No Filter

To many, she's considered a fast-talking Aussie who created Puberty Blues. B ut when you dig a little deeper, you realise that author Kathy Lette is so much more than the vivacious outfits she wears. For most of her public life, she kept quiet about the fact that her eldest son Jules had autism. But in 2012, after unintentionally writing about it in The Boy Who Fell to Earth, Kathy realised that i...

“I won’t love anything as much as I love swimming." With nine Olympic medals, Leisel Jones is regarded as one of the greatest Australian swimmers ever. But when she stepped onto the Olympic platform at just 15 years old, it was a baptism of fire. Thrust into the limelight so young she reveals the constant pressure she was under – from coaches, from the media and fr...

Daniel Germanos was completing his HSC when he found out his kidneys were failing. He was 17. He played rep soccer, was fun loving, and had never had a problem with his health before. Yet, out of nowhere he got sick. His mum Rita and Dad George, along with his three older siblings were blindsided. The family knew they would have to do everything in their power to try and make him be...

Four years ago, Taryn Brumfitt was booked into surgery for a boob job, and a tummy tuck, when she had an epiphany. "If I go through with this, what am I saying to my daughter about body image? How am I going to encourage her to accept and love her body? What type of hypocrite or mother would I be?" Now, she has a dream. To change the way we see our bodies. She joins Mia to...

Not many people can say they influenced Oprah, but Caroline Overington can. The award-winning author and journalist interviewed the most famous woman in the world at her Harpo studios last year, and it did not go as expected. A woman who believes in "fake it till you make it", she has twice won Australia’s most prestigious award for journalism, the Walkley Award for Investigat...

If you've ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at the top of the media tree, and how one of Australia's top journalists works and thinks, you are going to love this episode. Sarah Ferguson is a multiple Walkley-award winning journalist, the host of Four Corners, and is known for asking politicians the tough questions. She is also funny and sweary and beautiful. She's half of...

She started making the lipsticks she would want to wear when she was 19. Within three years Poppy King was head of the biggest cosmetic company in Australia. She was one of the few young women in our pre-Internet public life and she changed the psyche of Australia in terms of what we could make and what we could export.  And then she disappeared. Poppy moved to New York and Aus...

In 2013, mother-of-three Sam Bloom’s world changed. A freak accident on a family holiday in Thailand left her paralysed from the chest down. Her three young sons and her husband Cameron rallied around her. But it wasn’t until the family found a baby magpie who had fallen from his tree that things started looking up for the Blooms. Now, Cameron has written a book about Penguin, the...

He hasn't had a drink since he was 22 years old. And he reckons that’s the reason he’s made it in comedy. There’s no denying that Dave Hughes is one of our most popular comedians. From hosting the Logies to touring internationally, the former co-host of The Project joins Mia to talk about how his career started, his friendship with radio co-host Kate Langbroek and why he really l...

Gloria Steinem has long been considered the mother of feminism. Since her days of political activism in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the journalist and author has spent her life campaigning for women’s rights. And at 82 years old, there’s still no stopping her. In this interview with Mia Freedman, Gloria discusses the idea of selfies as empowerment, why she feels sad for Kim Kardashi...

Ruby Rose lost her mum when she was only two years old... In 2009, the Heuston family's world changed for ever when Chloe Waterlow was murdered by her brother in Sydney's east. Chloe was mother to the three Heuston kids, then aged 5, 2 and 4 months. Those children would grow up without their mum. Their father Ben, lost the love of his life. Five years later, another unthinkable trag...

She has slept with around 12,000 people. Many of them men.  But for as long as she can remember, Madison Missina has lived part of her life in the closet. As an award-winning porn star, sex worker, sex therapist and business owner - she's gotten used to not revealing her real name, or any parts of her previous life. But now she is coming...out. In every possible way....

The much loved comedian and actor may have clocked a long career on stage and screen, a book, a battle with breast cancer and botox, but there's still something on the wish list. Julia Morris lays it all out in this hilarious interview with Mia Freedman, spanning topics from miscarriage to magazines, the papparazzi and how to best mask your menopausal rage.  Your...

