Conversations

Irvine Welsh: the origins of Trainspotting

15 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

As a young man, Irvine Welsh fell off a double-decker bus and won a tidy sum in compensation. Then he began to write 'Trainspotting'

The story of The Snowy

14 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tales of drowned towns, pugnacious unionists, terrifying brumbies and a love story in a laundry floor came to light in Siobhan McHugh's history of th...

Revealing the scars: the life of Kate Mulvany

13 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kate has used tragic events in her own life as creative fuel to write more than 25 plays (R)

When the library burned

10 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Susan Orlean on the enduring mystery of who set fire to the Los Angeles Central Library

The brutal and beautiful world of Australia's native bees

09 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Sugarbag bees who headbutt their queen to her death are among the many Australian bee species which fascinate ecologist Toby Smith

How a milkmaid with cowpox changed history

08 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

David Isaacs on the surprising history of human vaccination

This is your captain speaking

07 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On 9/11 Captain Beverley Bass diverted her American Airlines jet to a tiny town in Newfoundland, along with thousands of other airspace refugees

Monsters and morals: Sarah Perry

06 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah’s life took a gothic turn as she crafted her version of Melmoth

The power of Less: Andrew Sean Greer

03 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Pulitzer Prize winner was working as an odd-jobs man for an Italian Baroness when a phone call upended his life

How George Saunders became 'a genuinely freaky person'

02 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

George Saunders was a knuckle puller in a slaughterhouse and drove a chicken delivery van before he became a writer

Hunting the turquoise-blooded frog

01 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Biologist Jodi Rowley has identified 26 new species of frogs in South-East Asia and Australia (R)

Taking the pulse of a dopesick nation

30 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The opioid crisis is destroying hundreds of thousands of American lives and Beth Macy has been up close to it

An erratic family saga

29 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Vicki Laveau-Harvie was estranged from her parents for decades, before she was summoned to their isolated ranch on the Canadian prairies (R)

Mary Bryant: no ordinary highwaywoman

26 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The epic life story of a First Fleet rebel as told by Meg Keneally

Questioning the line of duty

25 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Why Gwen Cherne became an advocate for war widows after the death of her husband Pete (R)

Listening to China

24 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor David Walker on the history of the Australia-China relationship

Stan Grant on Australia Day

23 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Reflections on what it means to be Australian

Vasilisa the Wise and the witch Baba Yaga

22 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Forsyth explores a classic Russian folk tale and delves into the romantic life of the Brothers Grimm (R)

Diving bells, gangsters and the women of the Brooklyn Navy Yards

19 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Acclaimed novelist Jennifer Egan dives into the chaos, romance, and hard graft of the old Navy Yards (R)

Melina Marchetta: that Italian girl

18 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The real story behind Looking for Alibrandi

Mark Scott on stepping outside the echo chamber

17 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Mark led the ABC through a decade of dramatic change. Now he's on a quest for digital minimalism

How the iPhone rewrote the teenage brain

16 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

David Gillespie on how Fortnite and Instagram are altering the neural pathways of a generation

The ethics of everything: Simon Longstaff

15 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Longstaff's life was changed by one of the most searing ethical dilemmas imaginable

Climbing K2, custody and other extreme challenges

12 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Adventurer Adrian Hayes on what he learned while attempting the world’s second tallest summit

Sam Thaiday: how to build a Bronco

11 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

An NRL champion talks candidly about his challenges on the road to football fame

The truth about space junk

10 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman on the unexpected artefacts of the space age

The secret life of the 'Beauty Queen Killer'

09 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Duncan McNab on how Australian-born criminal Christopher Wilder became America's most wanted

A mountaineer's reckoning

08 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Mountaineer Neill Johanson was trekking near Everest Base Camp when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the roof of the world

Fearless Alice Anderson and her all-girl garage

05 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The story of an Austin-driving Australian maverick who died in mysterious circumstances

Mamma Simba: love and Tanzania

04 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Donna Duggan fell in love with a Tanzanian man and together they built a safari company

Unlocking the mystery of Motor Neurone Disease

03 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Dominic Rowe is asking how common degenerative brain diseases begin (R)

Finding Mer-Neith-it-es

02 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When archaeologist Dr Jamie Fraser opened an 'empty' Egyptian sarcophagus, he found a 2600 year old mummy of a temple Priestess inside

Letters to a serial killer

01 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Crime writer Candice Fox began exchanging letters with a serial killer on death row. Then he asked to meet her in person

