Good Weekend Talks

We speak with Millie Millgate, the director of Music Australia, established by the federal government two years ago to support our contemporary music scene. It’s a tough gig given the issues facing the local music industry. Festivals have been paused or cancelled. Live music venues are struggling. And local hits are few and far between. Millgate knows the industry back to front, having start...

In this week's episode we speak with the author of a new book, Processed, about the downside of sandwich ham and salami, fried bacon, hot dogs, pepperoni pizzas and the like. Speaking with GW deputy editor Greg Callaghan, Morris-Marr explains how a raft of scientific papers link the nitrites used in many processed meats to improve flavour and eliminate bacteria, with cancer. She explores, too, why...

In this week's episode we speak with acclaimed author Helen Garner, who followed the travails of her grandson's footy team for her new book,  The Season . She speaks with Konrad Marshall about what she now envies about male contact sports, the benefit of coming to footy with limited prior knowledge, and the debate over the book's cover image. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

In this episode, we speak with CEO of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley, on the eve of the 2025 tournament for a chat about his own background as a promising player and highly successful coach, plus about the game today. He sits with Good Weekend’s Konrad Marshall for some tips on the best players to watch and who he thinks might take home the trophies later this month. See omnystudio.com/lis...

In this episode we speak with Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, who broke through two decades ago with her hit debut album The Sound of White , which dealt with teen and 20-something troubles. Now 41, Higgins has just produced a new album,  The Second Act , which traverses the aftermath of the breakdown of her marriage. Higgins talks candidly with Good Weekend  senior writer Me...

In today's episode, singer/songwriter Tim Minchin discusses the poison that is social media, how he emerged from his bruising time in LA and why he urges students to look after their bodies. In conversation with culture reporter Thomas Mitchell, he reflects also on his infamous George Pell song, and on the impending publication of his first non-fiction book, Y ou Don't Have to Have a Dream (Advice...

In this episode, we speak to Academy Award winner Kate Winslet about her new film "Lee" - a biopic about the life of pioneering World War II correspondent Lee Miller, and her sensitive and stunning front-line photography. Hosted by Konrad Marshall , the discussion covers everything from the ups and downs for women in film, to life behind the lens. We'll be back in January 2025 with plenty of excit...

In this week's episode, our last for 2024, we speak with two of the magazine's most beloved writers about the craft of long-form journalism. In conversation with Good Weekend  editor Katrina Strickland, they discuss their most popular stories of the year, what it was like to cover the Paris Olympics and Olympians, where they get their ideas from and the most difficult and rewarding aspects of...

On this week's episode, the eight-time world champion talks about the amazing places she's toured in her year out from competitive surfing. Speaking with  Good Weekend  senior writer (and keen surfer) Tim Elliott, she also discusses the rising popularity of women's sport, whether female competitors are any nicer to each other than their male counterparts - and the mind game she plays to psyche her...

In this week's episode we speak with Perth pole vaulter Nina Kennedy, who won the trifecta of the three big global events in her sport this year. Kennedy speaks with  Good Weekend  senior writer Amanda Hooton about the big cry she had before the Paris final, how important it is to give her body time to recover, her onward march towards the LA Olympics - and whether Brisbane 2032 is within the real...

In this week's episode we speak with Shanghai-born, Melbourne-based artist Badiucao, who explains what it's like to remain under suspicion and surveillance for his political artwork. Badiucao, a Walkley-award winning artist with  The Age , speaks with opinion editor Patrick O'Neil about his early life in China, the kind of things that still happen to him here in Australia - and that strange time s...

On this week's episode, actor, author and advocate Hannah Diviney speaks about what it was like to call out Lizzo and Beyonce for ableist language, how she doesn't always love her disability, and the freedom to be found in not always needing to be awesome. Speaking with  The Sydney Morning Herald  culture writer Thomas Mitchell, Diviney also talks about her the new Australian film,  Audrey . See o...

In this week's episode we speak with author Gina Chick, winner of the inaugural  Alone Australia  and author of the memoir  We Are The Stars . Chick speaks with journalist David Leser about feeding birds from her own mouth as a kid, how she learned to embrace her weirdness as a young adult, and the wonder of discovering the identity of her famous literary grandmother. See omnystudio.com/listener f...

