In the latest episode of Uncommon Ground, Talal Yassine speaks with veteran journalist Hugh Riminton about a life spent reporting from the world’s flashpoints. Hugh reflects on his childhood in Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the unlikely path that led him into journalism, and the coup in Fiji that first exposed him to danger in the field.

He shares powerful memories from covering Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa and the collapse of the Soviet Union, moments that shaped his understanding of courage, suffering and humanity. Hugh also discusses the role of journalism in an age of propaganda, the importance of holding the centre as democracies fracture, and why, after witnessing the worst of the world, he still believes love is the force that binds us.

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Episode Running Order

• Intro: Who is Hugh Riminton? (00:00)
• Earliest childhood memory in Sri Lanka (00:48)
• Realising the nanny wasn’t his mother (02:30)
• Parents’ wartime histories: German occupation & RAF nursing (04:18)
• Leaving Sri Lanka: the shock of England’s cold (07:05)
• Childhood in New Zealand & early depression (10:49)
• Aimlessness, drinking, psychology books & searching for purpose (14:20)
• How he accidentally fell into journalism via a radio play (16:05)
• First major story: the Erebus plane disaster (18:07)
• Discovering the responsibility of journalism (19:54)
• Auckland years: Springbok riots & reporting from a plane (22:05)
• Moving to Perth at 22 & buying a house on a low income (30:48)
• Covering Australian politics: Keating, Howard & early lessons (33:12)
• First major conflict: the Fiji coup and being arrested at gunpoint (37:15)
• Mock executions, danger & early war-zone lessons (40:48)
• Decision-making under stress & the appeal of tight teams (42:15)
• Becoming a foreign correspondent: Africa, conflict and collapse (44:05)
• Rwanda with Malcolm Fraser: witnessing genocide (48:41)
• Northern Uganda: LRA child soldiers & finding hope in despair (52:30)
• Interviewing Elie Wiesel & learning true humility (54:55)
• What global suffering taught him about humanity (58:40)
• Power, propaganda & whether truth still exists (01:01:30)
• Quick-fire questions: misconceptions, guilty pleasures, essentials (01:05:30)
• Closing reflections: love as the force that binds us (01:07:50)
• Outro (01:09:20)