Dads on the Air

With special guest: Madonna King… in conversation with Bill Kable The book by Madonna King L Platers is a fascinating sequel to her previous book Being 14. Something happens to young girls between the ages of 14 and 18 and all parents need to get an insight as to what to expect and what to be concerned about. We live in times where the word “unprecedented” has almost been worn out by over usage. But how else to describe these times when for the first time in history we are living through a worldwide pandemic? Covid 19 has limited the usual social interaction and forced many to start living a huge part of their lives online which creates its own problems. Not only is this unprecedented but it is happening when so many choices have to be made in comparison to simpler times. When a personal discussion is called for, parents are likely to be called to centre stage for many of these decisions. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Jeff Apter… in conversation with Bill Kable Our own Keith Urban is an enormous success in the biggest music market of all, the United States. Who knew? For some reason Keith Urban has never been really big or even acknowledged in Australia and today we get a few clues as to why that is so. There is a lot more to Keith than the amiable coach we see in The Voice on Australian TV and our guest today can let us in on some surprises. In his new book Keith Urban our special guest Jeff Appter takes us from Keith’s birth in New Zealand to childhood days on the outskirts of Brisbane to being “discovered” while playing at the Bayview Hotel in Sydney and reaching the stage where he is asked to sing at the opening of the Tokyo Olympic Games. On top of that Keith was married to Nicole Kidman for 19 years to add a bit of Hollywood glamour to his life. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Peter FitzSimons… in conversation with Bill Kable As well as being a 20th century marvel in its soaring design it remains a source of marvel that the Opera House was even conceived in the parochial, conservative backwater that was 1950s New South Wales. One thing that was typical then and remains so is the Australian love for a gamble so it was a brainwave of the NSW government to think of financing the construction by way of a lottery. All of a sudden there were more than enough funds to do the work of construction. But the bigger gamble was to construct a building like no other that would be on display at the heart of the city with techniques that had not been invented based on the imaginings and sparse drawings of a Danish architect who had never taken a building design through to completion. In his book The Opera House Peter FitzSimons takes us on an incredible journey. It took Peter 12 years to track down all the stories which include sexual intrigue, kidnap and murder, bullying and breakdowns. Friendships were made and irrevocably broken in the course of the 15 years of construction before the glorious opening on a beautiful Sydney day in October 1973. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Norman Swan… in conversation with Bill Kable Our health is such an important topic for all of us, maybe the most important. But as our guest in today’s program Dr Norman Swan points out this sometimes leads to unnecessary worry about doing the right thing for ourselves. In fact the topic of what we should be worrying about is the one that comes up most often from his audiences. In his new book So You Think You Know What’s Good for You? Australia’s most trusted medical practitioner tells us what really is good for you and as a bonus what is bad for you. Norman’s popularity over so many years is due to his ability to present the up to date research in a friendly non-technical manner, with even a dose of humour thrown in. All that comes out when we get to speak with him. What is more, Norman often illustrates points by drawing on his own experience which adds to the authenticity. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Chris Hammer… in conversation with Bill Kable This is the first of Chris Hammer’s books to be set in the Australian outback. There is a murder in a fictional opal mining town loosely based on Lightning Ridge in a far corner of NSW. We go immediately to the gruesome murder scene. The early indications are that so-called “ratters” are involved and that is a story in itself as Chris explains to us what a ratter is in the context of small mining operations. What a pleasure it is to get the latest book from Chris Hammer. Treasure and Dirt includes new characters each with a flaw that we discover just as the characters in the book do. We have to make a decision about which character we can trust. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Thomas Keneally AO… in conversation with Bill Kable In the book A Bloody Good Rant you might expect from the title that this is going to contain some wild and extremist views. However on the contrary except for some well-deserved and unapologetic criticism of one group of economists, you will not find in this book that sort of ranting and raving. It is instead Tom Keneally writing with intimacy and insight and an invitation to share his insight and humanity. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: RWR (Rob) McDonald… in conversation with Bill Kable This story can stand alone. But if you have read the first book in the series, The Nancys, you will be even keener to see what happens in Rob McDonald’s new book Nancy Business. For anyone who loves the British murder mysteries such as Frost, Inspector Linley, Taggart and all the others Nancy Business is a treat. But there are a few twists that you do not often find. The narrator and main character is a young girl in Otago a small town on the South Island of New Zealand whose father died about a year ago. Her name is Tippy Chan and with her uncle Pike and his boyfriend Devon they make a formidable team for solving a mysterious murder mystery. This is a modern family story and the relationships are explored with all the black comedy and snappy dialogue we might hope for. Given that the author is himself in a “rainbow family” he has special insights and we explore with Rob some of how this type of family compares with other families. