mughal Delhi

Historian William Dalrymple grew up in an idyllic seaside town in Scotland, then as an adult he fell in love with India and discovered his family's deep ties to the country.

Born into the Scottish aristocracy, William followed his three older brothers and left for boarding school at just 8 years old. While still an university William set off to follow Marco Polo's journey across the width of Asia and he wrote a best-selling book about that adventure.

But after then moving to India, William started to see the many gaps and biases in his understanding of history and ever since he's been working to find the stories and people his education had left out.

William also began uncovering his own family’s connections to India which stretched back generations and eventually a discovery relating to his own father's experience in India as a young man. It seemed to answer the question of why his Dad chose never to go back.

The episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores history, Scotland, North Berwick, Marco Polo's journey to South Asia, India, Delhi, archaeology, witches, family history, aristocracy, partition, history writing, large families, family secrets, the golden road, Palestine, Ampleforth College, Catholic Education, Robbie Burns, travel writing, Scottish history. 

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

William Dalrymple's own curious history from the Scottish coast to Mughal Delhi

Ten years ago, Michelle Payne became the first woman to win The Melbourne Cup but in the years since she's had to face many challenges, including a life threatening injury and family heartbreak. Fortunately if there is one thing Michelle knows a lot about, it's how to get back up.

Michelle Payne grew up on a farm, the youngest of ten kids, in a family were everyone was mad about horses and horse racing. Her dad always said girls could be great jockeys if they were given the opportunity and she was determined to prove him right, despite some big challenges.

She won her first race at age 15 and in 2015 became the first woman to win The Melbourne Cup and her beloved brother Stevie was her strapper for the race.

Michelle Payne's memoir is called Ride On

The executive producer of Conversations is Nicola Harrison.

It explores horse racing, the Melbourne Cup, female jockey, large families, grief, death, animals, disability, training, injuring, horses, gambling, physical endurance, extreme weight loss, women, head injury, life threatening injuries, horses, recovery, resilience.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The drama and the grit behind Michelle Payne's ride into Melbourne Cup history

Writer, Ianto Ware on growing up in the suburbs of Adelaide in a single-parent, single-child family, when such an experience was rare. (R)

Ianto Ware was raised in the suburbs of Adelaide in a house surrounded by a tangled garden of oak trees and vegetables, and furniture foraged from hard rubbish.

Aside from the family pets, it was just Ianto and Dimity at home.

His family was different to most in his street, as his mother Dimity described herself as a 'radical feminist socialist lesbian'.

Dimity wore dungarees, and for some of Ianto's childhood, she drove a campervan with a yellow kayak on the roof, with a rainbow cat sticker on the bonnet of the van.

As she was raising Ianto alone, Dimity knew that it was very likely she would not live to old age, because of a health condition she was born with.

Ianto has written down the story his mother's remarkable life, and her legacy.

Further information

Originally broadcast June 2021. This episode was recorded remotely, during COVID.

Mother and I: The fable of a wilful family was published by Hunter Publishing.

Read more about Ianto on his website.

https://iantoware.com.au/about/

This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison. The Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

This episode explores single mothers, queer mothers, lesbian, gardening, rainbow families, unusual families, being different, how it feels to be different, when you don't fit in, is it ok to be different, Adelaide, Dunstan, mother and son, single parent family, single parent, single child family, kidney disease, kidney transplant, death of a mother, death of a parent, orphan, strong mothers, only child, one and done, amicable separation, amicable divorce, good divorce, adult son and chronic illness.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Encore: The story of a wild, radical feminist socialist lesbian mum, and her son

Kate Reid inherited her love of Formula 1 from her dad. She put her heart and soul into qualifying for a job with the renowned racing team, Williams, but her dream job turned out very differently to what she expected. Then, a public library turned out to be a bridge to Kate's recovery.

Growing up in Melbourne, Kate was an asthmatic child who developed an extremely close bond with her dad.

He would care for Kate during her frequent asthma attacks by operating a whirring nebuliser, staying next to her as she regained her breath in her bed.

Kate became obsessed with her dad’s favourite sport — Formula 1 racing. 

Once Kate experienced the vibration ripping through her body at a race, she decided she would become an aerospace engineer and work in the area she and her dad loved so much.

When her dream job turned turned sour, Kate’s life took a dangerous turn and she developed depression and anorexia.

Kate returned to Australia for treatment, and it was thanks to a public library in Melbourne that she started on the next obsession, the one that would heal her.

Kate's croissanterie, Lune, is now a thriving business.

Further information

Destination Moon is published by Simon & Schuster.

If you need support with an eating disorder, you can visit the Butterfly Foundation or call on 1800 33 4673.

https://butterfly.org.au/

This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores eating disorders, disordered eating, pain au chocolat, Paris, Ousia, hospitality, hospo, cafe culture, croissants, start up, self made, CEO, life of a CEO, France, pastry chef, laminated pastries, obsession, control, perfection, perfectionism, tin tin, sibling love, family support, tight family unit, Du Pain et des Idées, boulangerie, Christophe Vasseur, changing careers, formula 1, formula one, racing, motorsports, pit crew and Monaco.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

How Paris helped this aerospace engineer survive anorexia

Walter Marsh with the surreal tale of Colin Wyatt, the ski champion, mountaineer, wartime camouflage expert, artist, and naturalist who committed one of the world's biggest-ever museum heists in the 1940s.

