The critic on what he has learned from watching 25,000 films, and that time he peed on Federico Fellini

Conversations

David Stratton's reel life

Andrew Wear on how Australia might change in the post-pandemic world

After Covid, the possibility of hope

David Heilpern with stories of drama, crime and heartache from his 21 years as a country magistrate (CW: references to drug use and sexual assault)

A rebel on the bench

Hannah Kent with the true story of the Prussians who fled Europe for a new life in South Australia in 1838, then met a malevolent doctor on board their ship

The hero of The Zebra

Megan Phelps-Roper grew up inside the notorious Westboro Baptist Church family. In 2012 she left the church, and her family, to live in the world she once reviled (R)

Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church

Deirdre O'Connell with a tale of music, race and a secret militia set in Australia's Jazz Age (CW: discretion is advised when listening)

Jazz kings and wayward women

As a child, ordinary sensations of clothes on her skin made Allison Davies feel as though her life was under threat. She recognised the life-changing power of sound when she became a music therapist — both for herself and others

How music keeps Allison alive

Kylie Stevenson delves into the story of Paddy Moriarty, who went missing from Larrimah, an outback Northern Territory town known for a weird pink panther in a gyrocopter.

A blind croc, a missing man and his dog

In 1942 three midget submarines armed with torpedoes made their way into Sydney Harbour to launch an attack on Allied warships. They were sent by the Imperial Japanese Navy (R)

Night of the midget subs — Sydney under attack

Palaeontologist John Long found his first fossil in a Melbourne quarry as a 7 year old. He grew up to unearth new clues as to how we became human, and to the origins of sex

How a fish with tiny fingers changed history

Former narcotics agent, John Shobbrook battled corruption when investigating an audacious plan to air-drop heroin into Far North Queensland in the 1970s

Stupid crooks, crooked cops, and honest John

Roland de Chazal is best known for being the 81-year-old motorbike postie on Magnetic Island, but his earlier life in Rhodesia had its moments too — it was there he met the Queen Mother and kept his pet cheetah, Jackals

Motorbikes, cheetahs, and the Maggie Island mail run

Judy on life with her late husband, the politician Tim Fischer, and how her son Harrison helped inspire a new beginning on her farm (R)

Judy Brewer's Mudgegonga love song

Spend an hour in someone else's life. Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met.

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Conversations

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