Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchDepersonalisation — when Nathan lost his sense of self and nothing felt real
In 2008 Nathan Dunne was night swimming in Hampstead Heath in the middle of winter when a psychological catastrophe struck him. He felt his sense of …
11 months, 3 weeks ago
Encore: A home filled with music — raising the Kanneh-Masons
Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason on what it takes to keep up with her seven children — all of them gifted classical musicians (R).
Kadiatu is a former English aca…
11 months, 4 weeks ago
Why Colm Toibin ran away with the circus — to Barcelona, Brooklyn and beyond
The Irish novelist has always been open to where life can unexpectedly take him, and the excitement that comes with that kind of freedom.
Colm Toibin'…
1 year ago
Hilde Hinton's home for the temporarily defeated
When Hilde Hinton was on the cusp of adolescence, her mother died. For years she protected her younger siblings from the truth about their mum.
Despit…
1 year ago
The secret life of Scarlett, the octopus
When Alex Schnell was around 5 years old, playing in rock pools around Clovelly beach in Sydney, she had an alien encounter.
The creature in the shal…
1 year ago
Encore: How Sean Sweeney found his deaf heart
Sean Sweeney on the complications and joys of growing up as a a hearing child in a deaf family, using Auslan, a distinctively Australian sign languag…
1 year ago
The miserable lives and golden guns of tyrants, dictators and despots
Marcel Dirsus is fascinated by the treadmill of tyranny: how dictators gain power, how they stay there and how they fall. This is his blueprint for b…
1 year ago
Claire Keegan on bravery, writing and the single life
The bestselling Irish author grew up on a farm set on “50 acres on the side of a hill”. Growing up, she witnessed a harsh, misogynistic country that …
1 year ago
Peter Godwin's complicated loves, great losses and occasional wars
The writer had a complex relationship with his mother, whose professional reputation built a wall between them, but also saved his life more than onc…
1 year ago
The gothic country childhood and the spirited mother
When Rosalie Ham was a child, her mum received a devastating diagnosis, and started an affair as a way to find herself before it was too late. This s…
1 year ago