In January 1947, by chance, it was found that over 3,000 rare and precious specimens of butterflies had vanished from museums in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. 

Alarmingly, the missing insects included many priceless ‘holotypes’ — the first specimen of a given species to be identified, against which all others are compared.

On the other side of the world, New Scotland Yard descended on a nondescript country house in Surrey, where they found a trove of over 40,000 butterfly specimens. 

The culprit was Colin Wyatt, a Cambridge-educated ski champion, mountaineer, wartime camouflage expert, artist, and amateur naturalist whose high-flying exploits cut a path from the Alps of Europe to a London court room to a final expedition to the jungles of Guatemala.

Walter Marsh has written down the strange and confounding tale of the gentleman butterfly thief in his new book.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jennifer Leake, executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores museum heists, museum thefts, gentlemen criminals, natural history, lepidopterists, butterflies, butterfly stealing,adventurers, skiing, mountaineering, war, WWII, alps, london, stealing from a museum, theft from museum, famous museum heists, strange criminals, smooth criminals, why do people commit crime, collectors, the collector, extreme collections.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The strange tale of the artist who stole 3000 butterflies

Katie Treble grew up crying at about how all the king's horses and men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again. It was that compassion that made her the perfect candidate for doctoring during war as an adult.

When Dr Katie Treble decided to swap the good vibes and beautiful beaches of Byron Bay for work with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) she knew she would be in for a shock. 

Nothing could have prepared her for the desperate need she encountered in the Central African Republic (CAR) in the midst of a civil war.

But Katie was even more affected by the courage and kindness of her colleagues.

She came away from her months in Bria, CAR knowing that her time as a humanitarian doctor would change her own life in deep ways, and so when she got back to Australia she started the work of trying to make sense of it all.

Field Notes from Death's Door is published by HarperCollins.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores medicine, university, war, civil war, Africa, humanitarian crisis, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, MSF, doctors without borders, access to medicine, hospital, conflict zones, PTSD, malaria, defence, navy, Kenya, France, Jamaica, Haiti, natural disaster, murder, infant mortality rate, vaccination, religious war, Islam, Christianity, genocide, MDMA therapy, psychology, recovery, healing.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Why this humanitarian doctor swapped Byron Bay for a war zone and what happened next

Aaron was living on the tip of Cape York when he borrowed his uncle’s dinghy to make it to his first acting audition on nearby Thursday Island.

He won the role that day in a TV show called Remote Area Nurse, and many other TV series followed, including the crime dramas The Straits and East West 101.

He also presented the Torres Strait Island Cooking show, Strait to the Plate, and he was one of the stars of the comedy show Black Comedy.

Today Aaron is not just an actor, he's a director and producer as well and as he writes about in his memoir So Far, So Good, there have been many setbacks and some heartbreak on his path to success.

Further information

So Far, So Good is published by Pantera Press

This episode of Conversations explores Cape York, acting, writing, producing, television, film, domestic violence, children, rejection, family, domestic violence protection order, logie awards, masculinity, relationships, racism.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Encore: Aaron Fa’Aoso on his mistakes, heartaches, and lucky breaks

The singer, podcaster, writer and comedian on living big with neurodivergence, and owning her manic, creative energy.

Growing up in Melbourne in the 1980s, Em was a serious young athlete, focused on hurdles, when a high kick up-ended her ambitions. 

She was a creative, energetic child who seemed to always be busier than everyone else. 

As a young, stay-at-home mum, Em appeared on Australian Idol, having never performed on stage before, and this opportunity launched her career in radio.

Em and her husband had two more children and she found herself at a loss during COVID lockdowns.

Em felt she was drowning, and couldn’t work out why things had always seemed so much harder for her than for those around her.

As an adult, Em received two life-changing diagnoses, all while being put through the wringer of perimenopause.

Em's book Blood, Sweat and Glitter: A Coming of Middle Age Story is published by Pantera Press.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

This episode explores ADHD, neurodivergence, autism, diamond creek, emsolation, emsolation extra, outgrown, diagnostic trifecta, Anomalous, podcast, rage against the vagine, covid lockdowns, melbourne lockdowns, DSM 5, neuropsychologist, National Press Club, National Press Club address, impostor syndrome, sensory issues, autistic females, Quinni, Heartbreak High, jumping on the bandwagon, menopause, perimenopause, hormones, hormonal shift, executive function, autistic, hormone treatment, iron deficient, low iron and middle age women.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

‘Maximalist power queen’ Em Rusciano on the diagnoses that revealed her

Nazeem Hussain honed his comedy in Melbourne's suburbs in the 1990s. After his father left the family, his fearless mother taught Nazeem how to use humour to get bullies off his back. (R)

Comedian, Nazeem Hussain honed his comedic chops in the suburbs of Melbourne in the 1990s.

It was there, after his father left the family, that his fearless mother taught him how to use humour to get bullies off his back.

Since then Nazeem has performed all over the world.

He hosted his own Netflix special and opened for Dave Chappelle in New York City, before deciding to write a children's book to celebrate his journey into parenthood.

This episode of Conversations touches on personal story, origin story, fatherhood, dads, absent dads, fatherless children, father figures, Nazeem Hussain, comedy, ASIO, 9/11, September 11, racism, family and kids.

Encore: The making of Nazeem Hussain

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