Podcasts · News · Society & Culture

Good Weekend Talks

The Age and Sydney Morning Herald

100 episodes

Good Weekend Talks features in-depth conversations with the people fascinating Australians right now, from sport to politics to the arts, business and beyond, interviewed weekly by the country's top journalists. Consider it a magazine for your ears.

Episodes page 1 of 2

  1. Mark Seymour on a complicated legacy – and not being in the Hunters & Collectors WhatsApp group

    · 38 min

    Mark Seymour is an artist who has lived many musical lives. He was the founder and frontman of notable Australian rock band Hunters & Collectors, but he started out in his family choir. He’s sung solo acoustic gigs,…

  2. Stoicism is more than discipline, says author Ryan Holiday. It may save the modern world

    · 30 min

    The 2000-year-old philosophy of stoicism is having a moment – and no one has popularised it for a modern audience more than American author Ryan Holiday. The college dropout turned marketer has written 13 books,…

  3. Bonnie Garmus on why the 'least admired' art – poetry – might end up saving the world

    · 37 min

    On the cusp of 65, Bonnie Garmus published her debut novel Lessons in Chemistry. It was a global sensation and the copywriter, who had a previous manuscript rejected by publishers 98 times, sold almost 10 million…

  4. Plants remember and react, but do they mind being eaten? Michael Pollan on sentience in the natural world

    · 37 min

    It's not too much of an overstatement to say that for over 30 years, Michael Pollan's books have helped reshape conversations about industrial food systems, animal consciousness and our obligations to other living…

  5. Intimacy in the age of porn – and when women are more successful than their partners: playwright Suzie Miller

    · 40 min

    Melbourne-born Suzie Miller's background as a lawyer has influenced the 40-odd plays she has written, many of which feature strong social-justice themes. Best known among those works are the award-winning Prima Facie,…

  6. Judith Lucy on burnout, chasing wellness and knowing you’re both deeply unhappy and a 'privileged wanker'

    · 40 min · Explicit

    Australians know Judith Lucy as the comedian with a sardonic wit and no-fear attitude to mining her personal life, from her unconventional upbringing and numerous disastrous relationships, to drinking too much and the…

  7. Alexa Leary on surviving tragedy and living a ‘second life’

    · 25 min

    At just 19, Alexa Leary was a champion triathlete when she suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in an horrific cycling accident. She wasn't expected to survive the crash, but she beat the odds, learning to walk,…

  8. Dodging the Taliban, camel spiders and becoming 'impervious to shock': Former special forces soldier Bram Connolly

    · 39 min

    Bram Connolly is the type of person you want as a neighbour if there's ever a crisis or an emergency on your street. Connolly spent 20 years in the Australian special forces navigating the world's most dangerous…

  9. Up close with the Donald Trump ‘regime’ – New York Times reporter and Australian Jonathan Swan

    · 39 min

    Australian journalist Jonathan Swan, a White House reporter for The New York Times, is perhaps best known for his hard-hitting interviews with US President Donald Trump. Most famous was his August 2020 exchange with…

  10. Comedian Myf Warhurst turns serious – about everything

    · 34 min

    Think of Myf Warhurst and the word “bubbly” might spring to mind. With everything the radio and TV personality does – from Spicks and Specks to the Eurovision Song Contest or her documentary, The Truth about Menopause…

  11. George Megalogenis on immigration, instability and the 'three shocks' shifting modern society

    · 41 min

    George Megalogenis is known as a big thinker about Australian politics and culture, searching beyond the noise for what’s really going on in our country. He has four decades' experience in the media, including time in…

  12. Maria Ressa on journalism, the new internet, and AI ‘strip-mining our humanity’

    · 41 min

    Maria Ressa is one of the most celebrated journalists in the world. Born in Manila in 1963, she moved with her family to the US, studying at Princeton University before returning to the Philippines to forge a career…

  13. Anthony LaPaglia on therapy, chasing zen – and realising 'there's nothing to be afraid of'

    · 31 min

    Anthony LaPaglia is best known to audiences for a host of big- and small-screen roles, including films such as Looking for Alibrandi, Lantana and Balibo and US TV shows including Without a Trace. But the 67-year-old…

  14. Introducing Virginia

    · 1:32 · Trailer

    Virginia Giuffre was fearless in taking down some of the world’s most powerful people. As Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent victim, she helped expose his crimes and hold his friends to account, including the man…

  15. Journalist Neil Mercer and the true stories of wrongful convictions in Australia

    · 37 min

    Nothing exposes the flaws of a justice system more than the wrongful conviction of an innocent person for murder. Adelaide man Henry Keogh languished in prison for two decades after being wrongfully convicted of his…

  16. Comedian Arj Barker on Letterman, the Conchords, and 'babygate'

    · 33 min

    Arj Barker has been a fixture on the local comedy scene for decades, headlining our comedy festivals and turning up on shows including Thank God You’re Here and Spicks and Specks. But the San Francisco-born stand-up…

