Conversations: Our Evolving World

Conversations
Conversations
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Relationships

Great minds making sense of our fast-changing world. Guests including Cheng Lei, Jonathan Haidt and Brolga Barns: authors of A Memoir of Freedom and The Anxious Generation, and the founder of The Kangaroo Sanctuary, sit down for a Conversation withRichard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski. In this collection of episodes, we’ve reached back into the rich archive and curated a selection of episodes where our guests speak about lived experiences and concepts like society, technology, democracy, war, survival and adaptive skills, generational differences, science, and justice etc. To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversationspodcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowskigo 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.

  1. Sep 18

    The radical history of personal computing—looms, coding, beige boxes and AI

    Mel Huang Buntine on how computers started entering our homes, and the beige box of a machine that changed her own life. Personal computers are so ubiquitous now, it's hard to imagine a time when computers were inaccessible to everyday people. For decades, computers were the size of rooms, and they were used for specialist tasks like processing large data sets for researchers, or sending men to the moon. But by the 1980s computers had become smaller and more affordable, and people started bringing them into their homes. From this point on, how everyday people interacted with technology changed forever. Mel Huang Buntine is a designer and technologist who was gifted her first computer as a tween in 1990s Melbourne. Mel lived in a multigenerational home with her mother, her grandparents and her great-grandmother, all of whom had escaped the Cambodian genocide as refugees. They couldn't understand why Mel was obsessed with this machine, but it completely opened up Mel's world and changed her life. Now with anxiety growing around AI, surveillance and mega tech companies, Mel is trying to get people to understand the history of computers and how they work. She hopes this will give back to people a sense of agency over machines, rather than feeling powerless to the opacity of algorithms and large language models. Radical Computing is exhibiting at the National Communication Museum in Melbourne from 19 September 2026, until 21February 2027. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores technology, artificial intelligence, Facebook, Instagram, social media, coding, making a website, HTML, CSS, PS5, playstation, games console, computer games, desktop games, Apple iOs 27, Mac, Macbook, Mac versus PC, IBM, Commodore 64, Steam Frame, iPhone, smartphone, dumb phone, Steve Jobs, Jack Tramiel, computer race, home appliances, toy market, super computers, science and technology, future of computers, techno optimist, tech subculture, Demoscene, hackers, jailbreak phone, crack software, pirated software, Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, ChatGPT, Claude, Anthropic, Zuckerberg. 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.

  2. Sep 4

    From the Nazis to the Stasi, how ordinary citizens live through extraordinary times

    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.

  3. Aug 19

    The three shocks that changed Australia

    Political journalist, George Megalogenis has mapped key areas in our population, workforce and geopolitical standing in recent decades, and looks at how these shifts are impacting our collective political future. For the first time since Federation, Australia’s population is mostly made up of migrants and their children.  Professional women have now replaced men doing blue collar jobs as the largest segment of the workforce. And on the world scale, Australia can no longer rely on our traditional allies or trading partners. These three elements have already changed the political landscape in our country, and this will only continue as time goes on. Further information Three Shocks: Who we are becoming in the 21st Century is published by Penguin Random House. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan and the Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It covers auspol, populism, John Howard, Paul Keating, Harold Holt, Pauline Hanson, One Nation, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Western Australia, parliament, teals, Higgins, Bennelong, Chinese-Australians, Peter Costello, First Nations, Federation, convicts, migration, White Australia policy, one parent born overseas, census, data, graphs, data journalism and Prime Ministers. 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.

  4. Jul 1

    Nuking the moon and mirrors in space—man's wildest attempts to control the weather

    Nuking the moon, putting mirrors in space and blowing up the Polar ice caps are just some of history's hairbrained schemes to control the weather, an obsession man has had since the dawn of time. As a major heatwave tears through Europe, millions of people are frantically trying to stay cool, or praying for some relief. Their desperation is not new. For thousands of years, human civilisations have been obsessed with trying to control the weather, to stave off drought and famine, in order to survive. There are ancient tales of great kings who could part the oceans, and deities who would bring down the rain if they were presented with the right kind of sacrifice. But it wasn’t until the last century that we suddenly had the technology to actually do these kinds of things, or at least attempt to do them. Some of these wild ideas - to bring water to the desert, drain the Mediterranean Sea to make farmlands, simply make Russia a warmer place to live - have involved blowing up the Polar ice caps, putting mirrors in space, and nuking the moon. They sound dangerous and unlikely, but some of them have come true. And now, many people are at work on brand new gigantic geo-engineering solutions to counteract the effects of the warming planet. Palaeontologist and explorer, Tim Flannery, has been tracking the progress of some of these schemes. A Brief History of Climate Folly, written with Emma Flannery, is published by Text Publishing. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores weird science, crazy science, Elon Musk, China, Trump, feats of engineering, space exploration, the human ego, wild weather events, magic, supernatural, religion, God, divinity, human sacrifice, famine, starvation, migration, global warming, climate change, European heatwave, Paris heatwave, fossil fuel, deforestation, COP, climate change policy, sea levels, floods, Summer, water, gas, electricity, solar power, politics, renewables. 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.

