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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.

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 at the Conversations website.

Conversations

Christie took up wheelchair racing as a child as part of her rehab after a car crash left her with paraplegia. Sometimes dangerous and always thrilling, the sport helped to restore her sense of self and Christie went on to compete in seven Paralympic Games.

But she almost gave up one of her events, the marathon, after a terrifying experience in Boston in 2013. 

Christie manages to split her time training for races, holding down several jobs, and raising her family.

Further information

If you need someone to talk to, help and support is always available

Lifeline • on 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service • on 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue • on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace • on 1800 650 890

This episode was produced by Michelle Ransom Hughes and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.

This episode of Conversations touches on suicide, Paralympic Games, terrorism, disability, family, wheelchair marathon, wheelchair racing, positivity, sport, women, alcohol, equal rights.

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.

Encore: Paralympian Christie Dawes is super/normal

Alan Alda grew up in a show business family and spent his childhood touring with a burlesque show run by his parents. He eventually made a name for himself in showbiz, becoming well-known and much-loved for his performances in M.A.S.H. and The West Wing, as well as his roles in many Hollywood films.

Alan is also famous for his love of science.

He wrote Dear Albert for the stage, based on the love letters of Albert Einstein, which reveal Einstein as a beautifully passionate man.

Alan has used his acting for the good of science by teaching communication skills to scientists so they might make their work better known and better understood.

Alan Alda on bringing science to acting

Claire Parkinson is the daughter of a long-distance lorry driver and her first job was cleaning the urinals at her local Suffolk factory. A stint as a prison officer set her up with stability and responsibility, then she was assigned to protect a notorious murderer. 

Content warning: this episode contains strong language.

As a child, Claire was the apple of her father’s eye and when she got pregnant unexpectedly while a teenager, he could not speak to her at all and the two fell out.

Claire became homeless for a time, then tried to adjust to life with her new baby boy.

Eventually she got a job as a prison officer at Highpoint Prison, where she was assigned to look after the child murderer, Myra Hindley.

Prison taught Claire many lessons, ones she was forced to lean on in a move halfway around the world, and a new career in mining in Australia, bringing her back to her dad. 

This episode of Conversations was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. 

This episode of Conversations touches on bhp job cuts queensland coal mining, virgin australia breastfeeding, childcare, crime, counter terrorism, George Michael, LinkedIn, positivity, growth mindset, family dynamics, origin story, hard work, jail, prison officer, corrective services, corrections, mortgage interest rates, and being a single mum.

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.

How I went from being a pregnant, homeless teenager to running a BHP mining merger

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

265 days alone at sea — the young boat builder who rowed across the Pacific

Hollywood actor Alan Alda has devoted his life to science, by taking his acting and communication skills off the screen and into the laboratory. Alan grew up in a show business family and spent his childhood touring with a burlesque show run by his parents.

He eventually made a name for himself in showbiz, becoming well-known and much-loved for his performances in M.A.S.H. and The West Wing, as well as his roles in many Hollywood films.

Alan is also famous for his love of science.

He wrote Dear Albert for the stage, based on the love letters of Albert Einstein, which reveal Einstein as a beautifully passionate man.

Alan has used his acting for the good of science by teaching communication skills to scientists so they might make their work better known and better understood.

Further information

This interview was first broadcast in December 2016.

2025 update: Alan has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but he says he’s managing it well. Alan is still working occasionally, most recently in the TV remake of his 1981 film ‘The Four Seasons’.

You can read all about the Conversations origin story on the ABC News website.

This episode of Conversations explores science, science communication, MASH, television, Hollywood, silver screen, acting, show biz families, family business, Vietnam, origin stories, memoir.

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.

20th Anniversary Collection: Alan Alda on bringing science to acting

Growing up south of Sydney as one of six boys, midwifery wasn't the occupation Christian Wright expected for himself. At the age of nine, he experienced a vision that gave him a sense of his future in a life of service.

As a qualified midwife, Christian spent time in the tiny town of Nhulunbuy, right on the tip of the Northern Territory.

He worked with Yolŋu women of remote Arnhem Land to help them birth their babies.

Further information

This interview was first broadcast in March 2021.

2025 update: Several years ago, Christian married his beloved, Caroline in Gove.

On the first day of their honeymoon, as they were driving up the track, their troop carrier rolled.

Christian's spine was broken, and he was airlifted to Royal Adelaide Hospital, where the doctors feared that he might not walk again.

Christian went back to work within six months of the accident and has since worked in the NT and Papua New Guinea.

He and Caroline now have a baby boy.

Discover more about Christian's research on pregnancy and childbirth.

Discover the Djakamirr program, training doulas to help Yolŋu women give birth on their own country.

Christian also recommends the book Why Warriors Lie Down and Die by Richard Trudgen as a valuable resource on Indigenous Australia.

You can hear Richard's full conversation with Nigel Newton on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/publisher-nigel-newton-on-harnessing-the-harry-potter-effect/7788834

You can read all about the Conversations origin story on the ABC News website.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-03/richard-fidler-reflects-on-20-years-of-conversations/105495784

20th Anniversary Collection: The male midwife working in Arnhem Land

Diplomat Grant Dooley was inside the Australian Embassy building in Indonesia when a bomb went off, killing several people. This was just the beginning of a series of devastating events that Grant had to come to terms with years after moving back home to Australia.

In 2004, Grant Dooley and his wife, Kristan, moved to Jakarta with their two young children to start a three-year posting at the Australian Embassy.

In September of that year, Grant arrived at the embassy complex for a brief visit. Not long after he entered the building, a bomb went off outside, which partially destroyed the building and killed many people.

The Australian Embassy had been the target of an attack plotted by Jemaah Islamiah, a terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda.

Little did Grant know that he and his family had arrived in Indonesia in the middle of a horror show of bombings, natural disasters, and geopolitical tensions, which would not end for the next several years.

The embassy bombing was followed by the Boxing Day Tsunami, a second Bali bombing, the Garuda plane crash in Yogyakarta and more.

Not only was Grant a witness to these events, he was also a first responder to some of them.

Further information

Bomb Season In Jakarta is published by Affirm Press.

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

It explores terrorism, diplomacy, expats, Bali bombings, Sumatra, earthquake, tsunami, Schapelle Corby, Bali 9, drug smuggling, banged up abroad, how to become a diplomat, the real life of diplomats, PTSD, post traumatic stress, Jemaah Islamiyah, jihadist organisation, al-Qaeda, Paddy's pub, Sari Club, Aceh, John Howard, Alexander Downer, Kevin Rudd, Prabowo Subianto, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Joko Widodo, foreign affairs, books, writing, memoir, modern history, Abu Bakar Bashir, 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing, East Timor, South East Asia, Iraq, Afghanistan, war.

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 secret lives of diplomats: surviving 'bomb season' in Jakarta

20th Anniversary Collection: Alan Alda on bringing science to the stage

20th Anniversary Collection: The male midwife who birthed babies in Arnhem Land

Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the now complete Conversations Live Tour, Brisbane edition.

Comedian, Mel Buttle was one of the special guests who appeared on stage to share some photos close to her heart, and the stories attached to them. 

Further information

To see Mel's photos for yourself, head to the ABC Conversations Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/abcconvos/

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 Live podcast extra: Mel Buttle

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