In this episode, we speak to Academy Award winner Kate Winslet about her new film "Lee" - a biopic about the life of pioneering World War II correspondent Lee Miller, and her sensitive and stunning front-line photography. Hosted by Konrad Marshall , the discussion covers everything from the ups and downs for women in film, to life behind the lens. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informatio...

In this week's episode we speak with former  Australian Financial Review  Rear Window columnist Joe Aston about the national airline and how its reputation has fallen among so many flyers. Aston, who penned the upcoming book,  The Chairman's Lounge: The Inside Story of How Qantas Sold Us Out , speaks with senior  Good Weekend  writer Jane Cadzow about how he went from working for Qantas and writin...

In this week's episode we speak with Jon Ronson, who contends the attributes of psychopaths really do help them get ahead. Ronson, who wrote the 2011 bestseller  The Psychopath Test , also explores how social media rewards those with an empathy bypass, and looks at the rise of public shaming. Speaking with  Good Weekend  senior writer Konrad Marshall, he also makes a case for non-fiction writers l...

Nobody's desk at  The Age  and  The Sydney Morning Herald has been as overflowing with books as that of Jason Steger, who recently left his job as books editor at the mastheads. On today's episode he talks with culture writer Kerrie O'Brien about his favourite interviews and books, whether he cops much abuse from writers after a bad review - and that time he drank too much with Richard Flanagan. S...

In today’s episode, American author, speaker and blogger Mark Manson discusses how the mantra of relentless positivity, which drives so much of the self-help industry, is full of pitfalls. He explains how negative emotions have a purpose - to drive us to do something - and why the willingness to look like an idiot occasionally guards against self-entitlement. He gives us tips on how to be realisti...

In this episode we speak with health reporter Norman Swan, who has written a new book on the dos and don'ts of raising children up to the age of 10. Among other topics, Swan talks about how to set good eating habits, what to do about screen overload - and whether it's ever ok to let kids sip alcohol (answer: no). Hosting this conversation with the ABC broadcaster and author of  So You Want to Know...

The youngest ever editor of  The Sydney Morning Herald , now owner of Private Media, publisher of  Crikey , Eric Beecher has spent decades in and observing the media. In today's episode he discusses his conclusions on when it works best, and when it fails democracy, with his longtime friend, journalist David Leser. Beecher also discusses what it was like to work for Rupert Murdoch during his two y...

In today's episode, singer/songwriter Tim Minchin discusses the poison that is social media, how he emerged from his bruising time in LA and why he urges students to look after their bodies. In conversation with culture reporter Thomas Mitchell, he reflects also on his infamous George Pell song, and on the impending publication of his first non-fiction book, Y ou Don't Have to Have a Dream (Advice...

In this episode we speak with Markus Zusak, the bestselling novelist behind  The Book Thief  and  Bridge of Clay , who has penned his first non-fiction book,  Three Wild Dogs and the Truth , about Reuben, Archer and Frosty, the pound dogs he and wife Mika brought into their family. Zusak talks about the mad mayhem of sharing your life with a mongrel, and the importance of stripping away the veneer...

In this episode we speak with Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, who broke through two decades ago with her hit debut album  The Sound of White , which dealt with teen and 20-something troubles. Now 41, Higgins has just produced a new album,  The Second Act , which traverses the aftermath of the breakdown of her marriage. Higgins talks candidly with Good Weekend  senior writer Melissa Fyf...

In this episode we speak with Jason Arrow, otherwise known as Australia's Alexander Hamilton. The South African-born, Perth-raised performer won the role for the musical's 2021 Sydney premiere, and has since played the titular character in Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland, Manila, Abu Dhabi and Singapore. Hosting this conversation about everything from how he remembers all those words, to how he wind...

In this episode, we speak with Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. Back in 2018, Marsden’s life changed overnight when she received news from then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull that the federal government was granting the foundation a record-breaking $443 million to help fortify the reef against the ravages of climate change. It was a controversial decision – th...