Good Reading Podcast

When Chloe Hooper's partner is diagnosed with an aggressive and deadly cancer she had to find a way to tell their two sons. Could the news be broken as a bedtime tale? To find out, Chloe Hooper went on a quest to find the book that might help. From the Brothers Grimm to Frances Hodgson Burnett to Tolkien and Dahl, Hooper followed the trail of the world's favourite authors. The result is...

You might know them as Isabelle, Kerry and Emmie Silbery from Foxtel’s and Channel 10’s series Gogglebox , a program where they share their thoughts on the week’s TV offerings. But even from the comfort of the couch it was clear that the Silbery's were a connected, supportive and loving family. In 'Out of the Box', these three strong, independent women open up, sharing intensely per...

Ricky Bird loves making up wild stories for her little brother Ollie. Her outlandish plots and whimsical characters help fortify them against the hopeless reality of their lives. Her father has abandoned her and her family has moved to a bleak new neighbourhood. Worse still, her mother's new boyfriend has come with the furniture. Ricky's greatest weapon is her imagination and she uses it...

The small town of Nannine was once a thriving outback centre but years of punishing drought taken their toll. Nannine still has one remaining claim to fame: the unsolved disappearance nineteen years ago of Evelyn McCreery from the bedroom she shared with her twin sister Mina. Mina McCreery's life has been defined by intense and ongoing public interest in the case. That reaches a whole new lev...

Soar into a world where unicorns are real but also deadly and can only be tamed by the riders who hatch them. Skandar Smith has always wanted to be a unicorn rider but when the terrifying Weaver steals the most powerful unicorn in the world, becoming a unicorn rider soon becomes a lot more dangerous. And what if Skandar turns out to be the villain rather than the hero? In this episode Gregory Dobb...

When writer Catherine Deveny faced the end of a seventeen-year relationship with the father of her children she knew she had to create space for a new life. She had no idea what lay on the other side of months of tumult but it wasn't the first time Catherine had taken a plunge into the unknown. In this heartfelt memoir, Catherine traces the path of a tumultuous life from a chaotic childhood t...

Jackie Huggins and Ngaire Jarro are sisters from the Bidjara and Birri Gubba Juru nations. One hundred years since the birth of their father John Henry 'Jack' Huggins III, they decided to research and write about about a man they hardly knew. Jack Huggins was one of only fifty indigenous servicemen to enlist in the Australian Armed Forces in WWII. 'Jack of Hearts QX11594' is a...

Mark Tedeschi AM QC has worked as a Barrister and Crown Prosecutor on some of Australia's most significant criminal cases. He led the prosecution in the conviction of Bruce Burrell for the brutal murders of Kerry Whelan and Dorothy Davis. Together these cases were a high watermark in the Australian criminal justice system and resulted in important reforms around how a jury makes decisions. In...

At the age of seventy Ruth Wilson found herself grappling with both a physical diagnosis that affected her hearing and balance and unfathomable feelings of sadness. Ruth took the radical decision to leave her conventional life and reclaim her voice in search of personal healing. In this poignant and insightful memoir of love and self-acceptance Ruth discovered the curative power of reading. From a...

Jo Baaker is drawn back to the island of Texel to investigate the provenance of a 17th century silk dress unearthed by a local diving team. It offers a tantalising opportunity to explore the way people lived during Holland's Golden Age. Jo's research leads her to artist and intellectual Catharina van Shurman and her companion Anna Tesseltje and the mystery deepens as she delves into Anna...

When writer and musician Eliza Hull fell pregnant her excitement was tempered by the thought of the complexities she was about to face as a person of disability. More than fifteen percent of Australian households have a parent wth a disability but their stories are rarely shared. Eliza set out to gather stories from a diverse range of people on the disability spectrum and in the process, created a...

In a lonely farmhouse in Norfolk, 1703 Thomas Treadwater is a rational, modern man but he is hiding a terrible secret. Upstairs is a woman locked in an endless sleep, but she is beginning to stir and the powers she holds have the potential to unleash horrific consequences. As Thomas tries to unravel the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers a tale of superstition, of something dark and ancient...

