Conversations

Latest Episodes:

The spy who kept secrets for the self-made man Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

Belinda Probert knew her father as an English war hero named Bill. What she didn't know, was that he was born Roy and that his spying did not end when the war did.

Belinda Probert knew her father to be a decorated English war hero and successful businessman, whose family had all died long ago.

But a few months after Bill Probert died as an old man in France, a letter arrived at her mother’s house from a man claiming to be her father’s nephew.

Slowly, the much more complicated story of Bill's life unfurled — a story of forgotten family, new identities, spying, and a man who simply decided to make himself anew.

Belinda decided to track down the truth of her father’s origins and in doing so she also learned that his work with the British intelligence didn’t end when the war was over.

This episode of Conversations explores family secrets, family dynamics, spying, MI6, MI5, ancestry, origin stories, epic adventures, love, Wales, coal mining, classism, class warfare, World War Two, France, Normandy, Nazis, Germany, emigration, brotherhood, parenting, fathers and daughters.

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.

Dressing drag queens in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Jan 29, 2025

Show notes

A chance find at age 14 at Flinders Street Station led Tim Chappel to a life of silver lamé, sequins, girdles, and an Oscar.

Costume designer, Tim Chappel can’t remember all the places he lived, growing up on Army bases around the country, and overseas.

His one constant interest was nature.

He’d look for stick insects to pin into his collection and draw endless terrestrial orchids.

Tim was ready to focus his life on botany.

This all changed when he found a copy of French Vogue at Flinders Street Station in Melbourne.

He was entranced by the glamour of the clothes he saw, and felt an instant connection to the tailoring.

Tim was creating shorts for bartenders and costumes for drag queens at Sydney's Albury Hotel when he was asked if he would like to design the costumes for an Australian film called The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

This episode of Conversations touches on film-making, the Oscars, award season, LGBTQI+, queerness, Hollywood, Oprah, Tom Cruise, Los Angeles, Army Brat, military families, orchids, flowers, Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving, Stephan Elliott, Terence Stamp.

Singing as 'sweet relief' — Meg Washington on stuttering, spirituality and song Jan 28, 2025

Show notes

The musician reflects on the epic evolution of her singing from practical childhood speech therapy to sacred musical fluency.

Meg Washington was born in a musical home in Port Moresby, where her parents had met as Australian expats.

Meg and her sister spent a lot of their time watching classic Hollywood musicals and also down at the local yacht club where their dad DJ'd every Saturday night.

Singing became something Meg was encouraged to do herself after she developed a stutter as a little girl.

And eventually it grew from a therapy into a thrill.

Meg's stutter was something she did her best to disguise while building her career as a singer and songwriter in Australia.

But after going public about her speech impediment in a TedX Talk, Meg realised she no longer cared about hiding who she was.

This honesty led to a whole host of exciting new opportunities – including becoming the voice of Calypso in Bluey, and making a film with her husband based on the iconic Paul Kelly song, “How To Make Gravy”.

This episode of Conversations explores origin stories, parenting, artists, music-making, Hugo Weaving, reflection, family dynamics, Australian music scene, Christmas movies, motherhood, TedX, Ted Talk, public speaking, speech impediments, speech therapy, Papua New Guinea, PNG, expats, Australian expats, Christianity, religion, spirituality, The Deb, Rebel Wilson, The Killers, Hot Fuss, Batflower Records.

Encore: From Yugoslavia to Australia — Jelena Dokic on tennis and the truth Jan 24, 2025

Show notes

Jelena Dokic on the trauma and violence which underscored her extraordinary life in tennis, and how she worked to change her own story(CW: discussion of family violence, eating disorders) (R)

After arriving in Australia with her family as a refugee, Jelena Dokic became a tennis champion while still a teenager.

But her father’s drunken outbursts at Jelena’s tournaments got even more headlines than her playing.

What the world didn’t know was that Jelena’s father was also violently assaulting her and had been since the day she first picked up a tennis racquet.

Jelena finally found the courage to tell the truth about what happened to her, but she discovered that was only the first step in escaping her father.

