Conversations

We rarely stop to wonder who invented the wheel, the alphabet or the printing press but so much of what feels fundamental to daily life was once a bold, untested idea, and someone had to think it up first. In The Shortest History of Innovation, Andrew Leigh traces that long thread of human ingenuity from ancient breakthroughs through to the inventions reshaping our world today like the car, social...

Psychologist Dr Tracey Westerman on her groundbreaking work transforming mental health outcomes for Aboriginal communities (R) Dr Tracy Westerman grew up in the Pilbara, where suicide and mental health issues have deeply scarred Indigenous communities. So this Nyamal woman decided to do something about it. Nyamal woman Tracy Westerman grew up in some of the most remote parts of Western Australia,...

The iconic folk duo met at an audition for the only country music band at a prestigious jazz school in Boston. They immediately clicked, and joined the rich lineage of Americana artists that stretches back centuries. In their 20s, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings discovered they had something special when they sang together, a sort of eerie emotional resonance that is usually confined to the blood...

Growing up, John Marsden found school incredibly difficult and, as a teenager, spent time in hospital after a breakdown. This difficult early life profoundly shaped his work as a writer and educator of young people. With the help of a therapist, he began to recover, but it took him many years to find his place in the world. Eventually he studied teaching, then in his mid-thirties John began to wri...

Dan Richards investigates the multifaceted realm of night-time. Hear about when he survived a brush with death, a treacherous journey on a Scottish ferry, shadowing a search and rescue team, and the comfort and exquisite agony of new parenthood. The writer and broadcaster argues that night-time is universal in that everyone goes through it, but there are so many different experiences of the dark....

The legendary surfer has grieved the deaths of her adoptive mother, stepmother and birth mother. Only later in life did she realise her drive to win came from a place of loss, and Layne needed to look inward to find her place off the podium. Layne is a legendary surfer who is the first person ever to win six consecutive world titles. Since her childhood spent on Sydney's Northern Beaches, Layne ha...

After a painful divorce, Charlotte Ree began to piece her broken heart back together by cooking for her neighbours (R) Charlotte Ree grew up in a family full of love, but with its own particular challenges.  Her mum struggled with mental illness, which meant Charlotte grew up very quickly. Charlotte met the man who would become her husband when she was 19. Within a few years, they married, but mon...

Philosopher and writer Eamon Evans on humanity's relentless and impossible pursuit of happiness through materialism, social media and self help, and why the kindest and best people have been 'crushed by life' a couple of times. Eamon started to think more deeply about happiness and contentment in his 20s, after a bout of serious depression. He realised that trying to be happy all the time was para...

Judy grew up on a farm in north-east Victoria. When she was seventeen, a family tragedy saw her thrust into life as a farmer for the first time. Being a young farmer led her into local politics, and eventually into a burgeoning friendship with a lanky, much-loved local politician named Tim Fischer. On their first date, Tim took Judy to the Tocumwal Debutant Ball, and it was a disaster. But despite...

The world's leading eucalyptus expert, Professor Steve Hopper, on what science and culture say about these spectacular trees, and how Noongar elders in WA's South West led his 'second education' in botany. Australia is one of the richest places on earth when it comes to botanical biodiversity. Tens of thousands of species of trees and flowers have developed over millions of years of isolation. But...

UK writer Zadie Smith became a world-wide sensation with the publication of her first novel White Teeth when she was 24. Now aged 50, she's bringing her trademark intelligence and wit to the subject of midlife. Her latest work is Dead and Alive, a new book of essays, where she writes about black British history, paintings, politics, our online lives and getting older. She also talks about up growi...

Jessica Kirkness with the story of her grandparents, who both grew up profoundly deaf in a hearing world, and how she navigated the space in between sound and silence. (R) Jessica grew up in the outer suburbs with a big extended family, with her grandparents living right next door. Her grandparents, Melvyn and Phyllis, were affectionate, kind and wise and Jessica often spent more time after school...