"I cannot believe that is how my cards fell. I cannot believe I should have a six-year-old daughter."   Rebecca Sparrow is an author, columnist, mother, and Oprah worshipper. She's also one of the wisest women Mia Freedman knows.     After the death of her daughter Georgie, these two women connected and forged an unlikely friendship.   In this interview with Mia, Rebecca talks...

Natasha Stott Despoja famously walked into parliament, at age 26, wearing Doc Martens. It set the tone for a political career that would shake things up.  The former Leader of the Australian Democrats Party and mother ot two was once asked if she could breastfeed on a schedule. Now as the Ambassador for Women and Girls, she joins Mia Freedman to talk about her life in politics, her...

"The dominant partner in any relationship will always sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door." So says Peter FitzSimons. It's one of his little theories of life,  of which he has many. The author, columnist and former Australian rugby player has written 27 books, holds the record for the longest radio interview ever, and is the Chair of the Australian Republican movement. Peter...

The Hey Dad! child star blew the whistle on her TV dad. Robert Hughes, who played her father on the popular Australian TV show, was found guilty of repeatedly molesting her over a period of many years. Hughes was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years and nine months jail. But now, he's appealing for a second time. Monahan details the moment she 'snapped', facing Hughes in court, and why she's decided...

Michelle Bridges gets stuff done.  She is an entrepreneur, a personal trainer, a television personality, and a new mum to son Axel. And did we mention she has written 13 books? Yeah. But what you might not know about Michelle is that she is a survivor of sexual assault, is an absolute "sook" about her baby son, and that on the day she sat down to talk to Mia Freedman about her new b...

Sam Armytage has had a rough few days. As co-host on Australia's highest-rating breakfast TV show  Sunrise, Sam is used to everyone having an opinion about her. But after an interview with Hollywood star Kristin Davies took an unexpected turn last week, that attention has taken a particularly negative turn.  Sam talks to Mia about how breakfast television works, how it feels to be l...

She is one of Australia's funniest women. But behind the big hair of her famous character, Effie, it's Mary Coustas' unfaultering desire to become a mother that has provided her life's biggest challenges.  Through 23 IVF attempts, Mary suffered unimaginable losses, faced unenviable decisions and ultimately, found the joy that she'd been looking for all along. Here, she sha...

She's a cook, an award winning author, and of course a domestic goddess. But behind the scenes of her TV shows, Nigella Lawson is a woman who carries around salt and mustard in her handbag. And has an array of condiments on her bedside table.  In this special live episode of No Filter, Nigella sits down with Mia and the Mamamia office to talk food, diets and her new cook book,  Simply Ni...

She's the highest ranking trans military officer in Australia. Is friends with some of the most powerful people in the country. And has a love of cricket that knows no bounds. But these are just some of the hats that Group Captain Cate McGregor wears. Australian of the Year 2016 finalist, and 2016 Queenslander of the year opens up about about life before becoming Cate, dealing with transphobia and...

She is one of Australia's best known political journalists. Whether it's in written form for The Drum , or eating dinner with the country's leaders on her hit ABC show Kitchen Cabinet , Annabel Crabb has her own special way of shedding light on what is happening in Canberra.   A renaissance woman through and through, Annabel talks about why she has chosen not to get married, her views on 21st...

She's one of Australia's best known journalists. But behind the stellar political interviews, two time Walkley award winner Leigh Sales is one of the kindest and funniest women in the business. The mother of two talks about how difficult she found childbirth, what it has been like interviewing some of the most powerful women in the business and whether or not 7.30 is her endgame.   Show Notes...

Gold Logie winner and darling of the Australian media, Carrie Bickmore spends her nights hosting Channel Ten's The Project. But outside of that, this mother of two has a mission. One that was born from the death of her husband. At the 2015 Logies, Carrie made the whole of Australia listen when she used her Gold Logie acceptance speech to create awareness about brain cancer. She put on a beanie, an...