Conversations

Bernie Shakeshaft was a wild teenager who grew up become a jackeroo and a dingo trapper. Then he began helping kids in trouble

Richard Glover revisits the landscape of his Australian childhood, when parenting was lackadaisical, and avocados were a rarity

Anne has worked in the midst of power on both sides of the Pacific, as a prominent journalist, policy advisor and magazine editor

Veteran reporter Jean Lee did the seemingly impossible from within Pyongyang

After losing both legs to an IED, veteran and Paralympian Dave Henson is applying his unique insight to developing advanced prosthetics

Bruno Guevremont was working in a bomb disposal team in Afghanistan when he was called to dismantle the vest of a live suicide bomber

How a doctor's brave escape led him to Australia, and extraordinary medical advancements for amputees (R)

In 1957, Moreno Giovannoni's family left Tuscany for Australia. Twelve years later they returned to San Ginese, but struggled to make it their home

Exploring the drawings of children who've survived Syria's conflict. Australian artist Ben Quilty has made several visits with World Vision to camps in Greece, Lebanon and Serbia, housing refugees from the Syrian conflict.On his first visit to Lebanon’s Bekka Valley, Ben asked the children there to draw for him.The power of their pictures, expressing what they’d seen before fleeing their homeland, was immediate.Ben has since made a number of visits back to the camps, often holding drawing workshops for the children, and has collated their artwork in a book.Further informationHome: Drawings by Syrian Children is published by Penguin(Proceeds from the book go directly to World Vision's work with children in the Middle East)This conversation was recorded at the Brisbane PowerhouseListen to Ben Quilty's 2014 conversation with Richard FidlerLive events with Ben Quilty and Richard Flanagan (for the School of Life):Melbourne: Wednesday 28 November; Goldfields Theatre, MCEC 7pmSydney: Tuesday 27 November; Wesley Conference Centre 7pmTo 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.

Michelle Garnaut created one of the world's most famous restaurants in Shanghai