Good Weekend Talks

In this episode we speak to para surfing star Joel Taylor. At 21, Joel was a pro bodyboarder left paraplegic after a freak wave dumped him at the famous Pipeline break in Hawaii. Two decades on, he’s a world surfing champion. Joel speaks with senior Good Weekend writer Tim Elliott about his early life as a Jehovah’s Witness, his love of the ocean, that life-threatening injury and his phenomenal comeback. Also joining the conversation is Joel's wife Lorin, who discusses how they got together, her husband's obsessive compulsive disorder and life with their young two sons.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After releasing his first book of short stories, The Boat, Nam Le was branded a "criminally talented" young author of "a singular masterpiece". That was back in 2008, and he hasn't released another book ... until now. Returning to the literary stage with a book of poetry - 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem - Le talks to Good Weekend senior writer Konrad Marshall about what happened in the interim, and how he found his way back to writing his first literary love - writing in rhyme and verse. He also chats candidly about his family's refugee origins, his upbringing in suburban Doncaster, his short-lived legal career and his love of poker.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David McBride is awaiting sentencing for the leak of classified military documents from his time as an army lawyer in Afghanistan. In a candid conversation with senior Good Weekend writer Jane Cadzow, he speaks about what led him to do it, the personal fallout and his complex relationship with his father William, who blew the whistle on problems with thalidomide in the 1960s before his own fall from grace.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we take an exclusive peek into a groundbreaking Melbourne trial into the use of psychedelics for the terminally ill, to help ease their end-of-life angst. Joining us to discuss the trial are psychiatrist Dr. Justin Dwyer, one half of the clinical research team coordinating the three and a half year effort, and journalist Kate Cole-Adams, who has been following the process and has written our cover story this week, ‘My brain was being reworked’. Hosting the conversation is Good Weekend deputy editor Greg Callaghan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As CEO and founder of national charity organisation The Man Cave, Hunter Johnson helps young men build self-esteem and emotional resilience, while arming them with the tools to navigate the sometimes toxic 'manosphere'. In this episode of Good Weekend Talks, senior writer Melissa Fyfe talks to Johnson about his youth at an elite high school, his journaling practice, visiting Buckingham Palace - even working with Harry and Meghan - while creating a brand of toiletries for young men.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He's toured the world as a rock star, but ended up in Hobart running an arts festival. In this episode of Good Weekend Talks, Brian Ritchie, bass player for American folk punk band Violent Femmes speaks to The Age arts editor Elizabeth Flux about his career in music, how he became artistic director for Mona Foma, his friendship with the eccentric head of MONA, David Walsh, and how the Shakuhachi flute keeps him grounded. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we speak with actor Eric Bana and director Robert Connolly about their new film, Force of Nature, a sequel to their 2020 smash it, The Dry. Hosting this conversation about their shared work experience, leeches on location, and filming in frigid and wet Victorian forests, is senior culture writer for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Karl Quinn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we speak with neuroscientist Joel Pearson, author of a new book, The Intuition Toolkit, about the science behind intuition and how we can harness that to make better decisions. Joel explains what happens when we experience the powerful gut feelings and hunches or as he prefers to define them, the learned productive use of unconscious information. Hosting this conversation is Good Weekend senior writer, Amanda Hooton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Good Weekend Talks, we go to Melbourne Park - home of the Australian Open - and speak to former tennis star, author, and now inspirational Nine commentator, Jelena Dokic. Jelena burst onto the scene in 1999, when she was just 16. Ranked 129 in the world, she knocked over then world number 1, Martina Hingis, launching a career full of promise. But behind closed doors, she had already survived a decade of abuse at the hands of her father. She famously overcame (or survived) that adversity, to eventually become the number four player in the world, before retiring from the game 10 years ago. She speaks with Good Weekend senior writer Konrad Marshall about fleeing war, mental health, body positivity, online abuse, and who will win the women's final this year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We'll be back in late January 2024 with plenty of exciting interviews booked in the calendar.  But for now enjoy one of our most popular episodes from the past year. And remember to subscribe and share. Do affairs run in families? Are there seven stages to go through after discovering your spouse has cheated on you? What is the best way to move on? Journalist Kate Legge delves into these questions and more - with Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland - after discovering not only that her husband had cheated on her, but that their son had cheated on his partner too, and that her husband's father and grandmother had both also had affairs. This episode first aired on February 18, 2023.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.