Conversations

ABC Australia

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 Richard Fidler for an unmissable night of unforgettable stories, behind-the-scenes secrets, and surprise guests. Australia’s most-loved podcast — live, up close, and in the moment. Find out more at the Conversations website.

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

2,000 episodes
Updated Today

Episodes2000

Newest first

July 7 · 51 min
NAIDOC 2026: Rachel Perkins on 'The Australian Wars'
The filmmaker on her series which documents a period some historians call the most important war Australia has ever fought in. Rachel Perkins is one of this country's great storytellers, translating distinctively Australian stories for the screen, including a television series first released in 2022 called The Australian Wars. It tracks the bloody conflicts that broke out across the continent after the arrival of the British colonists. Rachel says these are the most important wars in our hist
July 6 · 53 min
NAIDOC 2026: Victor the fire man on burning country to heal it
Tagalaka man, Victor Steffensen on the ‘walking encyclopedias’ — dear old men he met who entrusted him with their decades of cultural knowledge and taught him to apply the right traditional burn for the right environment, so Country can thrive. Victor advocates for small, cool fires that emit white smoke. This is something Indigenous people have done for tens of thousands of years to help Country survive and thrive. Victor was a young man who wasn’t sure which direction to take when two el
July 3 · 53 min
Finding love, compassion and God after a lifetime of drugs and crime
For 40 years, crime was the only constant in Lincoln Lynch’s life, until a prison stint forced him to look inward and change the trajectory of his life for good. His young mum went to prison for dealing drugs when Lincoln was little, and eventually he followed in her footsteps. Lincoln endured periods of homelessness and institutionalised abuse as a teenager, and he became a teen father, before winding up in prison himself. There, in his cell, Lincoln discovered God’s teachings about compassi
July 2 · 53 min
Encore: Gina Chick's wild grandmother, and embracing her life as 'an element'
The inaugural winner of Alone Australia on her life as a creative, outrageous, nature-loving misfit who grew up to live through great depths of love and grief. Warning: Discusses the death of a child. In 2023, Gina Chick spent 67 days by herself, in the wilderness of Tasmania’s West Coast, surviving on worms, fish, and one unlucky wallaby. After those 67 days, Gina became the first-ever winner of a reality show on SBS called Alone Australia, but her approach to the competition was very differe
July 1 · 47 min
Nuking the moon and mirrors in space—man's wildest attempts to control the weather
Nuking the moon, putting mirrors in space and blowing up the Polar ice caps are just some of history's hairbrained schemes to control the weather, an obsession man has had since the dawn of time. As a major heatwave tears through Europe, millions of people are frantically trying to stay cool, or praying for some relief. Their desperation is not new. For thousands of years, human civilisations have been obsessed with trying to control the weather, to stave off drought and famine, in order to su
June 30 · 51 min
Encore: A brother's insight into the genius of artist David Hockney
John Hockney's memoir gives a rare insight into the unusual life of one of the world's most famous artists. He grew up in the industrial town of Bradford in Northern England and was one of five children in a creative household, led by his iconoclastic father Kenneth, a conscientious objector who always told his children to 'never worry what the neighbours think'. During the war, there were many shortages. As child, John's brother David would creep downstairs in the morning and draw on whatever
June 29 · 48 min
The mysteries, ghosts and healing powers of the Abbotsford Convent
For more than a century, Melbourne's Abbotsford Convent was occupied by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, and the "wayward" girls and orphans they took care of. Patricia Sykes was one of those girls. She was dropped off at the orphanage with her three sisters in the early 1950s after their mother died. Their father couldn't afford to take care of four girls at home, but wanted them to stay together, so an orphanage felt like his only option. As a girl, Patricia, a gifted student who loved mus
June 26 · 51 min
How limitations in life, love and creativity can actually set you free
Science writer David Epstein on why freedom can be the enemy of success and how we can all benefit from less choice, not more. We live today with vastly more freedom of choice than our ancestors. But there’s also plenty of research telling us all this choice is making us more anxious, overwhelmed and less creative. In his book, Inside the Box, David makes the case for how constraints can unlock creativity and satisfaction. And why after writing this book he now believes that narrowing your
June 25 · 51 min
Encore: The traits I was teased about are now my trademarks
Veteran performer Paul Capsis on his strict upbringing and the strong female role models who helped him stay in school despite the brutality. A powerful and expressive voice, flamboyant physical presence, and mane of dark hair have become his trademarks as a performer. But when Paul was growing up in inner-city Sydney as the child of Greek and Maltese parents, these same qualities brought him a world of trouble. At school he was relentlessly ridiculed and beaten. The love of his Maltese grand
June 24 · 52 min
The adoptive mum who now fights to keep families together
