Striking a chord – Astrid Jorgensen is making choir cool again

Astrid Jorgensen was on the verge of becoming an air traffic controller when a school called with an offer: run their choir on measly pay, for 500 teenagers who didn’t care. Not exactly a dream job, but she said yes anyway.   Staring down that sea of bored teenagers, Astrid realised she knew exact…

Lunar mission – How Kate Reid’s unexpected relationship with food drove her to pastry stardom

When Kate Reid was a child, her car enthusiast father used to take her to watch Formula One. By the time she was in her 20s, Reid was working as an F1 aerospace engineer for Team Williams in London.  It was her dream gig, even if she was the only female engineer working there. “There was no female…

Cate McGregor came out as transgender in the army at age 56 – The response wasn’t what she expected

On Australia Day 2012, Cate McGregor stood at Adelaide Oval, publicly recognised with the prestigious Order of Australia. It should have been the proudest day of her life. But behind that honour, Cate was planning to end her own life.  Across a distinguished career spanning the military, sport, an…

Power play – Saul Griffith’s plan to electrify everything

It’s the early 2000s and a young Aussie engineer named Saul Griffith has made his way to the prestigious MIT in the United States. He launches several startups, including one that develops the technology that eventually powers the Kindle, he even consults to NASA and the US Department of Defence.  …

Benjamin Law always felt different – Then came the diagnosis

Benjamin Law grew up by the beach in 1990s Queensland. He was queer, Chinese-Australian, and didn’t seeing himself reflected in the world around him. So he picked up a pen and changed that.  From memoirist to screenwriter, commentator to Survivor contestant, Benjamin has built a career by leaning …

By design – How Alexandra Smart fashioned her new future

For 20 years, Alexandra Smart poured her heart into fashion label Ginger & Smart. She and her sister Genevieve built a beloved brand, a loyal community, and a legacy she was proud of.  And then, almost overnight, it all changed. But Alexandra didn’t crumble, she pivoted.  “You don’t always get ti…

Rise and fall – The life-altering accident that shaped Mark Berridge

Across a jet-setting, decades-long career setting iron ore pricing for Rio Tinto, Mark Berridge faced lots of challenges. But it was a weekend bike ride with mates much closer to home that changed his life forever.    “I never, ever expected to hear the word spinal cord injury.”  Mark had to adap…

Jim Rogers was diagnosed with dementia at 55. His family - and an unexpected relationship - saved him

Jim Rogers is a go getter. He married early, started a family quickly, moved up the career ladder rapidly. He was quick to leave his small British town, bound for adventure.  But then things took a devastating turn for his young family. “It was just somebody smashing the entire world up,” Jim reca…

We plan for perfect. Life delivers chaos. Now what? Curveball returns!

Plans. We make them for the life we want, the partner we hope to have, the career we’re keen to chase. But what happens when your plan doesn’t, well, go to plan?  In Season 5 of Curveball, host Kellie Riordan explores what happens when everything changes, and the path forward is anything but clear…

Test your instincts — Richard Harris on embracing risk to rescue teens trapped in a Thai cave

“Giving anaesthetic in a muddy cave kilometres underground and under water? I never thought that was a good idea.”  Experienced cave diver and doctor Dr Richard ‘Harry’ Harris is no stranger to extreme dives in pitch-black, cramped conditions. But when a call came for him to assist retrieving 12…