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Peter FitzSimons… in conversation with Bill Kable The title tells it all in the latest book by Peter FitzSimons whom we are excited to welcome back to Dads on the Air. In The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins we hear about the life of a genuine Australian hero with so many adventures that a fraction of them would seem to fill the quota to qualify for that description. This man was decorated in World War 1 while not a combatant, described by another hero, Monash, as the bravest man he had ever had under his command, and yet few Australians had heard of him prior to the release of this book by our guest. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Sam Mac… in conversation with Bill Kable This show is not for anyone expecting to hear a TV weatherman in the mould of Alan Wilkie. Sam Mac has forged a new role for himself in the Sunrise program where he goes around Australia looking for interesting people, interesting towns in fact anything that will give his morning viewers a lift. Naturally Sam will pass on the essential weather information such as do you need to get your umbrella but he will not go into the detailed meteorological analysis behind that decision mainly because he is not a meteorologist. When you read Accidental Weatherman you get to find out what Sam has discovered in the course of visiting over 800 towns for his weather reports over the last five years, namely the real characters of Australia. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Hugh Mackay AO… in conversation with Bill Kable When we looked forward to 2021 we also looked back on the disaster of the national bushfires season of 2019/20. That changed us but we did not expect the floods and then the ongoing impact of Covid 19. Our guest today is Hugh Mackay who has been listening to what the community thinks and says for over 60 years as the country’s pre-eminent social researcher. Hugh draws on this immense experience to see where the community is now and what comes next. It may turn out that The Kindness Revolution is Hugh’s last non-fiction book to grace our book shelves so we should all listen up. In his usual articulate way Hugh sees that the horrors of 2020 and 2021 have in fact set the scene for a kindness revolution. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Jeff Apter in conversation with Bill Kable Bon Scott as his name might suggest was born in Scotland but after his parents signed up to be £10 Poms he arrived in Australia at the age of 6 to a new life. That short life was filled to the brim and Bon provided plenty of his own commentary on his wild adventures before and during his time with the world beating rock band AC/DC. Our guest today is writer Jeff Apter the author of Bad Boy Boogie, a new book published by Allen & Unwin. Jeff is very familiar with the AC/DC story having previously written about other members of the band the Young brothers and original bass player Mark Evans. When we speak with Jeff again today we are able to go behind the scenes to find out how Bon fitted in so quickly and easily with the Young brothers in their closely guarded troupe. We find out more about the real Bon Scott, his wild side where a party could go on for days but also how many women who came into his orbit described his as a real gentleman. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: David W Cameron… in conversation with Bill Kable Port Arthur is a beautiful setting for what our guest today describes as “misery of the deepest dye”. In his book Convict-Era Port Arthur David Cameron takes us back to the days before it became a convict settlement, before its charms were viewed in a completely different light by the British newcomers. Its advantages as a proposed convict settlement included that it was surrounded by wild impenetrable bush except for one narrow access route that was easily secured. The security at what became known as The Dog Line involved half-starved dogs that were waiting for any convicts trying to escape. You could not swim away from confinement but just in case food scraps were often scattered to keep the sharks interested. However as we hear today there was one bold escape when convicts stole the Commandant’s boat and got as far as New South Wales before their recapture and return. David tells us what the conditions were really like and why Port Arthur had such a feared reputation as the last stop for the worst of the worst. Most of the inmates had committed a second offence on top of the original crime that had them sent to New South Wales or Tasmania. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Rosie Ayliffe… in conversation with Bill Kable All Hell broke loose on that night in 2016. When we speak with Rosie Ayliffe about her book Far from Home we hear firsthand how her loving 20 year old daughter Mia was put in harm’s way in a backpacker hostel. We hear how Mia and another backpacker who tried to protect her were both killed by another resident in the middle of a psychotic episode. What made it even worse is that Rosie was far away on the other side of the world in England when this nightmare unfolded. Rosie’s dreams of a future life involving her daughter Mia were gone. Rosie thought that her daughter was working in a healthy environment on a farm in outback Queensland in order to comply with the Australian government’s visa requirements for an extended stay in Australia. After being told by the local Police in England about her daughter’s tragic death Rosie decided immediately to come to Australia and get to the bottom of what had happened. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: John Broadbent… in conversation with Bill Kable Our guest today lets us know about secret men’s business. John Broadbent takes us on a journey to discover what we do not know about ourselves. John has written a new book Man Unplugged where he sets out some questions we should be asking ourselves. Surprisingly even elders, that is men who have been on this earth for fifty years or more, may be surprised to find out what is really driving them. Since the first edition of this book came out ten years ago there have been significant changes in John’s life and it became necessary to do an update with many many insights for all of us. One of these insights that could have a major impact on all of us is how relationships can more easily form and be improved. This is by men acknowledging that they have a feminine “aspect” as distinct from the somewhat critical reference to a feminine “side”. Once acknowledged men can take advantage of this in activities such as art and music. A man can learn to live between his masculine and feminine aspects. Wisdom emerges when a man can call on both or either of these principles. Podcast (mp3)

