Conversations

Alex Braczkowski is a big cat expert and for years he's been following a rare group of tree-climbing lions, including the charismatic, enigmatic, three-legged Jacob.
Alex fell in love with animals by accident, he'd just been expelled and while his parents were trying to find him a new school, they made him use his time wisely by volunteering at the Johannesburg Zoo.
From there he went to game ranger school, and onto university at a campus nestled in forests at the base of the Outeniqua Mountains, which he shared with dwarf leopards. It was at university that Alex really fell in love with big cats.
Eventually Alex became a National Geographic explorer, and for years now has been following a rare group of lions who spend almost all day up in trees, only coming down at night to hunt.
One of the lions that has a special place in Alex's heart is known as Jacob.
Jacob has already used up many of his nine lives. He has survived been poisoned, trapped, snared and gored by a buffalo, and now gets around on three legs, but is still able to climb trees.
This episode was first broadcast in 2023, the producer was Meggie Morris and Carmel Rooney was the executive producer was Carmel Rooney.
It explores animals, big cats, lions, animal behaviour, animal photography, South Africa, National Geographic, dangerous animals.
To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Hannah Clarke and her three children were killed in an horrific attack that shocked Australia but for Dave Kramer their deaths were personal, he was friends with Hannah and had witnessed her relationship up close.
Dave's own childhood exposure to domestic violence had blinded him to some of the signs that Hannah and her kids were in danger.
After Hannah's death, Dave began the difficult work of confronting his past and educating himself on how to recognise abuse and have the confidence to speak out and help.
He now helps educate teenagers and young men about respectful and safe relationships and healthy masculinity.If you need to speak to someone 1800respect or 1800 737 732 for the national domestic violence hotlineBeyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36Lifeline on 13 11 14MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Further information
smallsteps4hannah
This episode was produced by Jen Leake, the executive producer was Eliza Kirsch.
It explores domestic violence, coercive control, violence against women, violence prevention, safe and respectful relationships, grief, mental health, trauma, drug use, behavioural science, psychology, 
To binge even more great episodes of the ‘Conversations podcast’ with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, singers, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Author Helen Pitt has written a history of the iconic fun park and it's a tale bound up with con men, crooked cops, and developers who have long wanted to snatch up the prime piece of waterfront real estate.Millions of people have happy memories of walking through the teeth of the gigantic face on the edge of Sydney Harbour but it wasn't the first Luna Park in Australia, that honour goes to the Melbourne version which opened a decades earlier.
But the tale of Sydney's Luna Park is arguably the most dramatic and it's one of only two amusement parks in the world protected by government legislation.  Helen Pitt's book is called Luna Park: the extraordinary story of the showmen, shysters and schemers who built Sydney's famous funk park is published by Allen And Unwin.
This episode of Conversations explores Luna Park, amusement parks, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, history, show rides, engineering, the Great Depression, the Ghost Train fire, tragedy, historical preservation, waterfront real estate, protest, Martin Sharp, the Big Dipper, protein spills.

When Sonia Henry signed up to work as a GP in a remote mining town in the Pilbara, the experience changed almost everything she believed about Australia.
An unfortunate romantic entanglement just before her final exams left her questioning everything, just as she was about to qualify as a doctor.
To escape her life in Sydney, she signed up to work in some of Australia's most far-flung medical clinics.
While working as a GP in places like the Pilbara, outback NSW, the Northern Territory and Broome Sonia had many experiences with her patients which completely altered how she saw Australia.
Content Warning – suicide and adult themes. Listener discretion advised.
Further information
Put Your Feet in the Dirt, Girl is published by Allen and Unwin
Lifeline on 13 11 14
MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
Headspace on 1800 650 890
Doctors' Health Advisory Service is a 24 hr support line for doctors, medical students, dentists, veterinarians and students of these professions.

Jane Messer grew up with a loving father who never really understood why as a child his mother left him and his older sister at a boarding school, so she decided to find out the full story and prove that he was in fact, loved.
Her father Michael was born in Berlin in the years between the two world and to escape Nazi Germany he was sent to live in England as a child.
There were a few fleeting visits but then Michael didn’t see his mother again for another 13 years and he always said she never loved him.
As Jane grew older and became a mother herself, she knew there had to be more to Bella’s story and so she went on the trail from pre-war Berlin to Tel Aviv to Melbourne, to try to understand the choices made in extraordinary circumstances. 
Further informationJane Messer's family memoir is called Raven Mother 
This episode of Conversation explores family history, the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, suicide, boarding school, Palestine, the Nakba, Berlin, World War 2, immigration, the British Mandated Palestine, memoir.