Best Fearless Paranoia Podcasts (2025)

1
Riding for a fall — when success, a big house and a loving family aren't enough 51:02

5h ago51:02

51:02

What happens when a man can't stop his drive and desire for more? Author Andrew O'Hagan dissects the pitfalls of more money, more success and more applause (R) Andrew O’Hagan is the author of several highly acclaimed novels. His most recent book is a sweeping portrait of modern-day London, a city ‘levitating on a sea of dirty Russian money’. The ma…

1
Ione Skye on surrendering her past and forgiving herself 46:30

1d ago46:30

46:30

The Gen X actor on making peace with her absent father, the ghosts of her Hollywood past and nursing Anthony Kiedis through his drug addiction while she was still a teenager — a relationship she shudders at today. The 1990s It girl was named for the Scottish island where she was conceived, before her enigmatic folk singer father, Donovan abandoned …

1
Our post-American future — what will the new world order look like? 52:00

2d ago52:00

52:00

Defence analyst Hugh White says Australian leaders are in denial about how dramatically the world has changed, and need to get a grip on the deep, troubling forces propelling us into a new order of world power. The balance of global power has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. Even in the last five years, so much has happened - the pandem…

1
The pyromaniac kid who made barbecue his life 48:06

3d ago48:06

48:06

As a child, chef Graeme Stockdale was embarrassed by the smell of sauerkraut and pickles that would trail him from his Polish and German grandparents' home. A transformative encounter with a barbecued duck in Singapore changed his life, though nothing would prepare him for two monumental floods in his adopted region of Lismore, NSW. Graeme was only…

1
Hormones and mental health with Dr Jayashri Kulkarni 52:16

7d ago52:16

52:16

Dr Jayashri Kulkarni on her Indian-Australian upbringing and her groundbreaking research into women's hormones and mental health (R) Jayashri Kulkarni’s family moved from India to Australia in 1961. They found there were no Indian grocery stores, few spices of any kind, and plain yoghurt wasn’t available. But the Kulkarnis adapted to their new home…

1
Part TWO: Locked up in China — Cheng Lei on cell mates, singing and survival 48:06

8d ago48:06

48:06

Cheng Lei's years in detention in China, on trumped-up espionage charges, go from cruel and isolating, to absurd and romantic when she gets moved into a cell with three other women. The Chinese-Australian journalist was held in detention in China for more than three years, accused of selling state secrets to foreign people and powers. In episode on…

1
Part ONE: Locked up in China — Cheng Lei on state paranoia and staying sane in isolation 49:00

9d ago49:00

49:00

When journalist Cheng Lei was detained by Chinese state security agents, she thought would be freed within the week. Instead, she was held on absurd espionage charges for more than three years, much of that time spent in isolation. When Cheng Lei moved back to the country of her birth after the dramatic opening up of China to the world, she was a p…

1
Depersonalisation — when Nathan lost his sense of self and nothing felt real 51:54

10d ago51:54

51:54

In 2008 Nathan Dunne was night swimming in Hampstead Heath in the middle of winter when a psychological catastrophe struck him. He felt his sense of self split in two, and an unbearable pain overtook him. He couldn’t work out what had happened to him, and neither could the doctors. CW: This discussion contains sensitive mental health details and me…

1
A home filled with music — raising the Kanneh-Masons 48:48

14d ago48:48

48:48

Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason on what it takes to keep up with her seven children — all of them gifted classical musicians (R). Kadiatu is a former English academic and the mother of seven extraordinary children. All of them are gifted classical musicians. Her eldest daughter, Isata wrote and performed her first piano concerto at the age of eleven. Her son …

1
Why Colm Toibin ran away with the circus — to Barcelona, Brooklyn and beyond 53:18

15d ago53:18

53:18

The Irish novelist has always been open to where life can unexpectedly take him, and the excitement that comes with that kind of freedom. Colm Toibin's first big move was from rural Ireland to Dublin after his father died when he was young. Then, it was off to experience the wild hedonism and sexual liberation of post-Franco Spain, a pleasant shock…

