Conversations: Archive: 2015-2017
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Tim Fischer on Australia's greatest military leader, General John Monash
28 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Australia's General John Monash helped lead the Allies to victory in World War One.
Tori Spooner describes her life with synaesthesia
28 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Synaesthete Tori Spooner sees numbers as colours, and has a vast calendar in her head that looks like a city skyline.
Anna Broinowski: inside the North Korean film industry
27 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anna was looking for inspiration as she tried to prevent a coal seam gas project from going ahead in inner Sydney.
Alan Cumming on being his brutal father's son
26 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Alan has starred in major Hollywood films including Goldeneye and X-Men 2; won a Tony Award for his performance in Cabaret, and appears regularly in ...
There's a fascinating story behind Australia's unofficial national anthem, 'Waltzing Matilda'
25 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Waltzing Matilda was written in the town of Winton in outback Queensland by Banjo Paterson.
Norman Doidge believes our 'plastic' brains can heal themselves
22 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Norman is a Canadian psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher and writer.
David Walliams' journey from Little Britain to writing for children
21 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
David is the co-creator of BBC TV comedy series, Little Britain.
Helen Macdonald on Britain's fiercest birds of prey
20 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Helen felt a deep affinity for birds of prey, even keeping a kestrel in her bedroom as a child. She was determined to one day become a falconer.
Nick Davies uncovered a hidden network of corruption inside UK newspapers
19 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Davies writes investigative stories for the Guardian.
Michael Stoddart: the importance of smell and scent
18 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael is a scientist who has spent decades researching the origins of the human sense of smell.
Janet Lane and Ros Sexton's quest to save the Waler Horse
15 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ros and Janet live in different parts of the country and became friends through their love of the endangered breed.
Dr John Gerrard worked in Ebola-affected Sierra Leone for six weeks
14 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Gerrard is Director of Infectious Diseases at Queensland's Gold Coast University Hospital.
Kate Fritzon studies the motivations of people who set fires
13 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kate has been studying who sets fires and why, in both Australia and the UK, for the past 21 years.
Vrasidas Karalis decries the cutural and political climate of contemporary Greece
12 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Vrasidas grew up in the Greek village of Olympia listening to his grandfather telling stories of ancient times.
Carmel Harrington knows the personal cost of sleep disorders
11 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Sleep is a basic human necessity, yet there's still very little known about it.
Greenpeace's Peter Willcox captained the Rainbow Warrior
08 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Peter has been involved with Greenpeace for more than 30 years, after being introduced to the power of protest at a very young age.
David Christian's Big History approach to the story of our universe
07 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Professor David Christian is from Macquarie University and he's been teaching a dynamic version of the history of humanity for 25 years.
Kate Grenville sees her mother anew since writing her life story
06 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kate is one of Australia's most awarded and popular writers. Her novels have won numerous awards in Australia and the UK, including the Orange Prize....
Geoff Corbett is a drug and alcohol counsellor working with young people
05 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Geoff works in a detox centre attached to a major hospital, helping young people deal with addiction.
Peter Hoysted unravels the true tale of the Fine Cotton fiasco
04 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Hoysted writes a column under the name of 'Jack the Insider' and tells the incredibly strange story of the Fine Cotton affair: where a group of...
Somali-born Leila Abukar spent her teenage years in refugee camps
30 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Leila's father's role as a minister in the Somali government marked the family as a militia target, and the family spent the next 8 years living as r...
Archaeologist Stephen Bourke: unearthing the seat of civilisation in Pella, Jordan
29 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
From reluctant student to leading archaeologist
Republican Jane Caro reveres the first Queen Elizabeth
28 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jane is the author of two fictionalised books that tell the story of her hero, Queen Elizabeth I.
Nigel Benn was known as 'The Dark Destroyer'
27 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Nigel's father moved the family from Barbados to London in the 50's.
Mephisto: the only remaining WW1 German A7V tank
24 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The first tanks were invented in a desperate attempt to end the agony of trench warfare.
Susan Boyer weaves together little-known stories from the settlement of Sydney Cove
23 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Susan is a writer with a fascination for Australian history. She also teaches English to adults.
Stephen and Sally Damiani's scientific quest to save their son
22 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Stephen and Sally's son Massimo became seriously ill when he was just a year old.
Journalist Michael Ware was taken by IS, and survived
21 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael shares his intimate knowledge of the jihadist group's origins and motivations
David Vann's sailing venture nearly destroyed him
17 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Author David Vann was living a hand-to-mouth existence in his late twenties and looking for a way out.
