Wendy Harmer has spent decades shaping Australian comedy, journalism and media, from the newsroom floor to the stand-up stage, from comedy to breakfast radio and the ABC.

In this episode, Wendy talks about growing up in country Victoria, building resilience through childhood adversity, becoming one of the first female reporters at the Geelong Advertiser.

Wendy reflects on the golden age of Australian live comedy, the discipline of breakfast radio, and why words, writing and curiosity remain central to her happiness. Along the way, she shares sharp stories about newsrooms, hecklers, feminism, fish, fatherhood, and how hard beginning turn into a generous life.

As part of the ANU Meet the Author series, I interviewed Anna Goldsworthy on stage about her new Quarterly Essay, “The God We Made. The Threat and Promise of Artificial Intelligence”.

Martin McKenzie-Murray is The Saturday Paper's associate editor, staff writer for The Monthly, a two-time Walkley finalist and winner of the Melbourne Press Club's Quill Award for commentary.

He has worked as a teacher, speechwriter, columnist for The Age and adviser to the chief commissioner of Victoria Police. His first book, A Murder Without Motive, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing. His second, The Speechwriter, won the Russell Prize for Humour Writing.

In this episode, I chat with Martin about his latest book, Sirens: Inside the Shadow World of First Responders.

Grace Adams is the CEO of Effective Altruism Australia.

To find out more or make a donation, go to https://effectivealtruism.org.au/eofy/

You can find Grace's podcast 'More Than Good by Effective Altruism Australia' here:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ea_aus

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2TffN3nE1zniT1Mm3VjTdo

Ant Williams knows what it means to perform under pressure.

A world-record freediver, he has held his breath for more than eight minutes, dived 100 metres on a single breath, and swum 182 metres beneath solid Arctic ice.

In this episode of The Good Life, Ant talks about learning from discomfort, building mental toughness, training for pain, facing risk, and why he believes courage can be practised. From freediving and ice diving to fatherhood and psychology, this is a conversation about what happens when we stop running from failure and start treating it as information.

Mark Fabian is associate professor of public policy at the University of Warwick, UK. He is also an affiliate researcher at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at Cambridge University, and an associate at the Institute for Social Change at the University of Tasmania.

In his latest book he challenges our ideas of happiness. From the hedonic treadmill to self-actualisation, he explains why frustration can be part of a meaningful life, why integrity matters more than productivity, and how to align who you are with who you want to be. A thoughtful guide to living with pleasure, fulfillment, and purpose.

On 11 June 2025, I joined UNSW Professor Toby Walsh on stage in Canberra at an ANU-Canberra Times Meet the Author event, to discuss Toby’s new book “The Shortest History of AI”.

This week New York Times-bestselling author Alex Hutchinson returns to the podcast to talk about his latest book ‘The Explorer's Gene’.