Miriam Duffy is a respectable North Shore widow, real estate agent and devoted mother. When her youngest daughter Ally finds true love, Miriam is cautiously happy. As time goes by Miriam watches in disbelief as Ally's 'perfect' husband begins a campaign of controlling behaviour that cuts them off from her family. In response to escalating reports of horrifying family violence, fearl...

In 1845 Eliza Acton produced the first cookery book for domestic use, 'Modern Cookery In All Its Branches Reduced to System of Easy Practice for the Use of Private Families'. It revolutionised cookery in the home and introduced the concept of the recipe as we know it. But the details of Eliza Acton's life are a mystery. Her recipes, informed and styled by her poetry, are the narrati...

Sophie Carlton is an understudy of great promise just waiting for her moment in the spotlight. When star soprano Margaret Gardiner suddenly disappears right before the opening night of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Sophie's greatest wish may have come true. But sometimes dreams come with a price. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Julie Bennett about growing up in the Sydney Opera Hous...

Vivian Walker is dying but that's NOT on her list of things to do. Being terminally ill is frustratingly routine but Vivian is determined to prepare for D-day by making lists of things to do. The Very Last List of Vivian Walker is the darkly funny debut novel that will make you laugh, cry and wonder if you've crossed out all those things on your own lists of things to doIn this episode G...

Have you ever wondered how we can live a more ethical life? Michael Schur has all the answers to the questions we've been asking ourselves for thousands of years. By sifting through centuries of hard work and introspection by some of the smartest people ever known and eliminating the dull and migraine-inducing parts, Michael Schur has produced the ultimate guide to navigating the ethical dile...

During the darkest days of the Holocaust, Leo and Mina Fink rallied all the forces at their disposal to rescue the Jewish survivors of Nazi death camps. Together they initiated welfare programs, provided urgent relief and resettled thousands of Jewish settlers in faraway Melbourne. In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Margaret Taft about the Jewish diaspora in Melbourne, what led Leo and Mina Fi...

Dr Michael Mosley presents the latest scientific research explaining how the ketogenic diet works and why it is good for you. This new approach helps you lose weight safely, improve mood and reduce blood pressure, inflammation and blood sugars. The Fast 800 Keto is a dynamic new weight loss program that combines a ketogenic diet with low-calorie intermittent fasting to give you the key to long ter...

F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is an icon of American literature. But what if this timeless classic was told from a completely different perspective? Jillian Cantor reimagines the glittering world of the Jazz Age through the eyes of three of Fitzgerald's female characters, Daisy Buchanan, Daisy's best friend Jordan Baker, and Catherine McCoy, a suffragette fighting for women&...

Amalia and Alex fist set eyes on each other at an Oxford college bar. What begins as a friendship soon follows the tricky path to romance. But love comes at a cost – its intensity is both thrilling and terrifying when it threatens the most perfect of friendships. Set across four years and five cities, 28 Questions is suffused with music, literature, art, sex, philosophy and the exquisite pleasure...

When Sylvia Beach opens an English-language bookshop on the bohemian Left Bank, Sylvia cannot know she is making literary history. Shakespeare and Company soon becomes the meeting place for emerging writers and a second home for the American Lost Generation living in Paris. Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound are frequent visitors and profound friendships blossom within the welcoming a...

Gabe Ahern makes his living trapping wild dogs in the remote rangelands of Western Australia. When he stumbles upon a gang of people smugglers about to execute one of their victims, Gabe's solitary life is thrown into turmoil. When he rescues young Afghan refugee Amin from certain death, Gabe is reluctantly drawn into a vicious game where he becomes the hunted. Confronting crooked police, wil...

Freak Out is the story of how we as a nation were dragged into global culture by the unstoppable momentum of rock and pop music. The music of the sixties spoke to young people, encouraging them to engage with the world in a new way and to embrace the changes all around them. The sixties witnessed an explosion of musical styles that crossed musical borders and changed minds. From The Beatles to Bob...

Ray Vialoux is in big trouble and he needs Marshall Grade's help. Over dinner in a Brooklyn restaurant the conversation is cut short by a gunshot that leaves Ray Vialoux dead on the floor. As Marshall investigates, he discovers there's more to the murder than meets the eye. Exit.45 is the third book in the Marshall Grade series and takes us into the depths of the murky world of NYC drug...