Conversations
byABC Australia
SocietyCultureRelationships
Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption. Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling. Conversations Live is coming to the stage! Join Sarah Kanowski and...
Episodes(40 episodes)
Why my father was abandoned and the empathy I now have for his mother
Jane Messer grew up with a loving father who never really understood why as a child his mother left him and his older sister at a boarding school, so she decided to find out the full story and prove that he was in fact, loved.Her father Michael was born in Berlin in the years between the two world and to escape Nazi Germany he was sent to live in England as a child.There were a few fleeting visits but then Michael didn’t see his mother again for another 13 years and he always sa...
Published: Apr 15, 2026Duration: 50m 0s
Encore: The hidden corners of Emma's Hong Kong — fishing villages, beaches and ancestral graveyards
Novelist Emma Pei Yin ran away from Hong Kong as a teenager to start fresh in Australia. But she found herself repeatedly drawn back home whenever she put pen to paper.Emma grew up in England and Hong Kong. But her life in Hong Kong wasn’t so much about the neon skyscrapers as it was about her family’s ancestral village, tucked away in the New Territories.Emma spent her school holidays there with her grandparents, learning how to take care of the family cemetery and joining in Chinese Festivals.Sometimes her gran...
Published: Apr 14, 2026Duration: 48m 0s
'The century of foundlings'—what Cynthia found when she went looking maternal family secrets
Writer Cynthia Banham on discovering the shocking truth about her great-grandmother, reckoning with buried family secrets, and the criticisms mothers face from others and sometimes most harshly, from themselves.Cynthia Banham grew up hearing the story of her great-grandmother, Natalina, who had supposedly been orphaned in Italy in the 19th century.But when Cynthia became a mother herself she felt compelled to look for the real story of her maternal line, which suddenly stopped three generations back.What she found shocked her -- a period of time when infant relinquishment was so common...
Published: Apr 13, 2026Duration: 52m 0s
Spotting the psychopaths, sadists and narcissists in our lives and how to get rid of them
Toxic people are around us in our workplaces, our families and our dating lives. Research psychologist Leanne ten Brinke is here to tell you how to spot them, and get rid of them from your orbit.Leanne ten Brinke is a research psychologist whose special area of expertise is what she calls 'dark personality types'.These are particularly cruel, malicious, manipulative people who lack empathy, people who are psychopaths, narcissists or sadists.Psychologists estimate than one per cent of any population shows serious levels of psychopathy.They walk among us in...
Published: Apr 10, 2026Duration: 52m 54s
Encore: How his ex-wife's hidden letter changed Teddy Tahu Rhodes
Born with a magnificent voice, Opera star Teddy Tahu Rhodes fought against his destiny for years until a letter he'd been avoiding reading changed everything (R)
Published: Apr 9, 2026Duration: 51m 0s
The GP clinic for patients often overlooked by society
Dr Nada Andric wants to improve the health of people who are marginalised in the community and their access to healthcare.She works at the Reverend Bill Crews GP clinic, a place where people who might be completely off the database of society can get help.Whether they're facing homelessness, dealing with mental health issues, addiction, or simply don't have a Medicare card or passport to their name. This year, the clinic in the Sydney suburb of Ashfield turns 40.This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan, the Executive Producer i...
Published: Apr 8, 2026Duration: 50m 0s
Encore: Bo Seo on good arguments and the power of disagreement
Two-time World Debating champion Bo Seo on how love and listening can improve how we disagree, so we're not at each other's throats online and offline (R).When Bo was 8 years old, he and his parents migrated from Korea to Australia. Bo was a quiet boy and sometimes felt overwhelmed at school. But in Year Five, something happened which changed his life: one of his teachers introduced Bo to debating.Debating became a way for Bo to excel socially and academically. He went on to win world titles for Australia and for Harv...
Published: Apr 7, 2026Duration: 52m 18s
Exploring loss, love and meaning with psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz
Stephen Grosz has welcomed people into his office for more than 40 years, and believes our greatest task in life is to see ourselves and others with more clarity, in order to live more easily and with more please.Stephen has sat with people as they have shared their darkest fears, strangest dreams and their most explosive love affairs.Through thousands of hours of these conversations, he has tried to help patients understand themselves so they can live with more ease and with greater satisfaction.Stephen believes our greatest task in life is to...
Published: Apr 6, 2026Duration: 53m 36s
When the magical worlds of Alice Springs and Prague collided
Writer Tanya Heaslip on swapping life on an Alice Springs station for the fairytale streets of Prague, and the remarkable parallels she found between these two magical worlds.Tanya was in a pub in London in 1989 when she watched on the television as the Berlin Wall came down.She was the tail end of a solo backpacking trip, which didn’t quite live up to what she’d imagined it might be as a little girl growing up on a remote cattle station near Alice Springs.But Tanya booked to go to Berlin the...
Published: Apr 3, 2026Duration: 46m 30s
Encore: Remembering cultural leader and storyteller Rhoda Roberts
The late Widjabul Wieybal woman of the Bundjalung Nation Rhoda Roberts lived through great loss and grief, in the midst of becoming one of Australia's most influential cultural leaders in the arts (R). Content Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned that this episode of Conversations includes the names and voice of someone who has died, used in accordance with the wishes of their family.Aunty Rhoda Roberts AO, a guiding force in Australia's arts scene and the woman who coined the term "Welcome to Country", died in March at the age of 66 after being...
