Conversations

Latest Episodes:

Heroin, Ivan Milat, rehab and redemption — the incredible life of Claude Robinson Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

For years Claude Robinson was doing crime to fund his heroin addiction. He was eventually locked up with murderers in Goulburn Prison, where he shared a dentist with Ivan Milat. But in 2006 he made a big change, to turn his life around. (CW: descriptions of drug use, addiction, and crime)

Claude Robinson is the manager of Rainbow Lodge, a home in inner Sydney for men just out of prison. Claude knows the place well because nearly 20 years ago he was sent there himself.

Claude was a heroin addict who had taken to crime to pay for his habit and wound up in a minimum security jail. But after he assaulted a prison guard, he ended up in one of Australia's toughest jails - Goulburn Correctional Centre. While Claude was inside, his father died, and he found out that he had inherited $60,000.

It was a chance to start a new life when he got out of prison. But instead, he and a girlfriend checked into a hotel in Kings Cross and bought some backs of heroin. Within weeks, all of Claude's inheritance was gone.

In 2006, Claude was back in prison when he decided to finally change his story. He got off drugs, went to TAFE, and started working his way back to Rainbow Lodge, where he helps men who have walked a similar path to his own.

Help and support is always available:

The National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline is a free and confidential 24/7 phone service that provides counselling, advice, and information for those struggling with addiction. Call 1800 250 015.

This episode of Conversations discusses drug use, substance abuse, addiction, crime, mental health, toxic masculinity, manhood, fatherhood, parenting, turning your life around, getting clean, rehabilitation, rehab, intervention, AA, NA, sponsors, inheritance, heroin, methadone, ice, meth, illicit substances, incarceration, recidivism.

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.

Darren Hayes on the bruising truth behind his Savage Garden stardom Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

During the height of his fame as one half of Savage Garden, Darren Hayes struggled to reconcile what he'd lived through as a child growing up in Logan (CW: descriptions of domestic violence).

Darren Hayes rose to fame in the 1990s as part of the musical duo Savage Garden.

The band ended up selling 35 million albums and won numerous awards with hits like 'Truly Madly Deeply'.

On the surface, Darren had achieved wealth, adoration and stardom —everything he dreamt of as a kid growing up in Logan, on the outskirts of Brisbane.

But the scars of his violent childhood nearly ended everything.

Content Warning: this episode of Conversations contains descriptions of domestic violence.

Help and support is always available:

Call 1800 737 732 (1800 Respect) to speak to a counsellor if you are experiencing domestic violence. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

This conversation talks about family, Savage Garden, Daniel Jones, celebrity, singing, singers, fame, ancestry, music, modern history, Michael Jackson, grief, origin stories, family dynamics, music industry, reflection, life story, memoir, 90s music, fatherhood, mothers, motherhood, epic personal stories, life before, during and after musical fame, parenting, divorce, books.

Alice Roberts on the skeletons' secrets Nov 20, 2024

Show notes

Professor Alice Roberts examines the bones of those who died between five and ten centuries ago, solving the mysteries of how they lived and died.

Professor Alice Roberts wants us to listen to skeletons.

She's an anatomist and archaeologist who says that posthumous examination of our bones can reveal so much more than what someone might have looked like.

Whether it's about our health, our diet, what we did for a living, how we died, and whether that was a violent end — epic stories are written into our bones.

Recently Alice has been examining the bones of those who died between five and ten centuries ago to find out more about them. She's uncovered some amazing life and death stories.

There’s the sad and gothic tale of a medieval Anchoress, who was walled up inside a church in York for 28 years; the lives of the drowned sailors who died in the sinking of a ship called the Mary Rose, once owned by Henry the Eighth; and new revelations about a terrible massacre ordered by a King in the year 1004 AD.

This episode of Conversations explores death, anatomy, science, burial, history, origin stories, historic mysteries, ancestry, biology, ghost stories, Catholic Church, STIs, syphilis, medical history, early medicine, arthritis, strong bones, genocide.