With special guests: Brendan Morris & Stephan Wellink… in conversation with Bill Kable The Thornetts, a band of brothers as Shakespeare might have called them. Today we explore what makes a champion when we hear about a sporting giant from 1960’s Australia, namely Richard, or as he was more commonly known, Dick Thornett. Dick was the youngest in a family of champions. Dick’s oldest brother was John who became the Captain of the Australian Rugby team, the Wallabies. Under John, the Wallabies had a legendary tour of South Africa. The next brother Ken also played Rugby at a representative level but is best known for his Rugby League abilities. Starting his Rugby League career in England he became known as the Mayor of Leeds before he came back to Australia representing Parramatta and Australia in the Kangaroos. Dick is called “the Natural” because he was so good at any sport he turned his hand to. After representing Australia in water polo at the 1960 Olympics in Rome he went on to represent Australia in two very different sports namely Rugby and Rugby League. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Will Davies… in conversation with Bill Kable Will Davies has been on the program before, bringing us inside stories from The Great War. Today we get to discuss Will’s new book Secret and Special. We hear about a boys’ own adventure story that started at a beautiful part of Sydney and which took our adventurers on a dangerous trip to Singapore harbour. They were on a night mission to put limpet mines on some ships in port. The unsuspecting Japanese occupiers of Singapore never knew what hit them. The difference from most adventure stories is that this is all true and draws on the meticulous research of Dr Davies that we have come to expect. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Jeff Apter… in conversation with Bill Kable Everyone remembers Jon English with those raccoon eyes and tall thin frame contributing to a very distinctive appearance. Jon English had regular appearances in so many different forms of entertainment. He was a rock singer, a star of live musicals, a romantic star of acclaimed television series, and at all times a rascal. In between those activities he wrote sensitive music and became an entrepreneur. But there was a lot more to his fascinating story as revealed by our guest today. Jeff Apter wrote Behind Dark Eyes: The True Story of Jon English. It is the subtitle of the book which gives a clue that all was not sunshine and roses for Jon English. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Sara Webb… in conversation with Bill Kable The title of this program may look as though it will make us doom struck or at least a little gloomy but strangely it does not. This might have something to do with our guest who is so bright and cheery talking about these biggest of the biggest of issues. Dr Sara Webb has written The Little Book of Cosmic Catastrophes (That Could End the World) for a general audience who will be able to get a better understanding of where we have come from and where our Earth and humanity itself will go. Today we talk about what has happened in the distant past, in fact when time began. An amazing number of things had to go just right for the universe as we know it to exist. This goes back to the laws of physics as explored in the recent past by Albert Einstein. Who knew that if the forces between the atomic particles were different, the matter of which we are made simply would not have formed? Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Paul Ham… in conversation with Bill Kable Our topics do not come much bigger or more interesting than The Soul: A History of the Human Mind written by our guest today Paul Ham. Certain ideas come to mind when we mention the word “Soul”. Are we talking about soul music or the definition in the catechism or maybe the soul of America which was said to be lost during the Vietnam war? Paul tells us that the soul can mean all of these things and more. Paul has tackled a topic which is huge in breadth and also extended over the millennia to the beginnings of civilisation. His discovery is that what humans first called the soul was originally thought to be a part of all of us. The soul survived the death of the body and then ventured to an underworld which might be Heaven or Hell. Some Christians believed at one stage that there was also a halfway house called Purgatory but that has disappeared in more recent beliefs. In fact the soul itself disappeared mysteriously during the period called the enlightenment until we arrive where we are today and scientists tell us that the mind is a creation of the brain. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Edward Krukin conversation with Bill Kable and Ken Thompson Our guest today has produced a book of 167 pages, The Equal Parent Presumption: Social Justice in the Legal Determination of Parenting after Divorce, that should be required reading for everyone who works in the space of parenting after divorce; and that includes judges who routinely make sole parenting orders, psychologists who offer family therapy, and all the other institutions that influence family relationships. The trouble really arises because although there is a mantra of acting “in the best interest of the child” this becomes a discretionary assessment by a judge who has no training in the area of child development or family dynamics and furthermore the Judge takes no interest in reviewing the outcome of the decision. Dr Kruk invites us to take the child’s position. