Conversations

Conductor Alexander Briger has led orchestras all over the world. But his niche occupation is not the only fascinating thing about him. Alex's family history is wild.
Alexander Briger has stood in front of musicians all over the world, summoning a gigantic, beautiful noise from them.
Classical music was a huge part of Alex’s story growing up.
He is the nephew of the famous conductor, the late Sir Charles Mackerras; and descended from the so-called "father of Australian music", Isaac Nathan.
Another branch of Alex's family tree astonishingly connects him to the man who murdered Rasputin.
Rasputin was a Russian peasant and mystic, whose abilities as a faith healer drew him into the inner circle of the Russian Tzars.
Fearing his destructive grip on the monarchy, a posse of aristocrats led by Alex’s ancestor, Prince Felix Yusupov, drew Rasputin into a trap, luring him to his death in a Saint Petersburg basement in 1916.
In recent years, Alex was invited to Russia to conduct a modern opera, coincidentally called and about Rasputin, in a full circle moment.
Alex is back in Australia right now as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Australian World Orchestra, the only ensemble of its kind in the world.
The Australian World Orchestra is playing in Melbourne on 19 August and in Sydney on 20 August. You can find out more about the orchestra and its performances online.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive producer is Nicola Harrison.
It explores classical music, Russian revolution, family history, Paris, Munich, Berlin Philharmonic, conducting, symphony, Mahler, the great Western composers, Wagner, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Jewish Australians, whacky history, Yusupov, how did Rasputin die, European politics, Bolshevik Revolution, the October Revolution, exile, ballet, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Australian classical music, Australian expats.
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, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Adele Dumont was a teenager when she first started pulling out her hair, an urge that became so uncontrollable she was left with a bald spot.
She would sometimes enter a trancelike state, covertly sitting on her bathroom floor, picking at her scalp for hours on end.
The urge to pull at her hair was uncontrollable, and secret.
When Adele finally put a name to her behaviour, she learnt that trichotillomania has a complex history and psychological understanding, much of which remains unknown.
This episode of Conversations was first broadcast in 2024
The producer was Meggie Morris and the Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney
Further information
The Pulling is published by Scribe
Some helpful resources on trichotillomania include Trich Stop and The TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours

Ralph Jackman was a sports journalist who retrained as a teacher in midlife, and got his first job at Melbourne’s Parkville Youth Detention Centre, where he was tested by the troubled and bright, charismatic young men.
At the centre he found students who struggled with basic literacy, and he also met boys who were yearning for more than juvenile justice could provide.
Ralph created bonds with some of the boys that proved his teaching was making a connection. 
But he also saw how hours of isolation in their cells stamped the hope out of the young men, despite the committed teachers’ best efforts.
Further information
Detention is published by Allen & Unwin.
Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. Research by Alice Moldovan.
This episode covers incarceration, troubled youth, youth work,  behind bars, youth detention, Tony Abbott, Hugh Jackman, 
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.

After a near-death experience, Kate Clinch became drawn into the astonishing, Gothic story of a young Australian woman named Eileen O'Connor, who is buried under the floorboards of a home in Coogee.
Kate was working as a GP in country South Australia when an ectopic pregnancy nearly killed her.
She had a vivid near death experience, which prompted her to start interrogating inexplicable and miraculous events.
Kate hadn't grown up Catholic, or even religious, but years after her near death experience, she was drawn into the story of a young Australian saint-in-waiting named Eileen O'Connor.
Eileen lived in Sydney at the turn of the 20th century.
She lived with profound physical disabilities, standing at only 115cm tall, but somehow she managed to head up a group of nurses who delivered free medical care to people living in the slums of Sydney.
Eileen's story is an astounding collection of ups and downs - suffering, tragedy, a scandalous relationship with a young priest, threats of excommunication, a wartime sea voyage to Rome and a meeting with the Pope.
And she is currently being scrutinised by the Vatican for possible canonisation, which would make Eileen Australia's second saint.
Every Inch a Saint is published by Monkfish.
Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor has been caring for the sick and disadvantaged in their own homes for more than 100 years. You can read more about the religious order and the lay nurses who work with the nuns - colloquially known as the Brown Nurses - online.
This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.
It explores spirituality, dying, sickness, religion, faith, Christianity, Catholic Church, World War One, Spanish Influenza, TB, Tuberculosis, history, Australian history, nuns, priests, scandal, people living with disability, sainthood, miracles, near death experiences, metaphysical experiences, motherhood, doctoring, medicine, modern medicine, x-rays, medical history, resilience, divinity, holy, the divine, sainthood, how does someone become a saint, what is a miracle, living with disability, spinal deformity, grief, death.
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, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Costume designer Tim Chappel on the chance discovery at a train station that led him into a life of designing for films and the stage.
Tim can’t remember all the places he lived, growing up on Army bases around the country, and overseas. 
His one constant as a kid was nature. 
He’d look for stick insects to pin into his collection and draw endless terrestrial orchids. 
Tim was ready to focus his life on botany when he found a copy of French Vogue at Flinders Street Station in Melbourne.
He was entranced by the glamour of the clothes and felt an instant connection to the tailoring.
Tim was creating shorts for bartenders and costumes for drag queens at Sydney's Albury Hotel when he got a new job offer.
That's when he signed up to design the costumes for an Australian film called Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, work which would later win him an Oscar.
More information
There is a sequel in the works for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Read more about it here