Conversations

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

The end of the Milky Way

20 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Astrophysicist Lisa Harvey-Smith on how Andromeda is due to collide with our galaxy in five billion years time

The blood-soaked history of the Münster Anabaptists

19 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Paul Ham explains the short life and terrible death of Christendom's most defiant sect

How Johnathan Thurston became one of the greats

16 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

When Johnathan was a boy he was written off as too skinny and too wild for rugby league

Pink diamonds and crocodiles: a Kimberley tale

15 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How Frauke Bolten-Boshammer raised a farm, a family and a diamond empire from the red dirt of Kununurra

With ears wide open: stories from a master field recordist

14 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Watson worked alongside David Attenborough for 20 years, pioneering up-close field recording of birds and animals (R)

David Marr on his perplexing, beloved country

13 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

David began his working life digging ditches, before he found his calling as a writer

An unexpected mid-life love story

12 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Susan Francis was in her 50s when she met Wayne, who became the great love of her life. But their story together didn't turn out as planned (R)

Armistice: The Shattered Village

09 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A century ago the little town of Pozieres was known as the worst place on earth

Armistice: The Underground City

08 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

A cave network in France with thousands of signatures, written in pencil by Australian soldiers from the First World War

Armistice: The Good Friends

07 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The story of two men who fought for different sides on the western front, and an unexpected friendship between their descendants

Liz Ellis on infertility, netball and love

06 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

While struggling to conceive her son, Liz faced infertility head on. She found it hard to access reliable information on the subject (R)

#Thisflag and the man behind a movement

05 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Zimbabwean pastor Evan Mawarire inadvertently began a grassroots democracy movement which contributed to the removal of Robert Mugabe

Candy Devine's life on the air

02 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The girl from a Queensland cane farm who became Candy Devine, Northern Ireland's first black radio star

The Google truth serum

01 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Steph Stephens-Davidowitz says what, how and when we Google is deeply revealing

A boy, his pony and the Sydney Harbour Bridge

31 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Lennie Gwyther was 9 years old when he rode Ginger Mick from country Victoria to Sydney to be at the opening of the Bridge (R)

Helping troubled kids find a way back

30 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bernie Shakeshaft was a wild teenager who grew up become a jackeroo and a dingo trapper. Then he began helping kids in trouble

Safari suits and Quiche Lorraine

29 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Glover revisits the landscape of his Australian childhood, when parenting was lackadaisical, and avocados were a rarity

Anne Summers on taking centre stage

26 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Anne has worked in the midst of power on both sides of the Pacific, as a prominent journalist, policy advisor and magazine editor

North Korea from the inside

25 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Veteran reporter Jean Lee did the seemingly impossible from within Pyongyang

Blade runner Dave Henson: after the blast

24 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

After losing both legs to an IED, veteran and Paralympian Dave Henson is applying his unique insight to developing advanced prosthetics

Inside the mind of a bomber

23 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Bruno Guevremont was working in a bomb disposal team in Afghanistan when he was called to dismantle the vest of a live suicide bomber

Dr Munjed Al Muderis restores mobility with robotic limbs

22 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

How a doctor's brave escape led him to Australia, and extraordinary medical advancements for amputees (R)

The other Tuscany

19 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In 1957, Moreno Giovannoni's family left Tuscany for Australia. Twelve years later they returned to San Ginese, but struggled to make it their home

Artist Ben Quilty on Syria's children, and witnessing war

18 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Exploring the drawings of children who've survived Syria's conflict. Australian artist Ben Quilty has made several visits with World Vision to camps ...

The pavlova in the suitcase

17 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Michelle Garnaut created one of the world's most famous restaurants in Shanghai

How Lawrence Levy turned Pixar's fortunes around

16 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Pixar was $50M in the red when Lawrence was hired (R)

David Astle's brain on puzzles

15 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

David's is the first mind in the world to be tested on an MRI machine while solving cryptic clues

How a department store family's fortune was lost

12 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa Fagan reveals the scandals entwined in the McWhirters department store story

Raising boys with love

11 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Maggie Dent’s ideas on growing up good men stem from her professional work, and having brought up four sons

The Antarctic voyage which helped end a decade of silence

10 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Robyn Mundy has adventured in some of the world's wildest places (R)