No Filter

Sometimes really bad things happen in families. Things that aren’t spoken about. Things that are covered up to protect adults….at the expense of children. But sometimes, decades later, when those children grow up, they make the courageous, difficult decision to speak up, even if there is enormous pressure from within their family and community to stay silent. Virginia Tapscott is one...

Hugh van Cuylenberg’s job is to teach resilience. But when he realised that he wasn’t okay, he knew he had a problem.  On this episode of No Filter Hugh joins Mia to talk about how it’s possible to let go of the things that threaten to overwhelm us. And how it’s okay to feel what you’re feeling… THE END BITS: With thanks to Hugh van Cuylenburg. Find out mo...

Want more from Johann? Listen to the rest of his chat with Mia here Does your brain feel a bit like a marshmallow lately? Do you find it hard to concentrate? Do you pick up your phone only to find that an hour has passed and you’re down some obscure rabbit hole that’s landed you on the Facebook page of your high school English teacher and you’ve forgotten why you picked up your p...

Subscribe to Restart here. In case you missed it, we launched a new show with Madeleine West this week called Restart. If you’re one of the many people who listened to Madeleine's episode of No Filter, here’s the first episode of her new podcast. And if you want to hear the rest, subscribe to Restart wherever you get your podcasts…. https://omny.fm/shows/restart-madeleine-west/p...

This week on No Filter, we’re proud to introduce Narelda Jacobs as our guest host.  Kirli Saunders is a storyteller, poet, artist, and teacher by trade. She’s published three books, with another two to be released this year. Written two plays. And creates incredible artwork that also integrates her poetry. A proud Gunai Woman, Kirli advocates for racial equality, LGBTIQA+ rights,...

This week on No Filter, we’re proud to introduce Narelda Jacobs as our guest host.  Rhoda Roberts is one of the most influential Australians there is. She’s a nurse, a journalist, broadcaster, actor, producer, writer, art advisor, and artistic director. And she’s responsible for a lot of huge cultural moments in this country. From the Awakening ceremony during the openi...

If you looked at Madeleine West’s Instagram 5 years ago, you would have easily presumed that she had the perfect life. She lived in a fabulous house in Melbourne with her partner, a famous celebrity chef, and her six children. She was often on our TV Screens in Neighbours, Satisfaction, and Playing For Keeps. She practiced Yoga and drank green smoothies. And then one day, Madeleine decided t...

Just a heads-up, this interview touches on the themes of suicide. If you need help call Lifeline on 13 11 14.  Matthew Reilly lives a very strange life. He’s the first one to admit it. He spends most of it sitting in a nice room in a nice house creating elaborate action-adventure worlds that don’t exist…and he’s paid millions of dollars to do it. In 1996 at the age of...

Urzila Carlson’s life has been anything but ordinary. She grew up in South Africa, migrated to New Zealand in her late 20s, and didn’t decide to become a comedian until she was 32. And now she’s a star, hosting The Masked Singer and appearing regularly on Have You Been Paying Attention.  She and her wife Julie have two kids, and on this episode of No Filter, we discuss every...

It was February 2016, and Australian Basketball legend Lauren Jackson was looking down the barrel of her fifth Olympic Games in Rio. Lauren was already an icon as one of the best basketballers in the world. Having played professionally in America for most of her career. She’d injured her knee in 2015 - a common job hazard for professional basketballers -  and was in recovery. But she wa...

Christmas is often referred to as the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a day that's meant to be filled with joy and love. But what if you're not feeling joyful because you're missing a loved one or you're dealing with the end of a significant relationship? How do you face the empty chair at the Christmas table? Petrea King is one of the most respected grief counselors in the country. Sh...

Just a heads-up - this episode covers the difficult and emotional topic of miscarriage. If you’re a fan of the Aussie TV show Neighbours, then you’ve definitely seen Sharon Johal on your television. She played the character of Dipi Rebecchi from 2017 to early in 2021. Landing this gig as a series regular was groundbreaking - she was the first Indian Punjabi woman in a mainstream televi...

