Conversations

Latest Episodes:

The Bark Petitions — how Yolngu tradition changed democracy Feb 18, 2025

Show notes

Historian, Professor Clare Wright tells the story of a formative moment — before the Mabo decision — in Australia’s democracy that you may not have heard of.

Historian Clare Wright moved her family to Yirrkala in North-East Arnhem land in 2010.

She became a part of the Yolngu community and kept in touch after the family returned to Melbourne.

Little by little, Clare learned about an extraordinary moment in Australian history, when Yolngu people used their artwork and their language, Yolngu Matha to petition the Federal government over a planned bauxite mine on their traditional lands.

The bark petitions were not sent in the traditional sense, pleading up to an authority, but rather asserted Yolngu custodianship of the land, and spoke as equal partners to the Australian government.

This episode of Conversations touches on Indigenous stories, Yolngu, Yirrkala, Australian democracy, the Bark Petitions, Naku Dharuk, Yolngu Matha, mining, the Australian Government, Menzies, Kim Beazley Snr.

Encore: the life of songwriter Jimmy Webb Feb 14, 2025

Show notes

Singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb on how growing up as the child of an Oklahoma preacher opened up a door to music, and inspired his songwriting (R)

Jimmy Webb grew up poor in Oklahoma, where his mother encouraged him to play the piano, revealing a prodigious musical talent.

After moving to Los Angeles, Jimmy wrote his first hit for the Fifth Dimension: Up, Up And Away.

Shortly after, he met Glen Campbell, who had already recorded Jimmy's song By the Time I Get to Phoenix.

Glen asked Jimmy to write a song especially for him - Wichita Lineman, which became another huge hit for Campbell.

Jimmy's many other famous songs, including MacArthur Park, Adios, and The Highwayman, have been recorded by artists including Frank Sinatra, Isaac Hayes, Barbra Streisand, Art Garfunkel and Donna Summer.

While he's best known as a songwriter, Jimmy is a renowned performer in his own right.

This episode of Conversations explores music history, rock music, Americana, Hollywood, the recording industry, the Mid-west, middle America, religion, origin stories, personal stories, celebrity culture, country music, rock n roll, songwriting, yacht rock.

Surviving bombs and starvation on a Mediterranean island paradise Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

When Linda Peek's mother Margaret died, Linda collected the scraps of handwritten notes strewn around the home and put together Margaret's remarkable tale of survival on Malta during WWII.

When Linda was growing up, Margaret, would tell her these remarkable stories from her wartime childhood -- stories of survival, friendship and tragedy.

Margaret had spent her most formative years on the island of Malta during World War Two.

The Mediterranean island was not only an idyllic paradise, it was also a British stronghold in a highly strategic position, and Adolf Hitler wanted it.

And so the Axis powers laid siege to Malta for more than two years, dropping thousands of bombs and trying to starve the island into submission.

Somehow, Malta survived, and so did Linda's mother.

This episode of Conversations explores Italy, Sicily, island life, modern history, the second world war, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Churchill, Royal Engineers, air raids, personal history, family history, family dynamics, life story, ancestry, travel.

Malta: A Childhood Under Siege is published by Woodlands Publishing.

How tiny crystals reveal the secret history (and future) of volcanic eruptions Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

Volcanologist Teresa Ubide opens volcanoes up from the outside, like a doll's house, searching for tiny crystal balls to help her predict when the next eruption might occur

Humans have always had a complicated relationship with volcanoes — they are striking to look at and create fertile soils for farming, but they can be destructive and deadly.

Today, around 10 per cent of the world's population lives within 100km of an active volcano, which means volcanology — the science of studying volcanoes — is becoming increasingly important.

Volcanologists like Teresa Ubide, spend their time getting to know the 'personalities' of different volcanoes: how they work, the composition of the magma, the likelihood of eruption, and how spectacular that explosion of lava could be.

When Teresa was a little girl, a teacher opened her imagination up to what she calls the 'guts of a volcano' and today, as an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and a lecturer at the University of Queensland, she travels the world visiting volcanoes and predicting their future by looking at tiny crystal balls.

This episode of Conversations explores natural disasters, Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, La Palma, Stromboli, Spain, Italy, Argentina, copper mining, sustainable mining, electric vehicles, smartphones, geology, magma, exploration, epic history, chemistry.

Birtles, Brown and Bean: Warren's madcap world tour, in a vintage car Feb 11, 2025

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Warren Brown drove through 80 countries in searing heat and pouring rain in a vintage Bean car to recreate the 1927 world tour of Australian motorist, Francis Birtles.

Today we bring you the next chapter in the adventurous exploits of author and cartoonist Warren Brown.

Some years ago Warren Brown stumbled on the true story of a pioneering Australian motorist, Francis Birtles, who set out to drive a 'Bean' car from London to Melbourne in 1927.

For nine months he rattled through Europe, Turkey, Iran and India, through murderous mountain ranges and blustering blizzards.

Warren has just returned from his own recreation of Birtles' epic journey, in the very same model of car and 1920s outfits.

He and his co-pilot Matthew Benns travelled through 80 countries in the open-top car in searing heat and pouring rain while recreating Beans' escapades.

To his great surprise, while they were en route, their trip made them accidental celebrities in Saudi Arabia.

This episode of Conversations explores modern history, Australiana, Australian explorers, car rallies, Peking to Paris, motorsport, motoring, motoring history, automobiles, Gaza, Suez Canal, travel, Ford, historical re-enactment, politics, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Middle East, Cairo, Pyramids, royal family, Laurence of Arabia.

