You’re Gonna Want To Hear This

What happens after the worst day of your life?
This week on You're Gonna Want To Hear This, Marie Claire Australia editor Georgie McCourt speaks with bestselling Australian author Hannah Richell, whose powerful new memoir, An Ocean and a Day, revisits the sudden death of her husband, Matt Richell, and the journey that followed. After years of writing acclaimed novels, Hannah is telling her own story for the first time.
In 2014, Matt drowned in a surfing accident at Sydney's Tamarama Beach, leaving Hannah widowed with two young children. For years, she focused on raising her family, continuing her writing career, and rebuilding a life that had been shattered. But privately, she was also documenting the reality of grief as she lived it.
Now, twelve years later, those pages have become An Ocean and a Day. In this deeply personal conversation, Hannah shares why she waited so long to write this memoir, what it was like to revisit the darkest chapter of her life, and how she's learned that moving forward doesn't mean leaving grief (or love) behind.
If you or someone you know needs immediate assistance, call 000. For confidential 24/7 crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. Support is also available through Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or at beyondblue.org.au.
This episode covers:
The moment two police officers arrived at Hannah's door to tell her Matt had died in a surfing accident
Breaking the news to her young children and the hardest day of her life
Writing her first pages of grief just seven days after Matt's death
Falling in love with Matt after he "stole" her job in London, in the shadow of 9/11
The isolating, shame-tinged early days of widowhood and single parenthood
Living with unbearable yearning and rebuilding a sense of normalcy for her kids
Returning to Tamarama Beach to piece together what happened, and meeting the fisherman who witnessed it
The freak accident that took Matt's life, explained in full
What her children have taught her about grief, laughter, and resilience
Leaving their Sydney home two years on, and her son's words while scattering Matt's ashes: "Daddy, be free"
Navigating loneliness, dating, and desire again after loss
Finding new love and remarrying, and blending two families
Her reflections on acceptance, carrying grief as an honor, and the message she hopes readers take from her memoir: love stays, even after loss
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Credits:
Host Georgie McCourt
Edited by Helen Smith
Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain
With thanks to our amazing team at Marie Claire
You're Gonna Want to Hear This is a production of Marie Claire and Are Media.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the person who was meant to protect you was the one you needed protection from?
This week on You're Gonna Want To Hear This, Marie Claire Australia Editor Georgie McCourt speaks with world champion runner Jess Denham, who is telling her story publicly after years of being unable to do so.
Raised in isolation and controlled by her parents, Jess appeared to be a sporting prodigy. But behind closed doors, she was enduring unimaginable abuse. Today, both of her parents are in prison for those crimes.
In this deeply personal conversation, Jess also speaks publicly for the first time about living with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), sharing what it's really like to live with a condition that is so often misunderstood.
This is a story of survival, resilience and reclaiming your voice after years of being silenced. Jess also shares why she's fighting for stronger protections for survivors and helping change the way Australia responds to sexual violence.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains themes of childhood abuse and coercive control. If you or someone you know needs immediate assistance, call 000. For confidential 24/7 crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. Support is also available through Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or at beyondblue.org.au.
This episode covers:
Growing up as a homeschooled child prodigy under total parental control
Living a hidden double life as a champion runner while surviving abuse
Isolation as a tool of abuse and why escape felt impossible
Finding the courage to report abuse to police
Living with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and dismantling the stigma around it
How trauma shapes the brain and body in survival mode
Rebuilding trust, identity and community after a lifetime of betrayal
Healing through art and creative expression
The fight against victim-blaming and sensationalized media reporting
Advocating for stronger protection of survivors' counseling records
A message of hope for survivors: "you're not your worst chapter"
Stay up to date with Marie Claire Australia on Instagram
🎧 Listen to You're Gonna Want to Hear This and follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
👀 Watch and subscribe to You're Gonna Want to Hear This on YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips.
Credits:
Host Georgie McCourt
Edited by Helen Smith
Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain
With thanks to our amazing team at Marie Claire
You're Gonna Want to Hear This is a production of Marie Claire and Are Media.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There comes a point on Tradwife TikTok when the fantasy turns dark. The soft linen, the homemade bread and the children who never cry give way to something else: subservient wives, the manosphere, and a fight over who's allowed to be angry.
Caro Claire Burke went looking, and wrote Yesteryear, the runaway-hit novel about an American tradwife influencer who wakes up in the brutal 1850s. This week, Marie Claire deputy editor Mel Gaudron interviews Caro about the book all your friends are arguing about.
They cover why "tradwife" was a term invented by incels to describe a woman who doesn't exist, why culture adores unlikable men but punishes unlikable women, the Anne Hathaway film adaptation with Amazon MGM (Hathaway is set to play Natalie), writing about motherhood while seven months pregnant, and Caro's rallying cry: women disagreeing isn't catty and it isn't a failure. It might be exactly where we should be heading.
Plus, editor Georgie McCourt on the country-life fantasy that gave her two miniature donkeys.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is out now. Go deeper at https://www.marieclaire.com.au.
Stay up to date with Marie Claire Australia on Instagram
🎧 Listen to You're Gonna Want to Hear This and follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
👀 Watch and subscribe to You're Gonna Want to Hear This on YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips.