Prisoner to PhD: the rise of Kerry Tucker

29 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

An opportunity to further her education while serving time proved the making of Kerry (R)

Felafel and fatherhood

28 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

John Birmingham on rebuilding his life after devastating loss, years after he wrote his 90s cult novel

More than kindness: compassion and its uses

27 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Gilbert on how our brains are wired for inner conflict and possible cruelty, and what to do about it

Anton Enus, son of the Masked Marvel

26 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Anton Enus grew up as the son of a professional wrestler, in apartheid-era South Africa

Death on the summit of Mount Kosciuszko

25 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Nick Brodie on how a 1928 adventure on the slopes of Australia's highest mountain went horribly wrong

Disrupting forensic science and playing with fire

22 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chemist and fire scene investigator Niamh Nic Daeid on doing science in the service of justice

Cradle Mountain's great love story

21 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Legge traces the lives of pioneering naturalists Kate Cowle and Gustav Weindorfer in Tasmania's sublime wilderness

Women of the American heartland

20 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Smarsh on the idiosyncratic women who raised her in Kansas

Dr Budgerigar

19 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Bob Doneley is one of the only Australian vets specialising in the health of budgerigars (R)

Going back to Baghdad

18 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Doctor Munjed Al Muderis on returning to Iraq to operate on soldiers and civilians wounded in the war against ISIS

Undercover in the asylum

15 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of citizens were housed in Melbourne's asylums during the 19th Century, and they received surprisingly humane treatment

Meryl Tankard: dancing beyond ballet

14 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How a former ballerina revolutionised Australia’s dance landscape

The adventures of Captain Patch

13 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How Travis Saunders and his son Patch are helping rewrite the story of autism.

The evolution of Courtney Act

12 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

At five, Shane Jenek won his first talent quest. Sixteen years later he became Courtney Act, one of the world's most recognisable drag queens

Kuranda's compass

11 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When Kuranda Seyit was thrust into the public eye after 9/11, he unearthed a history which had to be told

How Australia's first female detective took on Sydney's razor gangs

08 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Leigh Straw tells the story of Lillian Armfield, arch enemy of serial criminals Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh et al (R)

Changing how we talk about rape

07 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Sohaila Abdulali was seventeen when she was gang raped and forced to fight for her life

John Prine: from Paradise to Nashville

06 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

A songwriter's songwriter, John has turned his often bemused view of people and politics into songs for fifty years

Chair's tenacious daughter

05 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Caro Llewellyn was in her 40s when she got a distressing diagnosis: Multiple Sclerosis

The future of cyber war

04 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist David Sanger on how the internet became 'the perfect weapon'

Basketball and belonging: Cheryl Kickett-Tucker

01 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Cheryl is a Wadjuk traditional owner, playing the long game in her Swan Valley community

Abu Dhabi's temporary people

28 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

What is it like when home is a country that doesn't want you? Deepak Unnikrishnan's family story

Hello Carly Findlay

27 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Carly was born with facial difference, and says the rudeness of strangers has sometimes been more painful than the disability she's grown to embrace

Digging with his pen

26 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Irishman John Connell was an acclaimed journalist when his life began to unravel

The guiding light

25 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When Dorothy Hoddinott became Principal of Holroyd High School, she began a wave of change for her students

Joan and the bone men

22 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The rewards and challenges of working in orthopaedics

How Brolga Barns became a 'Kangaroo Mum'

21 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Barns always knew he wanted to work with animals. Then he began his own sanctuary for orphaned baby kangaroos (R)

From the Shetlands to Vera: crime writer Ann Cleeves

20 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning novelist Ann Cleeves lived many lives before her career as an author took off (R)

Joan Jett's life in music

19 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

When Joan Marie Larkin was given a guitar at the age of 13, she was on the path to becoming the Godmother of Punk

The marvellous Miss Matters

18 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Clare Wright on the true story of how Adelaide's Muriel Matters began to change the world

Charles Kingsford Smith: king of the Milky Way

15 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The life of 'Smithy' Australia's greatest aviator

Becoming Zenith

14 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Zenith Virago married at 17, and had two children. Then she left her young family to create a life of her own on the other side of the world

The homesickness letters

13 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up on the biggest council estate in Western Europe, Jeff Green dreamed of a life in Australia. Then he got his own chance to emigrate

How Osher learned to love his mind

12 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Osher Gunsberg was living in Los Angeles when his mental health took a dramatic turn for the worse

