Let Me Tell You

If you were raised in a strict environment, how do you break that cycle and adopt a gentler approach with your children? In this episode Raidah Shah Idil reveals how after growing up feeling terrified of failure, being dux of her school and on track to being a doctor, her life turned out very different from what her parents had planned. She speaks to Caitlin and Sarah about how she learned to 'untiger' herself.

What do you do when you discover something life changing about yourself later in life? This is what happened to Linda Augusto. In this episode Linda speaks to Sarah and Caitlin about trying to piece together the puzzle of her life, looking back on the unsaid moments of her life with her beloved Nan. It's a reminder that our histories and family secrets can inform our lives in ways we can't perceive.

Religion is a dicey topic at the best of times, but when you add sexuality it becomes a conversation too hot for the dinner table. Mark Mariano speaks to Sarah and Caitlin about growing up in the Mormon church while grappling with being a self-described ‘gaysian' who worships at the altar of Beyonce.

Online dating can be a fraught experience. In this episode, Lieu-Chi Nguyen speaks to Caitlin and Sarah about a dating app experience that was laced with a painful twist. What was it about the phrase "you're such a sweet girl" that had such an impact?

First impressions can sometimes be deceiving. Benjamin Muir, who works part-time as a trolley boy to support his academic career. In this episode, he speaks to Caitlin and Sarah about how he went from being a minor teenage nuisance and "barely" getting into university to becoming a scholar in literature, and how he sees the class divide at play in these two worlds.

Growing up in the 1990s, a time of Kate Moss, grunge and heroin chic, boys weren't attracted to Nadine Chemali. So when she kissed a girl on her 18th birthday, it opened up a whole other world. In this episode, Nadine talks to Caitlin and Sarah about exploring her queerness and how it's not always a case of "coming out", but rather "inviting in."

When Vicki Kyriakakis was just two years old her parents made the difficult decision to send her to live with her grandparents so that they could focus on working hard and saving money for a house. The catch? Vicki's grandparents lived in Greece and Vicki barely knew them. In this episode, Vicki talks to Caitlin and Sarah about the legacy of that difficult decision and how it still affects her feeling of belonging to two different countries, even now.

Ala Paredes was a celebrity in the Philippines. We're talking TV hosting, magazine covers, billboards, the whole shebang. Her family then moved to Australia and she had to leave that world behind. In fact, she had to start from scratch and made a living working at a cafe, making coffees and cleaning toilets. On the 16th anniversary of her migration, Ala talks to Caitlin and Sarah about what it was like starting over and what it taught her about life as a migrant.

Let Me Tell You is a podcast from SBS Voices where eight Australians will tell you, in their own voice, incredible real stories that will sometimes surprise you, move you, and leave you hanging on to every word. Hosted by Sarah Malik and Caitlin Chang. Artwork by Lilian Darmono.