This episode of Conversations explores family dynamics, origin story, body shaming, dysfunctional families, abuse allegations, childhood abuse, child athletes, elite athletes, the Australian Open, Tennis, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Shelton, Alex de Minaur, Madison Keys, Iga Świątek, Aryna Sabalenka.

How a teen father used the local skate park to change the world Jan 23, 2025

Show notes

Jayden Sheridan was just 17 years old when he found out he was going to be a father, and immediately he knew he needed to give his son better opportunities than he had.

Growing up in regional Victoria, Jayden experienced homelessness, substance abuse, violence and a general lack of direction. He had no male role models in his life, but he did have the local skate park.

It's where he went to feel safe and to feel himself, and Jayden wanted to create that same feeling for his son, and all the other kids in his town of Seymour.

What started as adhoc skate lessons quickly turned into Gnarly Neighbours, something far bigger and more impactful than 17-year-old Jayden could have imagined.

This episode of Conversations explores substance abuse, drug use, drug dealing, expulsion, troubled children, mental health, bipolar disorder, teen parenting, teen fatherhood, teen motherhood, skateboarding, skating, streetwear, origin stories, family dynamics, male role models, father figures, dysfunctional families, single parenting, rural and regional Australia.

43 carolling magpies, CPR on a blue tongue lizard and Claire's animal ambulance Jan 22, 2025

Show notes

The first sound Claire Smith heard when she landed in Australia from the UK was the carolling song of a nearby magpie. That was enough to make her fall in love with Australian wildlife.

Very quickly, Claire poured all her energy into looking after injured animals, which seemed funny for a girl who grew up in the English countryside the daughter of a hunting dog master.

She began volunteering for wildlife rescue groups, and caring for animals at home, where at one stage she had 43 baby birds in her garage.

Claire went on to build the first kangaroo hospital in Queensland, and created the state's first volunteer-run 24-hour wildlife rescue service.

Claire Smith has been named the 2025 Local Hero for Queensland, in the Australian of the Year Awards.

This episode of Conversations touches on conservation, the environment, wildlife carers, kangaroos on the road, what to do when you hit a kangaroo, birding, birds, foxhunting, hunting, native wildlife, pests, animal husbandry.

Bite Club: Surviving a shark attack, and the aftermath Jan 21, 2025

Show notes

Dave Pearson runs Bite Club, a support service for anyone who has survived a shark attack. Dave’s own brush with death came in 2011, when a three-metre-long bull shark almost tore his arm off. Dave lived that day, but it’s what happened during his recovery that he didn’t see coming.

Dave Pearson was with his mates on the NSW mid-north coast back in 2011, and couldn’t get in the water fast enough to try out his brand new surfboard.

He’d caught a few ripper waves when he was slammed by what felt like a freight train.

Under the water, through the bubbles and the shock, Dave saw something huge, brown and grey.

Dave survived that day, but it’s what happened during his recovery that he didn’t see coming.

He founded Bite Club to support survivors through the mental heath challenges following their shark attacks.

This episode of Conversations touches on an epic personal story, grief, shark attacks, PTSD, surfing, and mental health.

Further information

Bite Club is a closed Facebook group available to those who have survived an attack by an apex predator.

Voicing velociraptors and capturing the dawn chorus Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

Meet Doug Quin, sound designer and naturalist who makes field recordings all over the world. Hear what Doug heard when he got up close to emperor penguins, lions and vultures. (R)

Sound designer and naturalist Doug Quin has been highly attuned to sound since he was a young child growing up in Algeria under the threat of bombing.

Through his family’s travels and his years at a Scottish boarding school, Doug fell in love with the outdoors, and especially with wintery landscapes.

He later transformed his deep curiosity about nature and skills in music and art into a prolific career.

Since the early 1980s Doug has been making field recordings in every corner of the Earth, and putting them to use in work spanning all media.

His extensive credits include designing sound for films such as Jurassic Park 3 and countless nature documentaries, collaborating with the Kronos Quartet, composing soundscapes for museums and art galleries, releasing albums, and contributing planetary ambiences to the score of the game Spore.