Jane Eales' discovery about her mother's mysterious past
16 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jane was raised in Zimbabwe by loving but reserved parents. At 19 she learned they'd adopted her in difficult circumstances.
The distinctive songbirds of Australia
15 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Biologist Tim Low describes the voices and virtues of Australia's native birds
Stephen Dando-Collins on WWII's Operation Chowhound
14 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Operation Chowhound: a secret WW2 bomber operation where no bombs were used.
Rebecca Starford on the complex world of high school bullying
13 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca is a writer, editor and co-founder of literary journal, Kill Your Darlings.
Sex and death are at the centre of Krissy Kneen's recent writing
10 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Krissy is a writer of erotic fiction, memoir and poetry. To prepare for her latest novel she investigated history's great works of erotic literature....
Alan Duffy is working to solve the mystery of Dark Matter
09 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Alan Duffy grew up in rural Northern Ireland, reading Stephen Hawking and fascinated by black holes and the big bang.
Tony Windsor describes what it takes to choose a government
08 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Tony says he's been fortunate to have three jobs he's loved: as a farmer; a NSW state parliamentarian, and a member of Federal Parliament.
Miranda Richmond Mouillot travelled to France to unearth a family mystery
07 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Miranda's grandparents Anna and Armand married after surviving the holocaust, and bought a little stone house in the south of France.
Quentin Beresford describes the collapse of forestry giant Gunns Limited
02 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Gunns Ltd. was a massively profitable forestry business that at its peak had a market value of one billion dollars.
Hank Harlow on the habits of bears
01 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Hank specialises in the study of animal physiology; in particular, how wild animals adapt to survive stressful environments such as extreme cold.
Michael Brosowski's work rescuing Vietnamese children and adults from exploitation
31 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michael is a former English teacher from Sydney whose Blue Dragon Children's Foundation turns around the lives of Hanoi's street kids.
Kate Howarth's journey to the boardroom from a home for unwed mothers
30 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When Kate was 15, she gave birth to a baby boy at St Margaret's Home for Unwed Mothers.
Kooshyar Karimi faced many life and death decisions before fleeing Iran
26 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Kooshyar was born into poverty in Tehran, but became a doctor and an awarded writer and translator.
The comic genius of Jennifer Saunders
25 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer says everything that's happened in her career has been the result of a happy accident, rather than any careful planning on her part.
Live Stories Vol. 5 - Tales of the Uncanny
24 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A collection of stories told at Conversations events in Tasmania
Joanna Rakoff's connection with reclusive author J.D Salinger
23 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Joanna is a novelist, and a reviewer and essayist for The New York Times and other publications.
Tennis legend Rod Laver
19 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Tennis was a big part of Rod's life from as far back as he can remember, with a tennis court in his backyard for he and his brothers to play on whene...
Musicians Vic Simms and Luke Peacock bring new life to 'The Loner'
18 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Vic Simms grew up on an Aboriginal mission in Sydney's La Perouse in the 1950s.
Karen Hitchcock and the dilemma of ageing
17 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Karen is a general medical practitioner at a large metropolitan hospital. She's also an essayist and short-story writer.
Joan Trumpaeur Mulholland: stories from the Freedom Rides
16 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Joan's stand against racial segregation also went against her own family
Robert Wainwright traces the extraordinary life of Sheila Chisholm
13 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Robert is a journalist who loves digging through archives, looking for interesting and little-known life stories.
Trudi-Ann Tierney: tales of making soap operas in Kabul
12 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Trudi took herself to Afghanistan in 2009, when she was looking for a change from her life in Sydney.
David Elliott: the farmer who discovered a dinosaur
11 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
David was a third-generation grazier who'd been farming sheep and cattle on properties around Winton from the age of seventeen.
Cate Kennedy on writing life and her year in Vanuatu
10 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Cate's writing is firmly rooted in the stuff of ordinary life, but her every notion of ordinary was challenged during a year spent in Vanuatu.
Ashley Ekins digs into the truth of those who served in WWI
09 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ashley is the head of Military History at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Alastair Bonnett uncovers the world's secret spaces
06 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Alastair is a social geographer from the UK who wanted to re-enchant himself with the world, by finding its secret places.
Jane-Frances Kelly knows how to fix Australia's cities
05 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The first thing Jane noticed when she moved to Australia, was that it's one of the most urbanised nations in the world.
