No Filter

Vanessa Cranfield learned her baby girl had down syndrome on the day she was born. While the doctors and nurses ushered her husband out of the room to tell him, the young mum was faced with a dawning reality; and a lifetime of unknowns.  Gretel is now in her early twenties, with two other siblings. This is a beautiful, candid interview about parenting a child with a disability. About wha...

Samuel Johnson has two sisters, one Gold Logie and some frozen sperm sitting in a freezer at a clinic somewhere in Melbourne.  Across his career, he's been in all the iconic shows of the 90s; Home and Away, Blue Heelers, Halifax FP and The Secret Life Of Us. But despite his success on screen, he's had a lot of personal tragedy and hardship in his life. Drugs. Booze. Mothers and girl...

When Chloe Shorten separated from her husband of 10 years, she was paranoid it would somehow affect her two young children. Then, when she remarried Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and blended her family, she got even more paranoid. So, she went hunting for help. For books, for studies, for information about the best way to do everything from “the talk” when you sit your kids down to te...

When was the last time you bought a packet of tampons or pads? Do you remember how much they cost? Did you shop around looking for the cheapest possible option? Did you have to weigh up your priorities between say…..feeding your kids or bleeding all over your clothes? When Rochelle Courtenay read that homeless women would often have to choose between food and sanitary items, she decide...

Who would you choose to play you in a Hollywood movie? It's a question you might have pondered. Little did Sue Brierley know that one day, she would be sitting in a Hollywood theatre, watching Nicole Kidman portray her story on the big screen. When she was just a teen, the Tasmanian girl had a vision that she would adopt a child from India, instead of giving birth to her own. Saroo, the little boy...

How do you prepare for a one-way mission to Mars? It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? But for Melbourne-based consultant Dianne McGrath, it just might become a reality. In 2013, Dianne signed up for Mars One. A mission that aims to establish life on Mars. She is now in the final 100 remaining candidates IN THE WORLD. And at the end of this year, she will find out whet...

Aaron Elias always knew he wanted to have children with his fashion designer partner Jayson Brunsdon. He just wasn’t sure how they would do it. As a gay couple living in Sydney, there aren’t many options out there if you want to have children. But one night, after watching a 60 minutes story on surrogacy, Aaron & Jayson knew they were on to something. Two years later (through a can...

Have you ever had to apologise for taking up space? Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who was ashamed to go out with you in public? Have you ever felt like a failure because of how you look? American writer, feminist and fat activist Lindy West has. Plenty of times. But as soon as she started writing about her experiences, all that changed. She joins Mia Freedman live in the Mamami...

In October 2015 best selling author Nikki Gemmell’s world was turned upside down. Police knocked at her door, and informed her that her mother Elayn had been found dead. She had euthanized herself, without telling anyone. There was no note, and no reasoning. So Nikki did what she does best, and wrote about it. After Nikki’s latest book, is a raw account of that October day and what cam...

Syl Freedman had no idea what the hell was wrong with her. At 21, she wasn't in a good way. Decrepid immune system; in and out of hospital; and period pain so crippling she sometimes blacked out. After thinking herself to simpy be 'unlucky' her entire life, she hit a turning point: she was diagnosed with endometriosis, a silent disease affecting 1 in 10 women. Never heard of it? Neither had Syl. S...

This is not your average interview with Prime Minister. Of course it isn’t. It’s No Filter. Mia Freedman found out on Friday she would be interviewing Malcolm Turnbull on Monday. She would have 20 minutes. And that would be that. But boy did she get a lot out of him in that time. From vaccinations to marriage equality, to women in Parliament there was a lot covered. Especially when he...

Put everything you have EVER heard about Roxy Jacenko to one side of your mind and prepare to have all your preconceptions blown out of the water. Because we promise, you have never heard Roxy Jacenko like this before. From cancer, to how she’s coping as a single mum. Visiting Ollie in jail, to why she no longer posts on her 5-year-old daughters instagram account. This is a conversation that...

He’s the award-winning stand-up comedian and host of the hit ABC show, Gruen. But as Mia Freedman finds out, for everything that we know about Wil Anderson (including those people who think he’s Adam Hills) there’s a lot we don’t know. From what it’s been like living with Osteoarthritis, to a very prickly conversation about his personal life, Mia asks the very fu...

