Conversations

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A life-changing quince, backyard butchery, and ethical food obsession Oct 24, 2024

Show notes

Chef Ben Shewry grew up on a farm in New Zealand where his family grew or hunted most of their own food.

Ben was 10 when he started working in restaurants and his discovery of a second hand Thai cookbook eventually led him to Australia.

In 2015 Ben become the owner of Attica in Melbourne and turned it into one of the world's most acclaimed and innovative restaurants.

This episode of Conversations explores origin, family, ancestry, parenting, origin stories, Melbourne, personal stories, depression, mental health, reflection, memoir, life story, exploration, food, cooking, hospitality, aboriginal food, bush foods, restaurant, critics, butchery, baking, farming, hunting, fishing, diving and lockdown lasagne.

Lee Miller: surrealist photographer, war correspondent, and gourmet chef Oct 23, 2024

Show notes

Antony Penrose grew up knowing little about his remarkable mother Lee Miller, who had studied with Man Ray in Paris, and become a model, a photographer, and a war correspondent. But then an unexpected find in the family attic changed everything. (R)

Lee Miller was a Vogue model, a photographer, and a war correspondent who studied in Paris with her lover, Man Ray, lived in Egypt, and captured some of the most searing images of the holocaust.

Recently she has become famous in pop culture for her glamour and her iconic photographic images.

But there is much more to her story.

Lee's son Antony grew up on a farm in East Sussex as the son of Lee and the surrealist painter Roland Penrose.

His relationship with his mum was often strained, as Lee was then struggling with PTSD and alcohol addiction.

She eventually lifted herself out of her drinking and when she became sober, she swapped her camera for the kitchen and became an experimental chef of some renown in the last years of her life.

Soon after Lee's death at the age of 70, Antony's wife made a chance discovery of thousands of photographic negatives and some of Lee's manuscripts in a family attic.

It became a rich seam of material for the family to begin to begin to understand Lee's multi-faceted life story.

Antony now devotes his working life to Lee's legacy.

Some years ago he wrote an acclaimed biography of her called 'The Lives of Lee Miller'.

This episode of Conversations touches on new films, film recommendations, family legacy, epic life story, origin stories, Man Ray, WWII, the Holocaust, Lee Miller, motherhood, family, PTSD, war correspondence, war photography, Kate Winslet and Ellen Kuras.

Helping people die on their own terms — why Bhawani became a VAD practitioner Oct 22, 2024

Show notes

Bhawani O'Brien's first name means "giver of life" in Tamil, which is ironic she says, because one of the greatest privileges of her life has been helping more than 100 people in their dying moments as a voluntary assisted dying practitioner.

Bhawani grew up in Malaysia with Sri Lankan parents, both of whom were doctors.

She was also expected to become a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer or an accountant. Luckily for her, she adored her father, and followed his footsteps into medical school without protest.

But after decades working as a GP, Bhawani had lost her purpose and also her beloved father, who died back at home in Malaysia while Bhawani was stuck behind locked borders in Western Australia.

Not long after his death, she found a random pamphlet in her pigeonhole at work.

It was about voluntary assisted dying, which became legal in WA in 2021, and it changed the course of Bhawani's professional and personal life.

This episode of Conversations explores death, grief, grieving, cancer, terminal illness, Neurodegenerative disorders, VAD, voluntary assisted dying, living wakes, euthanasia, palliative care, how to say goodbye, how to grieve, doctors, GP, medical fraternity, medical community, migration, multiculturalism, prejudice.

Kanye and me — why John Safran squatted in Ye's Hollyweird mansion Oct 21, 2024

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Australian Gonzo author and documentary filmmaker John Safran has made a career out of getting into places he probably shouldn't be. He put his sanity on the line in his latest escapade — breaking into one of Kanye West's strange homes.

His latest slightly criminal expedition saw him squatting in a Hollywood mansion belonging to Kanye West.

John had seen a clip of the hip-hop mega star denying the Holocaust, defending Adolf Hitler, and claiming that Black people cannot be anti-Semitic because they are actually Jewish.

His week writing and snooping in this strange house, with no running water and a vulture in the roof, made John go increasingly loopy as he tried to understand what pushed this critically acclaimed artist from celebrity eccentric to seriously 'out there'.

This episode of Conversations explores celebrity culture, pop culture, Taylor Swift, Hollywood, anti-Semitism, Donda Academy, conspiracy theories, celebrity worship, hip-hop, street fashion,Jay Z, Kim Kardashian, Cornerstone Christian Church, UFOs, Black Hebrew Israelites, David Cole, holocaust deniers, revisionist history, racism, race relations, modern America, US election, Trump, Kamala Harris.

Changing prisoners' minds with Vedic meditation at Rikers Island Oct 18, 2024

Show notes

Joh Jarvis was a high-flying boss when grief from a terrible loss began to overwhelm her. She tried therapy, exercise and healthy eating. Then she found Vedic meditation, and the experience was 'psychedelic'.

Joh Jarvis is a Vedic meditation teacher.

Every week, she travels into Rikers Island Prison — a notorious jail in New York City — to teach meditation to hardened criminals.

Joh grew up in Adelaide and had always wanted to live amidst the bright lights of New York.

After a stint as a bicycle courier, she worked her way up to management at the ABC.

As she approached 50, she had a well-paying job, a nice house, and strong connections with friends and family.

But long-term grief had hollowed her out, and she asked herself, is this all there is?