Anna Dombkins was 25 years old, when she and her husband happened on a television program about adoption which would completely change their lives. CW: this episode of Conversations discusses adoption. It was a documentary investigating the unimaginable conditions of some orphanages in China. The newly married couple felt compelled to adopt, but because they already had biological children, it was near impossible to adopt in Australia. The newly married couple felt compelled to adopt children
June 23 · 51 min
Encore: How not to be a d***head with singer Kasey Chambers
Country music artist Kasey Chambers has spent her life making music and connecting with audiences. It’s what she believes she was put on the earth to do. Growing up Kasey and her family spent much of the year camping and roaming the Nullabor Plain where her dad would hunt for foxes and rabbits. She started singing around the campfire as a little girl and went to sleep to the sound of her father’s rifle as he worked through the night. Singing came naturally to Kasey, and she loved all the old
June 22 · 51 min
A race against time to help my friend dying from mesothelioma
James O'Loghlin had only just reconnected with one of his best and oldest friends, Jum Wallner, when Jum received some terrible news. What began next was a high stakes race with a fatal deadline. The two men had grown up in Canberra, where thousands of homes had been filled with asbestos, which was often carelessly installed and removed. Jum himself had grown up in one of these so-called "Mr Fluffy" homes, named after the local company that had installed the carcinogenic insulation. When Jum
June 19 · 47 min
"ELVIS IS ALIVE AND RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT" The story behind the nonsensical Weekly World News
Peter Hoysted, AKA Jack the Insider is back with a look at the humorous and bizarre stories of the newspaper founded in 1979 by a former CIA officer. “174 MPH SNEEZE BLOWS OFF WOMAN’S HAIR”, “BABY BORN WITH TATTOO”, “GARDEN OF EDEN FOUND!” These were some of the fantastical headlines that led the comedic black and white US tabloid, Weekly World News (WWN). Peter Hoysted, AKA Jack the Insider is a true crime writer and a columnist for The Australian. He was a fan of the nonsensical report
June 18 · 51 min
Encore: Darren Hayes on the dark side of his fame with Savage Garden
Darren Hayes rose to fame in the 1990s as part of the musical duo Savage Garden but the scars of his violent childhood nearly ended everything. 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. This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024 Further information Unlovable is publ
June 17 · 52 min
Why this private investigator loves the cases others have given up on
Ken Gamble is very good at spying on people doing the wrong thing but perhaps the investigations that have had the most impact are the missing person cases he's taken on pro bono. Ken spent part of his childhood living in a remote outback pub and by the age of 12, he was driving drunk jackaroos back to their stations. When his family moved to the Sunshine Coast, Ken took up boxing on the amateur circuit and left school in Year 10 to pursue the sport full time, until a savage injury ended his
June 16 · 50 min
Encore: My eerie week inside Kanye West's Hollywood mansion
Gonzo journalist and writer John Safran on why he decided to squat in a Hollywood mansion belonging to Kanye West. John Safran has made a career out of getting into places he probably shouldn't be, from breaking into Disney Land, to infiltrating fascist strongholds in Australia. A couple of years ago, one of his journalistic expeditions saw him squatting in an abandoned Hollywood mansion belonging Kanye West. John had seen a clip of the hip hop start denying the Holocaust, defending Adolf Hit
June 15 · 53 min
Rowing against the current—the Australian heroine of the Titanic's 'lifeboat 16'
Everyone knows the story of the Titanic. But one quintessentially Australian story of survival, love and adventure lay dormant for more than a century before journalist and author Lisa Wilkinson raised it from the depths of the Atlantic. Everyone knows the story of the Titanic - the biggest, most magnificent, most expensive ship ever built. It was meant to be unsinkable. But when it hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic, it sank, killing 1500 people. For more than 100 years,
June 12 · 51 min
From party trick to pop star — meet Molly Lewis, professional whistler
Molly's niche career began over a decade ago when she entered a whistling competition on a whim and she now performs all over the world. Her music sits somewhere between birdsong and the soundtrack to a film noir. Born in Sydney, Molly moved to Hollywood as a baby before returning to Australia for high school in Byron Bay. Once she realised her talent was more than just a hobby for family and friends, she began performing live with musicians in LA and has collaborated with the likes of D
June 11 · 50 min
Encore: My adventures on the high seas with a fugitive on the run
Marele Day is a novelist, but as a young woman looking for adventure, she hitchhiked on a catamaran sailing from Darwin to Sri Lanka. The skipper was a Frenchman, named Jean Day, who revealed on board that he had once done jail time for hijacking a plane. What she only found out later, was that Jean was a fugitive on the run from another high-profile crime. Further information Marele Day's memoir is called Reckless This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2023 The producer was
June 10 · 53 min
Algorithms, accountability and the 'manosphere'—empowering men to be the solution
Clinical psychologist and men's mental health researcher Zac Seidler on how boys are being fed increasingly inflammatory content online, and what men can do IRL to offer a version of masculinity that is healthy and vulnerable, instead of hard and dangerous. Many young men are taking a journey on the internet right now which starts with inoffensive self-improvement videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok, but quickly becomes something else entirely. Young guys are searching the internet for