How do you live when you know don’t have much time? Emma Betts is 25. She has stage four melanoma. And according to doctors, has around six months to live. In this extremely intimate No Filter, this wife, daughter, sister, crazy dog-lady, lover of pavlova, former international aid and development worker, and current writer/blogger/advocate talks to Mia about being diagnosed with cancer at 22...

A housing commission background. A single mum of two children. A son addicted to ice, and a time - a dark time - that she wanted to end it all. Senator Jacqui Lambie knows a lot about the underdog. But behind the bolshy exterior is a woman who is surprisingly reasonable. The fierce Tasmanian independent has seen and been through a lot over the years, and she’s not afraid to talk about it. Fr...

Lisa Oldfield has no filter. The term was practically invented for her, according to Mia Freedman. The business woman turned soon-to-be Real Housewife of Sydney has a no bullsh*t attitude when it comes to life. She doesn’t care what people think of her parenting style, her marriage to One Nation founder David Oldfield or her conservative views. Which makes for some pretty interesting convers...

Brace yourself. Because Peggy Orenstein has spent seven years studying the sexual landscape for young girls, and it's confronting. From hookup culture, to casual sex (and how it has become the precursor to intimacy), she examines the ways in which porn and all its sexual myths have seeped into young people’s lives. So how do you explain to your 10-year-old daughter that a nude self...

She was a career-driven reporter who was obsessed with work when she was approached to be on The Bachelorette. For Georgia Love, it was the hardest decision she's ever had to make. But, she jumped. Australia watched her take a chance on finding love. And the day after the finale, the day after she'd selected Lee Elliot in front of the entire nation, her mother died. Georgia Love speaks to Mia...

Gender studies Professor and feminist Dana Berkowitz was strongly opposed to Botox. She would lecture students on body image and beauty culture, and was researching for a book on anti-aging practices in society. And then, while researching it, she had it. What followed for her were compliments. Many compliments. And she found herself at the centre of a conflict so many women have: I...

She’s won 11 Aria Awards. 22 Golden Guitars. Released 10 albums. And somewhere in between all that had three kids and written an autobiography.  There is no denying that Kasey Chambers has done a lot into her 40 years of life. But behind the many golden guitars is a person who, at the age of 30 was diagnosed with anorexia and has spent the past ten years dealing with her relationship wi...

Kids say some funny things sometimes. So when two-year-old Georgie Stone said 'Mum, I want a vagina', it seemed like an innocent, cute kid comment. And Mum barely blinked. But Georgie knew already that she was born in the wrong body. That she was transgender. And as the years unfolded, it became apparent. In 2015 - at just 15 years old - Georgie publicly came out as transgender. She did so to advo...

As our Australian Cricketers turn the SCG into a blushing meadow for the Pink Test, it's a reminder of Jane McGrath's legacy. The mother of two, and wife to cricket fast bowler Glenn McGrath formed a foundation that has changed lives. But she also forged a friendship like no other. This is not a story about breast cancer, it's the story of Jane McGrath and her hilarious best friend, Tracy Bevan. T...

She’s the co-host of Studio 10, is often on the cover of magazines and often has headlines written about her post pregnancy body. But if you call Sarah Harris a TV star or a celebrity, chances are she will laugh in your face and say she is just a journalist. But there is no denying that her life has changed since she changed TV networks and jobs. She speaks to Mia Freedman about being follow...

If you had written 23 novels - and had nine of them debut at number one on the New York Times bestseller list - would you still reply to every fan email you received and every tweet that popped up in your notifications list? Probably not, but for American author Jodi Picoult, she wouldn't have it any other way. She joins Mia Freedman to talk about her new book, Small Great Things, biases...

The past two years have not been easy for Antonia Kidman. In 2014 she lost her dear father to a heart attack. Just seven months later, came the tragic and sudden death of her former husband and the father of her four older children. It was a double blow of mammoth proportions for Antonia and even more so for her family. What happened next, and the path she’s chosen to follow as her kids...