Liz Cameron was 18 years old when a stranger approached her in a book shop. It was the beginning of her induction into a cult, and it was an experience Liz barely survived.

The process of brainwashing happened gradually, first came the love-bombing and the allure of finding a new purpose in life. Then came the isolation from friends and family, along with sleep deprivation, overwork and sexual manipulation.

Liz was one of the many women chosen to become a kind of bride for the leader of an infamous Korean religious group.

It wasn’t until she became critically ill, that her family were able to get the help she needed to escape and to begin the process of being deprogrammed.

Liz Cameron’s memoir is called Cult Bride: How I was brainwashed and how I broke free.

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.

Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode was produced by Jennifer Leake.

This episode of Conversations touches on cults, brainwashing, religious groups, eating disorders, sexual manipulation, deprogramming, sexual assault, sleep deprivation, family, recovery, healing, trauma, biography, psychology, Providence, JMS, Jesus Morning Star, Pastor Joshua, Jung Myung-seok.

Tom Robinson was a 14-year-old living in the Brisbane suburbs when he made a promise to himself to become the youngest person ever to row across the Pacific Ocean.  Nine years later Tom set off from Peru bound for Australia without a support crew and limited communication.

Tom navigated by the stars, made eye contact with a shark and rowed up to 15 hours a day when strong currents pushed him off course.

And when his adventure ended, it was in a completely unexpected by perfect way.

Read more about Tom at his website: 

https://www.tomrobinsonboats.com/

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake. Executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores solo adventure, rowing the Pacific Ocean, boat building, remote Pacific Island communities, family, rescue, bad weather, world records, isolation, fear, survival, adventure, near death, volcanic islands, marine life, weather, storms, storms at sea, naked, rescue, teenage adventurer, and getting off your phone.

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 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, Cillian Murphy and modern history.

Further information

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

When artist Vincent Fantauzzo was a boy he was a street-fighting petty criminal with dyslexia and a blazing talent for drawing. He escaped jail time, and grew up to become one of Australia's most well-known portrait artists.

VIncent Fantauzzo is one of Australia's most successful portrait artists.

For his luminous, photo-realistic paintings he's won the People's Choice Award at the annual Archibald Prize more than any other artist.

He's also won the Moran National Portrait Prize twice, once with a painting of his friend, filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, and the second time with a painting of his wife, actor Asher Keddie.

All the success is a long way from his upbringing in Broadmeadows in Melbourne, when at times it seemed like he was going to end up in jail, or dead.

Vincent struggled so badly with dyslexia that he developed elaborate rituals to avoid writing at school, which is partly how he came to drawing. 

He became a street-fighting petty criminal and he was kicked out of school at 14 and was drawn into a violent world where he had to be extraordinarily streetwise to survive.

Vincent still carries the scars of surviving his childhood into the big, beautiful life he's built for himself as one of Australia's most well-known artists.

This episode of Conversations explores origin stories, social disadvantage, parenting, father son relationships, boxing, learning disabilities, struggling in school, Hollywood, the art world, Heath Ledger, Kim Ledger, Batman, family, family dynamics, life story, art, portraits, painting, juvenile crime, drug dealing, hot houses, brothers.

Unveiled, written with Craig Henderson, is published by Penguin.

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, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

How a boy from Glasgow named Norman Swirsky grew up to become Australia's most famous doctorWhen Norman was 10 years old his dad decided to change the family's surname to Swan in a response to ongoing anti-Semitism in Scotland after WWII.

Norman wanted to be an actor growing up, but his parents encouraged him to study medicine.

After he completed his studies at the university of Aberdeen he spent time working in London before moving to Australia.

While on a break from medicine in 1982 he joined the ABC and began a stellar career.

Decades on, the advent of Covid-19 thrust Norman into the role of his life and he became Australia's most well-known doctor and a trusted voice in the long pandemic.

Sarah spoke to Norman in 2021 after the publication of his book So You Think You Know What's Good For You

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

The author and actor thinks summer in Australia is done bigger, better and weirder than anywhere else. For three months of the year, life slows down and heats up. But for William, summer in Australia is an imperfect paradise where more than anything, people yearn to connect.

Summer can be a hellish time in Australia, where temperatures soar and fires can turn bush and buildings to rubble in an instant.

But despite the challenges, William McInnes looks upon this time of year with great affection and nostalgia.

Growing up in Redcliffe, Queensland, William remembers the heat that burnt through his thongs, the strange ritual of assembling a plastic European Christmas tree on a 40-degree day, and simple moments in the sun like jumping off his dad's shoulders into the cool coastal water.

Every summer connects William with his family, his childhood and his past, just like millions of other Australians on riverbanks and beaches around the country.

It's a Scorcher: Tales of the Australian Summer is published by Hachette.

This episode of Conversations explores seasons, heat, bushfires, Koolewong, weather forecast, drought, BOM, swimming, tennis, Australian Open, Boxing Day Test, Cricket, Ashes, book, memoir, writing, Australiana, Kitsch, climate change, nostalgia, family time, Christmas, holidays, New Year, how to survive the holidays, road trips, vacation, bikini, swimmers, togs, school holidays, 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.

Journalist and author, Brigid Delaney looked into the ancient philosophy during an assignment from her editor. What she discovered led her to years of study and a brand-new outlook on life that focuses less on happiness and more on meaning and contentment.