1
Hilde Hinton's home for the temporarily defeated 51:12

16d ago51:12

51:12

When Hilde Hinton was on the cusp of adolescence, her mother died. For years she protected her younger siblings from the truth about their mum. Despite the great grief of her mother's shocking death when Hilde was just 12 years old, there was also a sense of relief for Hilde. She shielded her younger siblings, Samuel and Connie Johnson, from the tr…

1
The secret life of Scarlett, the octopus 52:08

17d ago52:08

52:08

When Alex Schnell was around 5 years old, playing in rock pools around Clovelly beach in Sydney, she had an alien encounter. The creature in the shallow water in front of her was a little octopus and unlike anything Alex had seen before, and instead of darting off in fear like a fish might, to Alex it felt like the octopus was genuinely curious in …

1
Encore: How Sean Sweeney found his deaf heart 51:20

21d ago51:20

51:20

Sean Sweeney on the complications and joys of growing up as a a hearing child in a deaf family, using Auslan, a distinctively Australian sign language. In his twenties, Sean rebelled against the deaf world, and began to look for a new life in the hearing one. But after eighteen years, he returned. He found work as an interpreter at TAFE, and he met…

1
The miserable lives and golden guns of tyrants, dictators and despots 51:30

22d ago51:30

51:30

Marcel Dirsus is fascinated by the treadmill of tyranny: how dictators gain power, how they stay there and how they fall. This is his blueprint for bringing an end to authoritarianism. With democracies seemingly faltering worldwide, political scientist and writer Marcel Dirsus is putting tyrants under the microscope to better understand how they ri…

1
Claire Keegan on bravery, writing and the single life 53:10

23d ago53:10

53:10

The bestselling Irish author grew up on a farm set on “50 acres on the side of a hill”. Growing up, she witnessed a harsh, misogynistic country that convinced her she would never marry. Claire shares what she has learned about writing from a litter of newborn piglets. Her works Small Things Like These and Foster have both been made into movies. Cla…

1
Peter Godwin's complicated loves, great losses and occasional wars 53:30

24d ago53:30

53:30

The writer had a complex relationship with his mother, whose professional reputation built a wall between them, but also saved his life more than once while working as a war correspondent. Peter Godwin was born in Zimbabwe when the country was still under colonial rule. His English mother was the only doctor for thousands of kilometres and early on…

1
Treating anorexia by nourishing the heart 52:00

28d ago52:00

52:00

Psychiatrist Warren Ward treats patients who are severely ill with eating disorders. Understanding the mystery of human nature has driven him since he was a young doctor. Warren Ward's patients are often critically ill with diseases like anorexia. Warren says asking someone with anorexia to eat is like asking an arachnophobe to put their hand in a …

1
Ghost stories and executions in Iceland — when Hannah Kent and Agnes Magnusdottir became entwined 51:12

29d ago51:12

51:12

When writer Hannah Kent first visited Iceland in 2003, she came across a gothic true story about Agnes Magnusdottir, the last woman hanged in Iceland. That story would change her life. Hannah's arrival to the Nordic island as an exchange student in 2003 was a difficult one. On her first night in the country, she found herself stranded late at night…

1
Heroin addiction, Ivan Milat's dentist, and beginning again 51:36

1M ago51:36

51:36

Claude Robinson developed a heroin habit as a young man, and spent years in jail. In 2006 he began to turn his life around for good. (CW: descriptions of drug use, addiction, and crime) (R) Claude Robinson is the manager of Rainbow Lodge, a home in inner Sydney for men just out of prison. Claude knows the place well because nearly 20 years ago he w…

1
Situationships, risks and growing pains — Jemma Sbeg on surviving your 20s 52:00

1M ago52:00

52:00

From relationships and loneliness, to indecision and burnout, Jemma Sbeg is your guide to navigating your 20s, and looking back on that decade with a new perspective. When Jemma Sbeg started recording a podcast in the back of her Subaru about her quarter life crisis, she had no idea just how many people she would reach. But other people her age wer…

