Conversations

• Encore: How Johnathan Thurston became one the greats

  Despite being a stand-out young player, many NRL clubs initially rejected Johnathan Thurston because they thought he was too small and wiry but he went on to become one of the best rugby league players of all time.Johnathan showed his rare talent for rugby league early on but his parents didn't have the money to help him travel to games.So in his late teens, Johnathan moved to Toowoomba to get a start in rugby league, while working part-time in the butcher’s section of a supermarket.When Johnathan moved to Sydney at 18 to try his luck with the Cantebury Bulldogs, he began to get noticed and by the time he retired in 2018, had won a record 4 Daly M medals. Johnathan Thurston The Autobiography (with James Phelps) is published by Harper Collins.This episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison, the Executive Producer was Pam O'Brien.It explores the career of Johnathan Thurston, the NRL, rugby league, sporting talent, growing up in Brisbane, working part time jobs, alcohol, scholarships, NRL clubs, the Canterbury Bulldogs, North Queensland Cowboys, State of Origin, Queensland, Daly M medal, NRL Grand Final,  Queensland Maroons, indigenous Australian, Maori heritage, goal kicker, housing commission, Toowoomba, Indigenous All Star, GOAT 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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• How Aunty Rhonda learnt to cry

  Artist, author and Stolen Generations survivor, Rhonda Collard-Spratt, on bush hugs, beehives, emu bumps, and finding peace.Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt is a Yamatji-Noongar elder and Stolen Generations survivor who grew up on the Carnarvon Native Mission in Western Australia.As a little girl she would escape from her dormitory into the bush to feel the love and warmth she was missing from her mum.After leaving the mission as a teenager, Rhonda trained as a hairdresser, creating some of the best beehives in Perth.Later in life, she managed to reconnect with her mum and formed a surprising bond with her English stepfather, through music.Rhonda Collard-Spratt's memoir, Alice’s Daughter: Lost Mission Child, was written with Jacki Ferro and published by Aboriginal Studies Press.You can find her children's book series, Spirit of the Dreaming, online in both print and audiobook formats.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, executive producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores Aboriginal Australia, black history, colonisation, segregation, assimilation, religion, Christianity, the Native Act, reckoning with Australia's history, the Voice, racism, Indigenous suicide, mental health, medical neglect, art, motherhood, writing, books, memoir, modern Australia, Ipswich, Churches of Christ, Aborigines Mission Board.

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• From democracy to dictatorship and back again—how freedom falls and tyranny takes hold

  Dr James Loxton on how modern democracies can crumble as authoritarian regimes take hold, but also how freedom and democracy can rise again, from the Americas to Europe and into Asia.James grew up in stable Canada, where he spent his summers herding sheep in the middle of forest plantations.As a teenager, he hatched a plan to escape his "rough as guts" bush town and the life of a shepherd, moving to India on his own to finish high school.At an international school in Maharashtra, James' classmates taught him about the world outside of democratic Canada, and he became fascinated by military dictatorships and guerilla insurgencies. Later on, years of living in Latin America showed him firsthand how dictators operated, how they are feared and hated, but also revered and loved by some of the people they control.Now James, and many other political scientists, have their eyes turned to America, watching closely to see how the world's most powerful democracy is changing right before their eyes.Authoritarianism: A Very Short Introduction is published by Oxford University Press.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, executive producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores Donald Trump, Putin, USA, regime, dictators, ICE, Clinton, Epstein, politics, democracy, Chilean presidential election, Russia, China, Taiwan, Philippines, government, globalisation, Latin American politics, Whitlam, dismissal, divisive politics, left versus right, parliamentary versus presidential forms of government, united kingdom, British colonies, Javier Milei, Venezuela, Argentina, Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, Maduro, elitism, drain the swamp, populism, power for the people, tariffs, Peru, Cuba, straw man, Stalin, Hitler, competitive authoritarianism, substance abuse, addiction, alcoholism, alcoholic mothers, homelessness, losing a mother.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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• A bulldog on the ice -- Eric's journey from the South Pole to Outer Space

  Eric Philips has always loved cold weather and from young age became fixated on the idea of polar exploration and following in the footsteps of the adventurers he read about in National Geographic.And he went on to lead gruelling expeditions to the North and South Poles, pushing his body and mind to the limits.Eric also had dreams of travelling into space and had assumed the would be impossible.But while on a ski expedition in Svalbard, he met a crypto billionaire who was planning a trip to space and he later asked Eric to come along.The crew Eric was a part of would go on became the first human spaceflight mission to explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over the Earth’s polar regions.This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake, the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores polar exploration, South Pole. North Pole, hypothermia, mental and physical exhaustion, physical endurance, kite skiing, antarctica, large families, drug overdose, Space x, polar orbit, dramatic weight loss, rescue, failureTo 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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• Encore: Love, sex and the secret life of retirees

  Screenwriter Samantha Strauss on her grandmother's vibrant last years in a Gold Coast retirement home where love, sex and startlingly pragmatic conversations about dying were all part of daily life. (CW: not suitable for children) (R)Samantha Strauss started dancing from the age of 2, and as she grew up, she became increasingly serious about it.Sam was 18 when her budding ballet career was cut short by a shocking injury.After a year on the couch recovering, she reinvented herself.A few years later, inspired by the story of her own life in ballet, she co-created a TV series called Dance Academy.Dance Academy went on to screen in 160 countries, with Sam as the head writer across the 65 episodes.Sam's next show, The End, was set partly in a Gold Coast retirement village.Samantha got the idea as she watched how her own Grandmother's life changed after moving into a similar place at the end of her life.She expected to hate it, but eventually she found a circle of friends who partied hard and talked freely about love, sex, and death, including experimenting with making their own Nembutal.Further informationOriginally broadcast April 2021.Samantha has since won a Logie for her work on the Netflix program Apple Cider Vinegar, based on Belle Gibson’s life.This episode was produced by Nicola Harrison. The Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.It explores Belle Gibson, wellness, scam, scammers, Philip Nitschke, exit international, VAD, voluntary assisted dying, nursing home, aged care, grandparent grandchild relationship, sick parent, writing, being a writer, dance career, LA, Los Angeles, film industry, connections, Australians in LA, actors, nudists and naturalists.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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