Conversations

After a dream job as a nanny in Notting Hill, a young Donna Duggan was first lured to Africa by the charms of Zanzibar. She soon fell deeply in love with a local man, Nas, though she could never have predicted the direction their life would take. 

Nas and Donna set up a safari company, on the premise they would give back to the country and community as their business prospered.

They had two children and built a life...

Charles Lomu's gentle and religious life in Tonga with his grandparents showed him the meaning of love. He was on track to being a young, in-demand Rugby League player when grief shook his family, and Charles turned down a dark path.

He ended up in periodic detention in jail.

Today, the power of barbering is a tool the youth worker uses to steer young men away from the dangerous path he experienced, and to teach the...

Marine ecologist, Pia Winberg learned how useful seaweed could be for gut health and wound healing. One day she was conducting research by herself in her lab when she had a terrible accident.

Pia was four-years-old when she moved from her native Sweden to Australia.

She always loved the beach and the coastline. 

As an adult, Pia became fascinated with the scientific properties of seaweed after visiting a Sri Lankan p...

Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Brisbane edition.

Writer and comedian, Mandy Nolan and Chair of Creative Australia, Quandamooka man Wesley Enoch were two of the special guests who appeared on stage to share some photos close to their heart, and the stories attached to them.

Further information

To see Mandy and Wesley's photos for yourself, head to the ABC Conv...

Deeply ashamed of something he had done, Mic Whitty retreated into the Welsh wilderness until an unexpected goal pulled him out of homelessness and back into the world.

Mic had entered the workforce at the tender age of 15, joining the RAAF as an apprentice, before taking on a series of highly paid jobs in Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. 

But feeling stressed out and burnt out, Mic decided to take a simpler job at a y...

Tommy Caldwell grew up exploring Yosemite, looking up at El Capitan's punishing 3000ft sheer rock face. After years of training, he was ready to climb it. 

Tommy is regarded as the world’s best big wall climber.

He spent 15 years ascending various routes on El Capitan, the Yosemite National Park mecca for big wall climbers, until he was finally ready to attempt a route christened 'The Dawn Wall'.

The Dawn Wall is a 3...

Vickie's police record began when she was just 2 years old, and followed her throughout her life. But as an adult she pushed back, challenging a federal law for the rights of prisoners.

When Vickie was given a police record as a toddler, it enabled authorities to place her into the custody of a family she didn't know.

She grew up in western Sydney, under the strict religious rule of her adoptive mother, with whom sh...

Hollywood actor Alan Alda has devoted his life to science, by taking his acting and communication skills off the screen and into the laboratory.

Alan grew up in a show business family and spent his childhood touring with a burlesque show run by his parents.

He eventually made a name for himself in showbiz, becoming well-known and much-loved for his performances in M.A.S.H. and The West Wing, as well as his roles in ...

Law Professor Ron McCallum was a premature baby in the 1940s. He completed his studies by recording people reading his textbooks aloud onto cassettes. Then an early version of text to speech opened up new possibilities for him.

When Ron was born, prospects for blind people to have careers outside sheltered workshops were few.

In the late 1970s enormous change swept into Ron’s life. He fell in love with fellow lawyer...

Aged 17, Chris 'Brolga' Barns was meant to be the 'bird guy' at a new zoo in Broome. A cough in his keeper's house alerted him to a kangaroo joey called Josie, who needed four-hourly feeds and help with the toilet. From then on he was hooked.

Brolga knew early on he wanted to make a living working with animals.

After meeting Josie he began to rescue other joeys left alive in their mothers' pouches after the large an...

The veteran Wiradjuri journalist spent his first year living in the wreck of a Model T Ford on a NSW mission. He has reported from China and North Korea, covered Nelson Mandela’s release, the death of Princess Diana, the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and reported from outside Osama bin Laden’s house after he was killed.

His father was a hard man and an itinerant sawmiller who taught Stan the lessons he would need t...

Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Adelaide edition.

Legendary sports broadcaster, Bruce McAvaney was one of the special guests who appeared on stage to share some photos close to his heart, and the stories attached to them.

Further information

To see Bruce's photos for yourself, head to the ABC Conversations Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/abcconvos/

To bi...

Sarah and Richard give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of the Conversations Live Tour, Adelaide edition.

London Bombing survivor, Gill Hicks was one of the special guests who appeared on stage to share some photos close to her heart, and the stories attached to them.

Further information

To see Gill's photos for yourself, head to the ABC Conversations Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/abcconvos/

To binge even m...

Longtime TV casting agent, Kirsty de Vallance was 16 when Police searched the house and arrested her father on serious drugs charges. Throughout her teen years she had to navigate the complexity of having a parent in prison. 

The family went into freefall and a short time later Kirsty's mother died.

Her two older sisters raised Kirsty and she stayed in touch with her father until his release from prison.

The effects ...

Male midwife, Christian Wright tells stories of emergency evacuations and surfing with crocodiles while working in remote Indigenous communities, helping Yolŋu women birth their babies.

Growing up South of Sydney as one of six boys, midwifery wasn't the occupation Christian Wright expected for himself.

At the age of nine he experienced a vision that gave him a sense of his future in a life of service.

In the tiny tow...

The co-creator of Absolutely Fabulous says her remarkable career as one of the world's funniest women is all down to a series of happy accidents. 

When she and her great pal Dawn French were making their first series, French & Saunders, they were given complete freedom by the BBC, including the freedom to fail.

Despite a few mishaps along the way and a battle with breast cancer, Jennifer now says that early free...

When Judy Sharp was told by doctors that her son would never communicate or learn to love, she refused to believe it and set about to secure a brilliant life for her neurodivergent son, Tim.

Judy's eldest son, Tim, was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old.

When Judy was told Tim would never communicate or be able to love she refused to accept those limitations.

As a mother, Judy took many risks to secure a g...

Sharonne Zaks is not your average dentist. After treating a patient named Anna, Sharonne saw the power relationship with her patients differently. She developed a new branch of dentistry to help care for survivors of sexual assault.

Sharonne grew up in a family of dentists, and when she too became a dentist, she developed an empathetic relationship with her patients, never judging them even if they'd avoided the de...

In the swinging '60s, Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and John Rendall bought a lion cub from a luxury department store. They eventually released him to his natural habitat in Africa. Footage of their emotional reunion in the wilds of Africa nearly broke the internet, decades later.

In 1969, Anthony 'Ace' Bourke and John Rendall bought a lion cub for just under £300 from Harrods Department Store.

They named the cub Christian, ...