1
Encore: Mt Druitt to Tonga, how Winnie embraced her cultural heritage 51:00

1M ago51:00

51:00

Winnie Dunn was a teenager when the Chris Lilley character 'Jonah from Tonga' became a national joke and as a Tongan Australian the stereotype made her feel uncomfortable. Despite being born into a big Tongan family in Western Sydney, Winnie felt conflicted about her heritage growing up. But over time her understanding of what it means to be Tongan…

1
Jamila Rizvi’s one in a million brain tumour 53:14

1M ago53:14

53:14

Jamila’s craniopharyngioma had been growing for years, unbeknownst to her. In hindsight, it was her son who gave the first clue, when he stopped breastfeeding overnight at 11 months old. Today Jamila is an author, a broadcaster and the deputy managing director of Future Women, dedicated to achieving gender equity in Australian workplaces. A few yea…

1
Slapped by a whale's tail, and other animal adventures 51:12

1M ago51:12

51:12

Whale and dolphin researcher, Barry McGovern’s love of sea creatures started in Clare, Ireland, when as a child he met the county’s solitary, friendly dolphin, named for the singer Dusty Springfield. Barry grew up in a tiny surfing village where he knew all the bird calls off by heart. His interest in animal science led him to Edinburgh Zoo, where …

1
Adam Kay — the magic and misery of doctoring, comedy and fatherhood 46:36

1M ago46:36

46:36

After a caesarean section on his labour ward went catastrophically wrong, Adam Kay took a radical inventory of his entire life. CW: traumatic childbirth, eating disorders. Adam was not far off qualifying as an obstetric consultant in the United Kingdom, when he decided he couldn't be a doctor any longer. He couldn't face ever again experiencing the…

1
Briana, Max and Freddy: love, trains and mouth music 52:42

1M ago52:42

52:42

Briana Blackett was a journalist in Qatar when she realised her baby son Max wasn't responding to his name. When Max and his little brother Freddy were both diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Briana left Doha to begin an entirely different life (R)By Australian Broadcasting Corporation

1
Encore: breaking the silence around men's mental health 53:00

1M ago53:00

53:00

Jonno Seidler with the story of his Dad Ray, a much-loved and successful doctor, who hid his private struggles from the world. Behind closed doors, Ray Seidler was locked in a herculean fight with his own mental health. His frequent bouts of depression caused him to regularly 'run away' from his own home and family, and eventually led to his suicid…

1
Learning from the mighty matriarchs of the animal kingdom 52:03

1M ago52:03

52:03

Erna Walraven was one of the first female zookeepers to work at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in the 1980s. Despite practical jokes from her male colleagues, like animal dung in her gumboots, Erna kept her nerve. She was born in The Netherlands, to parents who were involved in the Dutch resistance during World War II. Erna's love of languages took her to Sp…

1
Mawunyo's life in love, journalism and hip hop 52:18

1M ago52:18

52:18

Mawunyo Gbogbo was raised as a church-going African Australian girl in the sleepy mining town of Muswellbrook, before she grew up to become a hip-hop journalist and a writer (R) Mawunyo's parents had met in Ghana, migrating to Australia when she was a baby. At high school, Mawunyo fell hard for a charismatic boy, and for the first time, she was int…

1
Inside the mind of a dog, and a pig named Habib 46:00

2M ago46:00

46:00

Luke Hura has an innate ability to understand and communicate with animals, and for decades he's been training them for film, television and the stage. You’ve probably seen one of Luke's dogs in action — he trained Bouncer, the labrador from Neighbours, the kelpie from the film Red Dog, and the maremma who starred in Oddball. Luke has trained cats,…

1
Encore: The case of the unknown sailor 46:34

2M ago46:34

46:34

In 2007, Jeremy Austin was asked by the Royal Australian Navy to help them identify the remains of an unknown sailor from World War II. Using the best forensic DNA technology, he embarked on a quest to figure out who this man was and to track down his surviving descendants. This episode of Conversations explores DNA science, world war 2, Australian…