Cows on a plane — an epic journey from Tullamarine to Chennai Nov 19, 2024

Show notes

Paul McVerry is an experienced cattleman and a stud breeder, who had a wild vision to fly a gift of cattle to India with the help of winemaker Dan Murphy. (R)

New Zealand-born cattleman Paul McVerry has been surrounded by animals his whole life, and not just in cattle pens or in sheep yards.

Paul has accompanied thoroughbred horses on weeks-long ship journeys across the Pacific ocean. He's been stuck with prized bulls in the back of a truck going the wrong way down Broadway in New York City.

After being with animals on land-bound vehicles and sea-faring vessels, eventually Paul thought, "Cows can fly."

In the 1970s, thousands of cattle were being slaughtered in Victoria and southern New South Wales because of ongoing drought. At the same time, the dairy industry in India was struggling due to generations of inbreeding.

Paul saw an opportunity to solve both problems, and loaded the world's first ever airborne cattle onto a stretch D68 at Tullamarine Airport, bound for Chennai.

This episode of Conversations explores farming, agriculture, epic journeys, foreign aid, animal welfare, animal transport, charity work, Mother Teresa, India, Tullamarine airport, Melbourne, Darwin, Chennai, Hong Kong, travel, plane travel, aeroplanes, airplanes, weird cargo, genetics, cross-breeding animals, diverse gene pool, insemination.

From Jaipur with love — building a romantic life in Australia Nov 18, 2024

Show notes

Screenwriter, Mithila Gupta thought her life would mimic her beloved Bollywood films — full of swooning and drama. But something was stuck, and she was an adult before she could embrace her vibrant Indian heritage.

Screenwriter, Mithila Gupta grew up obsessing over Bollywood heart-throbs, thinking she would meet her own prince in a movie perfect meet-cute, involving serenades and moonlight.

Her parents had left their home in Jaipur, India, to move their daughter to Australia, with hopes of more opportunities.

Mithila's parents succeeded in building a life in Australia, though the family had periods of isolation and longing for home.

Mithila became a screenwriter, and worked on Neighbours to introduce the first Indian family to Ramsay Street.

As covid loomed, her father became ill, and Mithila found herself losing hope in dating apps, while she searched for a partner.

During Melbourne's lockdown, her father’s face-reading — a skill he learned when he was young in north India — helped Mithila find her way to the love she had yearned for.

This episode of Conversations touches on origin stories, life stories, loss, reflection, migrant life, personal stories, grief, immigration, Bollywood, Shahrukh Khan, Jaipur, Four Years Later, SBS, screenwriting, show runner, Mithila Gupta, Indian heritage, and Neighbours.

The magic of metallurgy — inside the ancient trade of blacksmithing Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

Matt Mewburn, one of Australia's last blacksmiths, takes you inside the "iron cathedral", where blacksmithing is still very much alive.

Matt didn't grow up dreaming of forging knives and sculptures over heat as hot as volcanic lava.

He thought he might take over the family farm or become a scientist.

But when Matt was 20 years old, his father unexpectedly died, and Matt went looking for a hobby to keep himself distracted through the grief.

A spontaneous trip to the local TAFE in Sydney introduced him to the magic of metallurgy and a burning passion was forged for the creativity and simple perfection of smithing.

Matt developed his skills in his apprenticeship and then overseas during his so-called Journeyman years, spending time in a seminary in the hills of Tuscany, and in Scotland and Norway.

For the last decade, Matt has been the custodian of Australia's largest and most historic rail works in Sydney.

This episode of Conversations discusses apprenticeships, trade school, art, death of a parent, grief, origin stories, family dynamics, life story, loss, reflection, death, how to grieve, farming, regional Australia, Eveleigh, Carriage Works, Sydney, Australian history, vocational training, iron ore, steel.

'It was meant to be me' — the teenage TV star who feels 'lucky to be paraplegic' Nov 14, 2024

Show notes

Louise Philip had just scored her breakout role on Australian television, in Bellbird, when a horrific car crash threatened to derail the life she was forging for herself.

Louise Philip was 15 years old when she convinced her parents to let her drop out of high school to become an actress.

She had just scored her breakout role on Australian television, but within a few months a terrible car crash threatened to derail the life that she was forging for herself.

