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.

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2,000 episodes
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Episodes2000

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January 20 · 50 min
The secret life of a hostage negotiator
Hostage negotiation isn't at all like what you see in Hollywood blockbusters. There is no lying, no promise-making, not even any names. Vince Hurley has only one task—trying to make a deep, human connection with a complete stranger. Content Warning: this episode of Conversations contains strong language and descriptions of violent crime. Vince Hurley is a criminologist at Macquarie University and a passionate advocate for ending violence against women. He brings nearly three decades of policin
January 19 · 51 min
Encore: Upside down in Bass Strait
Navigator Will Oxley expected the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race to be a challenging one. But when he and his crew met with 12-metre waves and 80km/h winds in Bass Strait, Will knew something was about to go horribly wrong. (R) Will Oxley learnt the art of celestial navigation in his 20s and he is now one of the world’s leading ocean race navigators. He has competed in the Sydney to Hobart race many times. He was navigating during the 1998 race when a freak storm hit off the coast of Eden.
January 16 · 51 min
New Beginnings: How Rafael Bonachela let out his inner showgirl with Kylie Minogue
Rafael Bonachela was born in the dying years of Franco’s Spain, into a patriarchal culture that didn’t appreciate little boys who wanted to dance. As the eldest of four brothers, his father expected him to be an example of academic achievement and bravado. This hardline approach slowly drove his father away from the family, though when it came time to say goodbye, Rafael saw an unexpected side of him. At the age of 17, when the wide world beckoned, Rafael left his home country without a back
January 15 · 52 min
New Beginnings: Justin Heazlewood on swapping fame for his hometown
Justin Heazlewood fled a complicated early life in Tasmania searching for fame as an artist on the mainland but then moved back to his home town of Burnie, and realised community is where you find it. For years he imagined his hometown as somewhere he had to leave, especially if he was going to be any kind of artist. And there were other, more personal reasons that made staying in Burnie complicated. Justin's Mum has schizophrenia, and growing up he was often forced into the role of being her
January 14 · 52 min
New Beginnings: When a sea change collides with messy midlife
For journalist Kate Halfpenny, moving to a beachside town during Melbourne's lockdowns seemed like the perfect way to unwind and escape her huge mortgage. Then she had to contend with the triple whammy of perimenopause, her husband's alcoholism and distance from family and friends. For the first time in her life, Kate had an empty house, no job commitments and no city life to distract her. She was able to indulge daily in her love of boogie boarding and surf-side walks with her dog, Maggie. O
January 13 · 52 min
New Beginnings: Artist Loribelle Spirovski on finding family and love
The artist Loribelle Spirovski on her unusual childhood in the Philippines, meeting her father for the first time at 7 years old, and making her way as one of Australia's most exciting young painters. Loribelle Spirovski grew up in the Philippines, with her mum and her extended Filipino family. Her Serbian father, whom she had never met, was in Australia, driving taxis and waiting for the visa that would allow him to bring Loribelle and her mum to join him. Loribelle didn't meet her father un
January 12 · 50 min
New Beginnings: Felicia Djamirze, beauty queen and drug dealer
Felicia Djamirze grew up in the criminal underworld, then became a beauty queen. But her life outside the pageant circuit was mired in the world of drugs, bikie gangs and violence.(CW: graphic discussion of domestic violence and crime) Felicia Djamirze is a counsellor, an advocate for women's justice, a three-time Miss Australia winner and a convicted drug trafficker. Felicia grew up surrounded by drug abuse and crime in a rough part of Sydney. Her family was marked by addiction and connectio
January 6 · 50 min
Holiday listening: Anh Nguyen Austen's story of rescue and reinvention
When Anh Nguyen Austen was a small girl, her family fled South Vietnam on a boat which met a once-in-a-century storm in the South China sea. When all on board thought hope was lost, they were rescued.
