After a painful divorce, Charlotte Ree began to piece her broken heart back together by cooking for her neighbours (R)

Charlotte Ree grew up in a family full of love, but with its own particular challenges. 

Her mum struggled with mental illness, which meant Charlotte grew up very quickly.

Charlotte met the man who would become her husband when she was 19. Within a few years, they married, but money became a major source of pain in the relationship.

One night on a boat, Charlotte realised her marriage was over.

Divorce was a devastating turning point for her, and at the same time she found herself living alone in Sydney's lockdown.

Eventually Charlotte decided to find a unique way out of her heartbreak; by cooking for her neighbours.  

Some time later, she also found the courage to look for love again.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison, the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

It explores family history, mental illness, relationships, looking for love, love stories, modern love, divorce, recovering after divorce, cooking, baking, unusual family stories, strange family history, family history, lockdown, Covid lockdown, loneliness, solitude, eating, starvation, nourishment, cooking for one, cooking neighbours, baking cakes, cakes, cake batter, broken heart, mending a broken heart, food as love, finding love after divorce, finding love again, healing from a broken heart, men and women, dating apps, life on the dating apps, strange stories from dating apps, recovery from heartbreak, cooking as a cure for pain, cooking for love, cooking for your life, cooking, mothers, complicated mothers, complicated mother daughter relationships, unconditional love, acceptance, accepting your parents.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Philosopher and writer Eamon Evans on humanity's relentless and impossible pursuit of happiness through materialism, social media and self help, and why the kindest and best people have been 'crushed by life' a couple of times.

Eamon started to think more deeply about happiness and contentment in his 20s, after a bout of serious depression.

He realised that trying to be happy all the time was paradoxically making him miserable, and says that's true for most of us in this modern world.

Eamon began to trace the history of human's infatuation with being happy.

What he found was that the story of humanity was tied up with other pursuits like survival, honour, virtue and discipline until very recently.

Only in the 20th century did people start wanting to stop to smell the roses all the time, but Eamon says a permanent state of happiness impossible and emotionally counterproductive.

In fact, our obsession with being happy is actually making us sad, and on top of that, it's making us sad about the fact that we're sad—a concept called 'meta-unhappiness'.

Eamon acknowledges misery can sometimes be pathological, and it's important that lifesaving progress has been made on creating spaces here people can speak out and seek help.

But in terms of daily, natural feelings of struggle, he says it's better to accept these as a normal part of human life, and look upon seasons of misery as miracles that build character, make us kinder, and more interesting.

The Importance of Being Miserable is published by Simon and Schuster.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.

It explores advertising, marketing, smart phones, addiction, dopamine, serotonin, Gen Z, glimmers of hope, gratitude, being grateful, how to be grateful, gratitude journal, Buddhism, enlightenment, Mad Men, advertising, capitalism, mental health, mental wellbeing, self help books, religion, industrial revolution, greed, property, wants versus needs.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Judy grew up on a farm in north-east Victoria.

When she was seventeen, a family tragedy saw her thrust into life as a farmer for the first time.

Being a young farmer led her into local politics, and eventually into a burgeoning friendship with a lanky, much-loved local politician named Tim Fischer.

On their first date, Tim took Judy to the Tocumwal Debutant Ball, and it was a disaster.

But despite the age difference, the two of them eventually fell in love and started a family.

When their first son, Harrison, was diagnosed with autism Judy became an advocate for people on the autism spectrum.

The family is still grieving Tim, whom they lost to leukaemia in 2019.

But Judy is now working to make her beloved family farm, ‘Grossotto’, a sanctuary for vulnerable adults.

Learn more about Care Farms.

Listen to Tim Fischer in conversation with Richard Fidler.

Watch the 2018 Australian Story about the Fischer Family.

