Conversations

Neil explores some of the stories from Nordic mythology which have captivated him since childhood (R)

Sarah's life took a gothic turn as she crafted her version of Melmoth (R)

Author Bart van Es with the story of the young Jewish girl Lien de Jong, hidden by Bart's Dutch grandparents during WWII when they joined the resistance

How zooarchaeologist Melanie Fillios uses the remains and fossils of animals, including dingoes, to understand more about ancient humans

Writer Favel Parrett’s grandmother fled Prague as a teenager, but her sister stayed on, and then lived through both Nazism and Stalinism (R)

Stan Grant on his life as a journalist, author and filmmaker from the Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharawal First Nations of Australia

At 15, Rebecca McCabe was on track to compete in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics for swimming. As swam, she would often ask herself big questions about the meaning of life. When her life in the pool ended abruptly, she decided to take a huge leap of faith

Biologist Merlin Sheldrake's extreme experiments, many of which involve his physical body and varying forms of fungi, have led to equally remarkable discoveriesEnglish biologist Merlin Sheldrake, son of Rupert Sheldrake, became fascinated by fungi when he was a boy.He grew mushrooms in his cupboard and brewed bog myrtle beer under his bed.He went on to study fungi at Cambridge University, and his research explores the interconnection between fungi and plants in what’s known as ‘the Wood Wide Web’.Merlin's extreme experiments, many of which involve his physical body and varying forms of fungi, have led to equally remarkable discoveries.Further informationEntangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures is published by Random HouseMore about Merlin and his workTo 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, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

David Hepworth charts our fascination with that most earth-bound of gods, the rock star; and discusses some of music history's striking examples

Despite never really liking maths at school, Eddie made up his mind in the teaching sign-on queue, to become a maths teacher. This split-second decision changed his life, and the lives of many of his future students (R)