Marcel Dirsus is fascinated by the treadmill of tyranny: how dictators gain power, how they stay there and how they fall. This is his blueprint for bringing an end to authoritarianism.

With democracies seemingly faltering worldwide, political scientist and writer Marcel Dirsus is putting tyrants under the microscope to better understand how they rise and how they fall.

Years ago, Marcel took a break from his university studies and travelled to central Africa, where he took a job in a brewery.

One day, while walking to work, he heard shots fired and an explosion in the distance as the military was launching a coup.

The experience terrified him, and drew him into a study of tyrants — the dictators and despots who make life miserable for so many people on the planet.

While they project an image of strength, guarded on all sides, and surrounded by people who do their bidding, Marcel says they live in fear.

For the road to power is often flanked by the road to revolution.

These men know a mass uprising, an assassination, a mutiny or a foreign invasion could end their reign at any moment, and who, or what will take their place?

In investigating the long history of tyrannical leaders, however, Marcel has found a renewed optimism for Western Democracy.

How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive is published by Hachette Australia.

Marcel is appearing at the Sydney Writers' Festival on Friday 23 May.

This episode of Conversations explores Putin, Xi Jinping, China, CCP, Russia, Trump, global politics, dictatorships, democracy, voting rights, election results, the new world order, Stalin, Hitler, famous leaders, Churchill, politics, books, writing, history, war, civil war, Africa, USSR, Elon Musk, Gaddafi, golden gun, torture, Libya, Syria, control, Machiavelli, monarchs, Al-Ghazali, East Germany, Congo, academia, what to study at university, coup, the elite, power systems, Cold War, Bashar al-Assad, Ukraine, surveillance, Roman Empire.

The bestselling Irish author grew up on a farm set on “50 acres on the side of a hill”. Growing up, she witnessed a harsh, misogynistic country that convinced her she would never marry. Claire shares what she has learned about writing from a litter of newborn piglets.

Her works Small Things Like These and Foster have both been made into movies.

Claire's stories often take place in the landscape where she grew up — the farms and small towns of Wexford in Southeast Ireland.

Claire was the youngest of six children, and when she was born their farmhouse had no running water and few books.

Instead, Claire fell in love with horses.

As a small child she would go to the wood with her brother, who was a lumberjack.

Amongst the chainsaws and workmen, little Claire would drive a harnessed horse from behind, to the roadside, to help clear the heavy trees. 

And as she grew older, she developed a fierce determination to live life on her own terms.

This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. Presented by Sarah Kanowski.

This episode of Conversations touches on marriage, Magdalene laundries, contraception, Ireland, Catholicism, big Irish families, horsemanship, starting brumbies, skewbald Connemara pony, New Orleans, writing, literary prizes, farms, personal stories, epic life stories, family dynamics and modern history.

Further information

Listen to Sarah's interview with Queensland horseman, Ken Faulkner.

The writer had a complex relationship with his mother, whose professional reputation built a wall between them, but also saved his life more than once while working as a war correspondent.

Peter Godwin was born in Zimbabwe when the country was still under colonial rule.

His English mother was the only doctor for thousands of kilometres and early on, Peter realised that he came second to her patients.

When Peter was little, civil war broke out at home and so he was sent away to boarding school, and then conscripted by the army when he was still a teenager.

After his service, Peter became a journalist and while on the ground, his mother’s professional reputation saved his life more than once, including the time he was kidnapped while reporting in Somalia.

As he grew older, Peter came to see his mother in a new light, and he finally learned the real reason she and his father had emigrated to Africa in the first place.

This episode of Conversations explores PTSD, war correspondence, journalism, colonialism, the British Empire, Africa, Civil War, the United Kingdom, mothers and sons, the death of a sibling, grief, occupational hazards, mental health, grief, memoirs, biography, origin story, epic, adventure, conscription, boy soldiers.

Exit Wounds is published by Allen&Unwin.

Richard spoke with Peter's sister, Georgina Godwin, in 2022.

Psychiatrist Warren Ward treats patients who are severely ill with eating disorders. Understanding the mystery of human nature has driven him since he was a young doctor.

Warren Ward's patients are often critically ill with diseases like anorexia.

Warren says asking someone with anorexia to eat is like asking an arachnophobe to put their hand in a jar full of spiders.

As a psychiatrist, Warren uses psychotherapy to help his patients.

He encourages those with an eating disorder to approach their mental illness as one part of their whole self.