January 5 · 50 min
Holiday listening: the secret world of the human ear
For Professor Kelvin Kong, the ear is our most beautiful organ. Kelvin is a proud Worimi man and an ENT surgeon at the forefront of medical innovation. For Professor Kelvin Kong, the ear is our most beautiful organ. It's vital to how many of us understand each other, and how we understand ourselves. The proud Worimi man is the third doctor in his family, and is now an ENT surgeon at the forefront of medical innovation. He performs highly intricate lifesaving procedures, and also more simple
January 4 · 51 min
Holiday Listening: Birds, bees and intelligent machines
When Professor Mandyam Srinivasan began studying bees almost 35 years ago, we was interested in learning how bees landed so elegantly, and avoided colliding in mid-air. What Mandyam discovered was a complex and astounding system of vision and flight, which is now being applied to machine vision and robotics. He and his team at the Queensland Brain Institute built an autonomous aircraft, without GPS or radar, that flies like a bee. The technology could have widespread applications for surveill
January 1 · 52 min
Holiday Listening: Nerida's nudibranchs, sea dragons and siphonophores
As a marine molecular biologist, Dr Nerida Wilson spends a lot of her time getting acquainted with the mysterious creatures lurking in the dark depths of the sea. From nudibranchs, to sea dragons and a UFO-looking spiral that's around 150 feet long, Nerida doesn't need to know why these weird and wonderful creatures exist, that they made it here in the first place is enough. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris and the Excecutive Producer was Carmel Rooney. It covers ma
Dec 31, 2025 · 51 min
Holiday Listening: Lee Berger, the real-life Indiana Jones, and the Case of the Lost Hominids
When Lee Berger entered the field of palaeoanthropology there was a one in 10,000,000 chance he would discover anything 'worthwhile' digging around South Africa. But this real-life Indiana Jones kept bucking the odds. First, he found a pair of hominid teeth in southern Africa, and then after a fossil-hunting dry spell, his 9-year-old son Matthew found the jawbone of a completely new hominid species. A few years later came Lee's most extraordinary discovery yet: a nearly inaccessible cave fille
Dec 30, 2025 · 50 min
Holiday Listening: Fishing for feelings -- the many ways fish are smarter than you think
Dr Culum Brown is a leading researcher in the field of fish cognition, his research has shown that even that smallest fish are capable of learning and can retain memories for months. His fascination for fish stems from growing up in parts of south-east Asia, where he would spend every possible hour in the ocean with a snorkel. As an adult, Culum's marine biology studies around the world have revealed many facts which challenge our common understanding of fish. Within schools of fish, there is
Dec 29, 2025 · 51 min
Holiday Listening: The flying vet from Outback Queensland
Dr Campbell Costello's work as a vet has taken him out of his family's station in North Queensland to places as far flung as Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Patagonia. He's acted as the official vet for a sled race in Alaska, for epic horse races in Mongolia and Argentina, and he has run a cattle station in the former Soviet Union. But after a family tragedy, Dr Costello got his pilot's licence so he could service Australian communities and stations in the country's most remote corners. This episode
Dec 28, 2025 · 48 min
Holiday Listening: Slime moulds—the brainless blobs that can move and solve mazes
Dr Tanya Latty is an insect scientist with a quirky taste in pets, and a keen eye for detail, but it's the lessons from her brainless pet slime mould that she's most fascinated about. Tanya studies the behaviour of ants and bees and she's particularly interested in their ability to work effectively as a team to achieve a common goal. But her pet project is focused on a creature that defies classification. Slime moulds are neither plants nor animals. They can move, but they don't have legs or
Dec 25, 2025 · 49 min
Holiday Listening: David Bindi Hudson on playing his didgeridoo at the Taj Mahal
When his elders named him Bindi, David Hudson had no idea his future would involve performing with his didgeridoo at the Taj Mahal, or a role in a film starring Marlin Brando Western Yalanji and Ewamian man David Bindi Hudson is a performing artist and musician. His parents were born on Mona Mona mission, near Cairns. David's mother didn't like being told what to do, and so in 1956 she walked off the mission with her three children, and made it 18km away to look for work at a local pub. He
Dec 24, 2025 · 51 min
Holiday Listening: Learning from the mighty matriarchs of the animal kingdom
Erna Walraven was one of the first female zookeepers to work at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in the 1980s. Despite practical jokes from her male colleagues, like animal dung in her gumboots, Erna kept her nerve. She was born in The Netherlands, to parents who were involved in the Dutch resistance during World War II. Erna's love of languages took her to Spain, where she lived for many years with her widowed sister and young nephew. It was there she met a penniless Australian backpacker and fell in lo
Dec 19, 2025 · 53 min
Best of 2025: Mike Doleman on surving the Blythe Star
At 18 years old, Mick Doleman miraculously survived when his ship capsized in the freezing Southern Ocean off Tasmania. But as he floated in a life raft with his nine crewmates, his ordeal at sea had only just begun. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, the Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison. It covers ship wreck, overcrowding, emergency rescue, team dynamics, ship captain, Tasmania, rough seas, death, the Blythe Star To binge even more great episodes of the Conver
Dec 18, 2025 · 53 min
Best of 2025: How I became a brainwashed cult bride
Liz Cameron was 18 years old when a stranger approached her in a book shop. It was the beginning of her induction into a cult, and it was an experience Liz barely survived. The process of brainwashing happened gradually, first came the love-bombing and the allure of finding a new purpose in life. Then came the isolation from friends and family, along with sleep deprivation, overwork and sexual manipulation. Liz was one of the many women chosen to become a kind of bride for the leader of an inf
Dec 17, 2025 · 52 min
Best of 2025: The young boat builder who rowed across the Pacific
Tom Robinson was a 14-year-old living in the Brisbane suburbs when he made a promise to himself to become the youngest person ever to row across the Pacific Ocean. Nine years later Tom set off from Peru bound for Australia without a support crew and limited communication. Tom navigated by the stars, made eye contact with a shark and rowed up to 15 hours a day when strong currents pushed him off course. And when his adventure ended, it was in a completely unexpected by perfect way. Read more