Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption. Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling. Conversations Live is coming to the stage! Join Sarah Kanowski and...
Latest episodes
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52 min
Encore: Bonnie Garmus on the spark of anger which began a whole new life, in her 60s
When author Bonnie Garmus tried to sell her first novel, it was rejected 98 times, but then at 66, she wrote a novel called Lessons in Chemistry, which sold four million copies aro…
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53 min
Zoe Terakes and the mythic tales of gods, sex and magical transformations
Zoe Terakes is a writer and actor with deep family connections to the island of Crete, where their great-grandparents migrated to Australia from.This island is the site of Europe’s…
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47 min
Why Anthony LaPaglia is unapologetically irritable
Anthony talks about his turbulent childhood in Adelaide, escaping to a cocaine-fuelled New York in the 1980s to begin his life as an actor, and how writing his memoir helped him fo…
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44 min
Encore: The incandescent life of fashion visionary Jenny Kee
Fashion designer Jenny Kee co-created a whole new era in Australian fashion in the 1970s. But nothing could have prepared her for her own next chapter.Jenny was born in Bondi in th…
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51 min
Learning my family connection to the brutal history of Australia's pearling industry
When Edith Wright discovered the turbulent history of her great-grandfathers, who were some of the founders of the pearling industry in the waters off Broome, she knew she had to w…
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52 min
Encore: My orgasm induced amnesia and other epic adventures
Dasha Ross tells the story of her bizarre brush with memory loss and what happened when she and her husband decided to takeover a rundown beachside hotel in Sri Lanka.Dasha has liv…
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45 min
Anthony Scaramucci on Trump, getting fired and owning his mistakes
Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci on his childhood, becoming a success on Wall Street and why backing Trump was a colossal error.Anthony grew up on Long Island, part of a large Italia…
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51 min
How to keep living when life falls apart
When Robin Bailey’s husband and father of their three boys died by suicide, she had to figure out the best way to help her children work through their grief while also managing her…
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50 min
Encore: Inside the minds of the fish who sleep, have friends, and know it's the weekend
Dr Culum Brown's work on fish cognition has proven fish have long memories, sharks have friends, and sting rays know it's the weekend.Dr Culum Brown is a leading researcher in the…
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53 min
How I decentred men and fell in love with my friends instead of another f*ckboy
Broadcaster and author Dee Salmin on how her parents' epic love story and dramatic relationship shaped her understanding of love and men; and how she eventually found healthy roman…
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50 min
A little girl with a life split in three — how Mimi made it [PART II]
Mimi Kwa tells her family’s saga, featuring her dad — the thirty-second child of a wealthy Chinese silk trader, and her mum, who survived decades of undiagnosed schizophrenia, and…
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49 min
PART ONE: A little girl with a life split in three
Mimi Kwa tells her family’s saga, featuring her father — the thirty-second child of a wealthy Chinese silk trader, and her mother, who survived decades of undiagnosed schizophrenia…
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52 min
Mick Fanning on surfing, fighting off a great white shark, and losing three brothers
Mick won 3 world surfing titles, and famously punched a great white shark in South Africa. But his life out of the water has been threaded through with devastating loss, after the…
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52 min
Encore: A family story of growing up poor in Outback Queensland
Journalist Rick Morton on how his mum raised three children in poverty and the class disparities in Australia.Rick's family come from the vast country of Outback Queensland, near t…
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49 min
My poo transplant, ayahuasca trip and other wellness quests
From ayahuasca for mental health to poo transplants for gut health, Judith Lucy has been on a mission to feel better, but have they worked?Judith is one of Australia's most loved c…
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51 min
Encore: Why I became a teacher at the school where I was bullied
A portrait of one teacher and his class as they journey through the ups and downs of a school year.Brendan James Murrary has been a high school teacher for more than ten years and…
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52 min
Richard Glover on the strange, hilarious and heartbreaking rules of Australian parenting
The instructions found in endorsed baby books over the last century could be, with hindsight, bizarre or cruel. And were most often given by “experts” with no children of their own…
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52 min
Monica McInerney's five year rollercoaster ride
The author on the diagnosis that floored her and the gifts that got her through harrowing treatment — including a cat named Nicholas.The Australian-Irish author was last on the pro…
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52 min
Encore: The pilot shot down by enemy fire and how he survived
RAF pilot Frank Dell parachuted into Nazi occupied Holland after his plane was hit by cannon fire and with the aid of courageous Dutch families and resistance fighters he got out a…
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53 min
When Magda discovered her late mother's tragic secret, she truly understood her for the first time
Magda Szubanski on her loving and complicated relationship with her late mum Margaret, and how a secret that came to light after her death changed everything.Magda released her fir…