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.
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.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 50 minutes
- Episodes
- 2021
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: Born blind at the right time
Law Professor Ron McCallum was a premature baby in the 1940s. He completed his studies by recording people reading his textbooks aloud onto cassettes. Then an early version of text to speech opened u…
00:51:18 |
Sun 17 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: Brolga the 'kangaroo mum'
Aged 17, Chris 'Brolga' Barns was meant to be the 'bird guy' at a new zoo in Broome. A cough in his keeper's house alerted him to a kangaroo joey called Josie, who needed four-hourly feeds and help w…
00:53:21 |
Thu 14 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: Stan Grant on what his father taught him
The veteran Wiradjuri journalist spent his first year living in the wreck of a Model T Ford on a NSW mission. He has reported from China and North Korea, covered Nelson Mandela’s release, the death o…
00:53:09 |
Wed 13 Aug 2025
Conversations Live podcast extra: Bruce McAvaney
Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Adelaide edition.
Legendary sports broadcaster, Bruce McAvaney was one of the special guests who appeared on…
00:09:31 |
Wed 13 Aug 2025
Conversations Live podcast extra: Gill Hicks
Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Adelaide edition.
London Bombing survivor, Gill Hicks was one of the special guests who appeared on stage to…
00:12:30 |
Wed 13 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: Surviving my dad's arrest and learning to thrive
Longtime TV casting agent, Kirsty de Vallance was 16 when Police searched the house and arrested her father on serious drugs charges. Throughout her teen years she had to navigate the complexity of h…
00:54:13 |
Tue 12 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: The male midwife who birthed babies in Arnhem Land
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 i…
00:53:10 |
Tue 12 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: The male midwife who birthed babies in Arnhem Land
Male midwife, Christian Wright tells stories of emergency evacuations and surfing with crocodiles while working in remote Indigenous communities, helping Yolŋu women birth their babies.
Growing up S…
00:53:10 |
Tue 12 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: The comic genius of Jennifer Saunders
The co-creator of Absolutely Fabulous says her remarkable career as one of the world's funniest women is all down to a series of happy accidents.
When she and her great pal Dawn French were making …
00:52:54 |
Sun 10 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: Judy Sharp and the remarkable rise of Laser Beak Man
When Judy Sharp was told by doctors that her son would never communicate or learn to love, she refused to believe it and set about to secure a brilliant life for her neurodivergent son, Tim.
Judy's …
00:51:00 |
Thu 07 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: How power and fear play out in the dentist's chair
Sharonne Zaks is not your average dentist. After treating a patient named Anna, Sharonne saw the power relationship with her patients differently. She developed a new branch of dentistry to help care…
00:53:00 |
Wed 06 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: A lion named Christian, and the men who loved him
In the swinging '60s, Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and John Rendall bought a lion cub from a luxury department store. They eventually released him to his natural habitat in Africa. Footage of their emotional…
00:52:12 |
Tue 05 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: Bryan Brown’s ticket from Bankstown to Palm Beach
Bryan Brown has played more than 80 roles on stage and screen. Raised in working-class Sydney, his talent, hard work, and unmistakable presence have been his ticket to the world.
Now in his late 70s…
00:53:00 |
Mon 04 Aug 2025
20th Anniversary Collection: the story of the unwitting woman behind cell research and 'immortality'
Henrietta Lacks was the first human being that we know of to get close enough to 'immortality' to touch it. She died more than 50 years ago but her cells live on.
'HeLa' cells were the first human c…
00:52:42 |
Sun 03 Aug 2025
Wild — Story Collection
Adventurous spirits take us way out into the world's wild places — stories from across 20 years of Conversations. Travel high in the mountains with Kazakh eagle hunters. Join an endurance horse race …
00:48:16 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
Teachers — Story Collection
Memories, motivation and life lessons from those at the front of the classroom - stories from across 20 years of Conversations.
Teachers share stories from their life’s work.
Facing up to challengi…
01:00:24 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
Digging Up Mum and Dad — Story Compilation
The secret lives of parents — stories from across 20 years of Conversations.
Espionage, Hollywood scandal, a second family, daring wartime missions, and a deadly weapon — revelations unearthed by ad…
01:00:00 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
A Feast of Cooks — Story Collection
Our chefs and cooks and the food that made them — stories from across 20 years of Conversations.
Unforgettable sensory moments from childhood are behind the devotion of some of Australia’s most well…
00:51:25 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
Maximum McInnes
A collection of some of the best moments from actor and writer William McInnes — celebrating 20 years of Conversations. The voice of actor William McInnes is unmistakable, whether in larger than life…
00:51:06 |
Fri 01 Aug 2025
Shipwrecked and alone: surviving the Blythe Star
At 18 years old, Mick Doleman miraculously survived when his ship capsized in the freezing Southern Ocean off Tasmania. But as he floated in a life raft with his nine crewmates, his ordeal at sea had…
00:53:00 |
Thu 31 Jul 2025
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