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Conversations: Daily Summaries Delivered
by ABC Australia
Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption. Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling.
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- Today50 min
Encore: The detective who led the hunt to find Ivan Milat
The late Clive Small ran the NSW Police task force which helped to put one of Australia’s worst serial killers behind barsIn the 1990s, a series of young people’s bodies were found in makeshift graves in the Belanglo State Forest.After many false leads, precious clues emerged pointing to one man – Ivan Milat.Clive and his team followed an intricate process in carefully piecing together the evidence that led to Milat’s conviction.In 1996, the former road worker was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences for the murder of seven backpackers.Clive went on to become Assistant Commissioner of the New South Wales Police, and was later chief investigator for NSW's ICAC: Independent Commission Against Corruption.His book about the case is called Milat: Inside Australia's Biggest ManhuntClive Small died last year at the age of 79.This episode was first broadcast in 2014 Further informationMilat: Inside Australia's Biggest Manhunt is published by Allen & UnwinThis episode of Conversations explores murder, serial killers, police work, detectives, Ivan Milat, evidence, the backpacker murders, Belanglo State Forest, NSW Police, Clive Small, Paul Onion, murder victims, prison, cruelty, The Milat Family, violence.
- Yesterday53 min
Rocker, doctor, flight surgeon – the many lives of Radio Birdman's frontman
Deniz Tek has squeezed more than most into his life. From pioneering punk rock in Australia, to performing improvised neurosurgery aboard a naval ship, to retirement growing Macadamias in Hawaii.Deniz is a founding member of Radio Birdman, Australia’s seminal punk rock band.He was also an emergency doctor in Australia and the United States.But that wasn’t enough for Deniz.He decided to join the U.S Marines as a flight surgeon – a type of pilot who can perform improvised neurosurgery aboard a naval ship.Deniz is also a husband, a father, an adopted member of the Crow Tribe, and most recently, a macadamia farmer.Despite his big story, Deniz has of course made mistakes along the way, in his headstrong and unexpected trajectory through life.Further informationFull Throttle is published by Pan Macmillan.This interview was made on Turrbal and Jaggera country.It was produced by Meggie Morris. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It covers punk rock, neurosurgery, US Navy, Veteran, First Nations Americans, Crow Tribe, macadamia farmer, advocate, Turkey, Ataturk, Michigan, music, band, The Rationals, rock n roll, UNSW, international students, gigs, Lou Reed, Montana, White Swan
- 4 days ago53 min
How Usman Khawaja changed Australian cricket
As the first brown immigrant and the first Muslim to enter the very white world of Australian cricket, Usman Khawaja overcame many setbacks while forging his extraordinary career in the sport.Born in Pakistan, Usman moved to Sydney with his family at four and fell in love with cricket watching his older brothers play.In 2011, Usman debuted for the Australian cricket team in the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG, becoming the first Muslim to wear the Baggy Green.But his journey has been as much about finding a way to be fully himself in Australian cricket as it has been about winning.Usman retired from Test cricket in January, his memoir is called SabrFurther informationSabr is published by PenguinThis episode of Conversations explores cricket, Australian cricket team, Test cricket, Pakistan, Muslims, migration, arthritis, family, mothers, marriage, kids, sport, elite sport, Australian sporting culture, sandpaper gate, cheating, intergrity, human rights, injury, retirement.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.
- 5 days ago50 min
Encore: Bryce Courtenay's son on his father's many secrets
Growing up with brilliant writer as a father, Adam Courtenay slowly became aware of many gaps and untruths in his dad's life story. So he decided to set the record straight, once and for all.When Adam was growing up, he saw his Dad as a hero.Bryce worked in advertising so he knew all the latest, coolest trends, and at bedtime, Bryce told Adam and his brothers amazing stories about his life in South Africa and the Courtenay family’s noble origins.When Bryce went from adman to wildly successful writer with his debut novel, The Power of One, Adam couldn’t have been prouder.As Adam grew older, he became aware of the gaps in the stories his father told so well, and realised just how many lies Bryce had told his family and the nation.At first, Adam tried to ignore the fables and fibs - he wanted badly to believe them because they made Bryce's storytelling so powerful.But when Adam became a writer himself, an author of historical books and a journalist, he needed to champion the truth above all else.Further informationMy Father Bryce is published by Hachette.