Brigid is devoted to the Stoics, a philosophy that encourages its followers to focus on what they can control, accepting what happens outside of that sphere of control, and mastering inner peace to have a good life.

These ideas have helped Brigid prepare for grief and take the edge off her anxiety by putting it in context.

One of the most powerful Stoic ideas is that all the wonderful things and people in our life are “on loan” and can be taken away at any moment.

Instead of taking them for granted, the Stoics wanted us to run toward them at full speed, and wring as much fun and juice out of them as we can.

Further information

Brigid's new book The Seeker And The Sage, and Reasons Not To Worry: How to be Stoic in chaotic times are both published by Allen & Unwin.

The Executive Producer of Conversations is Nicola Harrison.

This episode contains references to a buddhist with attitude, Nassim Taleb, stoic week, Nero, improving my life, how to improve my life, how to be content, how to find meaning in life, The Guardian, Brigid Delaney's Diary, newspaper column, newspaper columnist, writer, writing life, author, novel, fable, Circles of Hierocles, meditation, Celeste Barber, Wellmania, netflix and internal happiness.

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.

Cult survivor and psychotherapist Dr Martina Zangger on her ten years devoted to an Indian mystic and how she learned to stand on her own two feet.

When Martina Zangger was 19 years old she became a devotee of the Rajneeshee Movement led by the Guru, Bhagwan.

The cult had its headquarters in a huge ashram, built in rural Oregon, and Martina decided she needed to go there to be closer to Rajneesh to find the healing she desperately needed.

She became a sex worker to fund her journey there from Sydney.

In the ashram, Bhagwan directed his thousands of followers to wear purple clothing, work for him for free, and avoid monogamy.

Then one day, Bhagwan suddenly disappeared on a Lear jet taking his collection of diamond-encrusted watches with him.

Martina was left to make a life for herself back in the regular world and to slowly confront the childhood trauma that had led her to join the Rajneeshees in the first place.

Not My Shame is published by Ventura Press.

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

It explores religion, spirituality, spiritual seeking, trauma, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, Osho, Rajneesh, Pune, India, Oregon, Ashram, meditation, cults, healing, immigration, therapy, self confidence, self worth, motherhood, perinatal psychosis, mental health, psychotherapy, psychology, relationship, monogamy, parenting, mothers of daughters, social work, social justice, Wild Wild Country, Netflix, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, guru, mystic, philosophy, spiritual bypassing.

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.

When Helen Garner began following her grandson Amby's under-16s football team, it was a chance to spend more time with her youngest grandchild before he became an adult and she was fascinated by the spectacle.

She went along to all the games, and to every training session, shivering on the sidelines at dusk, it also gave Helen a new writing project.

As Helen began writing about Amby and his season, she began to realise that part of the story was about the 'ordinary beauty of human society'.

This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison, the executive producer was Carmel Rooney.

It explores growing older, teenagers, playing AFL, training, team sport, AFL, injury, man hood, being a grandma, family, writing, memoir, the culture of sport in Australia, writing, raising boys.

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.

At the very end of World War Two, Australian soldiers were sent to Borneo to dislodge the occupying Japanese Forces. The story of their brutal fighting was largely forgotten by their own compatriots, who never understood why they went in there in the first place.

It was one of the largest amphibious landings of the whole war, and what followed was months of brutal fighting on an island that was both a hell and a paradise.

The operation was called Operation Oboe, and it was one of the most successful military campaigns Australia has ever been a part of.

But the men who fought there were never celebrated upon their return home.

They were forgotten amid all the questioning of whether all the fighting and dying on Borneo needed to happen in the first place.

Author Michael Veitch happened upon this forgotten story of Australians at war in the most unlikely of circumstances involving a trivia night and a grumpy older man.

Borneo: The Last Campaign - Australia's brilliant, controversial end to World War Two is published by Hachette.

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

It explores war, battles, history, modern history, occupation, fighting, death, grief, men at war, brothers in arms, US military, military history, Japanese, Germany, Nazis, allied forces, AUKUS, ANZAC, axis powers, Russia, General MacArthur, great war, fighting, leopards, Borneo, rubber, oil, resources, surrender, books for dad, Christmas books, history books.

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.

While fighting anorexia Lexi Crouch was admitted to hospital 25 times and placed in an induced coma twice. When doctors told her she would die, she began the slow climb up and out to health (CW: discussion of eating disorders)

Lexi was 16 when she was first admitted to hospital and diagnosed with anorexia and spent the next decade in and out specialist clinics.

When she overheard doctors talking about how she was going to die, Lexi decided she wasn't ready to give up and began to confront what was driving her illness and begin the slow process of recovery.

Lexi is now a clinical nutritionist and eating disorders recovery coach and has co-written a book with psychiatrist Dr Warren Ward called ReNourish: a complete and compassionate guide to recovery from eating disorders.

Listen to Sarah's interview with Dr Warren Ward 

Treating anorexia by nourishing the heart

This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, executive producer is Nicola Harrison.

It explores eating disorders, mental health, body image, boarding school, anorexia, eating disorder clinics, psychiatric ward, perfectionism, extreme exercise, near death, intensive care, therapy, yoga, spirituality, recovery, pregnancy, clinical nutrition.

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.