Then she was introduced to Vedic meditation, and she says her first encounter was 'psychedelic'.

To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversation 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 touches on epic life stories, family dynamics, grief, loss, reflection, Vedic meditation, meditation, personal stories, origin stories, death, career, giving back, New York City, Rikers Island prison, incarceration, justice system, prison system, mindfulness and mantras.

A wild Bollywood adventure — from Sydney to Mumbai and back again Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

Indian-Australian actor and playwright, Nicholas Brown on being cast as a villain, and what made him end his time in Mumbai for a different life back home.

Actor Nicholas Brown regularly appears on Playschool — cavorting with stuffed animals and singing about the solar system.

Back when he was growing up in Western Sydney there was no one who looked like him when he’d turn the telly on.

Nicholas became the youngest student accepted to NIDA, straight out of school, but his career failed to launch in Australia.

So, he packed his bags, headed to Mumbai and became a Bollywood villain, working with the Brad Pitt of India and meeting producers who had gunshot wounds from their time in the industry.

But Bollywood wasn't the right fit, and when dear friends invited Nicholas home to Sydney to start a new project, he couldn't resist.

This episode of Conversations touches on epic life stories, personal stories, origin stories, mothers, fathers, grief, family dynamics, LGBTQI, Bollywood, Hrithik Roshan, NIDA, acting, reflection, identity and fatherhood.

Aunty Ruth Hegarty’s life of defiance, faith and finding her voice Oct 16, 2024

Show notes

The hardship, cruelty and loneliness of the mission system during the Great Depression didn't crush Aunty Ruth Hegarty's spirit. She found her voice, God and her family. (R)

In 1929 during the Great Depression, Ruth travelled with her mother and grandparents to Barambah, later known as Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission. After being told someone there would help them find a new home, they soon discovered they weren't allowed to leave.

At 4 years of age, Ruth was separated from her family. She grew up as a dormitory girl, and was sent out to work as a domestic servant when she turned 14.

But the cruelty and loneliness of the mission system didn't crush Ruth's spirit.

Ruth found her voice, she found God, and she became a matriarch to five generations of descendants.

Content warning: this episode contains discussions about abuse, family violence, and Stolen Generations

This episode of Conversations explores Australian history, Indigenous history, the Stolen Generations, missions, the Voice referendum, the Great Depression, Cherbourg, domestic work, motherhood, grief, religion, Christianity, God, Faith.

Arnhem Land to Everest — surviving worst case scenarios in the wilderness Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

From the unforgiving tropics of the Kokoda track to Mt Everest, wilderness guide Steve Ellis has made a career teaching bushcraft and survival skills to civilians and Defence personnel – and along the way he has survived his share of life-threatening situations.

Steve Ellis' own first lesson in survival came very young.

He was just 6 years old when he got lost in the national forest near his family farm in central Victoria, but as Steve snuggled up to one of the working dogs for the night, he knew he'd be ok.

Steve has made a career of teaching bushcraft and survival skills to civilians and Defence personnel.

He's guided treks across freezing North American glaciers, and through the unforgiving tropics of the Kokoda track.

Steve never tires of the awe and wonder of the natural world and looking up at the night sky, particularly at his beloved Southern Cross, when he's far from the city lights.

This episode of Conversations explores mountaineering, avalanches, hiking, Mt Everest, fire, NORFORCE, Army, military, celestial navigation, food, family, war, military history, WWII, Anzac, Nepal, astronomy.

I was a political prisoner in Myanmar — and I could never hate the Burmese Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

Following the coup of 2021, Australian economist Sean Turnell received an email from a "secret friend", warning him he was being watched by Myanmar's military. Moments later, the police closed in on him.

Sean Turnell is an Australian economist with longstanding connections to Myanmar, the nation formerly known as Burma.

In 2016, Sean was appointed as senior economic advisor to the dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, who had become the country's prime minister after decades of military rule.

The country had another election, and democracy was cemented.

But the military staged a coup in 2021, and Sean was arrested and charged with being a spy, and imprisoned in a sealed room the size of a shipping container.

For nearly two years, Sean struggled to keep his mind and body together, while his wife and the Australian government campaigned for his release.

This episode of Conversations touches on an epic life story, personal story, grief, memoir, reflection, death, modern history, an exploration of Myanmar, political history, Burma, civil war, prison, jail, death row, political prisoners.

Further information

Sean's memoir An Unlikely Prisoner and Sean's recollection of the economic rehabilitation program, Best Laid Plans: The inside story of reform in Aung San Suu Kyi's Myanmar are published by Penguin

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.

Raising kids differently and being generous with love Oct 11, 2024

Show notes

From Wollongong to London, via Alice Springs, this is writer Nikki Gemmell on her deeply romantic life, and how she defied expectations to become a famous author.

Writer Nikki Gemmell grew up the daughter of a coal miner who thought writers were a burden on society, while her mum taught Nikki that only success was worthy of love.

So Nikki went above and beyond to prove her beloved father wrong, and to get the attention of her mother through her achievements, publishing 20 books in the process, including the wildly successful The Bride Stripped Bare.

The mother of four children, Nikki has also been determined to live her own life and raise her own children very differently, being generous with her love and pride for her sons and daughter.

Content warning: Please take care when listening as this conversation mentions suicide.

This episode of Conversations explores romance, love, epic love, relationships, break-ups, divorce, menopause, peri-menopause, parenting, coal mining, the working class, education, books, writing, novels, children of divorce, adventure, 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.

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