Conversations

Louise Adler has been one of the biggest and most controversial names in Australian publishing for decades. This is the story of how she fell in love with the world of books.⁠An asthmatic child, she spent most of Melbourne’s winters in bed with nothing else to do but read novels.
But it wasn't until her parents intervened in Louise's obsession with Enid Blyton’s boarding school series that her deep pleasure in the world of books began in earnest.⁠Shaped by her family's story of surviving World War Two, Louise grew up in questioning everything.
She was 15 years old when she went to her first Vietnam moratorium and was locked up for her role in the protests.⁠
She travelled to Israel at the age of 17, which was a transformative experience for her.⁠⁠Back in Australia, Louise began her career in publishing, backing some unconventional and headline-grabbing authors from Tony Abbott and Mark Latham to Louise Milligan and Mick Gatto.⁠Louise was Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week from 2023, until the dramatic collapse of the 2026 festival.⁠
This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It was recorded live at the Byron Writers Festival.
It explores writing, writers, books, Australian literature, Randa Abdel-Fattah, Israel, Palestine, Anti-Semitism commission, Judaism, WWII, Holocaust survivors, Adelaide Writers Festival, Byron Writers Festival, freedom of speech, Australian literary scene, origin story, Auspol, politics, big ideas, memoir, love, marriage, safe spaces, Grace Tame.

Acclaimed poet and philosopher David Whyte has come to believe a single line of poetry is enough to change your life. 
David grew up amongst the moors and fields of West Yorkshire, with an English father and an Irish mother who had a gift for lyricism and language.
He started writing poems at just seven years old, but it wasn't until he was working as a guide in the Galapagos Islands that David truly understood what poetry was and what it could do for us.
A near-death experience there prepared him for life as a poet by teaching him to pay attention to what lay right in front of him at any given time.
For David, the power of poetry lies in its unmatched ability to meditate and focus on what's right in front of us, whether it's a mountain, a loved one, or our own reflection.
First broadcast in 2025
Further information
David's latest collection of poems and essays is Consolations II, published by Canongate.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris, the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.
It explores, poetry, poems, near death experiences, mothers, sons, family, Ireland, meditation, Zen, love, heartbreak, anxiety, time, happiness, the Galapagos Islands, family, grief, memory, spirituality, Christianity, language, England.To 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.

Why were 400 civilians allowed to fly into a war zone as Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait? What really happened to them when they were held as hostages? And why has the British government fought for so long to keep it all a secret?
Stephen Davis is an investigative journalist who has been following a story, within a story, within a story for more than 30 years.
It starts on 2 August, 1990 when a British Airways plane landed in Kuwait for a scheduled stopover.
There were nearly 400 passengers and crew on board, mostly British, who had no idea they were flying straight into Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.
Instead of refuelling and then carrying on to Madras, the people on board were taken into Iraqi custody, ferried to various hotels and strategic locations around Kuwait, and then Baghdad, deployed as human shields in an unfurling international conflict.
Used like chess pieces by Saddam Hussein's men, their experiences would scar them for the rest of their lives, but eventually they would point the finger at their own government's role in their fate.
Because Flight 149 should never have landed in Kuwait, and the reasons why it was allowed to fly into a war zone were covered up for more than three decades.
Stephen's sources pointed him to a secret British black ops mission that embedded nine operatives on that same civilian flight.
The Secret History of Flight 149 is published by Bonnier Books UK.
Around 100 passengers and crew of Flight 149 are suing the UK Government and British Airways for “deliberately endangering” them, claiming they knew Iraq had invaded Kuwait before the plane landed.
A preliminary hearing was held last November in the High Court in London. Both sides are still battling over procedural issues before a full trial can begin.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.
It explores the Middle East, geopolitics, President Bush, Gulf War, Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, invasion, oil, world economy, Margaret Thatcher, spies, MI6, CIA, conspiracies, cover ups, investigations, lawsuits, Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Sabre, Dick Cheney, Saudi Arabia, Republican Guard, modern history, modern conflicts, 9/11, terrorism, rise of terrorism.
To 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.

Historian Katja Hoyer was born in 1985, under the old regime of the GDR and grew up in the 1990s, watching many former East Germans struggle in the years after reunification.
Learning about the Nazi era was a big part of her education but Katja left school feeling unsatisfied about what she’d been taught about the period when the Nazis rose to power.
She knew about all the big political moments, but not much about the lives of ordinary Germans and how they responded to the dramatic changes that unfolded around all around them.
So Katja the historian traced the lives of residents in the town of Weimar from 1919 to 1939 to examine how a cultural hub of democracy transformed into a Nazi stronghold.Further information 
Weimar: Life of the Edge of Catastrophe is published by Penguin.
Katja's earlier book is Beyond the Wall: East Germany 1949-1990
Learn more about Katja Hoyer on her website
This episode of Conversations was produced by Jen Leake and the Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.
It explores German history, the rise of the Nazis, Weimar, the Weimar Republic, Adolf Hitler, the Stasi, secret police, the Berlin Wall, Communism, Fascism, World War II, East Germany, the GDR, democracy, Jewish persecution, Buchenwald, concentration camps, Carl Weirich, Nazi era history, the rise of the Nazis.
To 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.

Journalist Hedley Thomas grew up knowing that his grandmother Gladys had vanished in the sea off Sydney in the 1950s. The mystery of what happened to Gladys helped to inspire his hit podcast 'The Teacher's Pet'.
Hedley has had a storied career in journalism which has seen him win many Walkley Awards and expose a lot of corruption and dodgy dealings.
But it has also placed Hedley and his family in harm's way. 
In 2002 Hedley and his wife Ruth were at their home when bullets were fired into their bedroom. The shooter was never found, and Hedley grappled with PTSD after the event.
A couple of decades later Hedley returned to a story which had stayed with him for years.
It was the about a woman named Lynette who had gone missing from her home in the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Hedley's podcast about her story became a massive hit. 
Five years after 'The Teacher's Pet' began, Lyn's former husband Chris Dawson was convicted of her murder. Despite his recent appeals, Dawson will spend the rest of his life in jail for Lynette's murder.
Recently, Hedley has started talking about the family secret which helped inspire the podcast when it first began.
Further information
Help and support is always available. Beyond Blue provides 24/7 support on mental health issues.
Hear Sarah's conversation with Lynette's daughter, Shanelle Dawson.
The episode of Conversations was produced by Nicola Harrison, the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.
It explores family, journalism, domestic violence, police investigation, murder, The Teacher's Pet, true crime, true crime podcast, Lynette Dawson, Chris Dawson, Shanelle Dawson, PTSD, home invasion, secrets, prison, Northern Beachers of Sydney, mothers, grandmothers, Walkley awards, justice, cold case.
To 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.