Ep 97 Myf Warhurst on middle rage, vaginas with teeth and life after menopause.

For more than two decades, Myf Warhurst has been the sunniest voice in Australian broadcasting: the Spicks and Specks team captain with the infectious laugh you can hear from the next room, the Eurovision commentator who turned the world’s campest contest into a spangly fangly lounge-room party, th…

Ep 96 Claire Tonti on birth trauma, becoming a Mum and matrescence.

We have a word for almost everything these days. But the most remarkable transformation a human body and brain can go through - the one that neuroscientists are now calling the biggest neuroendocrine event of the human lifespan - most of us can't name at all. The word is MATRESCENCE. It describes …

Ep. 95 Jacinta Parsons on ageing without apology, shedding the 'good girl' and why solitude might save you.

What if ageing wasn't something to fear but something to finally - fiercely - embrace? Jacinta Parsons is an ABC broadcaster, writer, public speaker and newly minted Doctor. She has lived with Crohn's disease for decades, navigated divorce, faced chronic illness and devastating loss, and now come …

Ep. 94 Alison Brahe-Daddo on menopause, finding majesty in the mayhem and making marriage work.

For anyone who grew up in the late 80s and 90s, the name Alison Brahe-Daddo is synonymous with that Dolly magazine cover - the one blu-tacked to bedroom walls and plastered all over school lockers.  With her dazzling smile and golden beach body, Ali exploded onto the Australian modelling scene at …

Ep. 93 Kelly Donougher on eschewing life’s “shoulds”, navigating infertility and finding healing through creativity and career change.

“How many kids do you have?” It’s a question asked so casually, often as part of small talk. Yet, for those who dreamed of parenthood but find themselves childless, these four words can land with a heavy blow. Today’s guest, Kelly Donougher, is a successful interior designer and founder of 13 Int…

Ep. 92 Pete Conroy on catastrophe, courage and what happens after the worst day of your life.

How often do you think about worst case scenarios? Contemplate fate or imagine catastrophes or run the gamut of ‘what ifs?’  The reality is that none of us really know what’s coming down the life pipes next … as famed author Joan Didion wrote “Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You ca…

Ep. 91 Don Watson on the power of words, political speechwriting and where to from Trump.

Don Watson has spent a lifetime listening closely - to the language of politics, power, persuasion and all the spaces in between. A historian, author and master of the written word, he is perhaps best known as the speechwriter behind some of Australia’s most unforgettable words - including the ic…

Ep. 90 Julia Banks on boys' clubs, Trumpist politics and personal power.

Politics is the stuff of Shakespeare. Acts of revenge, personal sabotage, falls from grace and epic power struggles have always pushed politicians in and out of public favour. As Australia heads toward a federal election, in our own political landscape we see the high drama of campaign theatre pl…

Ep. 89 Sarah Grynberg on shedding skins, letting old friends go and finding greatness.

Annus horribilis is a Latin phrase that means "horrible year". It’s the antithesis of annus mirabiliswhich means "wonderful year". Of course years don’t exist in those binaries but we all know that some years are better than others: some are defined by greatness, and others we just can’t wait to s…

Ep. 88 Stan Grant on life post-Voice To Parliament, lament and writing beauty into the world.

Stan Grant is a man of remarkable intellect, profound story and deep faith. On a late winter's afternoon recently, I meet Stan in a moment when he is on a difficult journey through a kind of lament - deeply contemplating the three big disciplines that have steeled his extraordinary life and work -…