Encore: The making of Nazeem Hussain Feb 07, 2025

Show notes

Nazeem Hussain honed his comedy in Melbourne's suburbs in the 1990s. After his father left the family, his fearless mother taught Nazeem how to use humour to get bullies off his back. (R)

Comedian, Nazeem Hussain honed his comedic chops in the suburbs of Melbourne in the 1990s.

It was there, after his father left the family, that his fearless mother taught him how to use humour to get bullies off his back.

Since then Nazeem has performed all over the world.

He hosted his own Netflix special and opened for Dave Chappelle in New York City, before deciding to write a children's book to celebrate his journey into parenthood.

This episode of Conversations touches on personal story, origin story, fatherhood, dads, absent dads, fatherless children, father figures, Nazeem Hussain, comedy, ASIO, 9/11, September 11, racism, family and kids.

Drug bazaars, hitmen and hackers — why Eileen went deep into the dark web Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

Lawyer turned journalist Eileen Ormsby on her journey deeper and deeper into the internet's 'evil twin', where, under the cloak of anonymity, people sell buy and share anything a person is willing to pay for.

Eileen Ormsby had just returned to university to study journalism when her friend told her about a website called The Silk Road.

Created by American libertarian, Ross Ulbricht, it was essentially like any other e-commerce marketplace, the kind that people use to order books and homewares, except that it sold illicit drugs and fake ids.

Eileen became fascinated with the platform, how it operated, who used it and where existed -- in a secretive part of the internet colloquially known as 'the dark web'.

As Eileen journeyed further and further into the darkest corners of the underbelly of the internet, she came across scammers, hit men and horrendous truths, some of which spilled out into her real life.

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, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

This episode of Conversations explores the dark web, Ross Ulbricht, libertarian, drug dealing, the deep web, FBI, CIA, AFP, undercover agents, Facebook, Meta, Google, Instagram, social media, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, AlphaBay, illicit drugs, addiction, murder, hitman, scams, bitcoin, crypto, crypto currency, investigative journalism, presidential pardon, assassination.

The family secret that inspired 'The Teacher's Pet' Feb 05, 2025

Show notes

Journalist Hedley Thomas grew up knowing that his grandmother Gladys had vanished in the sea off Sydney in the 1950s when she was just 35 years old. Decades later, her story spurred him on to begin a new life as a hugely successful true crime podcaster

Hedley Thomas has had a storied career in journalism, which has seen him win many Walkley Awards and expose a lot of corruption and dodgy dealings.

But it has also placed Hedley and his family in harm's way.

In 2002 Hedley and his wife Ruth were at their home when bullets were fired into their bedroom, missing their heads by just centimetres. The shooter was never found, and Hedley grappled with PTSD after the event.

A couple of decades later Hedley decided to begin a podcast about a story which had stayed with him for years.

It was the about a woman named Lyn who 'went missing' from her home in the Northern Beaches of Sydney in the 1980s, and was never seen again.

Hedley's podcast, The Teacher's Pet, became a huge hit. Five years after it began, Lyn's former husband Chris Dawson was convicted of her murder and sentenced to 24 years in jail.

Just recently, Hedley has started speaking out about how his commitment to Lyn's story, and to finding justice for her was partly inspired by a tragedy in his own family which occurred decades earlier, just a few kilometres from where Lyn vanished.

This episode of Conversations touches on family dynamics, true crime, femicide, domestic violence, family origins, life story, secret family, ancestry, parenting, PTSD, Donald Trump, Hong Kong, London, New York, Australian expats, foreign correspondents, police corruption.

Further information

Help and support is always available. Beyond Blue provides 24/7 support on mental health issues.

Lucinda Light on MAFS, living with ADHD, and her search for love Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

Lucinda Light was running a speed dating company in Byron Bay when she auditioned for 'Married At First Sight'. While on the show, she became a huge hit with fans because of her emotional intelligence and open-hearted soul. When it ended, she embarked on an unexpected new life

In 2024, a woman named Lucinda Light burst on to Australian TV screens on the reality show juggernaut 'Married at First Sight'.

At first, Lucinda seemed to be another wild and kooky reality TV character.

She was filmed hugging a tree, twirling on a beach, and reading out from her 'Man-ifesto' — a list of things she hoped for in her prospective groom, whom she was about to meet for the very first time live on TV.

During her season on the show, Lucinda gained a loyal tribe of fans for her optimism, empathy, and hilarious antics as she pranced around in an animal mask, and declared her disdain for sharing a toilet with a lover.

While things didn't work out with her TV husband, Lucinda emerged from the show with an entirely new career.

This episode of Conversations touches on reality television, MAFS, MAFS2025, Timothy Smith, relationship expert, falling in love, John Aiken, Mel Schilling, Alessandra Rampolla, MAFS experts, MAFS Australia, Lauren and Eliot, Rhi and Jeff, Katie and Tim, relationships, love after 40, love after divorce, queer relationships, dinner parties, commitment ceremonies, the experts, dating, dating apps, dating after 30

Encore: The Toilet Warrior's origin story Jan 31, 2025

Show notes

Mark Balla was on a business trip to India when he met two young men on a train. They invited him back to see their home, one of the world's biggest slums. This meeting changed the course of Mark's life. (R)

A former Lonely Planet writer and researcher, Mark was wary of participating in 'slum tourism', but something made him say yes to the invitation.

That visit changed the course of his life: it was where he learned many millions of people go about their lives with no access to a toilet - at home, work or school.

Mark became obsessed and began learning as much as he could about the situation, particularly in relation to Indian schools.

From there, he met Mr Toilet, Poop Guy, and eventually Mark earned the title of Toilet Warrior.

This episode of Conversations touches on developing world, humanitarian aid, career changes, sanitation, preventative disease, exploration, travel, schooling, education, India, Mumbai, menstruation, women's health, girls' education, infectious diseases.

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