- 6 days ago52 min
Hags, bears and magic — what fairytales can teach us about modern life
Instructions on how to forge a path through a darkening world, according to former neuroscientist and psychoanalyst, Dr Sharon Blackie.Sharon grew up in what she calls the edge lands — on a council estate, near marshes full of migrating birds, next to the chemical factories of North-Eastern England.She was given fairy stories to read that mirrored her own experience in a way — Sharon knew the world was not always a safe place and that little children should be careful. After her violent father left the family, Sharon’s mum turned to alcohol to cope. Through her mother’s recovery, Sharon was introduced to a local recovery centre called The Room where people could get help for their addiction, and there Sharon found a fascinating group of people who promoted her interest in psychology, and a place to belong.After university, Sharon had a fine life on paper — a husband, a well-paid corporate job and a mortgage, but she wasn’t happy and she heard The Call to start a dangerous and unlikely project.Sharon was living in America in 1999 when John F Kennedy Jnr died in a plane crash.She decided she needed to face her longstanding fear of flying and took up lessons to become a pilot, to look death in the face.Sharon says if we heed the messages in fairy stories they can serve us well in life — be courageous, be kind and always share what you have with friends who may help you in the future.Further informationRipening: Why Women Need Fairy Tales Now is published by September.Read Sharon's Substack The Art of Enchantment.This episode was made on Turrbul and Jagera country. It was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.This episode focuses on ecofeminism, mythology, fairytales, tatterhood, snow white, rose red, danger, intrigue, sharing, post-hero, women, nature, The Call, facing fear.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.
- 1 weeks ago46 min
Encore: An accidential midwife and the business of everyday miracles
Lisa Peberdy has been delivering babies for over 40 years, in hospitals and homes, in cities and remote locations and she still cries with joy at every birth.During Lisa's first career as a nurse, she was physically repelled by the notion of childbirth.When she re-trained to become a midwife, delivering a baby unassisted was a great challenge.When Lisa finally did it, she was hooked; and she says she still cries with joy at every birth for which she's present.Lisa's delivered babies in hospitals and homes, in cities and remote locations, all over Australia.In recent years her work has been with cord blood banks, collecting valuable stem cells from the umbilical cord and placenta.These cells may potentially be used later in that person's life to create and regenerate organs, blood, and tissues; and assist their immune system.First broadcast in 2016Further informationLisa's story features in Paula Heelan's book, Australian Midwives, published by HarlequinEarlier this year Lisa published her memoir The Accidental Midwife This episode of Conversations explores childbirth, delivering babies, midwives, mothers, still birth, adoption, remote Australia, PNG, Timor Leste, hospitals, doctors, fathers, babies, placenta, pregnancy, nursing.
- 1 weeks ago53 min
Waleed Aly: finding real meaning, in the midst of global collapse
As we're bombarded with the drumbeat of news that veers from the shocking to the unfathomable, Waleed Aly wants to know, how do we come to grips with this chaos?For years, that is exactly what Waleed Aly has done by writing a series of columns for Melbourne's Age newspaper.Recently he's revisited the columns written during a concentrated period of profound upheaval, to see what they reveal.Waleed hopes to articulate what is revolutionary in this moment but also what is not, to examine our changing relationships with technology and each other; and identifying the things that really matter in life even as the upheaval tries to obscure them. Further information Reasoning With Chaos is published by Allen and Unwin This episode of Conversations explores Donald Trump, US politics, global politics, war, artificial intelligence, anger, protest, global chaos, news, social media, politics, global collapse, China, the United States, Australia, media.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.
- 1 weeks ago51 min
Jon Ronson investigates the men looking for purpose in strange, dark places
When journalist Jon Ronson visited castle owned by a digital tycoon, it became a portal into a world of disaffected men, grasping for purpose online in a world where traditional institutions are collapsing.He had received a series of texts from his son Joel, after he was lured to a mysterious castle in the forests of New England late one night, and those texts set him off into an investigation of the modern manosphere.Jon began to investigate the wider ‘man crisis’ – where some are feeling tossed around in a sea of conflicting ideologies of what it means to be a man today.From the death of utopian factory towns to the false promise of YouTube influencer culture, Jon shows us our rapidly changing world like never before, and the men caught in the middle. He found a world drained of purpose, of collapsing institutions, in which a new era of disinhibited behaviour has taken hold of our online and real-world selves.The Castle is published by Penguin.Jon is currently on tour in Australia. He is speaking at The Melbourne Town Hall this weekend.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores masculinity, culture wars, gender wars, Musk, Trump, tech billionaires, Marc Fennell, manosphere, Louis Theroux, Peter Thiel, Hugh Hefner, Dan Bilzerian, Andrew Tate, Chris Mark, the castle, sons, fathers, fatherhood, death threats, murderers, ChaptGPT, AI, Google Gemini, Artificial intelligence, psychopaths, Zuckerberg, Argentina, anger, disenfranchised men, angry men, ICE, United States, Donald Trump, Nerd Reich, politics, silicon valley, gender wars, class war, race war, Louise Theroux, investigative journalism.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.
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About Conversations
Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption. Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Podzilla's Conversations daily summary?
It's a free AI-powered email that summarizes new episodes of Conversations as soon as they're published. You get the key takeaways, notable quotes, and links & mentions — all in a quick read.
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When a new episode drops, our AI transcribes and analyzes it, then generates a personalized summary tailored to your interests and profession. It's delivered to your inbox every morning.
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No. Podzilla is an independent service that summarizes publicly available podcast content. We're not affiliated with or endorsed by ABC Australia.
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Conversations publishes daily. Our AI generates a summary within hours of each new episode.
What topics does Conversations cover?
Conversations covers topics including Relationships, Culture, Society & Culture. Our AI identifies the specific themes in each episode and highlights what matters most to you.
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