Conversations

Australians are living longer and longer, which is on one hand a beautiful thing. But on the other, prolonged old age is wreaking havoc. So how might we respond to this new demographic situation we find ourselves in?
Lucinda Holdforth is a writer who specialises in looking at what makes good societies flourish, everything from manners to politics and equality.
Most recently, she's set her sights on the unintended negative consequences following the extraordinary increase in life span around the world, particularly in Australia.
In the past 50 years, human life expectancy across the globe has jumped from 46 years old to 73, and in Australia that number is even higher -- an Australian born today is likely to live until they are 84 years old.
On the surface, living longer is a very good thing. It means more time spent with our loved ones, looking at the stars, feeling the sun, living.
But prolonged old age can also be very lonely and painful, and, as Lucinda argues, it is costing society as a whole in many ways.
She has seen this firsthand, as a daughter who supported her own parents in their long old age, and has some surprising suggestions about how we could do things differently to ease the impact on our economy, our medical system, our elderly and our youth.
GOING ON AND ON: Why our longevity threatens our future is published by Simon & Schuster.
This episode was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch.
It explores the sandwich generation, carers, women caring for parents, the elderly, dementia, Alzheimer's, Bryan Johnson, biohackers, Blue Zone, how to live longer, Mediterranean diet, tech bros, longevity, muscle mass, aging, deterioration, aged care, death, grief, how to live well, writing, books, old age, diseases of the elderly, tax, taxation, ageism, voting rights, voting age, lower the voting age.
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.

It was love at first sight, when Jack Ashby first set eyes upon a platypus specimen as a young university student.
The introduction set him on a lifelong mission to meet these quintessentially Australian creatures in the wild, and redefine their reputation as "weird" or "primitive".
He's met many other animals along the way, coming face to face with an elusive snow leopard family in the Himalayas, with wombats and echidnas, and seeing only the eyes of a sloth bear, reflecting his torchlight in a pitch black forest.
Further information
Platypus Matters is published by Harper Collins
This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2022, the producer was Meggie Morris and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.
It explores platypus, mammals, zoology, echidnas, Australian animals, Winston Churchill, animal behaviour, Indigenous Australians, baby platypus, the biology and anatomy of platypus, weird animal facts.
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.

Antoun Issa grew up quietly aware of a profound grief in his mother's eyes. As an adult, after living and working in the Middle East, he finally knew how to ask her about surviving the Lebanese Civil War.
Antoun is a journalist who grew up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, after his parents had escaped the civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s.
Growing up in Craigieburn as the baby of the family, Antoun was particularly close with his mother.
He was always conscious of a deep sadness in his mother's eyes, but was wary of asking her too many questions.
As an adult, Antoun went to live and work in Lebanon.
There, in the Middle East, where he worked as a journalist, Antoun saw firsthand what happens when the trajectory of human life is interrupted by conflict and violence.
Upon returning home to Australia, he was finally ready to ask his mother about the source of her quiet and enduring grief, and what came out of her was a remarkable story of true love, true loss and resilience.
Upon returning home to Australia, he was finally ready to ask his mother about the source of her quiet and enduring grief, and what came out of her was a remarkable story of true love, true loss and resilience.
REBIRTH: A Love Story from the Depths of War is published by Hachette.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch.
It explores the Middle East, War, Conflict, Beiruit, Israel, PLO, Palestine, United States, civil war, conflict, refugees, religious conflict, Lebanese Christians, Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Mountains, Maronite Christians, politics and religion, proxy wars, Iran, Iraq, Arab-Isreali, Saudi, Cold War, Arab Cold War, Taif Agreement, political power, relationship, origin story, writing, books, memoir, novel, survival, death, violence, sliding doors.
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.

The Irish novelist has always been open to where life can unexpectedly take him, and the excitement that comes with that kind of freedom.
Colm Toibin's first big move was from rural Ireland to Dublin after his father died when he was young. 
Then, it was off to experience the wild hedonism and sexual liberation of post-Franco Spain, a pleasant shock after needing a prescription to buy condoms in Ireland.
Since then, he's journeyed to Sudan, Los Angeles, New York and beyond.
Wherever Colm goes, he keeps a running list in his head of tiny details — observations of seemingly mundane encounters, an offhand comment or the cut of a lady's suit on a train.
Every now and then, these details bubble up in Colm's memory and another of his well-loved novels, like Brooklyn, Nora Webster or The Master, is born.
This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in May 2025, the producer was Meggie Morris and the Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison.
It explores film adaptations, death of a parent, grief, Ireland, homophobia, growing up gay, Catholicism, epic adventure, John Crowley, Nick Hornby, Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Julie Walters, Dublin, immigrant experience, the Irish immigrant experience, family separation, origin stories, falling in love, books, writers, novels, life-story, family dynamics, reflection, loss, funny, comedy, repression, orgies, condom prescriptions, journalism, foreign correspondents.
Colm's latest novel Long Island is published by Pan MacMillan.
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, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Specialist rural doctor, Damien Brown on dramatic rescues, slow interventions and the cases that moved him, including attending to two badly burnt men after a fuel tank exploded on a remote Queensland cattle station.
As a young boy in South Africa, Damien Brown was always interested in science and medicine.
His neighbour, the local veterinarian, would let him observe surgery in the workshop, so it was predictable that Damien would end up as a medical doctor.
After his parents moved the family to Australia, the call to help others drew Damien back to the very things his parents had tried to shield him from — civil war, crime, absolute poverty and inequity.
Damien joined Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) as soon as they would take him as a junior doctor.
He worked in Angola, Mozambique and South Sudan. 
When he returned to Australia, working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in remote communities in Central Australia and Far North Queensland, he found challenges that were more similar to his previous experience in Africa than he expected.
Further information
Bush Doctor: A memoir from the beautiful, rugged heart of outback Australia is published by Allen & Unwin.
This episode was produced by Rebecca McLaren. The Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch.
This episode touches on remote Indigenous communities, rural doctor, Royal Flying Doctor Service, South Africa, Angola, South Sudan, civil war, gunfight, safe room, grab bag, remote work. 
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.