Conversations

Latest Episodes:

Bruce McAvaney — what a legend, what a champion Jul 26, 2024

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Bruce McAvaney is the voice of Australian sport, with a commentating style built on his relentless work ethic and genuine passion. But if he hadn't chucked a sickie one day while working as a public servant, the past 50 years of Australian sport might have sounded very different

Louise Kennedy on Belfast, bombs and a disastrous pav Jul 25, 2024

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Writer Louise Kennedy grew up at the height of The Troubles, just outside of Belfast, where violence was ever-present. When her family's pub was bombed, they decided to move south, where Louise trained as a chef. But after decades of working in the kitchen, a chance invitation to a writer's group lead to an unexpected new career (R)

It's 'all sweet' for Tony Armstrong Jul 24, 2024

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Tony Armstrong felt like a failure when his AFL career ended. But he found his feet again, falling upwards into a different life, calling footy matches, hosting live television, and now writing a children's book. This is why Tony isn't scared of failing anymore

Lele's home under the Morning Star Jul 23, 2024

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Forced to flee West Papua, Lele's family wandered for years before coming to Australia. When they eventually received Australian citizenship and passports, the family was finally able to travel to West Papua. But Lele's homecoming journey was bittersweet, after tragedy struck

Tidying up the crematorium Jul 22, 2024

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When writer Lily Brett went to visit Auschwitz, the death camp both her parents had survived, she couldn't help but start tidying up the place where so many of her family had been murdered, and touching the ashes of what was left

PRESENTS — I Was Actually There | The Boxing Day tsunami 2004 Jul 21, 2024

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I Was Actually There is a new ABC podcast featuring gripping stories told by people who witnessed history first-hand. Hear what it was like to be a police sniper tasked with handling the gunman at the Port Arthur massacre; how it felt to be a teenager seeing The Beatles during their record-breaking 1964 Adelaide visit; and how one man survived being trapped 1km underground for 14 days, after the Beaconsfield mine collapse.

Follow the I Was Actually There podcast on ABC listen.

In this episode, Rebekah Giles and her boyfriend were enjoying a last-minute Christmas holiday in Thailand when the deadliest tsunami in recorded history struck. Rebekah recounts her remarkable survival, from the moment a torrent of water blew apart her beachfront hut on Phi Phi Island.

The many magnificent, mysterious faces of Monte Punshon Jul 19, 2024

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Monte Punshon was 103 years old when she was crowned the world's oldest lesbian, but that wasn't how she summed up her extraordinary life. Historian Tessa Morris-Suzuki charts Monte's adventures through underground bars and secret clubs

At 103 years old, Ethel May Punshon, who was variously known as Miss Montague, Mickey and Monte, was crowned the 'world's oldest lesbian'.

However, that wasn't how she summed up her extraordinary life.

Historian Tessa Morris-Suzuki has researched Monte's long, mysterious and adventurous life.

Monte worked in children's theatre at the turn of last century, frequented underground drag parties in the 1930s, and made trailblazing trips to Japan.

Throughout her life, Monte was driven by her unrelenting curiosity and a simple motto: don't be afraid.

Further information

A Secretive Century: Monte Punshon's Australia is published by MUP

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.

Writer Winnie Dunn on identity and the meaning of homecoming Jul 18, 2024

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Winnie Dunn is the General Manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. Here she tells the story of how family and writing brought her home to Tonga, and gave Winnie the power to launch herself into the world on her own terms.

Winnie grew up between her father and stepmother's house and the home of her grandmother — a brick home in Mount Druitt called the house of fe'ofa'aki, meaning “to love one another”.

For years, Winnie's Tongan identity made her uneasy and instead of being a homecoming, her first trip to Tonga as a teenager was a disaster.

Over time her understanding of what it means to be Pacific Islander evolved, and at the age of 28, she became the first Tongan-Australian to have a novel published.

Further information

Dirt Poor Islanders is published by Hachette

The power and determination of Nas Campanella Jul 17, 2024

Show notes

Nas Campanella was six months old when she lost her sight. She fell in love with the radio and audio books as a child, growing up to become one of Australia's most well-known TV and radio journalists (R)

The megadeath of megafauna Jul 16, 2024

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Dr Aaron Camens studies the fossilised skeletons, footprints and soft tissue left behind by strange, alien-like behemoths, to work out how they lived, and what, or who, killed them

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