Published: Apr 2, 2026Duration: 47m 12s
Burnout and the 'Bureaucrapper' — how Nick went from the edge of homelessness to helping others
Nick Orchard on how a tough childhood, mental health issues, couch surfing and hip hop have helped him learn how to help others recover from burnout and impostor syndrome.When Nick was growing up, his mum struggled with her mental health and when he was on a date as a teenager he got the worst call of his life, and went to be with his mum when she needed him most.Nick turned to the Melbourne hip hop scene for a sense of community and purpose.It’s also where Nick would go lo...
Published: Apr 1, 2026Duration: 52m 30s
Encore: The real story behind the Australian classic, 'Looking for Alibrandi'
Melina Marchetta grew up in Sydney in a close-knit Sicilian family, but she never wanted to be seen as 'that Italian girl'. Years later though, she drew on her story to write a book that would become an Australian classic (R).Growing up, Melina lied about the fact she was forbidden to go out on the weekends, and instead told her friends she had to attend lots of weddings.At 19 years old, she visited Italy for the first time and met her great aunts, still grieving the siblings who had left for Australia decades earlier.<...
Published: Mar 31, 2026Duration: 53m 0s
The giant spacecraft on its way to Jupiter's icy moon
Tracy Drain is Chief Engineer of the Europa Clipper, a NASA spacecraft currently travelling to Jupiter on a journey that will take six years.Europa is one of Jupiter’s four largest moons, and scientists believe there could be an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust.Having water would make Europa one of the best places to look for signs of life in the solar system.Tracy Drain has worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab for more than two decades.She is also a National Geographic Explorer and was in Aust...
Published: Mar 30, 2026Duration: 50m 12s
The secret life of a matchmaker—love, listening and telling the truth
Together with his husband, Vinko Anthony runs a matchmaking agency for gay men looking for the type of enduring commitment and love that they found. As part of his role as matchmaker, Vinko shares what he's learnt about love and listening through the ups and downs of his own relationships.Vinko grew up on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, where he spent a lot of his childhood with his Nonna.The two of them would walk together for hours in silence, listening deeply to the birds, the waves and the wind.Then...
Published: Mar 27, 2026Duration: 53m 18s
Encore: falling for a fake lover, online
Stephanie Wood was new to online dating when she met a sweet farmer named Joe. But within weeks, she realised Joe was not at all who he claimed to be, and she ended up discovering shocking and ongoing deceit (R).Stephanie was a successful and well-travelled journalist when she met a sweet man named Joe online.They spent many romantic weekends away and discussed a future where they would live together in the country.But after months of his last minute cancellations and no shows, Stephanie finally ended the relationship.What...
Published: Mar 26, 2026
Encore: Barber Charles Lomu and the meaning of love
When Charles Lomu was born, he was lovingly given to his grandparents, in the Tongan adoption custom of pusiaki.He lived a gentle, religious life in Tonga, and saw love in action through his grandparents' care.The family moved to Australia, where Charles grew to be an up-and-coming Rugby League player.When grief shook his family, Charles turned down a dark path, which ended in periodic detention in jail.Further informationOriginally broadcast July 2022.This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan and the Executive Producer was Carmel...
Published: Mar 25, 2026Duration: 53m 0s
Encore: After triple zero — a paramedic's tale
Benjamin Gilmour describes the hectic work of saving lives, and what it's like to bring people back from the brink of suicide. (R)Ben was been a paramedic for twenty six years and was based in inner Sydney for more than a decade.A regular working week for Bondi's ambulance crews would see them called out to cardiac arrests, drug overdoses, domestic disputes, and to suicides.Their patch included a notorious cliff known as 'The Gap', where it would often be Ben’s job to convince people to come back from the edge....
Published: Mar 24, 2026Duration: 53m 8s
Anna the anxiety coach on surviving a roller coaster accident and healing her nervous system
When Anna Ferguson was a little girl she was badly hurt in a roller coaster accident. Although she made a full physical recovery, emotionally everything was different, and for many years she couldn't understand why she remained either angry or numb.Anna was 10 years old when she went with her family to the Melbourne Royal Show.Anna was excited to ride a roller coaster for the first time, but something went wrong on the ride, and Anna and her sister were trapped for hours.Both of them needed major medical treatment, and while...
Published: Mar 23, 2026Duration: 53m 0s
Iran's position of power in the Strait of Hormuz
Military strategist Jennifer Parker on the story behind the biggest disruption to oil supplies in world history, happening now in the Strait of Hormuz.The narrow waterway in the Persian Gulf has a particular geographical importance to the world, as the land on one side belongs to Iran, and the country has a history of using it to pressure its enemies in times of conflict.A quarter of all oil production passes through it so disrupting that flow can have an enormous impact on the global economy.Right now, in response to heavy bombardment from...
Published: Mar 20, 2026Duration: 52m 0s
Encore: How Jenny upended the Australian way of death
Jenny Briscoe-Hough on the uncomfortable truths which saw her set up Australia's first ever not-for-profit funeral home (R).After her mother died, Jenny Briscoe-Hough had an epiphany about the business of funerals.Although her family brought in their own flowers and had a simple service, the bill came to $11,000. A short time later, Jenny began thinking about setting up a not-for-profit funeral service in her local area.With the help of a documentary and a crowdfunding campaign, she and the community of Port Kembla raised more than $120,000 to buy an old fire station...
Published: Mar 19, 2026Duration: 49m 0s