You're Gonna Want to Hear This is a Marie Claire podcast, produced by Are Media.
Guest host: Mel Gaudron
Marie Claire Editor-in-chief: Georgie McCourt
Supervising Producer: Leah Porges
Head of Vodcasts: Rachel Fountain

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When everyone else swam for shore, Charlie Verco paddled the other way: straight towards a great white shark. On a clear, busy Saturday morning at Coogee Beach in June 2026, the 25-year-old surf lifesaver and elite board paddler was training when a woman, Leah Stewart, was attacked just ahead of him. What he did next made headlines around the world.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains detailed descriptions of a shark attack and serious injury that some listeners may find distressing.
Charlie grew up a North Bondi nipper and is now one of the country’s best ocean paddlers, the youngest ever winner of the Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard World Championships. In this conversation he walks Marie Claire Editor Georgie McCourt through the rescue minute by minute: reading the shark’s behaviour, the moment Leah was dragged under, towing her to shore one-armed when she lost consciousness, and the lifeguards and paramedics whose training saved her life on the sand.
It is a story about courage, but Charlie is uneasy with the word hero. He talks honestly about fear, adrenaline and imposter syndrome, how surf lifesaving and sport trained him to think under extreme stress, what a shark expert later told him, and why he is now urging two things: better shark safety on Australian beaches, and for people to donate blood.
In this conversation, Charlie Verco joins Marie Claire Editor Georgie McCourt to talk about the Coogee Beach shark attack, what it takes to act in a crisis, fear of the ocean, surf life saving, and why blood donation saves lives.
This episode covers:
The Coogee Beach great white shark attack: what Charlie Verco saw on Saturday 13 June 2026
Why he paddled towards the shark instead of swimming to safety
What it is like to come face to face with a great white shark
How surf lifesaving training and Ironman racing prepared him to act under extreme stress
Towing an unconscious woman to shore one-armed on a paddleboard
What a shark expert later told him about great white behaviour
The beach response: tourniquets, lifeguards and the teamwork that saved a life
Managing fear, adrenaline and the shakes after a traumatic rescue
Going back into the ocean: how Charlie feels about the water now
Shark safety in Australia: drones, detection and what he thinks needs to change
On being called a hero, and the imposter syndrome that comes with it
Why he is urging Australians to donate blood, especially O negative

If this conversation raises issues for you, support is available.
In Australia, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support. To support the cause Charlie raises in this episode, you can donate blood through Australian Red Cross Lifeblood (O negative is especially needed in emergencies).

Donate blood (Australian Red Cross Lifeblood): https://www.lifeblood.com.au
Support Leah Stewart (family GoFundMe): https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-leah-stewart-victim-of-shark-attack-in-coogee

Follow Charlie Verco on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/char1ieverco/
🎧 Listen to You’re Gonna Want to Hear This and follow us on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/youre-gonna-want-to-hear-this/id1849312864
Listen and follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Vsxq2nZIMJLnywOXfuxqZ
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Credits:
Host: Marie Claire Editor Georgie McCourt
Supervising Producer: Leah Porges
Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain
Learn More: You’re Gonna Want to Hear This is a production of Marie Claire and Are Media.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains themes of childhood abuse, physical punishment, sexual trauma and coercive control. If you or someone you know needs immediate assistance, call 000. For confidential 24/7 crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au. Support is also available through Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 or at beyondblue.org.au.
What if leaving your faith meant losing everyone you'd ever loved?
This week on You're Gonna Want To Hear This, Marie Claire Australia Editor Georgie McCourt speaks with author Bek Condello about her extraordinary journey out of one of Australia's most controlling Pentecostal churches.
Raised inside the Geelong Revival Centre, Bek grew up believing the outside world was dangerous. Every aspect of life, from education and friendships to marriage and work was dictated by church leaders. Curiosity was discouraged, obedience was demanded, and fear shaped almost every decision.
In this deeply personal conversation, Bek reflects on the childhood she now recognises as abusive, the lasting impact of religious trauma and the heartbreaking reality that leaving meant losing her family, community and identity.
She also opens up about purity culture, consent, body shame, marrying to escape one form of control only to enter another, and the years it took to trust herself and build a life on her own terms.
Today, Bek has transformed unimaginable loss into purpose. As the state of Victoria investigates high-control religious groups, she explains why sharing her story has become about much more than personal healing... it's about helping others recognise coercion, reclaim their autonomy and know they're not alone.
This episode covers:
Growing up inside the Geelong Revival Centre
How high-control religions shape identity
Religious trauma and childhood abuse
The psychological impact of fear-based faith
Purity culture, consent and bodily autonomy
Escaping a controlling church
Rebuilding life after leaving a cult
Learning to trust yourself again
Why leaving is a process, not a single moment
Bek's advocacy for survivors of coercive religious groups
Can You Handle a Girl Like Me? by Bek Condello is available from mid-July.
Stay up to date with Marie Claire Australia on Instagram
🎧 Listen to You're Gonna Want to Hear This and follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
👀 Watch and subscribe to You're Gonna Want to Hear This on YouTube 📺 for full episodes and clips.
Credits:
Host Georgie McCourt
Edited by Leah Porges
Head of Vodcasting Rachel Fountain
With thanks to our amazing team at Marie Claire
Learn More:
You're Gonna Want to Hear This is a production of Marie Claire and Are Media.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.