1
Adam Liaw’s longing for food 48:23

2M ago48:23

48:23

The Masterchef graduate shares what he learned from his grandmother, who won the lottery in Malaysia when she was a 25-year-old widow with three children to care for. After Adam's parents met and married, the family emigrated to Australia when Adam was three-years-old. He and his brother sped through school in Adelaide and Adam went on to become a …

1
Listening to a mountain to save workers trapped underground 50:18

2M ago50:18

50:18

In 2023, Arnold Dix helped rescue 41 men trapped in a tunnel after it collapsed high in the Himalayas. As an engineer and tunnel expert, he was uniquely placed to assist, but Arnold also used another skill in the high risk operation: he listened to the mountain.The successful rescue made Arnold a hero to millions of people across India and it was i…

1
The physics and feeling of floating — why Angelica learnt to swim 42:30

2M ago42:30

42:30

Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis grew up in Sydney, famous for its coastline and beachside existence. But for reasons beyond her control, she didn't learn to swim until she took the plunge as an adult. Angelica Ojinnaka-Psillakis has achieved a lot in her young life. She is a social researcher at Western Sydney University, she has represented Australia …

1
Encore: Grief, loss and the healing power of the natural world 50:18

2M ago50:18

50:18

In 2013, Raynor Winn and her husband, Moth lost their beloved farm in Wales, it was where they'd lived for 20 years and raised their children. In the same week, Moth was diagnosed with a rare degenerative brain disease and doctors gave him just two years to live. Homeless and with their future together rapidly shrinking, Raynor and Moth decided to …

1
The epic escape story of four ANZAC POWs — through the Italian Alps to freedom 50:06

2M ago50:06

50:06

Writer and tour guide Simon Tancred on the little-known ANZAC story of how a group of POWs made a daring escape on foot to neutral Switzerland. Simon Tancred fell in love with Italy as a young man, and set up a job for himself leading hikes and tours across the country, and into the Alps. So Simon was familiar with the old trails and passes that cr…

1
Made in Burnie — Justin Heazlewood on swapping fame for his hometown 52:00

2M ago52:00

52:00

Justin Heazlewood fled a complicated early life in Tasmania searching for fame as an artist on the mainland. Recently he moved back to his home town of Burnie, and realised community is where you find it. Justin Heazlewood grew up in Burnie, a coastal town on the North West coast of Tasmania. For years he imagined his hometown as somewhere he had t…

1
From Manila to Sydney — how Loribelle found family, love and her art 52:00

2M ago52:00

52:00

The artist Loribelle Spirovski on her unusual childhood in the Philippines, meeting her father for the first time at 7 years old, and making her way as one of Australia's most exciting young painters. Loribelle Spirovski grew up in the Philippines, with her mum and her extended Filipino family. Her Serbian father, whom she had never met, was in Aus…

1
Encore: The poker-playing cardiologist 52:30

2M ago52:30

52:30

As a child, before she escaped communist Hungary, Bo Remenyi had no ambitions. But when she got to Australia all of that changed. She's gone from cruising the casino floor as a high-stakes professional poker player, to saving the lives of children in remote Australia. (R) In 2018, Dr Bo Remenyi was made the Northern Territory’s Australian of the Ye…

1
Miles Franklin's secret life as a 'boy sober' undercover maid 48:30

2M ago48:30

48:30

Journalist Kerrie Davies with the story of how novelist Miles Franklin went undercover as a maid for a year, in Sydney and Melbourne's wealthy houses, well before gonzo journalists became household names. The real-life story of novelist Stella Maria Miles Franklin had an unexpected chapter after publishing My Brilliant Career. In 1903, Miles became…

1
The life-changing power of a choir 51:06

2M ago51:06

51:06

Song propelled Morris Stuart from his early life shepherding sheep in British Guyana to an unlikely love story in London. In his retirement, he found himself shaping a choir of Central Australian Aboriginal women, who had been breathing life into 138-year-old Lutheran hymns. Morris Stuart met his Australian wife, Barbara in London in the 1960s. The…