Louise broke her back and permanently lost the use of her legs, and she was told that the silver screen was no longer a place for her.

But Louise fought to get back to work, and thrived on Australian television sets for years until she did something else that people told her was impossible -- she became a mother.

This episode of Conversations discusses disability, acting, paraplegia, wheelchair users, love, family dynamics, guilt, personal stories, origin stories, love, reflection,. motherhood, parenting with a disability, pregnancy with a disability, creativity, Bellbird, Cop Shop.

Exploring death and grief with heart and healing Nov 13, 2024

Show notes

As a forensic counsellor and then a grief counsellor, Wendy Liu has spent many years right up close to death. Her work with people who are processing all kinds of losses has brought her a much keener appreciation for life. (R)

Wendy Liu was a young woman on a social work placement when she realised she had a special affinity for hard conversations about life and death.

She put her aptitude to work in palliative care, and then some years later she began working as a forensic counsellor.

For seven years Wendy worked supporting families following unexplained deaths, fatal accidents, child deaths, suicides and homicides reported to the Coroner.

Today Wendy is a grief counsellor and a passionate advocate for us all to have more open and honest conversations about death and dying.

She also says being so close to loss and grief each day has given her a stronger appreciation of life.

This episode of Conversations explores terminal illness, murder, crime, survivors, how to grieve, healthy grieving, counselling, funerals, wakes, tough conversations, family dynamics, organising funerals, forensics, police.

How a macabre country childhood spawned a best-selling dressmaker’s tale Nov 12, 2024

Show notes

Author Rosalie Ham grew up in a country town three blocks long and three blocks wide. She paid close attention to the characters there, like the woman at the shops whose face was frozen into Munch’s scream. This eye for detail led to her first novel, which became a hit movie starring Kate Winslet.

Author, Rosalie Ham grew up in country NSW, in a town three streets wide and three streets long.

During a mouse plague, the rodents were so prolific that their droppings would appear at the bottom of the cereal packet, and the town's children — unsupervised — would chop the mice up with a downpipe in the farmyard shed.

When Rosalie was a child, her mum received a devastating diagnosis, and started an affair as a way to find herself before it was too late.

Watching her mother's life and extreme changes proved a formative experience, which led Rosalie to write her first novel, The Dressmaker.

The book was eventually made into a film starring Kate Winslet.

Rosalie's husband Ian had been a staunch support through her writing career, until he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and she became his carer.

This episode of Conversations covers a life story, family dynamics, mothers, parenting, reflection, loss, origin stories, grief, personal stories, The Dressmaker, Kate Winslet, Australian fiction, Liam Hemsway, carers, infidelity, cheating, divorce, coping strategies and Alzheimer's Disease.

The epic mystery of a female pope and the birth that was her undoing Nov 11, 2024

Show notes

Writer Emily Maguire on losing her own faith, but finding awe and inspiration in a controversial myth about a female pontiff who some people believe sat disguised on the papal throne for two years in the ninth century.

Writer Emily Maguire grew up in a very Christian home, where life revolved around the Church and prayer.

By the time she was in her late teens, Emily had well and truly rebelled against her religious upbringing, eventually dropping out of high school, getting a job at McDonalds and getting married.

But it wasn't until she suffered a rare stroke in her 20s, that Emily truly lost her faith.

She remained fascinated by the history and the stories of the Church, however, and has written several books inspired by that interest.

Most recently, Emily was gripped by a tale that has haunted the Catholic Church for more than 1,000 years—rumours of a woman who disguised herself as a man, entered a Benedictine Monastery and rose up the ranks until she was elected the most holy ruler of all, the Pope.

If she truly did exist, after two years on the papal throne, Pope Joan was found out in the most dramatic way possible.

This episode of Conversations discusses Catholicism, Jesus, religion, faith, writing, books, atheism, Christianity, finding God, losing faith, agnostics, spirituality, Christian history, power, politics, Roman Empire, Constantine, Charlemagne, marriage, childless by choice, Pope Joan, female pope, female Bishop, female leadership, teenage girls, teen sexuality, rebellion, crisis of faith.

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