Conversations

Writer Christos Tsiolkas broke away from the Christian church as a teenager. As a grown man, in a moment of personal crisis, he rediscovered the letters of St Paul and saw them in a different light

How Samantha Power became one of world's most influential foreign policy thinkers

Nicholas Cowdery oversaw some of Australia's most sensational cases during his 16 years in the role. His decisions often made him enemies in politics and the media, but he was always motivated by the prospect of a fair trial

NASA astronomer Jennifer Wiseman on exploring the design of the universe (R)

Tim Watts MP has a deeply personal reason for wanting to resurface stories about Chinese migrants to Australia. From pre-Federation, to the Kelly gang, to the Melbourne Olympics, he tells how their influence weaves right through our culture

When Peter Sharp's severe back pain forced him to give up work, he believed he was unemployable. Then began photographing lost and abandoned dogs, cats, guinea pigs and chickens

New York Times journalist Ray Bonner spent decades reporting from some of the world's most dangerous places. Then he moved to Australia, and made one of the riskiest decisions of his life

William is considered one of Australia's greatest living artists. But it took years for his work to be recognised as brilliant

At the age of 2, Rebekah Robertson's son George calmly explained to his mum that he was a girl. After years of turmoil in the family, Rebekah began devoting much of her life to helping Georgie be herself. In the process, she changed history

How Clare overcame grief she'd stored away since childhood, found a way to manage anxiety, and embraced a joyful, messy life

Frank Dikotter on the common personality traits of Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao and other twentieth century dictators

The story of two men who fought for different sides on the western front, and an unexpected friendship between their descendants (R)

Gisela Kaplan fell under the spell of birds when hand-rearing a magpie nestling. After it learned to speak, she was so intrigued she switched careers and began her research into avian behaviour. Her many books on Australian native birds have been ground-breaking. Many assumptions about the nature of birds and their behaviour are completely wrong when applied to Australian birds. Gisela Kaplan was...

After both her parents died young, Charlotte Wood grew up believing she would never grow old. When she reached her 50s, she began to ask some big questions about aging

Physiotherapist Sky Fosbrooke’s stint as a volunteer health worker led to a deep attachment to the people of a small South Santo village

When David McAllister was a little boy growing up in Perth he would tuck tea towels into his undies and dance around in front of the TV. He watched his own reflection, as he twirled, and leapt around the lounge room. At 7, David went to his first ballet class at a suburban scout hall, and loved it right away. But doing ballet was a kind of social death for a boy, in the 1970s in Western Australia....

The outrageous story of a group of financiers from a poor and damp island on the outer rim of Europe, who created a private company that became the biggest military and political power in all of India

Archie tells of writing Took the Children Away and playing it in public for the first time, of his belated reunion with his siblings, and his love story with Ruby Hunter Widely admired for his powerful lyrics and the grace of his pin-drop performances, Archie has overcome blow after blow throughout his life. He was just two years old when he was taken from his Aboriginal mother and given to the Co...

Di Morrissey grew up in a tiny village only accessible by rowboat, with film star Chips Rafferty and poet Dorothea Mackellar as her neighbours. In 1954, a terrible accident on Lovett Bay changed everything

While fleeing the aftermath of a failed marriage, Hilary McPhee accepted a job in Jordan to write the autobiography of a Hashemite Prince. Living alone for the first time, she was plunged into extreme loneliness

Leah was a teenager working in a small-town meatworks when she discovered her true path in life (R)

Winemaker Will Rikard-Bell was working at Hunter Valley winery when a catastrophic explosion knocked him off his feet. He sustained burns to 70% of his body, and his skin needed to be almost entirely rebuilt (R)

As a young man studying in Europe, Misha formed underground links that would propel his whole career. The former BBC correspondent interviews criminals all over the world to understand the all-pervasive webs of modern organised crime

How hot young widows, perceptive friends and twitter kept television executive Que afloat after the death of her husband

Tara was raised by parents who were radical Mormon survivalists, preparing for the End of Days. Although they didn't believe in traditional schooling, Tara taught herself in secret and made it to Cambridge and Harvard (R)