This episode was produced by Nicola Harrison, Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

It explores love, marriage, relationships, Auspol, local politics, country Australia, regional Australia, rural communities, motherhood, age gap relationships, grief, death, grieving a spouse, neurodivergence, autism spectrum disorder, raising children with autism.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

The world's leading eucalyptus expert, Professor Steve Hopper, on what science and culture say about these spectacular trees, and how Noongar elders in WA's South West led his 'second education' in botany.

Australia is one of the richest places on earth when it comes to botanical biodiversity.

Tens of thousands of species of trees and flowers have developed over millions of years of isolation.

But perhaps the most iconic of all native flora is the humble eucalyptus.

From Queensland's ancient rainforests and the alpine region of New South Wales, to the wilds of Tasmania and the granite outcrops of coastal Western Australia, gum trees are synonymous with the Australian landscape.

There are 900 different species of eucalyptus, from giant gums close to 100 metres tall, to tiny wee mallee trees the same height as a kindergartener. 

Steve Hopper has recorded more than 100 of those species, and believes there are still more waiting to be found.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores botany, climate change, extinction rates, gum trees, eucalypts, California wild fires, biodiversity hotspot, Australia's native flora, koalas, mallee, jarrah, karri, ancient trees, dinosaurs, Australiana, Western Australia, Great Southern Blue Mountains, Tasmania, South West of WA, Albany, Stirling Range, Snowy Mountains, red gum, stringy gum, Australian wildflowers, Kew Gardens, London, the United Kingdom, Joseph Banks, environmental exploitation, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous healing, eucalyptus oil medicinal properties, dreaming, conservation, gardening.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

UK writer Zadie Smith became a world-wide sensation with the publication of her first novel White Teeth when she was 24. Now aged 50, she's bringing her trademark intelligence and wit to the subject of midlife.

Her latest work is Dead and Alive, a new book of essays, where she writes about black British history, paintings, politics, our online lives and getting older.

She also talks about up growing in North West London and where she's returned to live with her own family.

Zadie will be in Australia next month as part of the All About Women festival at the Sydney Opera House on March 8th and at The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne on March 10th.

Further Information

All About Women at Sydney Opera HouseZadie Smith at The Wheeler Centre

This episode explores growing up in North West London, immigrants, black British history, the internet, smart phones, social media, the technology of the book, mid life, being 50, free university, Cambridge, diversity, academia, tap dancing, painting, politics, being a writer, non-fiction, young novelists, find success at young age.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Jessica Kirkness with the story of her grandparents, who both grew up profoundly deaf in a hearing world, and how she navigated the space in between sound and silence. (R)

Jessica grew up in the outer suburbs with a big extended family, with her grandparents living right next door.

Her grandparents, Melvyn and Phyllis, were affectionate, kind and wise and Jessica often spent more time after school in their house than her own.

But their house was distinctly different.

The doorbell never rang, the alarm clock never sounded, and the television was on but the audio was off.

Melvyn and Phyllis were profoundly deaf, and they lived in two worlds - among the hearing, and within the deaf community which had its own language and way of doing things.

Jessica grew up in that space between two worlds.

She felt that her grandparents' lives were both extraordinary and ordinary, and that their deafness was so exquisitely misunderstood that every part of her felt summoned to translate.

Jessica has recently written down the story of her life growing up between the two worlds of the hearing and the deaf, as a GODA, or a grandchild of deaf adults.

The House with All the Lights On is published by Allen and Unwin.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison, Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

It explores deafness, living with a disability, profound deafness, hearing loss, AUSLAN, language, sign language, CODA, grandparents, love, family, relationships, granddaughter, grandchildren, intergenerational families, mixed families, technology, deaf accent, lip reading, migrants, hearing world, accessibility, head injuries, meningitis, hospital, acquired disability, deaf gain, communication, music, translation.

Saul Eslake grew up knowing he was adopted. For many years he knew nothing about his biological parents, but when he adopted his own children, he began the search for his birth family.What he discovered in his adoption file revealed a very complicated story, and It took him more than two decades to unravel the mystery.

En route, he discovered a confected newspaper scandal, a story of British pilots at an orgy, and a complicated divorce.

