Conversations

Hung Le and his family made a terrifying escape from Saigon in 1975. All they had with them was one suitcase, a box of biscuits and some seasick pills. As they left, they saw Saigon on fire. Later, Hung's father became the 'lost artist' of Vietnam

Law Professor Jeremy Gans with stories of jurors using ouija boards in court, falling in love with advocates and snoozing through proceedings (R)

Niki Savva on the bungled coup which ousted Malcolm Turnbull and installed his surprise successor, Scott Morrison

Bryan’s played more than 80 roles on stage and screen. Raised in working-class Sydney, his talent, hard work, and unmistakable presence have been his ticket to the world.  From Breaker Morant and Newsfront to Two Hands and Sweet Country, a huge number of classic Australian films feature Bryan, a testament to his talent, popularity and work ethic.  Bryan also spent a period working in America, star...

Yosemite’s most punishing climb is the 3000ft sheer face of El Capitan mountain called the Dawn Wall. Tommy grew up exploring Yosemite and in 2015 he and his partner Kevin Jorgeson became the first to free-climb the wall

Dan Ziffer had a front row seat for the testimony of victims, financial advisors and bankers offered up to Australia's Banking Royal Commission

Adele Ferguson on the dishonest dealings of Australia's banks and financial institutions, and the damage done to customers and whistleblowers

Peter's Korean birth mother spent years searching for her son in America. Then she discovered an AFL star living in Perth (R)

Writer Dominic Smith on the glittering, perplexing history of the silent film era

Grant Edwards won the title of The Strongest Man in Australia for four years in a row by pulling trains, planes, trucks and ships. At work, he fought child exploitation and human trafficking. But while protecting others, Grant forgot to look after himself

Roger Pulvers lived an adventurous life in the Soviet Union, Japan and Poland, before he chose a whole new identity in 1976

A severe spinal injury could not crush Dinesh Palipana's drive to become a doctor (R)

Robert Raven puts aside his long-held fear of spiders to collect them and uncover hundreds of new species. (R)

Faye McLeod took on a stage name when she became a performer, and followed her star to the UK in the 1960s (R)

When Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed by the Indonesian Government, their lawyer of 9 years was not far away. Theirs are among the deaths which continue to drive Julian’s efforts to have capital punishment abolished worldwide

Historian Billy Griffiths on the complex history of Australia's indigenous archaeology

John on what he's learned in more than 30 years as an educator, parent, and founder and principal of Candlebark and Alice Miller schools

At 59, Michael became a 'reluctant psychonaut'. While on LSD he felt his sense of self disintegrate into a storm of Post-it notes

As a child, the superstar swim coach lived with a chronic lung condition, and had part of a lung removed. In 1956, a huge event held in his family's backyard changed the course of his life

Louise Burton has worked with the Royal Flying Doctor Service Qld for twenty years

Hugh White on the conundrum of how Australia can defend itself in the Asian century

Psychologist Jessica Grisham on working with people whose wellbeing is threatened by their attachment to 'stuff' (R)

Sound designer and naturalist Douglas Quin makes field recordings from everywhere on Earth and uses them to create soundscapes for film and tv, galleries and museums

From Antarctica to Arnhem Land, the pages of the books of this prolific author and illustrator are fuelled by adventure (R)

Jan’s work as a champion of young people has its roots in her own story (R)