As a teen, Anthony Albanese sat down with his mother for dinner. It was just the two of them, as it always had been. Albanese’s father had died in a car crash before he was born. Or at least, that’s what he thought until that dinner. His mother told him his father was most likely alive and living in Italy... In this episode of No Filter, Anthony Albanese joins Mia to talk about his ver...

Picture this: You get a job that you didn’t apply for. You only have to do it for a year...but here’s the catch - the whole country is watching you as you figure out how to do it. There’s no job description, no money, no real guidance, and no help from the people who gave it to you. And the job? Well, it’s essentially about your life, and what you’ve been through. Tha...

Rebecca Woolf has done a lot of things before everyone else. She became a mum at 23 years old, had four children by the time she was 29 including twins. And then became a widow at just 37, when her husband Hal died pretty suddenly. But before he got sick unexpectedly, she was planning to leave him… Rebecca speaks about the hard stuff like exploring her sexuality and open relationships, stuf...

This love story starts with one woman sliding into another woman’s DMs. Fiona Falkiner is a model, she was a contestant and then a host on The Biggest Loser and the person who was in her DM’s? That was her now fiancé, Hayley Willis, who is a sports journalist.  Hayley was a little bit drunk, scrolling through Instagram after a big night and thought - wow, she’s hot. A...

For two years, Phoebe Burgess remained pretty silent when it came to the breakup of her marriage. And then her ex-husband went on a reality TV show called SAS Australia. She’d wake up in the morning and read messages from women on Instagram saying they were thinking of her. And that’s when she realised the danger of someone's story being told by someone else. So, she decided to take th...

If you’d looked at Phoebe Burgess’ Instagram account three or four years ago, chances are you would have seen a happy family smiling back at you. Phoebe; a former magazine journalist, her husband, Sam Burgess; the famous NRL player, and a growing baby bump going on family holidays to Hamilton Island, Fiji, and coastal NSW. They had a beautiful home. Fame. Wealth. It was the ultimate hi...

Over the past two decades, Kate Langbroek's life has changed dramatically. Some of that change has been because of choices she’s made - like having 4 kids in 5 years, or deciding to quit her high profile, massively well-paid radio job alongside Dave “Hughesy” Hughes to move to Italy...in the midst of a global pandemic. But other things that have thrown her world into chaos have b...

Mia Freedman often says friendships are forged in the fire of shitty times as well as great ones. And that is the truth of the very strong, sometimes very rude bond between Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb. They are two of the most admired, respected, successful, and talented journalists in Australia. They’ve won awards, written best-selling books, birthed babies, a hit podcast, a community of...

Amani Haydar was five months pregnant and excitedly preparing to become a mother for the first time. But on an ordinary day, Amani’s life changed to a degree she never thought possible. She answered a phone call that sliced everything she thought she knew about her parents, about relationships, about marriage, about love and about her own future - into two very different parts: before and af...

Across two episodes of No Filter, you’re going to hear the story of Lisa Wilkinson. But it’s Lisa Wilkinson like you’ve never heard her before. Because Lisa has lived lots of different lives in her 61 years. And on this episode of No Filter, she discusses them all.  From what actually happened when she left the Today Show, to a fiery phone call with Kerry Packer, her off air...

Over the next two episodes of No Filter, you’re going to hear the story of Lisa Wilkinson. But it’s Lisa Wilkinson like you’ve never heard her before. Because Lisa has lived lots of different lives in her 61 years. And on this episode of No Filter, she discusses them all.  From what actually happened when she left the Today Show, to a fiery phone call with Kerry Packer, her...

Emma Watkins grew up wanting to be a ballerina. She’d watched dancers all her life on the TV, and on The Wiggles. But then she got injured, and that dream? Well, it went out the window.  So she went in search of something more, and little did she know that something more would see her become the first female Wiggle. On this episode of No Filter we talk about everything from the backlash...

Caroline de Costa started studying medicine at Sydney University when she was just 16 years old, after a few years off and a baby in between, Caroline finished her medical degree in 1973. She decided she wanted to major in Obstetrics and Gynecology, but she wasn’t allowed. They wouldn’t let her…because it wasn’t a woman’s field. (Yes, that happened) So Caroline packe...