Then years on, he experienced the joy of meeting the siblings he never knew existed.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores adoption, family history, secrecy, orgies, pilots, British scandals, unusual family stories, strange family history, family history, adoption records, secrets, family secrets, divorce, pilots, tabloid press, adopted siblings, birth records, adoption process, adoption file, records, rejection, history, crime, fraud, genealogy, blood relatives, siblings, Tasmania, growing up in the UK, data, mystery.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Dave Pearson runs Bite Club, a support service for anyone who has survived a shark attack. Dave’s own brush with death came in 2011, when a three-metre-long bull shark almost took his arm. (R)

Dave lived that day, but it’s what happened during his recovery that he didn’t see coming.

Dave Pearson was with his mates on the NSW Mid North Coast back in 2011, and couldn’t get in the water fast enough to try out his brand new surfboard.

He’d caught a few waves when he was slammed by what felt like a freight train.

Under the water, through the bubbles and the shock, Dave saw something huge, brown and grey.

Dave survived that day, but it’s what happened during his recovery that he didn’t see coming.

He founded Bite Club to support survivors through the mental heath challenges following their shark attacks.

Bite Club is a closed Facebook group available to those who have survived an attack by an apex predator.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan, Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

It explores sharks, attacks, bull sharks, near death experience, grief, survival, recovery, water sports, surfing, ocean, water safety, summer in Australia, summer holidays, increasing shark attacks, what to do if you're attacked by a shark.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

In 2007, Vicki McAuley's husband Andrew set off from Tasmania in a kayak, aiming to become the first person to paddle to New Zealand, but a month later authorities received a distress call and then his kayak was found with no sign of Andrew.

Vicki and their little son Finn, were waiting with friends and family for Andrew at Milford Sound when the devastating news came through.Further information 

Vicki McAuley's book Solo was published in 2010.

The documentary about Andrew's attempt is also called Solo, directed by Jennifer Peedom and released in 2008.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores love, mountaineering, sea kayaking, solo sea kayaking, extreme adventure, psychology, adventurer, the Tasman Sea, gale force storms, ocean currents, waves, swells, Fortescue Bay, rescue, kayak design, hypothermia, family, grief, yoga, writing.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Debra Richardson joined the police at age 18 in the 1980s, working undercover as a prostitute and surviving the Russell Street bombing. Years later, she met her foster son, Yuri, who had also survived disaster.

Deb and her family met Yuri after they agreed to care for one of the many children brought to Australia for short-term stays following the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.

Decades later, a journey to help that foster son, now living in a war zone, ended up helping Deb in ways she never expected.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake and the Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.

It explores women in the police force, police academy training, sexism, undercover police work, the Russell Street Bombing, car bomb, PTSD, Chernobyl disaster, Chernobyl children, John Farnham, Russian mafia, Project Yuri, charity, war in Ukraine, aid work, family, foster care.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

From Wollongong to London, via Alice Springs, this is writer Nikki Gemmell on her deeply romantic life, and how she defied expectations to become a famous author. (R)

Nikki grew up the daughter of a coalminer father who thought writers were a burden on society, while her mum taught Nikki that only success was worthy of love.

So Nikki went above and beyond to prove her beloved father wrong, and to get the attention of her mother through her achievements, publishing 20 books in the process, including the wildly successful The Bride Stripped Bare.

Now the mother of four children, Nikki has also been determined to live her own life and raise her own children very differently, being generous with her love and pride for her sons and daughter.

Content warning: Please take care when listening as this conversation mentions suicide.

Help is always available.

If you need to talk, 24/7 crisis support is available from Lifeline by calling 13 11 14.

You can also text with them and chat online with counsellors here

This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores parenthood, mothers, fathers, attachment, fawning, people pleasing, striving for achievement, accomplishment, writing, books, novelist, coal mining, family separation, divorce, childhood trauma, healing, generational differences, romance, love, mental health, Australian literature.

To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.