His interest in the mystery of human nature informed his study of philosophy, and led him to examine the love lives of philosophers.

Lovers of Philosophy is published by Ockham Publishing.

This episode of Conversations explores mental illness, bulimia, orthorexia, anorexia, EDs, Eating disorders, disordered eating, how to help a loved one with an eating disorder, psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, romance, heartbreak, love life, relationships, inpatient treatment, mental health hospitals, feeding clinics.

When writer Hannah Kent first visited Iceland in 2003, she came across a gothic true story about Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman hanged in Iceland. That story would change her life.

Hannah's arrival to the Nordic island as an exchange student in 2003 was a difficult one.

On her first night in the country, she found herself stranded late at night at Keflavik Airport and desperately homesick.

But within weeks, Iceland had begun to change young Hannah — its dramatic landscapes, extraordinary light and chilling ghost stories embedded themselves in Hannah's psyche.

She became particularly entranced with the haunting story of accused murderer and domestic servant, Agnes Magnusdottir, who became the last person executed in Iceland. 

Hannah's later novel, Burial Rites, was inspired by Agnes' story and became a best-seller. But there were many unsolvable mysteries that lingered in her mind years after that book was released.

Hannah returned to Iceland to find answers, and discovered her life was still entwined with Agnes in strange and eerie ways.

Always Home, Always Homesick is published by Pan Macmillan.

This episode of Conversations was recorded live at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival. It explores writing, books, Rotary Exchange, high school exchange, ERASMUS, Scandinavia, remote travelling, the northern lights, mountains, ghost stories, horrible histories, psychics, speaking with the dead, creepy coincidences, true stories, death penalty, execution, murder, crime.

Claude Robinson developed a heroin habit as a young man, and spent years in jail. In 2006 he began to turn his life around for good. (CW: descriptions of drug use, addiction, and crime) (R)

Claude Robinson is the manager of Rainbow Lodge, a home in inner Sydney for men just out of prison. Claude knows the place well because nearly 20 years ago he was sent there himself.

Claude was a heroin addict who had taken to crime to pay for his habit and wound up in a minimum security jail. But after he assaulted a prison guard, he ended up in one of Australia's toughest jails - Goulburn Correctional Centre. 

While Claude was inside, his father died, and he found out that he had inherited $60,000.

It was a chance to start a new life when he got out of prison. But instead, he and a girlfriend checked into a hotel in Kings Cross and bought some backs of heroin. Within weeks, all of Claude's inheritance was gone.

In 2006, Claude was back in prison when he decided to finally change his story. He got off drugs, went to TAFE, and started working his way back to Rainbow Lodge, where he helps men who have walked a similar path to his own.

Help and support is always available: 

The National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline is a free and confidential 24/7 phone service that provides counselling, advice, and information for those struggling with addiction. Call 1800 250 015.

Learn more about Rainbow Lodge

Read about Australia's Justice Reform Initiative's campaign Jailing is Failing 

This episode of Conversations discusses drug use, substance abuse, addiction, crime, mental health, toxic masculinity, manhood, fatherhood, parenting, turning your life around, getting clean, rehabilitation, rehab, intervention, AA, NA, sponsors, inheritance, heroin, methadone, ice, meth, illicit substances, incarceration, recidivism. 

From relationships and loneliness, to indecision and burnout, Jemma Sbeg is your guide to navigating your 20s, and looking back on that decade with a new perspective.

When Jemma Sbeg started recording a podcast in the back of her Subaru about her quarter life crisis, she had no idea just how many people she would reach.

But other people her age were desperate for guidance through their 20s - a decade a lot of us romanticise before we get there, and after we leave.

It's a decade of massive growth for humans, when we make big decisions about relationships, careers and our own identities, but Jemma felt like she had no idea HOW to make the right choices.

She had studied psychology at university, and so looked to psychological research papers to help her and her friends navigate attraction, heartbreak, friendship, imposter syndrome, career anxiety, burn out, mental health and living a happy life.

Jemma's biggest lesson is realising while time is finite, we do have so much of it to "figure it out", and chances are you'll still be working many things out in your 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.

Person in Progress: A Roadmap to the Psychology of Your 20s is published by Hachette Australia.

Jemma's podcast is called The Psychology of your 20s.

If you liked this episode of Conversations, you might also enjoy listening to Doctor Hilton Koppe on his experience of PTSD, journalist Ros Thomas on her research into loneliness or psychologist Dr Tracy Westerman on psychology in remote Australia.

