Conversations

Latest Episodes:

Pip Williams: from dyslexia to the Dictionary of Lost Words Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

Pip Williams was diagnosed with dyslexia as a teenager. She grew up to write a novel inspired by the history of the Oxford Dictionary, which soon became an international bestseller

Penny Moodie's compulsive and compelling life Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

Penny grew up consumed by catastrophic thoughts and developed habits to try to ward off impending doom. It turned out she had been living with obsessive compulsive disorder for 30 years

Penny Moodie grew up consumed by catastrophic thoughts and ideas - that her parents would die in a car crash, that her mother was not really her mother, or that she had somehow contracted HIV aids.

It's not unusual for children to worry about their parents and their own safety, but for Penny these anxieties went much further.

She thought she could ward off catastrophes by doing specific things, by developing compulsive behaviours and routines.

It turns out, Penny had been living obsessive compulsive disorder for more than 30 years before she was diagnosed.

Only recently has Penny been able to understand what she's truly afraid of, to discard her constant state of anxiety and to finally take joy in the simple pleasures of life.

Further information

The Joy Thief: How OCD steals your happiness and how to get it back is published by Allen & Unwin

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.

The hunt for deep sea bioluminescence (and a giant squid) Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

Marine biologist Dr Edith Widder was inside a submersible searching for bioluminescence in the ocean depths when she saw a giant squid as big as a two story house (R)

The speech collector Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

Tony Wilson was always drawn to the world's great speeches. Then, without warning, he was called on to make the most difficult speech of his life (R)

Champion surfer Jodie Cooper on the breaks that made her Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

How Jodie went from skateboarding in her home town of Albany to become a world surfing champion, frothing all the way.

When Jodie Cooper was growing up the kids in her hometown of Albany in Western Australia raised money to build one of the world's first-ever skate parks. They named it the Snake Run, and a talented young Jodie shone on the track.

Once she discovered surfing at the age of 16, she was hooked. By 19, she had turned Pro, and joined a host of remarkable women on the World Tour including Pam Burridge and Wendy Botha.

The women were relegated the poorest waves during events and minimised even as they accumulated medals and world titles. Despite the administrators at the time, Jodie went on to win 12 World Championship tour career titles in her decade on the tour.

In 1997 Jodie made the decision to come out publicly about her sexuality, saying at the time, “I think it's important to be true to yourself and stand up for yourself."

In 2018 the World Surf League committed to equal prize money for men and women in their major events, and in 2020, Jodie was inducted into the Australian Surfing Hall of Fame.

Further information

Girls Can't Surf is available to watch on Stan

Penny's odyssey to Greece and family Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

An unexpected DNA test result sent Penny Mackieson on a mission across the other side of the world, to find her real natural mother, and discover her identity

The caving time lord Oct 18, 2023

Show notes

Dr Kira Westaway is a geochronologist who places modern and ancient humans in context by dating things found in caves. For Kira, how we understand ourselves now is tied up in the past (R)

The lucky accident of Sydney's Opera House Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

Helen Pitt on how the luminous shells of the Sydney Opera House nearly didn't get off the drawing board

Lovemore's left hook Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

A chance encounter led Lovemore Ndou into his local boxing gym, and a lucky left hook became his ticket out of apartheid South Africa

Silverchair's drummer grows up Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

Ben Gillies was a 15 year old drummer when Silverchair became a global sensation. After almost two decades of being a rock star, the band broke up, and Ben began to face his own demons

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