The power of Hope

11 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Louisa Hope was seriously injured in the Sydney siege. From her hospital bed, she began a charity to help her nurses

Singing with strangers and Spooky Men

08 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Choir master Stephen Taberner was raised a Christadelphian, but in his adult life he celebrates the pleasure of music

The girl in the vintage lace

07 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1980s, Lydia Pearson began a wildly successful fashion label with her best friend. In 2016, everything changed

Wake In Fright and walking the dog with Ken

06 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Renowned biographer Jacqueline Kent recalls her volatile year of love with Kenneth Cook

Judith Lucy, and her men

05 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian Judith Lucy has been reflecting on what has gone right, and wrong in her relationships with men

The joy of hovercraft

04 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Venn built his first hovercraft in the early 1970s. By 1988 he had a fleet of them on the Brisbane River, and was giving joyrides to 140 000 Wo...

The state of your nation begins in your street

01 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Hugh Mackay on how our neighbourhoods hold the key to the isolation felt by so many (R)

How to catch a wild bull

31 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Lach McClymont mustered hundreds of wild cattle, untouched for decades, from a remote area of the Northern Territory

The voice of a child who can’t speak

30 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Samantha Wheeler’s daughter Charlotte has Rett Syndrome, a rare ‘locked-in’ disorder

Ghostwriting love stories

29 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Melanie Lewis is the secret hand behind many wedding ceremonies

Naomi Price and the business of show

25 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From Annie to Sweet Charity, by way of The Voice and Rumour Has It: Naomi on music that's shaped her career so far

Rome in the Balkans

24 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Uncovering the little-known history of the late Roman Empire in Serbia

What makes a body perfect?

23 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

How scars and physical differences affect our idea of human beauty

When Sister Margaret found her voice

22 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret Harrod grew up as her father's 'proxy wife'. To escape him, she became a nun, until a chance conversation changed everything

How 'the man in the hat' walked free

21 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Sam Vincent on the lingering questions about Canberra's most notorious murder

Best of 2018: William McInnes

14 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

William’s stories of fatherhood (R)William is one of Australia's best-known storytellers and actors.As his children become adults, he's been reflec...

Best of 2018: Bringing life-saving dialysis to the bush

13 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Brown always wanted to be a remote area nurse. Then she began a medical revolution (R)

Best of 2018: Hunting the deadly coastal taipan

12 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How an elusive copper-coloured snake species terrorised post WWII North Queensland (R)

Best of 2018: Jenny Briscoe-Hough

11 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After a bruising experience with her own mother's funeral, Jenny Briscoe-Hough set up a d.i.y. funeral home in an old fire station (R)

Best of 2018: Colleen Gwynne

10 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Colleen rescued her mum from a violent marriage. Later, she solved one of Australia's most complicated murder cases (R)

Colin Hay's real life

07 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How the Men at Work front man managed the trip to mega-stardom and back again (R)

More power to the mums

06 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Natalie Millar is at the centre of a 20 000-strong network of mothers in Logan City

The true story of Chow Hayes, Australia's first gangster

05 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Jack Hoysted tells of the violent standover man and extortionist who was the first local criminal to be described by Australian police as a gangster ...

Life in 248 dimensions

04 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Mathematician Geordie Williamson spent eight years cracking the code to find the weight of atoms in space

The sufferings of 'Sydney's top ratbag'

03 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Psychiatrist Robert Kaplan on the strange illness which altered the personality of Bea Miles, making her one of her city's most famous eccentrics

What Jack Reacher did next

30 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How a Birmingham boy became best-selling thriller writer, Lee Child

Bruce Dunstan and Georgina Reid

29 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Two botanical conversations: plant-hunter Bruce Dunstan, and great gardens with Georgina Reid

Eric Idle's life on the bright side

28 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Before and after Monty Python's Flying Circus

Inside the Coroner's Court

27 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A guide to the investigation of sudden or unexplained deaths

Speed skater Steven Bradbury's race to Salt Lake City

26 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Steven Bradbury nearly died on the ice when he was 20. Then he won history's most unexpected gold medal (R)

The foreign correspondent and the fear of flying

23 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Lisa Millar has reported some of the world's biggest stories, including acts of terrorism, political upheaval, and gun massacres

Backing the wild dreams of youth

22 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Jan Owen’s work as a champion of young people has its roots in her own story

Mikey Robins' bizarro tour though the history of food and sin

21 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A wander through some of the strange habits, rituals and obsessions people have developed around food and eating