Former Greens leader Bob Brown's unconventional path to politics
04 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Bob grew up as the son of a country policeman in New South Wales, where he first fell in love with the Australian bush.
Helen Castor tells the story of Joan of Arc
03 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Helen is a medieval historian and BBC broadcaster. A Cambridge fellow, she co-presents BBC4 radio program, Making History.
Jill Lepore reveals Wonder Woman's secret history
02 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
While researching a story for The New Yorker, Jill stumbled on the origin of Wonder Woman, and the story of her remarkable creator, William Moulton M...
Sally Padey: how to build your own zoo
27 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Starting with almost nothing but fierce determination and an immense love for animals, Sally decided to build her own zoo.
John Lanchester lays bare the language of finance
26 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
John is contributing editor to the London Review of Books, and a former Classics editor at Penguin.
Michele Gierck: navigating the maze of dementia with her mother
25 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Michele is a Melbourne-based author of several books including one on El Salvador, where she lived and worked.
Terrence Holt: the author who became a doctor
24 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For a decade Terrence Holt taught creative writing as a tenured professor. His fiction was described as 'a work of genius' by the New York Times.
Elizabeth Gilbert is guided in her life and writing by curiosity
23 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Before writing her bestselling memoir Eat Pray Love, Liz wrote almost exclusively about men.
Celia Lashlie on helping boys grow up
20 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Based on observation, conversation and her experience as a mother, Celia developed a very clear view of how men and boys think.
School chaplain Clara Jobson survived a violent upbringing
19 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Clara is a school chaplain in Western Australia.
Boxer Bianca Elmir: fighting cultural stereotypes
18 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
On the night of Bianca's first fight she had to sneak out of her mother's house to compete, because of the disapproving Muslim community she was part...
John Knowles' father took the family from rags to riches and back again
17 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
John is a comedian based in Australia, but he was born and raised in Canada.
John 'Jethro' Thompson: life after the landmine
16 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
As a young man, Jethro joined the Australian Army and trained as a field engineer.
Baz Luhrmann: from humble beginnings to international acclaim
13 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Baz grew up on a petrol station in a tiny coastal town. The petrol station was like a 'fantastical' island, where people from all over the country wo...
Helen Razer champions rational thinking
12 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Helen was the co-host of Triple J's Breakfast show for most of the nineties and is now a widely-published journalist and columnist.
Corey Allen: making a difference with more personal urban policing
11 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Senior Sergeant Corey Allen is Officer in Charge at Queensland's busiest police station.
John Knowles' father was a Canadian cowboy (Part 1)
10 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
John, a comedian, had a very complicated relationship with Chuck, but takes great pleasure in recounting his larger-than-life adventures.
Robyn Arrowsmith: the women of WW2's bridal trains
09 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The 'war brides' were young women who fell in love with American servicemen they'd met in Australia during the war in the Pacific.
Martin Amis: second generation literary lion
06 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Martin grew up in a house with two novelists, his father Kingsley Amis and stepmother, Elizabeth Jane Howard.
Kirsti Abbott on ants: 'tiny things that run the world'
05 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ants have fascinating ways of communicating and are so connected to each other that scientists think of ant colonies as superorganisms, because they ...
Historian Alastair Blanshard: looking anew at the myths of ancient Greece and Rome
04 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Exploring the genesis and meaning of myths and stories told by the ancients
Janelle Chalmer brings great tenderness to her work as an embalmer
03 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Janelle is known as 'Chalmer the Embalmer' to her friends; her correct title is WA State Co-ordinator for the Australian Institute of Embalmers.
Bob Hawke at the Woodford Folk Festival
02 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Bob Hawke was the country's 23rd prime minister, and led the Australian Labor Party from 1983 to 1991.
Mike Archer is trying to use DNA to bring back extinct species
30 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Mike is a palaeontologist who has discovered the remains of all kinds of weird animals from Australia's distant past.
Robert Hoge was born with a face even his mother took time to love
29 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Robert is a writer who's also worked as a journalist, political speechwriter, and advisor to the former Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh.
Loren O'Keeffe put the search for her missing brother at the centre of her life
28 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Broadcast date: Wednesday 28 January
Live Stories Vol. 8 — Faking It
27 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Tales of varying degrees of deception, told at a Conversations Giant Dwarf event
Conversations returns for 2015
16 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
We're kicking off 2015 with a collection of true stories about 'Faking It', from some seriously respectable people (and a few big fat liars too).