Ji Wallace was at the top of his career as a gymnast and acrobat when a terrible injury and surprising diagnosis brought him back down to earth, temporarily. Ji was an energetic, only child growing up on a bush block in suburban Brisbane when his parents brought home a trampoline to keep him occupied. Ji took to it so quickly, he learnt how to flip by that afternoon, and was a national champion in gymnastics just a couple of years later. He managed to make a career out of bouncing around, representing Australia at the Olympics and then joining Cirque Du Soleil as an acrobat. But a terrible inj ..read more

Psychiatrist Duncan McKellar wrote the report that triggered the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. He has seen how care changes when we take someone's life story into account ..read more

The late James Earl Jones grew up with a stutter and hardly said a word for years. After an English teacher intervened, he grew up to become one of the world's finest actors. (R ..read more

From sharks with wheels of teeth, to gargantuan sharks like the megalodon, palaeontologist John Long has traced the long and storied history of these oceanic hunters. This episode of Conversations explores science, origin stories, ancient history, sharks, palaeontology, the ocean, climate change, megalodon, hunting and predators ..read more

Author and professor Anita Heiss on her parents' story of romance, and how she brings true history alive in her work ..read more

For decades, Gideon Haigh and his mum were the only two people who really knew what happened on Jaz's last night. This year, it all poured out ..read more

After a childhood spent trying to escape her father's booze-fuelled outbursts, Seana developed her own problem relationship with drinking. But by her mid-50s, Seana decided she had had enough. Seana Smith grew up in a beautiful house in rural Scotland, and when things were good at home, they were wonderful. But Seana’s father loved to drink, and his habit took over her family’s life. Despite the fights, abuse and violence, Seana's mother couldn't bring herself to leave her husband, and so Seana found every excuse to get away -- from pony camp at 12 years old, to applying for boarding school wi ..read more

As a young child, chunks of Brenda's early memories were missing until her biological mother told her the truth. Together they are slowly healing Wiradjuri woman Brenda Matthews was stolen from her family, along with her six siblings, when she was two-years-old. She came from a loving, hardworking, religious family. She was fostered by an affectionate white family, and she blended into her new life happily. After six years of living with them, she was told it was time to return “home” to her biological family — who she didn’t remember at all. For most of her life, Brenda suppressed her memorie ..read more

When a devastating injury ended Jack Beaumont's career as a jet fighter pilot, he decided to become a spy, in the French Secret Service. Jack Beaumont (not his real name) is a former intelligence operative and the author of several spy thrillers. Jack grew up in a turbulent family in Paris and when he got older he decided to train as a jet fighter pilot with the French Air Force. During a training dogfight at supersonic speed, Jack suffered a devastating injury that meant he could no longer fly jets, but he still wanted a job steeped in adventure and danger. So he began piloting covert spy mis ..read more

Thriller writer Louise Doughty on spycraft, trench coats and her Romany roots ..read more