  17. ‘I know enough to be dangerous’: Boost Juice founder Janine Allis on failure and success

    · 37 min

    Starting a business is one thing, running it successfully is another – but doing it with your spouse and four kids is a different kettle of fish. Janine Allis has done all of the above, after founding Boost Juice as a…

  18. ‘I’ve mellowed a little bit’: Peter Singer on the limit of free speech and his guidance for giving

    · 39 min

    Peter Singer, often called the world's most influential philosopher, is turning 80, and he's returned home to Melbourne too, after almost 25 years as a professor of bioethics at Princeton University. Singer's practical…

  19. 'Accomplishment flows into courage': Rob de Castella on the Indigenous Marathon Project

    · 35 min

    Rob de Castella, otherwise known as “Deeks” - or, to his opponents, “Tree”, due to his sturdy limbs and unshiftable calm - is a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medal winner and Australian running royalty. He joins…

  20. Anna Funder on telling untold stories – and the blowback it sometimes brings

    · 40 min

    Australian author and intellectual Anna Funder specialises in telling the stories of people forgotten or ignored by official histories. She began her writing career with Stasiland, detailing the state surveillance of…

  21. Pulitzer novelist Andrew Sean Greer on ‘charm novels’, the Italian life and travel wisdom

    · 34 min

    Picture this: a crumbling Italian mansion in the Tuscan hills, an eccentric aristocrat, sun-soaked lunches, too much wine and a house humming with secrets. That’s the delightful world into which we’re heading today as…

  22. John Safran on growing up Jewish, free speech, race - and Race Around the World

    · 40 min

    John Safran burst into the public consciousness in 1997 as a contestant in the ABC TV show Race Around the World, where young filmmakers travelled the world making four-minute films in just 10 days. Safran won the…

  23. What childless Gen Xer Katrina Strickland wants those stuck in today's baby-making vortex to know

    · 34 min

    There's a profound grief associated with not having kids if you really wanted them, one that's rarely acknowledged, even less understood. But there's also an unexpected joy when you come out the other side. In today's…

  24. From two-up to bingo halls and gaming apps – Shaun Micallef on our gambling obsession

    · 35 min

    Shaun Micallef has graced our TV screens since 1989 – from crime caper Mr and Mrs Murder to long-running game show Talkin' About Your Generation and weekly satirical news comedy Mad as Hell. But he's not averse to…

  25. 'Angertainers' are dividing society: Author Ed Coper explains why we fall for 'rage bait'

    · 41 min

    Social media was once harnessed by Barack Obama to spread hope. Now “angertainers” are exploiting our human instinct to seek threat to divide society and to build their own cultural, political and social capital, often…

  26. Bob Brown on finding optimism – live at the Melbourne Writers Festival

    · 43 min

    Bob Brown has spent the past 50 years trying to make people put the planet before profit. The environmental crusader, former senator and medical doctor, and founding member of the Wilderness Society has fought pivotal…

  27. ‘Even today, the cost continues’: Christie Whelan Browne on speaking out

    · 29 min

    You might know her best from Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell, but over the past 20 years, Christie Whelan Browne has become one of the most in-demand stars of the Australian stage, appearing in Britney Spears: The…

  28. Fran Lebowitz on smoking, Trump and today's young people being another species

    · 43 min

    When Fran Lebowitz was growing up in suburban New Jersey in the 1950s, she won a school award for being “the Class Wit” – and in her 50-year career as a writer and speaker, she’s repeatedly earned that label. Among her…

  29. Luke Bateman: Former NRL star and gambling addict, now lumberjack ‘bookfluencer’

    · 41 min

    Luke Bateman is perhaps Australia’s most unlikely book critic – a former rugby league star and recovered gambling addict who works as a logger on a remote Queensland property. While hardly your average inner-city…

  30. The New Yorker's Patrick Radden Keefe on investigating 'an unnatural death'

    · 39 min

    Investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe has made a career out of chasing the kinds of stories that most people would be wise to leave alone. The New Yorker writer is drawn to powerful institutions and the people…

  31. Bourdain and Batali's 'right-hand' woman Laurie Woolever on her tell-all book

    · 41 min

    New York food writer, editor and podcaster Laurie Woolever spent the early years of her career assisting two very famous chefs: first Mario Batali, then Anthony Bourdain, for whom she worked for nine years. Woolever…

  32. From finance to front row: Australian fashion boss Marianne Perkovic

    · 34 min

    Marianne Perkovic spent decades working in the finance sector. In 2006, she was the youngest chief executive of an ASX-listed company and in 2018, as a banking executive, she faced a grilling at a royal commission.…

  33. Stephanie Alexander on writing, eating, air-frying – and The Cook’s Companion turning 30

    · 33 min

    Stephanie Alexander is a national icon: an internationally renowned cooking guru, best-selling writer and inspirational founder of a nationwide kitchen-garden scheme for schoolkids. She's also the final arbiter of…