This episode of Conversations touches on the natural world, Jurassic Park 3, animals, nature, silence, Antarctica, origin stories, Scotland, Algeria, birding, birdsong, war, bombing, resilience and family.

Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Shanelle Dawson Jan 17, 2025

Show notes

Conversations is bringing you a summer treat — a collection of Sarah's most memorable guests through out the years.

In 2018, Shanelle Dawson's family were the subject of a hit true crime podcast which helped convict her father Chris Dawson of her mother's murder. Now she's reclaiming her own story and the story of her mother Lynette.Help and support is always available by calling Lifeline on 13 11 14

Shanelle Dawson was four years old when her mother Lynette disappeared from the family home.

Shanelle's teenage babysitter, a former student of her father's was moved into the family home soon afterwards. She began wearing Lynette's wedding ring, and her clothes, and became a reluctant stepmother to her two daughters.

Shanelle was raised believing her mother had abandoned her. But over 30 years later, after the family was the subject of a hit true crime podcast called The Teacher's Pet, in 2022 Chris Dawson was found guilty of his wife's murder and sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Throughout her life, Shanelle was dealing with the aftermath of trauma, lies and family violence.

But she also found the strength to confront her father and to create an entirely new life for herself and her own daughter.

This episode of Conversations contains discussion about family history, family secrets, domestic violence, murder, grooming, missing people, mother-daughter relationships, crime, cold cases, crime reporting, podcasts, true crime podcasts, media, Northern Beaches, Sydney, NSW, Australia, The Australian, Hedley Thomas, The Teacher's Pet, Lynne Dawson, Chris Dawson, Lynette Dawson murder, family violence, victims, childhood trauma, teachers, high school, emotional violence, psychological violence, domestic abuse, babysitter, cover-up, missing bodies, stepmothers, step sisters, extended families, autobiographies, deception, misogyny, law, court cases, criminal courts, convictions, sentencing, victim impact statements.

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.

Sarah's Most Memorable Guests — Tony Bull broke the cycle of crime Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

Conversations is bringing you a summer treat — a collection of Sarah's most memorable guests through out the years.

Tony spent three decades in and out of jail for property crimes and safecracking. When he joined an unusual club inside Hobart's Risdon Prison, he found his voice for the first time. Then a few years ago, on a fishing trawler far out to sea, he began the painful process of changing his life.

Tony Bull grew up across the road from Hobart's Risdon Prison.

As child he started running with a crowd of boys who stole money for the woodman and the milkman from people's front doorsteps.

In late primary school he found himself in trouble with the law for the first time.

He was 17 when he first went to jail, in Queensland's Boggo Road after a car chase with the police in Cairns.

A year later, he was back in Tasmania, and inside Risdon Prison for the first time.

It was a scary experience because he'd heard so many unsettling sounds coming from inside the prison walls when he was a child.

In his 20s, Tony joined the Spartan Debating Club inside the jail. The prisoners, including Chopper Read, often debated teams from outside the jail, and their families were sometimes allowed in to watch the debates.

Learning to debate changed how Tony used his voice. He eventually became yard boss, a conduit between the prisoners and the Superintendent.

Some years later he was out of jail and working on a fishing boat called the 'Diana' when he had a pre-dawn epiphany far out at sea.

He realised it was finally time for him to break the cycle of crime and incarceration in his own life.

Tony worked incredibly hard to unlearn some of his old habits which had previously led him straight back into jail.

Today he lives in his own unit with his beloved dog Princess and runs a home maintenance business.

This episode of Conversations contains discussion around prison, jail, incarceration, youth detention, youth crime, burglary, break and enter, safe cracking, criminals, inmates, Hobart, Risdon Prison, Tasmania, Queensland, Cairns, Brisbane, police, corrections, debating, inmate reform, prison reform, Chopper Reid, family relationships, fishing, boating, Salvation army, rehabilitation, crime prevention, fishing trawlers, crime and punishment, safecracker, lighthouse, swimming, ocean swimming, The Diana, living alone, relationships.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected