Conversations

Ben Macintyre with the true tale of 'Agent Sonya'; a housewife with 3 children and a Soviet super-spy. Sonya trained Communist rebels in Manchuria in the 1930s, arranged a plot to kill Hitler, and smuggled the plans for the atomic bomb to the Soviets

In 1973, Tana Douglas found her calling. She became the world's first woman roadie in rock and roll, touring with AC/DC, Iggy Pop and Elton John *CW: discussion of drugs and drug use (R)

In 1973, Tana Douglas found her calling. She became the world's first woman roadie in rock and roll, touring with AC/DC, Iggy Pop and Elton John *CW: discussion of drugs and drug use (R)

Biologist David Sinclair believes aging is a disease, and we can find a cure for it

Claudia Chan Shaw’s life has been both bizarre and exquisite, moving from chronicling a man who collected his own belly button fluff, to unearthing her family's deep connection to fashion, told in three acts

Psychiatrist Dr Warren Ward treats patients who are severely ill with eating disorders. Understanding the mystery of human nature has driven him since he was a young doctor, and has led him down a strange path into examining the love lives of philosophers

Naomi Mourra grew up as a door-knocking Jehovah's Witness and closeted lesbian. At 21, she realised Doomsday was not upon her, and left the religion for good

Durkhanai Ayubi and her family keep alive the stories and flavours they carried to Australia from Afghanistan, in the dining room of their 'accidental' and thriving restaurant (R)

Iain McCalman on the life of adventurer Delia Akeley, and her profound connection with a vervet monkey she named 'J.T'

Freediver Amber Bourke on the serene, otherworldly experience of floating down through crystal-clear water, with no oxygen tanks or fins, 70 metres below the surface of the sea

Stephen Walker with the thrilling, surreal story of the loyal communist and father of two who became the first person to journey into space, in a capsule perched on top of a modified Soviet R-7 missile

Dog trainer Neil McDonald and cattle wrangler Joni Hall on their loyal, emotionally intelligent charges: outback working dogs

Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett on his life in music, environmental action, and politics, and his life now on The Oils final tour

DNA expert Dr Jeremy Austin on his 14-year quest to help solve one of Australia's enduring military mysteries: the identity of the 'unknown sailor'

Gavin Pretor-Pinney loved gazing at clouds as a child. As an adult, his fascination with clouds drew him from England to Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria to see the Morning Glory, the world's most spectacular cloud formation (R)

Charlotte was Australia's first children's author. She came to the colony of NSW from London in 1826, and now her trailblazing, tragic and dramatic life story has been written by her descendants, Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell (R)

Mimi Wellisch on the tumultuous path that led her back to where their story started — a Danish milkbar in 1964

Damian Callinan with the grand love story of his parents Adrian and Kathleen, who met in 1946 at a football match. They were together for 62 years until a ridiculous, terrible accident brought their lives together to a close

John Colapinto was singing a Beatles song in front of Bette Midler when he injured his vocal cords. The experience set him on the path to investigating the miracle of the human voice

Ben works with athletes including the Richmond Football Club and surfer Steph Gilmore in a counter-intuitive way. He helps them own their flaws, and find an intrinsic purpose so they can take both wins and losses in their stride. Ash Barty credits Ben with helping her become World Number 1 (R)

Lisa Leong on her colourful and curious working life in radio, and how a personal crisis after the birth of her daughter upended almost everything she knew

Ecologist Katherine Moseby is helping Australia's bilbies, quolls, and stick-nest rats evolve to become tougher, faster and stronger, so they can survive the looming threat of more than 2 million feral cats

Mark May was a brilliant but troubled young man who made a decision to leave society altogether in the 1980s. He descended into a remote gorge in NSW and survived in the bush by hunting and living in rough camps for 35 years. Writer Tom Patterson tells his story

Historian Phillip Deery on how ASIO recruited ordinary people as secret agents, including a 'nice widow from Adelaide' named Anne Neill

Dr Andrew Browning first went to Ethiopia as a young medical student. He has now spent nearly two decades working with Africa’s most disadvantaged women (CW: Andrew discusses the medical condition and treatment of some of his patients. Listener discretion required)