Conversations

Dr Charlotte Tottman is a clinical psychologist who specialises in supporting cancer patients. Both her parents had died young from different cancers, so Charlotte always joked she would be next. In 2018, it wasn't a joke anymore. While on a beach holiday, Charlotte found a lump in her breast. When she got her own cancer diagnosis, all of Charlotte’s skills as a psychologist went out the window. S...

A few years ago, after a series of crisis after crisis after crisis, Allie Pepper thought she would have to give up high-altitude mountain climbing. This is how she got her groove back. Record-breaking mountaineer, Allie Pepper, is currently in the middle of a project to become the first and fastest woman to climb the world’s 14 tallest mountains – those over 8000m – without the use of oxygen. But...

Doctors often use euphemisms to dance around the 'C' word. But for oncologist Dr Ranjana Srivastava, how you talk to someone with cancer goes beyond "shadows, lumps and lesions". It's all about compassion and clarity, even when honesty is difficult. Ranjana Srivastava was a young doctor in regional Australia, accompanying her consultant on his late night rounds when she heard a patient say somethi...

Voyager frontman Danny Estrin on his unconventional path from heavy metal to law and on to the Eurovision grand final (R). Danny Estrin is one of the few Australians who knows what it’s like to perform at Eurovision.  As frontman for the progressive synth metal band, Voyager, Danny commanded the stage in the 2023 competition, wind machine and all.  His musical education started early, on a piano g...

Kathleen Folbigg was locked up in prison for decades, wrongly convicted of the deaths of her four children. For years, her childhood friend Tracy was the only person who believed in her innocence. Now they are telling the story of their herculean fight to overturn Kathleen's conviction. (CW: loss of children, descriptions of life in prison) In 2003, Kathleen Folbigg was locked up in jail for decad...

When you call for an ambulance these days, chances are the officers inside will save a life. But 40 years ago, 80 per cent of Alan Playford's passengers would either die on the way to the hospital, or on its doorstep. This is how he, and his colleagues, changed the face of paramedicine for the better. When Alan Playford first joined the New South Wales Ambulance Service in the 1970s, he would driv...

Ten years ago, Sydney-based artist HOSSEI took a step back from the art world to care for his sick mother. The more time they spent together, the more inspired HOSSEI became to create something especially for, about, and starring his mum. HOSSEI is an artist with a flair for colour, quirk and unbridled joy. But growing up the only son of a Persian-Australian family, it took years of hard work to c...

Hollywood actor Alan Alda has devoted his life to science, by taking his acting and communication skills off the screen and into the laboratory. Alan grew up in a show business family and spent his childhood touring with a burlesque show run by his parents. He eventually made a name for himself in showbiz, becoming well-known and much-loved for his performances in M.A.S.H. and The West Wing, as we...

Growing up south of Sydney as one of six boys, midwifery wasn't the occupation Christian Wright expected for himself. At the age of nine, he experienced a vision that gave him a sense of his future in a life of service. As a qualified midwife, Christian spent time in the tiny town of Nhulunbuy, right on the tip of the Northern Territory. He worked with Yolŋu women of remote Arnhem Land to help the...

Music was always in Mike Chapman’s blood. As a boy, he collected bottles at the Brisbane showgrounds and traded them for money, which he saved to buy his first guitar. In his career he has penned electrifying numbers for The Sweet, The Knack and Pat Benatar. In the history of '70s and '80s rock music, he is one of the least known, but most influential people. As a young man, he moved to the UK, ho...

Michael Ware witnessed some of the most violent battles in Baghdad; and was kidnapped three times. He was one of the few Western journalists to live full-time in Iraq during the war, embedded with U.S. forces, insurgents, and terrorists.  Leaving the war zone and resettling in Brisbane, Michael has had to 'consciously attempt to reclaim his life'. Further information Originally broadcast July 2012...

After a dream job as a nanny in Notting Hill, a young Donna Duggan was first lured to Africa by the charms of Zanzibar. She soon fell deeply in love with a local man, Nas, though she could never have predicted the direction their life would take.  Nas and Donna set up a safari company, on the premise they would give back to the country and community as their business prospered. They had two childr...