1
The wisdom of an ancient Pencil Pine 52:12

2M ago52:12

52:12

Nature writer Andrew Darby on what he learned from his rambles through the wilds of Tasmania, communing with the world’s oldest surviving trees. In particular, his ‘buttock clenching’ ascent up a 60-metre-tall eucalyptus known as The Vibe Tower. Nature writer, Andrew Darby spent more than 20 years as a Fairfax correspondent based in Tasmania. His s…

1
Encore: A daring escape from Vietnam to the halls of prestigious American universities 50:48

2M ago50:48

50:48

Anh Nguyen Austen's family fled Vietnam by sea in 1982, on a wooden boat bound for the Philippines. When a once-in-a-century storm struck in the South China Sea, they thought all hope was lost (R) Anh is an academic and community volunteer who grew up in Vietnam in a Catholic family. Anh's childhood was idyllic, with a big extended family and a clo…

1
How Vincent Fantauzzo's life was saved by love and painting 52:00

2M ago52:00

52:00

When artist Vincent Fantauzzo was a boy he was a street-fighting petty criminal with dyslexia and a blazing talent for drawing. He escaped jail time, and grew up to become one of Australia's most well-known portrait artists. VIncent Fantauzzo is one of Australia's most successful portrait artists. For his luminous, photo-realistic paintings he's wo…

1
'Mistakes were made' — a live storytelling experience 52:22

2M ago52:22

52:22

Rebecca Huntley, Rick Morton, Julia Zemiro and Sarah Kanowski bring you stories of human failure, misadventure and outright fiasco in a live storytelling event recorded at Adelaide Writers Week. A few weeks ago, some former guests of Conversations, and our two presenters gathered at the Adelaide Town Hall. The event was a live storytelling hour, wi…

1
Two sisters, Dod and Brattle - the lesbian poet, and the evangelical Christian 54:18

2M ago54:18

54:18

Josie McSkimming on growing up with her bohemian sister, the poet Dorothy Porter, and how their lives took off on wildly diverging paths as they grew up. Sisters Dorothy and Josie Porter grew up in an interesting and sometimes volatile home on the northern beaches of Sydney in the 1970s. Together with their middle sister Mary, they lived in a world…

1
Encore: Doctor Koppe — PTSD and me 52:06

3M ago52:06

52:06

Hilton Koppe was a beloved country GP for 30 years before an unexpected health crisis of his own forced him to reassess everything (R) Hilton Koppe grew up knowing his parents wanted him to become a doctor and so when he got the marks to make it into medicine, they were overjoyed. By the time he was 30, he'd started working as a country GP. Hilton …

1
Shaking — escaping the grip of a lifelong tremor 51:18

3M ago51:18

51:18

Journalist and author Sonya Voumard on the rare neurological condition that has stalked her since a family tragedy during her childhood. Sonya Voumard was on the precipice of teen hood when her father suddenly and unexpectedly died. In the months following his death, Sonya developed a tremor in her right hand, not dissimilar to the shaking she some…

1
Loneliness — it's not only you 52:18

3M ago52:18

52:18

Loneliness is a universal experience, for each of us at some point in our lives. Journalist Ros Thomas travelled the world to investigate, and find the antidote. Ros spent a year travelling around the world to research something all of us have experienced — loneliness. She met an old man who had learned to thrive through crushing grief with the hel…

1
The fearless Kate McClymont — weathering death threats and court cases for work 53:30

3M ago53:30

53:30

The chief investigative reporter on her work exposing criminals and corruption, including former politician, Eddie Obeid and financial fraudster, Melissa Caddick. Kate McClymont is chief investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. She grew up on a farm in NSW, and during university, funded her start in Sydney by setting up a busking booth…

1
Encore: Krystyna Duszniak and Poland's lost histories 52:04

3M ago52:04

52:04

As a young woman, Krystyna thought her father had taught her everything about Poland’s history, but she didn’t know that what he’d left out would become a focus of her life (R) Growing up, Krystyna Duszniak's father didn't speak a word of English to her, instilling in her a love of the Polish language, literature, history and culture. As the child …

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Fearless Paranoia Podcasts

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