  34. Bob Carr on grief and 'the left-over life' after his wife's death

    · 39 min

    Bob Carr has done hard jobs before. He was premier of NSW for 10 years, and later served as foreign minister under Julia Gillard’s government. But when his beloved wife, Helena, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm in…

  35. Courtney Barnett on songwriting, her deadpan delivery – and what she did next

    · 35 min

    In this episode, we talk to Courtney Barnett, who broke into the musical mainstream a little over a decade ago as an Aussie singer-songwriter with deadpan delivery, with work veering from the witty and rambling to…

  36. Kathy Lette on female betrayal: ‘More painful than divorce’

    · 39 min

    Kathy Lette is a comic writer and pioneering voice in contemporary feminism whose first book, Puberty Blues, was published in 1979. Co-authored with Gabrielle Carey, it catapulted her into the public eye, horrifying…

  37. Todd Sampson on doomsday preppers, aliens and why people reach for the extreme

    · 40 min

    Todd Sampson began his TV career on Gruen, the long-running ABC series about advertising, before transforming himself into a human guinea pig to scrutinise the limits of the human brain and body. His upcoming show,…

  38. Why we run: Konrad Marshall on 365 days of jogging

    · 32 min

    Konrad Marshall is Good Weekend magazine's deputy editor, he's also the regular host of this podcast and he's just released a new book. Run For Your Life is a year-long journey on why we run, and explores a year Konrad…

  39. Brooke Blurton is successful, smart and Indigenous. And still, trolls tell her she's 'on Centrelink'.

    · 36 min

    In this episode, we talk to reality TV star, youth worker and mental health advocate Brooke Blurton. Many know her as the first Indigenous and bisexual Bachelorette from the dating-show franchise, but she's also an…

  40. Martin Luther King III on retaining hope in today’s world: ‘Civility has been temporarily lost’

    · 37 min

    Martin Luther King III carries one of the most famous names in 20th century history, that of his father, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. The second child and eldest son of Dr King, Mr King was just 10 years old when his…

  41. Pod Save America’s Jon Lovett on hope – and comedy – in the midst of a Trump presidency

    · 30 min · Explicit

    Jon Lovett is a former speech writer for Barack Obama, a progressive activist and co-host of a global hit political podcast. Sounds serious, right? Yet, out of the four hosts of the popular Pod Save America, Lovett it…

  42. Alex de Minaur on the drive to compete, hitting rock bottom, and his classic car obsession

    · 40 min

    Tennis star Alex de Minaur will lead the homegrown charge in the Australian Open, which begins on Sunday, off the back of a tough 2025. De Minaur spoke to Konrad Marshall for this episode late last year, during a rare…

  43. Why Helen Garner trained her forensically observant eye on an Aussie rules team - and what she learnt from it

    · 37 min

    In this week's episode we speak with acclaimed author Helen Garner, who followed the travails of her grandson's footy team for her new book, The Season. She speaks with Konrad Marshall about what she now envies about…

  44. You Am I's Tim Rogers on addiction and anxiety, playing footy and prowling the stage

    · 42 min

    In this episode, we talk to Tim Rogers. Best known as the frontman for rock band You Am I, Rogers was born in Kalgoorlie, WA, but lived all over the country growing up, spending time in Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra,…

  45. From dance floor to ‘orgy room’: What happens on a typical swingers’ night?

    · 31 min

    In this episode we talk to Jess Cattelly, the co-founder of Sydney swingers club Our Secret Spot. The 32-year-old got into swinging – also known as The Lifestyle - when she was just 20, and her Parramatta Road venue…

  46. Sleep expert Matthew Walker on snoring, napping, nightmares and the power of slumber

    · 52 min

    In this episode, we speak with Matthew Walker. The British neuroscience professor is the author of “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams”, and he’s coming to Australia shortly to speak at Vivid Sydney…

  47. She was one of the biggest TV stars of the 1980s. What happened next to Tania Lacy?

    · 44 min

    In this episode, we talk to Tania Lacy. The comedy pioneer became one of the biggest stars on Australian television in the 1980s, but at the height of her fame, Lacy seemingly vanished without explanation. In this…

  48. John Polson on bringing ‘Tropfest’ back from the dead, with a little help from Margot Robbie

    · 40 min

    In this episode, we talk to John Polson. You might know him from films such as The Sum of Us and, more recently, The Dry – or for the shows he’s directed including Elementary and The Walking Dead. But you might not…

  49. 'I didn’t do this for me': The AFL’s first openly queer player on coming out

    · 54 min

    In this episode, we talk to Mitch Brown. The retired AFL player recently came out as bisexual, making him the first (current or former) openly queer player in the league’s 129-year history. He describes growing up in…

  50. From political fixer to cricket caller: Meet broadcaster Adam Collins

    · 39 min

    In this episode, we talk to Adam Collins. The Dandenong-raised, London-based commentator, broadcaster, podcaster and author is back in Australia for another summer of cricket, and also to promote his new book, Bedtime…

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