Saul Eslake grew up knowing he was adopted. For many years he knew nothing about his biological parents, but when he adopted his own children, he began the search for his birth family. What he discovered in his adoption file revealed a very complicated story, and It took him more than two decades to unravel the mystery. En route, he discovered a confected newspaper scandal, a story of British pilo...

Dave Pearson runs Bite Club, a support service for anyone who has survived a shark attack. Dave’s own brush with death came in 2011, when a three-metre-long bull shark almost took his arm. (R) Dave lived that day, but it’s what happened during his recovery that he didn’t see coming. Dave Pearson was with his mates on the NSW Mid North Coast back in 2011, and couldn’t get in the water fast enough t...

In 2007, Vicki McAuley's husband Andrew set off from Tasmania in a kayak, aiming to become the first person to paddle to New Zealand, but a month later authorities received a distress call and then his kayak was found with no sign of Andrew. Vicki and their little son Finn, were waiting with friends and family for Andrew at Milford Sound when the devastating news came through. Further information ...

Debra Richardson joined the police at age 18 in the 1980s, working undercover as a prostitute and surviving the Russell Street bombing. Years later, she met her foster son, Yuri, who had also survived disaster. Deb and her family met Yuri after they agreed to care for one of the many children brought to Australia for short-term stays following the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine. Decades later, a jo...

From Wollongong to London, via Alice Springs, this is writer Nikki Gemmell on her deeply romantic life, and how she defied expectations to become a famous author. (R) Nikki grew up the daughter of a coalminer father who thought writers were a burden on society, while her mum taught Nikki that only success was worthy of love. So Nikki went above and beyond to prove her beloved father wrong, and to...

Professor George Williams was uninterested in school, instead spending his time melting down lead to sell to a nearby scrap yard. Then a special primary school teacher gave him permanent detention, which changed his life. Growing up in Sydney, he was the rebellious child of a single mum who worked in a fruit shop to support the family. George was so disruptive at primary school that no teacher wan...

Brisbane teacher and author, Sita Walker on the strong, religious matriarchs who have helped her weather the storm of family tragedy, divorce and the beauty of a new love. Sita grew up in Toowoomba in Queensland, descended from five powerful women — three aunts, her grandmother and her mum. They were Baha’i women who came to Australia via Iran and India. Tragedy struck the family when Sita was a c...

Rob Hirst, the former drummer for the band Midnight Oil has died at age 70. In 2018 Sarah sat down with Rob for a wide-ranging conversation about music, nature and reconnecting with family (R)

Melissa Lucashenko grew up on the outskirts of Brisbane, where her Aboriginal mother grew plants and her Russian father built an improbable number of sheds in the backyard. (R) Melissa worked as a motorcycle detailer, a house painter, a prison advocate, and a game show contestant before finding her way as a writer.  Her novel, Edenglassie, imagines life in colonial Brisbane in the 1850s.  In it, s...

Kate Rowe's life has been full of wild adventures and hard living. But when she found sobriety, Kate discovered something big about herself. CW: This story contains discussion of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault and some strong language. Please take care when listening. Ever since she stepped off the boat at Circular Quay as a 20-something 10-pound Pom, Kate has run fearlessly toward outrage...

Aaron Tait was 18 when he went to war after September 11. His dad's guidance had set Aaron up with the grit he would need as a military officer, but it took him many years to forgive himself for his role in the war. Aaron comes from a long line of Navy men, and all through his childhood he was waiting until it was his turn to get stuck into life at sea. After basic officer training, Aaron moved th...

Hostage negotiation isn't at all like what you see in Hollywood blockbusters. There is no lying, no promise-making, not even any names. Vince Hurley has only one task—trying to make a deep, human connection with a complete stranger. Content Warning: this episode of Conversations contains strong language and descriptions of violent crime. Vince Hurley is a criminologist at Macquarie University and...

Navigator Will Oxley expected the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race to be a challenging one. But when he and his crew met with 12-metre waves and 80km/h winds in Bass Strait, Will knew something was about to go horribly wrong. (R) Will Oxley learnt the art of celestial navigation in his 20s and he is now one of the world’s leading ocean race navigators. He has competed in the Sydney to Hobart race...