Conversations

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Society & Culture
**Conversations**

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 Richard Fidler for an unmissable night of unforgettable stories, behind-the-scenes secrets, and surprise guests. Australia’s most-loved podcast — live, up close, and in the moment. Find out more at the Conversations website.

Latest Episodes:

Costa Georgiadis: Heart and Soil Oct 13, 2021

Show notes

Australia's most famous landscape architect on learning from the garden, Greek school and his Yiayia

The Nazi Brigadeführer who got away Oct 12, 2021

Show notes

Philippe Sands on how a cache of letters sent him on the trail of Nazi war criminal Otto Von Wachter, who escaped to Rome on the 'Ratline' (R)

Jenny Kee's incandescent life Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

Designer Jenny Kee with the story of her wild and creative life, including how she and Linda Jackson began a movement which changed Australian fashion (CW: discretion required. Drug references, suicide and content that might be upsetting)

Paul Kennedy on finding his way Oct 08, 2021

Show notes

The ABC Sports presenter describes his life at 17, a year dominated by football, girls, beer, and a serial killer stalking his neighbourhood

The Powerful Owls of Wombat Forest Oct 07, 2021

Show notes

While they greet one another with soft "woohoos", carefully feed their fat, fluffy babies and bleat at sunset, field naturalist Tanya Loos keeps an eye on the beautiful and ferocious population in her backyard

Surviving two volcanoes — Singer Ngaiire's story Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

When an eruption began in 1994 in Papua New Guinea, the last thing singer-songwriter Ngaiire expected was a second volcano to begin spewing ash. Tuning in to the mystery and majesty of PNG has become a lifelong project (CW: Some listeners may find parts of this conversation upsetting. Please use discretion when listening)

Throughout her childhood, singing was something Ngaiire did at church, somewhat begrudgingly, because her dad told her to.

The singer-songwriter grew up between Palmerston North in New Zealand and her father's home in Rabaul, a volcanic hot spot on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea.

As a child, she and her family survived a double volcanic eruption in 1994, and the chain of events that followed pulled Ngaiire to Wenamo, her mother's ancestral home in the Highlands.

Amongst the mountains, Ngaiire leaned into quiet spirituality and connected with her ancestors, both living and deceased.

Music is a delight and a necessity for Ngaiire, but in the past she tried to separate her Papua New Guinean heritage from her music career in Australia.

That changed in 2017 when she made a pilgrimage to her mother's mountain.

Further information

Some listeners may find parts of this conversation upsetting. Please use discretion when listening.

The following songs have been edited for the podcast:

Shiver

Him

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The needle in the tofu Oct 05, 2021

Show notes

Zen priest and writer Ruth Ozeki takes us into world brimming with the voices of people and household objects, and her own experience of hearing her father's voice in her ear after he'd died

The rise and fall of the Rock Star Oct 04, 2021

Show notes

David Hepworth charts our fascination with that most earth-bound of gods, the rock star; and discusses some of music history's striking examples (R)

The Soldier and the mare Oct 01, 2021

Show notes

After Isaac Adams returned from Afghanistan struggling with anger and hypervigilance, he found that working with traumatised racehorses was helping him heal

A Rainbow's arc Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

Lynn Rainbow grew up in a castle in one of Australia’s most theatrical families. In the 1970s she became a famous actress, before she began a new life as a philanthropist

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