This episode of Conversations explores psychology, podcasts, research, books, writing, anxiety, TikTok, social media, ADHD, self-diagnosis, growing up, how to survive your 20s, stay at home dads, heartbreak, mortality, death anxiety, social anxiety, university, what to study, how to get over heartbreak, first loves, building a career in media.

Winnie Dunn was a teenager when the Chris Lilley character 'Jonah from Tonga' became a national joke and as a Tongan Australian the stereotype made her feel uncomfortable.

Despite being born into a big Tongan family in Western Sydney, Winnie felt conflicted about her heritage growing up.

But over time her understanding of what it means to be Tongan evolved, and at the age of 28, Winnie became the first Tongan Australian to have a novel published.

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 on the Conversations website.

Jamila’s craniopharyngioma had been growing for years, unbeknownst to her. In hindsight, it was her son who gave the first clue, when he stopped breastfeeding overnight at 11 months old.

Today Jamila is an author, a broadcaster and the deputy managing director of Future Women, dedicated to achieving gender equity in Australian workplaces.

A few years back, her life was on a powerful trajectory — she had been the chief of staff for a federal MP, written best-selling books and was a regular guest on TV panel shows.

Then in 2017, she realised something was wrong with her health.

At first she wasn’t worried. 

Then, at 31 she was diagnosed with craniopharyngioma — a rare and recurring brain tumour.

When Jamila left the world of the well, her life changed completely, in funny, strange, and harrowing ways.

Jamila's book Broken Brains: For anyone who's been sick or loved someone who was is co-authored with Rosie Waterland and published by Penguin Random House.

This interview was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations' EP is Nicola Harrison. The presenter was Richard Fidler.

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 on the Conversations website.

Whale and dolphin researcher, Barry McGovern’s love of sea creatures started in Clare, Ireland, when as a child he met the county’s solitary, friendly dolphin, named for the singer Dusty Springfield.

Barry grew up in a tiny surfing village where he knew all the bird calls off by heart.

His interest in animal science led him to Edinburgh Zoo, where he fed cassowaries and regularly, accidentally spooked a flock of Chilean flamingos.

He assisted on a mammal research trip in Namibia, where he learned just how many people are required to take biopsy sample from a giraffe. 

Eventually he settled on whales, and he learned the lesson that while animals can be lots of fun to study, they come with a heavy research load, and not much time spent out in the wild.

Barry has been slapped in the face by a whale’s tail and watched mother humpback whales squirt-feed their calves breast milk like cottage cheese. And he couldn’t be happier. 

Today, Barry works at the Pacific Whale Foundation, Australia. 

This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations' EP is Nicola Harrison. Presented by Sarah Kanowski.

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 on the Conversations website.

After a caesarean section on his labour ward went catastrophically wrong, Adam Kay took a radical inventory of his entire life. CW: traumatic childbirth, eating disorders.

Adam was not far off qualifying as an obstetric consultant in the United Kingdom, when he decided he couldn't be a doctor any longer.

He couldn't face ever again experiencing the tragedy of death during childbirth, nor could he understand the blunt response from his boss in the aftermath, and so he quit doctoring altogether. 

After a period of grief and depression, Adam reassessed his goals, his dreams and his relationships, completely up-ending the conventional life he had felt backed into.

He turned to the diaries, which he had kept throughout his seven years working in hospitals, and became a stand-up comedian, then a television writer, an acclaimed author, the executive producer of a wildly popular TV series based on Adam's book, and most recently a father.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode of Conversations contains accounts of traumatic childbirth and of disordered eating, which may distress some listeners.

Help and support is always available. You can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Find out more about the Red Nose counselling services available to parents who have lost a child by calling the Red Nose Bereavement Support Line on 1300 308 307.

If you or someone you know needs help with disordered eating, the Butterfly National Helpline is available on 1800 33 4673.

This episode of Conversations explores studying medicine, the medical system, Medicare, overworked doctors, young doctors, junior doctors, obstetrics and gynaecology, delivering babies, careers, disordered eating, sexuality, marriage, LGBTQI+, fatherhood, surrogacy, mental health, comedy, touring, music, university life, should I study medicine.

This Is Going To Hurt is published by Pan Macmillan.

Undoctored is published by Hachette.

Adam's debut novel, A Particularly Nasty Case, will be published by Hachette in August.

You can stream the television series based on Adam's first book, This Is Going To Hurt, on ABC iView.

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 on the Conversations website.