Conversations

Latest Episodes:

Fascinating fungi — the intelligent kingdom Jul 23, 2020

Show notes

Biologist Merlin Sheldrake's extreme experiments, many of which involve his physical body and varying forms of fungi, have led to equally remarkable discoveries

English biologist Merlin Sheldrake, son of Rupert Sheldrake, became fascinated by fungi when he was a boy.

He grew mushrooms in his cupboard and brewed bog myrtle beer under his bed.

He went on to study fungi at Cambridge University, and his research explores the interconnection between fungi and plants in what’s known as ‘the Wood Wide Web’.

Merlin's extreme experiments, many of which involve his physical body and varying forms of fungi, have led to equally remarkable discoveries.

Further information

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures is published by Random House

More about Merlin and his work

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.

Rise and fall of the Rock Star Jul 22, 2020

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

Eddie Woo on finding the right formula Jul 21, 2020

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Despite never really liking maths at school, Eddie made up his mind in the teaching sign-on queue, to become a maths teacher. This split-second decision changed his life, and the lives of many of his future students (R)

Floating though the dolines Jul 20, 2020

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Cave diver Stefan Eberhard has spent decades exploring the vast underwater caves of the Nullarbor Plains, where the water teems with blind shrimp and colourless fish, and curtains of bacterial slime hang glistening from the ceiling

From a mountain monastery Jul 17, 2020

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Paul Haller grew up Catholic in Belfast, and his pursuit of meaning has since taken him around the world. Now a Zen priest, Zen practice and teaching became Paul's calling: from retreating to a cave in Thailand; to teaching meditation, to the incarcerated, and the dying, in San Francisco

Lying on the job — the story of an undercover officer Jul 16, 2020

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Keith Banks spent twenty years in his dream career with the Queensland Police. He was awarded for bravery several times, but left the job angry and disillusioned. He now reflects on what the job and police culture were like in the 1980s and the cost of lying for a living

Bill Bryson and the wonders of the human body Jul 15, 2020

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Why is scratching an itch so pleasurable? How can someone leap from a burning plane in the sky and survive with a few bumps and scratches? A journey through the wondrous complexity of the human body (R)

Territory taxidermist — Jared Archibald Jul 14, 2020

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Jared spent his childhood behind the scenes at the Museum of the Northern Territory, up close to prehistoric kangaroo fossils, opulent trading pearls, and sacred crocodiles flown in from Arnhem Land. Then he became the museum's taxidermist

Nardi Simpson on Crocodile Country Jul 13, 2020

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Yuwaalaraay writer, storyteller and performer, Nardi Simpson of the Stiff Gins talks about her life, art and the meaning of country

A boy, his pony and the Sydney Harbour Bridge Jul 10, 2020

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Lennie Gwyther was 9 years old when he rode Ginger Mick from country Victoria to Sydney to be at the opening of the Bridge (R)