Conversations

From ayahuasca for mental health to poo transplants for gut health, Judith Lucy has been on a mission to feel better, but have they worked?
Judith is one of Australia's most loved comedians. 
She's also the author of four books and the presenter of several television series.
For decades Judith has been busying herself with project after project after project, to distract herself from sitting with the truth of where her workaholism, insomnia and dicey relationship with alcohol was coming from.
It took Judith a long time to realise she was a chronic workaholic, and to admit she was suffering from burnout, despite the clues being there all along.
After feeling unwell for some time, Judith started delving into the multitude of wellness options out there.
Well, Well, Well is published by Simon and Schuster.Since recording this interview with Richard, Judith Lucy has revealed she's been diagnosed with breast cancer. In a video message this week, Judith told fans she is in shock but doing ok and fortunately her cancer is not aggressive.We wish Judith all the best for her surgery and any future treatment.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Elizabeth Kulas. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.
It explores health and wellness, wellness scams, wellness influencers, psychedelics, mental health, substance abuse, alcoholism, AA, family trauma, adoption, grief, deaths, comedy, gut health, faecal transplant, poo transplant, Australian comedy, relationships, love, betrayal, depression, workaholism, workaholic, bad trip, Gabor Mate, 
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.

A portrait of one teacher and his class as they journey through the ups and downs of a school year.
Brendan James Murrary has been a high school teacher for more than ten years and although his own experiences at school weren't great, he ended up taking a job back at the school where he was a bullied and unhappy student.
During his time as a teacher he's seen hundreds of kids move through the same hallways and classrooms - boisterous, angry, shy, big-hearted, awkward - all of them on the journey to adulthood.
He's also discovered that what makes a good teacher has more to do with generosity and empathy than he first realised.
His memoir The School is both a tribute to the teacher who inspired him and a celebration of the kids who shape his career.
First broadcast in 2021 
The producer was Nicola Harrison and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.
Further information
The School is published by Pan MacMillanThis episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.
It explores teaching, high school, bullying, school refusal, self harm, anxiety, teachers, mentors, empathy, generosity, regional high school, students, classrooms, support, mental health.
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 instructions found in endorsed baby books over the last century could be, with hindsight, bizarre or cruel. And were most often given by “experts” with no children of their own. 
Journalist and broadcaster, Richard Glover tackles the changing landscape of parenting advice.
He looks back at his own experience of being parented, which included having his ears sticky-taped while growing up in Papua New Guinea, and draws on modern day grand-parenthood to highlight the marked differences in how we raise our children.
Richard has delved into the archives to draw out the strangest, sometimes hilarious and rather heartbreaking pieces of parenting advice given to Australians over the last century. 
He finds advice on toilet training babies when they are weeks-old, and recalls the rich and practically disappeared language of corporal punishment.
Further information
How to Ruin a Child: A journey into the alarming, hilarious and ever-changing advice given to Australian parents is published by HarperCollins.
This episode was made on Gadigal country. It was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.
It explores caning, the cane, smacking, discipline, raising boys, raising girls, Truby King, family planning, Marie Stopes, eugenics, empire, blame the parents, sleeping through the night, breastfeeding, birth, childbirth, bonding, cuddling, skin on skin, manipulative baby, Hobbes, Rousseau, routine for baby, awake window.
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 author on the diagnosis that floored her and the gifts that got her through harrowing treatment — including a cat named Nicholas.
The Australian-Irish author was last on the program in 2020.
She reflected on her childhood by the railway tracks in the Clare Valley, South Australia, where she grew up with her band of brothers and sisters.
After she recorded that interview, Monica received a cancer diagnosis.
International borders were closed due to covid, and Monica found herself staying in a tiny unit with her mum and a cat they named Nicholas.
She didn't see her beloved husband John for almost a year.
Monica was prescribed a chemotherapy drug known as the 'red devil', and lost her thick, lustrous hair. And she survived.
It was 18-months later, back home in Dublin, when Monica could finally confront what had happened to her, and start to climb out of the deep anxiety and depression that marked her experience.
Further information
When Sullivan Met Lola is published by Penguin Random House.
This episode was made of Turrbal and Jaggera lands. The producer was Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.
It explores grief, cancer, Invasive ductal carcinoma, breast cancer, aggressive cancer, novels, characters, dread, anti-anxiety medication, antidepressant, near death experience, book tour, death of a sibling, chemo, support system, friends, chemo presents, large family, sibling love, long distance relationship.
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.

RAF pilot Frank Dell parachuted into Nazi occupied Holland after his plane was hit by cannon fire and with the aid of courageous Dutch families and resistance fighters he got out alive.As a teenager, Frank saw the Battle of Britain played out in the skies above his village in the south of England.
He joined the RAF and piloted a De Havilland Mosquito on bombing raids into Germany.
In October 1944 Frank's plane was shot out of the sky and he parachuted into Nazi territory.
Frank witnessed extraordinary scenes as he walked his way through the countryside into occupied Holland.
It was there he joined the Dutch Resistance, and his war shifted to the fields, hay sheds and village lanes of the Netherlands.
This episode was first broadcast in 2014.
Further information
Frank Dell passed away peacefully in 2022 at the age of 98.
His family say that Frank had fond memories of meeting Richard and the chance to tell his story on Conversations.  A photo of Richard and Frank was included in a memorial sideshow at his funeral.
Mosquito Down (by Frank Dell with Brett Piper) is published by Fighting High
This episode of Conversations was produced By Michelle Ransom-Hughes and the Executive Producer was Pam O'Brien.
It explores WWII, RAF, Nazi occupied Holland, Dutch resistance, the Battle of Britain, cannon fire, parachute emergency, support, survival, undercover, Nazi Germany, rescue, history, memoir, bombing raids, De Havilland Mosquito, 1944
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.