Charles Lomu's gentle and religious life in Tonga with his grandparents showed him the meaning of love. He was on track to being a young, in-demand Rugby League player when grief shook his family, and Charles turned down a dark path. He ended up in periodic detention in jail. Today, the power of barbering is a tool the youth worker uses to steer young men away from the dangerous path he experience...

Marine ecologist, Pia Winberg learned how useful seaweed could be for gut health and wound healing. One day she was conducting research by herself in her lab when she had a terrible accident. Pia was four-years-old when she moved from her native Sweden to Australia. She always loved the beach and the coastline.  As an adult, Pia became fascinated with the scientific properties of seaweed after vis...

Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Brisbane edition. Writer and comedian, Mandy Nolan and Chair of Creative Australia, Quandamooka man Wesley Enoch were two of the special guests who appeared on stage to share some photos close to their heart, and the stories attached to them. Further information To see Mandy and Wesley's photos for yourself,...

Deeply ashamed of something he had done, Mic Whitty retreated into the Welsh wilderness until an unexpected goal pulled him out of homelessness and back into the world. Mic had entered the workforce at the tender age of 15, joining the RAAF as an apprentice, before taking on a series of highly paid jobs in Saudi Arabia and New Zealand.  But feeling stressed out and burnt out, Mic decided to take a...

Tommy Caldwell grew up exploring Yosemite, looking up at El Capitan's punishing 3000ft sheer rock face. After years of training, he was ready to climb it.  Tommy is regarded as the world’s best big wall climber. He spent 15 years ascending various routes on El Capitan, the Yosemite National Park mecca for big wall climbers, until he was finally ready to attempt a route christened 'The Dawn Wall'....

Vickie's police record began when she was just 2 years old, and followed her throughout her life. But as an adult she pushed back, challenging a federal law for the rights of prisoners. When Vickie was given a police record as a toddler, it enabled authorities to place her into the custody of a family she didn't know. She grew up in western Sydney, under the strict religious rule of her adoptive m...

Law Professor Ron McCallum was a premature baby in the 1940s. He completed his studies by recording people reading his textbooks aloud onto cassettes. Then an early version of text to speech opened up new possibilities for him. When Ron was born, prospects for blind people to have careers outside sheltered workshops were few. In the late 1970s enormous change swept into Ron’s life. He fell in love...

Aged 17, Chris 'Brolga' Barns was meant to be the 'bird guy' at a new zoo in Broome. A cough in his keeper's house alerted him to a kangaroo joey called Josie, who needed four-hourly feeds and help with the toilet. From then on he was hooked. Brolga knew early on he wanted to make a living working with animals. After meeting Josie he began to rescue other joeys left alive in their mothers' pouches...

The veteran Wiradjuri journalist spent his first year living in the wreck of a Model T Ford on a NSW mission. He has reported from China and North Korea, covered Nelson Mandela’s release, the death of Princess Diana, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and reported from outside Osama bin Laden’s house after he was killed. His father was a hard man and an itinerant sawmiller who taught Stan the lesso...

Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Adelaide edition. Legendary sports broadcaster, Bruce McAvaney was one of the special guests who appeared on stage to share some photos close to his heart, and the stories attached to them. Further information To see Bruce's photos for yourself, head to the ABC Conversations Facebook page . https://www.facebo...

Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Adelaide edition. London Bombing survivor, Gill Hicks was one of the special guests who appeared on stage to share some photos close to her heart, and the stories attached to them. Further information To see Gill's photos for yourself, head to the ABC Conversations Facebook page . https://www.facebook.com/abc...

Longtime TV casting agent, Kirsty de Vallance was 16 when Police searched the house and arrested her father on serious drugs charges. Throughout her teen years she had to navigate the complexity of having a parent in prison.  The family went into freefall and a short time later Kirsty's mother died. Her two older sisters raised Kirsty and she stayed in touch with her father until his release from...

The co-creator of Absolutely Fabulous says her remarkable career as one of the world's funniest women is all down to a series of happy accidents.  When she and her great pal Dawn French were making their first series, French & Saunders, they were given complete freedom by the BBC, including the freedom to fail. Despite a few mishaps along the way and a battle with breast cancer, Jennifer now s...