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Billy Garvey… in conversation with Bill Kable Our guest today is Dr Billy Garvey who is an expert in a field where you do not get provided with a guide book. All parents know the feeling when following the birth of your child you are set free expecting to know how to raise this very complex small version of ourselves. One of the first things Dr Billy tells us that it is quite normal not to immediately develop the bonding and attachment that we sometimes hear about. Using his own example with his two children we hear that it took some time for this to develop. Ten things I wish you knew about your child’s mental health is there to help all of us who encounter difficulties with children of any age. This extends from having a baby that cries at night too much, right through to sullen teenagers. That includes most of us. Whatever the problem is it is most likely that it has been seen before in Dr Billy’s 20 years of practice and the advantage here is that you do not have to go into a long waiting line, sometimes years long, to get advice from the doctor. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Robin Bowles… in conversation with Bill Kable In the Northern Territory of Australia there have always been strange, spooky happenings. The disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio can be added to the list with so many fascinating elements and weird explanations offered. This real life story has even resulted in a horror movie being produced with some clear references to what happened on that lonely road right in the centre of the Australian mainland in the middle of the night in July 2001. What we do know is that after driving off at night with his girlfriend Joanne Lees in completely unknown and wild country Peter Falconio went missing and the only explanation we have is from that girlfriend whose behaviour was to say the least unusual. After becoming interested in the case after a telephone call from a friend, Robin Bowles entered the scene and did her usual thorough research. This included more than 50 hours with the accused and interviewing many of the main players. We get a glimpse into a world of criminals, forensic experts, seedy drug underworlds, worldwide media networks and the realities of high profile, high stakes legal process. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Tim Baker… in conversation with Bill Kable Patting the shark? This does not seem to be a good life lesson but when we hear Tim Baker explain the title it all makes sense. Surfers such as Mick Fanning have had to confront their mortality. Mick is an old friend of Tim’s and he faced a shark in front of the world’s cameras. Many of us saw him swimming next to a man eating shark in the shark’s own territory. Tim Baker has had to face a different type of mortal threat, namely a diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer. We do not know how we would react if confronted with this situation but Tim’s new book Patting the Shark takes us right into that world and he gives us a no holds barred account of what it is really like. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Prof Ian Hickie AO… in conversation with Bill Kable We often hear about the rise in the rate of depression and anxiety in our community. The stigma of poor mental health has been reduced significantly so that sports stars such as Greg Inglis can now go on television and discuss their personal battles with depression without fear of any repercussions. But even when so many people are opening up about their mental health battles there are questions we are left with. These might include what can be done to improve mental health without lining up for perhaps a year to see a Psychiatrist? What are the signs to be wary about? This is where Professor Ian Hickie enters the picture as we speak with him today. This new book A User’s Guide to the Mind is written along similar lines as a good health guide for our physical health. It is written with all ages in mind and can be dipped into for particular topics. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: William McInnes… in conversation with Bill Kable In today’s program we go behind the public face of William McInnes. We do not speak to Max Connors from SeaChange, we speak to William McInnes the Dad from Queensland about his real life love of being a father to his son and daughter. We get to hear lots of stories as included in William’s new book Fatherhood: Stories about being A Dad. As William tells us, being a Dad is a serious business but it is at the same time a funny, heart-warming and at times scary experience. This is a Father’s Day special that will bring back many memories for all sorts of Dads and for the children and grandchildren of Dads. There are tales here that sound just like a friendly chat over the back fence, or at a backyard BBQ. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Will Davies… in conversation with Bill Kable The battlefields of World War 1 are now mostly beautiful green fields with some still hiding bullets and ordinance from over 100 years ago. To fully appreciate the sacrifices made in the First World War by young Australians from “the Golden Generation” you have to know what you are looking at when you see these fields more than 100 years after the shots were fired. Our guest today Dr Will Davies can help visitors get the most out of a visit. After hearing the stories from Will, names like Pozieres, Mouquet Farm, Fromelles and Ypres will never seem the same. There are extraordinary monuments representing the countries that participated in the war to end all wars. These include the English, the American, the Canadian, even one from Newfoundland. And there is the Australian monument at Villers-Bretonneux. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Marco Renai… in conversation with Bill Kable What comes across very clearly when we speak with Marco Renai is that he is a ball of energy. After Marco left school he had a path available to him in his family’s catering business. HIs first solo business venture was to set up a gym where members could improve their physical condition and wellness under Marco’s guidance. This was Marco’s first attempt at interacting with the community but alas Covid 19 struck. When the members stopped coming, the business folded. This is where Marco’s strong family background and personal experience in the field of education shaped what happened next. While Marco had struggled with the discipline and uncompromising system of education he always had his loving and supportive family to fall back on. But when he was asked to volunteer some mentoring to local youth in the Gold Coast region of Queensland he realised that for many young men this safety net was not available. Sure enough, for many of the young men dropping out of the education system led on to big trouble with society and the law. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Jeff Apter… in conversation with Bill Kable It is hard to discover who the real Lee Gordon was but Jeff Apter provides a whirlwind tour of this extraordinary life in his new book Lee Gordon Presents. We know Lee Gordon arrived for the first time in Australia in September 1953. We know he left for the last time in 1963 before he died alone in a London hotel at the age (probably) of 40. Not much is certain about his real name, his date of birth and why this brash American decided on making Australia his home. But in the ten years he lived in Australia he revealed himself as a force of nature. Lee Gordon must have been a charming personality. He prevailed upon a whole host of the most successful entertainers in America to make the long trip to Australia and perform in sometimes primitive venues such as the Sydney Stadium. Those entertainers who fell under his spell included Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and the list goes on. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Chrissie Foster… in conversation with Bill Kable This is the story of how Chrissie Foster responded and refused to back down when confronted by an all-powerful secretive protected institution. Chrissie Foster’s family tragedies and the tepid response by the Catholic Church changed her from living a life of domestic harmony and peace in a totally unexpected way. No doubt when the choice of schools had to be made for their daughters there were discussions between Chrissie and her husband Anthony. Because of Chrissie’s background being raised and educated in the Church they chose a Catholic primary school. Years later they discovered what their daughters had endured. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Gregory Smith OAM… in conversation with Bill Kable Now well and truly out of the forest he described in his first book, Gregory Smith has produced a new book called Better than Happiness in which he lets us know how he has progressed in the five years since we heard from him last time. Gregory’s life story is extraordinary and uplifting. Gregory had a type of epiphany when sitting on a park bench in 1999 when a stranger showed him some kindness. From there it has been one step at a time. After being told so many times while he was growing up that he was stupid, he slowly began to realise that this was wrong. He found that he could learn more things than just how to survive day to day. In fact he achieved recognition in an academic field. Senior people were coming to him for advice. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Sean Turnell… in conversation with Bill Kable It is a special welcome to our guest today Sean Turnell. Sean survived for 650 days in Insein prison under the orders of the military Junta of Myanmar. In Sean’s new book An Unlikely Prisoner we hear how this unarmed University Professor who weighs 50kg wringing wet became a dangerous prisoner to a foreign government needing armed escorts wherever he went. We hear from Sean that he was summarily arrested in his hotel before being confined to a small cell he shared with an enormous rat. Nothing could prepare a person for this ordeal and Sean did not see it coming. Yet as you will hear in this interview Sean maintained his faith in humanity, his sense of humour and mostly his health. Perhaps the worst aspect was the uncertainty. Sean first thought that he would not be a priority for the authorities, that he would be fairly swiftly deported. It seemed that detention for a month would be the likely horrible outcome. But as the months went by there seemed to be no progress. Was he ever going to be released? Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Brett Mason… in conversation with Bill Kable Most Australians have some knowledge of the turning point in the Pacific war when the fear of invasion lessened. Most of us know something of the heroic story of Lieutenant John F Kennedy or JFK as he became known. Brett Mason in his book Saving Lieutenant Kennedy fills in the gaps in this amazing and hugely consequential story. These events literally changed the history of the world because if JFK had not survived it is conceivable that nuclear conflict could have erupted in the years that followed. The story happens to involve an Australian who was also heroic, namely Lieutenant Reg Evans of the RAN. Reg Evans operated behind enemy lines knowing that if they were to be betrayed he would certainly be tortured and killed. Evans relied on his Solomons Islands friends who faced the same threats in what they were doing. Evans and JFK were two very different personalities brought together in August 1943 in a way that echoes the discovery of Dr Livingstone in the African jungle. JFK’s words on being discovered on an uninhabited island of the south Pacific? “Man, am I glad to see you!” Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Keenan Mundine… in conversation with Bill Kable Dreamer, nothing but a dreamer. That might be where it started for our guest today Keenan Mundine after a beginning in life that really didn’t give him a chance. But after Keenan had spent the first half of his life in the criminal justice system he came to a realisation. Keenan either had to change his ways or face up to spending his life behind bars. Fortunately for us and for Keenan he decided to make a worthwhile contribution to society. And so was born Deadly Connections where he is the co-founder along with his wife Carly. Keenan established Deadly Connections over a year ago and the charity is officially recognised with DGR status meaning that any donations of $2 or more will bring a tax deduction. So what is Deadly Connections? What does “deadly” mean anyway? You can be sure that in this context it does not mean life threatening. In Keenan’s community it means something very good. Keenan and Carly do their work by getting right into the community with several approved programs. They aim to get to the Koori kids at risk and turn them around before they become candidates for entering the criminal justice scene. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Jai Hobbs… in conversation with Bill Kable Covid 19 is just one more hurdle for our young people coming out of school. They already have to face up to serious competition to progress in a chosen career. If they can get through University they face a HECS debt and what about the housing market. Our guest today Jai Hobbs decided to do something practical to help the young people get on top of all that. With his wife Marlies, Jai has written a manual called FLY which stands for financially literate youth. This is what he is striving for. Unfortunately financial literacy is not taught at school and surveys have shown that the level of financial literacy in our youth is appallingly low. So first of all we ask Jai what does he mean by the term financial literacy, what are the essentials? Jai tells us that financial literacy is a skill and like other skills it can be learned. It can be learned from a very young age when kids of say 9 or 10 can become good money managers and then they retain that skill for the rest of their lives. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: General Sir Peter Cosgrove… in conversation with Bill Kable It is a real privilege when we get to speak with Australia’s 26th Governor General. Sir Peter Cosgrove has had several lifetimes it appears as we look at his extensive action packed biography. And it is a measure of the man that not only does he retain an intimate knowledge of all his achievements but that he is so open and candid in looking back on them. Sir Peter’s career included fighting roles in Vietnam. It also included being the primary assistant to some of the most senior positions in the land. He was Aide de Camp for the Chief of Army and also to the Governor General Sir Paul Hasluck. He rose to attain those same positions himself as Chief of Army and later Governor General. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Chris Hammer… in conversation with Bill Kable Sometimes the world of fiction overlaps our day to day life. In speaking with our guest today Chris Hammer we find out that Chris is interested himself in how the characters in his new book Trust will deal with the real life problem of the Covid 19 crisis. As well as Covid there is reference in the book to the 2019/2020 bushfires that swept the nation in unprecedented fury. One of the greatest charms in reading Chris Hammer’s best-selling books is that there is authenticity. For Australians that means familiarity with the settings on the coast and in rural areas for previous books. In Trust the setting is Sydney but not the postcard Sydney in the shadow of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This is the real Sydney populated by real people. Overseas readers are also drawn to this picture of the real Australia and Chris is delighted that his work has been translated into other languages so people in other countries can learn about us. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Rob Sturrock… in conversation with Bill Kable What? The title of Rob Sturrock’s book can still surprise even in the twenty-first century. Somehow the idea of fathers taking on the primary role of raising children sits a little uncomfortably. Rob is calling for no less than a revolutionary approach if we are going to transition to a world where boys are free to be whatever they want to be, including being a stay-at-home Dad if they want. Many young women in our society have for some time enjoyed the freedom of choice when it comes to being a mother in the home or a career woman. Yet when women set out to be high flyers in the business world there are some things we do not hear. Women are usually praised for saying they want a good well-paying job and that they are prepared to work hard. But do they ever say this is so that they can support a family? The community still sees men as the main bread winner and so the sentiment is common if not universal among young men. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Peter FitzSimons… in conversation with Bill Kable “Shoot straight you bastards! Don’t make a mess of it.” These are the last words of Breaker Morant as he sat on a chair looking at the firing squad about to kill him. These words are well known in Australia as one of the few relics from the first time troops from the Australian continent went into the battlefield in the Boer War. But after reading Peter FitzSimons’ book titled Breaker Morant the inescapable conclusion is that there are a lot of unknowns in the story of the Breaker. Many of the things we thought we knew are actually fictions usually started by the Breaker himself. When we talk to the very well-known Peter Fitzsimons today we discover first of all who the Breaker really was, starting with his real name. He was English, not Australian. He left a trail of debtors and forsaken lovers around Australia but had nothing to return to in England. He was charming, a great story teller and entertainer. He was a man’s man in many ways, a hard drinker, great horse rider yet also a respected poet with many of his poems published. He was a friend of Banjo Patterson. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Molly Murn… in conversation with Bill Kable Today we travel back to the time before 1836 and to Australia’s second biggest island, Kangaroo Island, off the coast of South Australia. This is a big story over different generations of islanders. The modern day story deals with the effect on a family of a grandmother’s death. When Nell died her family returned to Kangaroo Island to mourn and farewell her. Nell’s granddaughter Pearl pulled together the scraps Nell left behind, her stories, poems and paintings and unearthed the early history of the European sealers and their first contact with the Ngarrindjeri people. Interwoven with the modern day story is the life on the island before 1836 with some brutal characters set against the next generation. The main character asks himself what it is to be a man after being confronted with some terrible exploits of the early sealers. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Samuel Johnson… in conversation with Bill Kable Samuel Johnson is well known to Australian television audiences. He has won the Gold Logie for his performance in the miniseries Molly. But to others in the Australian community he is the hero who has raised $20 million for cancer research. In that connection Samuel rode his unicycle around Australia in a fund raising effort and in the process of cycling 15,000 kilometres broke a world record. Clearly this man knows a hero when he sees one. And yet when Samuel’s sister Hilde Hinton told him about the everyday heroes she met in her own fundraising activities it all came as a surprise. Many of these unsung heroes in our Australian community hide their light under a bushel. These Australian heroes were initially horrified to think that their stories would be included in a book titled Heroes Next Door. However Samuel can be very persuasive and we are fortunate to be able finally to hear these uplifting stories at a time when we need them most. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Alex Miller… in conversation with Bill Kable Those who fought against the Nazis in World War II were necessarily shadowy figures. It was a matter of survival. For Max Blatt who lived the latter half of his life in Australia those shadows stayed with him until the day he died. Even 20 years after his death those shadows and mysteries still shrouded his life story. But our guest today the award winning writer Alex Miller was not content to leave the story in the black hole of Nazi atrocities. For Alex and all of us these stories need to be explored and revealed if the community as a whole is to get over being so damaged by events in the not so distant past. Despite the sadness and tragedy in Max’s family this story becomes one of survival, friendship, mentoring and most of all love. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Monica McInerney… in conversation with Bill Kable When we speak with Monica McInerney she still sounds like she has lived all her life in South Australia. In fact she has become a local in Ireland over the last twenty plus years and knows very well the country around Dublin which is a big part of her new book The Godmothers. The book could be used to promote the Irish countryside with its beautiful scenery and warm welcoming pubs. We also visit England and Scotland which is a welcome adventure when travel has become so restricted for all of us. But the main appeal of this story is that we learn about families, relationships and the often unforeseen consequences of our actions. In particular we are let in on some family secrets and different ways they are treated. Some secrets are bound to go to the grave while others can hardly be called secret since everyone in the family knows them. Monica delves into the personalities of her characters and finds that everyone has a story, everyone has flaws and some are not very nice people. Along the way we get to question our own ethics. And there are surprises in store right to the last page. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Caro Llewellyn… in conversation with Bill Kable When Caro Llewellyn started writing her new book she had intended it to be mainly about her extraordinary father, Richard. However her life then took a sudden and unexpected turn, one which turned her world upside down. That change meant adding to the story with her own experience and her feelings became the title of her new book Diving Into Glass. Caro was on top of the world with a son she adored, a glittering career organising book festivals around the world where she got to meet and become friendly with leading writers and an active lifestyle that often included daily runs of 10km or more. What is more Caro felt confident in agreeing with her father that fate would favour her because surely her dad had taken on himself all the bad luck that a family should expect. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: John O’Halloran… in conversation with Bill Kable John O’Halloran was an unlikely war hero. With the assistance of Ric Teague John tells his story for the first time in The Platoon Commander: The extraordinary story of the man who led Australia’s most decorated platoon of the Vietnam War. Coming from Tamworth in country NSW John was called up in the first conscription ballot. But before doing his compulsory medical he was involved in a street accident which badly damaged his foot which should have ruled him out as medically unfit. However with a bit of help from a local medico he got over that first hurdle and soon distinguished himself in training. John was made Platoon Commander and at the age of 21 he was sent to Vietnam. In that war-torn country he now had enemy soldiers shooting at him, trying their best to kill him. And the men under his command were dependent for their lives on his decisions under fire. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Dr Gabriel Weston… in conversation with Bill Kable In her absorbing new book called ALIVE Doctor Gabriel Weston looks in admiration at the incredible work 11 organs of our body do to keep us alive. Gabriel tells us that if the space permitted she would have liked to examine at least another 14 organs but we do get to investigate the most interesting. Somehow Gabriel manages to talk about body parts without making even the most squeamish feel uncomfortable. This is clear when the book begins with a post mortem description that is very detailed. Gabriel is also able to deal with the genitals in a very matter of fact way that generates more light than heat. What comes out most strongly in ALIVE is the sense of wonder that Gabriel feels when describing what the organs of the body do. Gabriel first felt this as a child when she was likely to go towards an accident or medical emergency. The feeling grew when she was invited to attend a surgical procedure but seemed thwarted when her maths and science abilities were not up to the standard required for entry into medical studies. So Gabriel studied the subject she was good at namely English literature. Luckily for all of us she found a way into medicine and found her true calling. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Prof Frank Furedi… in conversation with Bill Kable Frank Furedi says that fear is the principal motivating force in the 21st Century. We see fear being used by all sides in politics; we see it in the family dynamic; we see it in the young with their fear of missing out (or FOMO). And yet at the same time we do not call it out because to some degree we have been sensitised to its operation. Once an expert like our guest today points out the use of fear we can see it everywhere and if it is not going to take over our lives completely we need to take some time-honoured steps to counter its influence. As Frank Furedi tells us, fear can be distinguished from anxiety which is also a major problem in the Western world with so much of the population in the grip of anxiety and depression. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Glenn A Baker… in conversation with Bill Kable Glenn A Baker is a father of six children and a grandfather of 12. For those of us whose memories extend a little he is the music guru so he is a very special Dad to be on our program. Glenn is here to tell us about an adventure he had lined up for those with a special interest in a particular seminal event and rock music generally. Yes to our surprise it is more than 50 years since that massive and unplanned gathering of over 500,000 people in upstate New York listened to the cream of the world’s musicians playing in a concert, some concert. The Woodstock concert went for three and half days. It was recorded for records, tapes and later CD’s. It was also a major feature film that was issued soon after the event and many years later re-issued in a Director’s cut. In 2019 Woodstock was honoured again when Glenn A Baker lead a tour group to Max Yasgur’s dairy Farm in Bethel New York near the town of Woodstock and many other locales famous in rock’n’roll history. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Steve Biddulph AM… in conversation with Bill Kable It was hard enough to raise boys in the 20th Century. What are the new challenges facing parents who want to raise their sons to be the open-hearted, kind and strong men they can be? Our guest today has revised and updated his classic parenting book released in 1997, a book that is found in over three million homes around the world. There is a lot of new information and surprising research for Steve to draw on in his new book Raising Boys in the Twenty-first Century. There is a new understanding of hormonal changes as boys turn into men, changes that mean the age from 6 to 14 is when fathers count the most. We know the world is in a lot of trouble and in many ways we have failed our boys. The suggestion from Steve to counter that failing is the most important part of his book and very simple. Dads or Dad figures simply need to spend some time, to just be around their boys particularly when they are between the ages of 6 and 14. Modelling is vitally important even if the role model doesn’t know he is doing it. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: John Stapleton… in conversation with Bill Kable John Stapleton is a legend at Dads on the Air. In the year 2000 while working as a journalist he became involved with a number of fathers who struggled to see their own children because of the machinations of the Family Court. Worse still, because of the legislation no-one in the broader community knew what was going on. So John resolved to shed some light on the problem through a community radio program run on a shoestring from 2GLF in Liverpool New South Wales after giving the program its name. Here we are 18 years later still going strong. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Jake Burden… in conversation with Bill Kable Jake Burden tells us that everyone can dance. For those with a particular ability and the drive to do all the hard training that goes with being a dancer on the stage Jake tells us there are all sorts of rewards. On the flip side of these benefits there remains an element in our society that thinks dancing is somehow unmanly, that only young girls should express themselves in this way and because male dancers are seen as different they can be subjected to bullying. This is where Jake Burden steps in to provide a safe haven as the creator of Ballet Brothers, based in Newcastle New South Wales. Jake is the creator and director of Ballet Brothers an independent organisation aimed at supporting and encouraging boys who love to dance. Jake has experienced bullying himself but because of his love of dancing he did not let that stop him achieving his goals. Now he wants to let boys know that if they are passionate about dance they are not alone. As well as training boys to become better dancers Jake provides a support network and a platform for male dancers of all ages from around the world to share experience and wisdom with each other. Podcast (mp3)

With special guest: Eddie Woo… in conversation with Bill Kable We hardly need to do an introduction for our guest today. Eddie Woo has become very well-known through regular television appearances and YouTube lessons as one of the leading teachers in the world. The Government has recognised this by recently appointing him as a “super teacher” so that he can visit schools around NSW and inspire the teachers to inspire their students. Ever thought that you were just no good at Maths and anyway what good is Maths in everyday life. Our guest today begs to differ on both counts. Eddie says Maths is for everyone and he has lots of ways of convincing you that not only is Maths fascinating but it underlies everything in the universe. Yes Eddie Woo comes to Dads on the Air and adds to the audience on his YouTube channel Wootube where he has been viewed a staggering 25 million times. Podcast (mp3)