Conversations

Former politician Robert Tickner grew up in country NSW, 'showered with love' by his adoptive parents. When he began the search for his biological mum Maida in his 40s, he discovered she'd been much closer than he ever knew

Mathematician Geordie Williamson spent eight years cracking the code to find the weight of atoms in space (R)

Space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman on the unexpected artefacts of the space age (R)

Jamie Simmonds on the successful relocation of Grantham, Queensland after it was destroyed by catastrophic flooding

When an inland tsunami smashed into a rural Queensland town in January 2011, people were killed and the town destroyed. Jamie Simmonds became the right-hand-man of Mayor Steve Jones, and they led an audacious recovery project

Historian Nick Richardson on the year that changed Australia forever

Rick Shine used one toad to defeat another, by a process of evolutionary conditioning, to save the snakes he was studying in Northern Australia (R)

William wanders through stories of fatherhood, from growing up in Queensland in the 1970s, to raising his own children as a single dad (R)William is one of Australia's best-known storytellers and actors.As his children became adults, he began to reflect on what it means to be a father.William’s dad was a gregarious character, a veteran of World War II, who ran a hire business in Queensland.Despite the many colourful names his father coined for him, William remembers his dad as a very loving father, even when he, William, might have been 'a boofhead'.William's been thinking about the memories he's creating in the minds of of his own kids, particularly after the death of his wife some years ago.Further informationOriginal broadcast 31 July 2018Fatherhood: Stories about being a dad is published by HachetteListen to Richard's conversation with William McInnes from 2017 on life after the death of his wife, Sarah WattTo 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.

Benjamin Gilmour describes the hectic work of saving lives, and what it's like to bring people back from the brink of suicide

How a young woman fell under the spell of spiritual cult leaders in the 1970s