  5. May 28

    How a teen father used the local skate park to change the world

    Jayden Sheridan was just 17 years old when he found out he was going to be a father, and immediately Jayden knew he needed to give his son better opportunities than he ever had growing up in regional Victoria. (R) In Seymour, which is one of the most disadvantaged postcodes in Australia, Jayden experienced homelessness, substance abuse, violence and a general lack of direction.  He had no male role models in his life, but he did have the local skate park. It's where he went to feel safe and to feel himself, and Jayden wanted to create that same feeling for his son, and all the other kids in his town of Seymour. What started as adhoc skate lessons quickly turned into Gnarly Neighbours, something far bigger and more impactful than 17-year-old Jayden could have imagined. Jayden has recently been selected as a 2026 Westpac Social Change Fellow. His fellowship involves travelling across the US, Europe and the UK to learn from organisations doing similar work in creative and trauma-informed mentoring for young people. You can learn more about Gnarly Neighbours here. This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney. This episode of Conversations explores substance abuse, drug use, drug dealing, expulsion, troubled children, mental health, bipolar disorder, teen parenting, teen fatherhood, teen motherhood, skateboarding, skating, streetwear, origin stories, family dynamics, male role models, father figures, dysfunctional families, single parenting, rural and regional Australia, masculinity, manhood, rites of passage, mentoring. 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.

  6. May 27

    Jimmy Wales says it is possible to have a collaborative, trusting world online

    The Wikipedia co-founder has developed seven rules for building trust to create a better world, both on the internet and IRL. Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, Jimmy was enamoured with his family's Encyclopaedia Britannica. The city was home to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre, and the energy of the place gave a young Jimmy a robust enthusiasm for technology and the future. As a young man, Jimmy developed the idea to start a free, online encyclopaedia, built by strangers and shared across languages. In 2001, Wikipedia was born, and for a time it was derided. Now, the website is a mainstay of the internet and a resource trusted by many. Jimmy says Wikipedia is all about strangers working together on the internet, in pursuit of a common goal, powered by their shared enthusiasm, and that is something to celebrate. Further information The Seven Rules of Trust: Why It Is Today's Most Essential Superpower is published by Bloomsbury. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Eliza Kirsch. It covers Twitter, X, trolls, vandalism, respect, civility, not-for-profit, tech bros, volunteers, social media ban, nupedia, servers, bots, AI, meconium aspiration syndrome, authenticity, empathy, logic, abortion, internet traffic, shouting online and civil discussion. 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.

  7. 06/25/2025

    Mass murder, cannibalism and insanity — inside Mao's cultural revolution

    China's cultural revolution was murderously violent and culturally devastating; millions of people, artefacts and ideas went up in smoke. So what's fuelling today's Neo-Maoist movement and nostalgia for that period? In 1966, the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong went to war against his own government. What followed was ten years of murderous violence and utter insanity, until Mao's death in 1976. Children were urged to denounce their parents, teachers were beaten to death in front of howling mobs, youths were 're-educated', the economy was ruined, and so much of the precious cultural heritage of a great, ancient society went up in smoke. The 'Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution' left such deep scars on China, that subsequent leaders have tried to bury its memory. But, still some young Chinese people — 'Neo-Moaists' — have a sense of nostalgia for the violent revolution they didn't even live through. In order to understand what's going on in China today, you need to know what happened in those strange and terrifying years, and how it affected President Xi Zinping, who had a front row seat to the terror. Further information Bombard the Headquarters is published by Black Inc. 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. Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website. This episode of Conversations explores political violence, revolution, propaganda, China, Asia, totalitarianism, Farewell my Concubine, Asia Pacific, Lenin, Marxism, Socialism, civil war, the long march, neo-Maoist movement, great leap forward, political upheaval, class warfare, status quo, drain the swamp, mass murder, infanticide, conspiracy theories, Tiananmen Square, red guards, coup, dictatorship, nostalgia. 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.

  8. 06/05/2025

    Part TWO: Locked up in China — Cheng Lei on cell mates, singing and survival

    Cheng Lei's years in detention in China, on trumped-up espionage charges, go from cruel and isolating, to absurd and romantic when she gets moved into a cell with three other women. The Chinese-Australian journalist was held in detention in China for more than three years, accused of selling state secrets to foreign people and powers. In episode one of this two-part series, Lei explained how the charges hinged on a document that was read out publicly on television, and how she survived the cruelty of interrogations and being kept in isolation. In this episode, Lei's details how her experience of detention changed as she moved out of solitary confinement, but still under lock and key with three other women. In cell 112, Lei and the other women sang songs when the guards weren't watching, they fought, they bonded and they communicated secretly with the prisoners in a cell next door. The knocking, for which Lei was punished, climaxed in a covert proposal. Eventually, Lei saw sunlight again.  With the help of the Australian Government, she was released and flown back home to Melbourne, where she was reunited with her children (now teenagers), rebuilt her life and can be publicly critical of the paranoid and image-conscious state security system that locked her behind bars for years. Further information Listen to the first part of Richard's extraordinary conversation with Cheng Lei here.Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom is published by HarperCollins. Cheng Lei: My Story is a documentary made by Sky News Australia. It is available to stream at SkyNews.com.au. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode was produced by Meggie Morris. Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website. This episode of Conversations explores CCP, Covid, propaganda, communism, paranoia, Marise Payne, Scott Morrison, family separation, career changes, jail, justice system, Chinese Communist Party, embassy, diplomatic relations, CCTV, state broadcaster, media, television, news anchor, single mothers, trade, tariffs, books, writing, motherhood, parenting, Tiananmen Square, personal stories, origin. 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.

See All (56)

About

Great minds making sense of our fast-changing world. Guests including Cheng Lei, Jonathan Haidt and Brolga Barns: authors of A Memoir of Freedom and The Anxious Generation, and the founder of The Kangaroo Sanctuary, sit down for a Conversation withRichard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski. In this collection of episodes, we’ve reached back into the rich archive and curated a selection of episodes where our guests speak about lived experiences and concepts like society, technology, democracy, war, survival and adaptive skills, generational differences, science, and justice etc. To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversationspodcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowskigo 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.

Information

More From Conversations

You Might Also Like