Conversations

For 100 years Australia has been collecting tens and thousands of letters and diaries from deployed service personnel. These are just some of the moving, beautiful and tragic stories among them

When Dr Rhonda Wilson was in year 10, she was told she should drop out of school and settle for becoming "just a mum". This is how Rhonda defied the expectations others, and she, had for herself

From muscle paralysis and sleepwalking, to the power of our subconscious, Dr Sutapa Mukherjee takes you into the secret world of sleep

When Ray Kelly Snr's grandfather was asked to translate "telephone" into Gumbayngirr, he responded with “muuya barrigi”, or flying breath (CW: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners please be advised this program contains discussion of people who have died. Please take care when listening)

Pádraig Ó Tuama survived conversion therapy and exorcism as a young gay man in a church in Ireland, then became a leading peace negotiator and a poet (R)

Carly-Jay Metcalfe lives with cystic fibrosis, and has faced a double lung transplant, a rare cancer and other huge medical challenges. But through it all humour and hope have fuelled her survival (CW: this story discusses organ transplant and donation, drug use and self harm)

Writer Lech Blaine on Peter Dutton, the former policeman who became the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia

Scientist Tanya Latty on how a single-cell organism, slime mould, can solve complex problems in some remarkable ways (R)

What was on the "must-see" lists for tourists in 200 BCE? From the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Great Pyramids at Giza, historian Bettany Hughes is your tour guide through the seven wonders of the ancient world

Journalist Marina Kamenev on the changing story of our families in the 21st century (CW: discusses donor conception)

The investigative reporter reflects on her beloved Ringsend relatives and what drives her work holding powerful organisations to account (CW: discussion of suicide and confronting material)

Tom Gleeson discovered and honed his distinctively caustic, laconic style of humour in some unlikely places (R)

Dean Summers became a long-distance swimmer in midlife. Now he swims with sharks, jellyfish and bioluminescence in wild oceans around the world

For writer James Bradley, the ocean is the connective tissue that holds all of life on Earth together. But how did it get here in the first place?

From the rodeo to the dining room table, this is a collection of strange, funny and sombre stories from real families

Glennon was the world's most famous Christian mummy blogger when she fell wildly in love with U.S Women's Soccer star Abby Wambach (R)

Ayesha Jehangir left her rural village to get a better education; she left Pakistan to explore Afghanistan; and she left an abusive marriage to find her place in Australia. But she remains deeply proud of her Pashtun roots

Bri Lee on the brutal series of events which began her life as a writer tackling injustice in our courts, the beauty industry, and in our schools (CW: description of legal processes relating to sexual assault)

Phil Kafcaloudes grew up hearing stories about his legendary grandmother Olga, who became a spy for the British in WWII. When he grew up, he went in search of her story (R)