Hedley Thomas Sick to Death podcast: How The Australian made smash-hit audio adaptation

 Two years, 500 gigabytes of audio, and more than 200 voice actors. The Australian’s podcast adaptation of Hedley Thomas’ best-selling book Sick to Death is nearing its conclusion.

Two years, 500 gigabytes of audio, and more than 200 voice actors. The Australian’s podcast adaptation of Hedley Thomas’ best-selling book Sick to Death is nearing its conclusion. It’s the story of the havoc wrought on the Queensland medical system by the incompetent surgeon Jayant Patel 20 years ago – and there’s still more to come.

Today, Hedley and our production team get together to discuss this epic project – and why it still resonates in 2026.

Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Lia Tsamoglou. Our team includes Tiffany Dimmack, Joshua Burton and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. 

Two years, 500 gigabytes of audio, and more than 200 voice actors. The Australian&rsquo;s podcast adaptation of Hedley Thomas&rsquo; best-selling book Sick to Death is nearing its conclusion. It&rsquo;s the story of the havoc wrought on the Queensland medical system by the incompetent surgeon Jayant Patel 20 years ago &ndash; and there&rsquo;s still more to come.
Today, Hedley and our production team get together to discuss this epic project &ndash; and why it still resonates in 2026.
Read more about this story at <a href="http://theaustralian.com.au">theaustralian.com.au</a> and see the video by subscribing to our <a href="https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfDC8EeZJyt1IVjv5bCRbFBkTl-VYpJyf">YouTube channel</a>.
This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Lia Tsamoglou. Our team includes Tiffany Dimmack, Joshua Burton and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music.&nbsp;

The Front brings the unrivalled journalism of Australia's national broadsheet to audio, featuring behind-the-scenes insight from our newsrooms.

The Front brings the unrivalled journalism of Australia’s national broadsheet to audio, featuring each day’s essential page one stories, journalists’ candid take on the issues that matter and behind-the-scenes insight from our newsrooms. 

To find out more about The Front you can link here and for more from the newsroom at The Australian link here or search for The Australian in your app store.

The Front brings the unrivalled journalism of Australia&rsquo;s national broadsheet to audio, featuring each day&rsquo;s essential page one stories, journalists&rsquo; candid take on the issues that matter and behind-the-scenes insight from our newsrooms.&nbsp;
To find out more about The Front you can link <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/the-front/podcast/7e7d42e8c77b597cf8532d2e0c847e10">here</a> and for more from the newsroom at The Australian link <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/">here</a> or search for The Australian in your app store.

The Front brings the unrivalled journalism of Australia’s national broadsheet to audio, featuring each day’s essential page one stories.

The Front

The Front brings the unrivalled journalism of Australia’s national broadsheet to audio, featuring each day’s essential page one stories, journalists’ candid take on the issues that matter and behind-the-scenes insight from our newsrooms.

To find out more about The Front you can link here and for more from the newsroom at The Australian link here or search for The Australian in your app store.

The Front brings the unrivalled journalism of Australia&rsquo;s national broadsheet to audio, featuring each day&rsquo;s essential page one stories, journalists&rsquo; candid take on the issues that matter and behind-the-scenes insight from our newsrooms.
To find out more about The Front you can link <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/the-front/podcast/7e7d42e8c77b597cf8532d2e0c847e10">here</a> and for more from the newsroom at The Australian link <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/">here</a> or search for The Australian in your app store.

How we made the smash-hit Sick to Death podcast

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/clips/ce137c73-bab2-4e41-ab6c-b40b00a6c38f/transcript