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Welcome to the Good Reading Podcasts.

Browse our podcasts by genre or check out our most recent podcasts below.

Crime / Thrillers Contemporary Fiction Historical Fiction

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General Non-Fiction Young Adult

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LISTEN TO OUR LATEST PODCASTS

Elfie Shiosaki on Noongar women's stories of resilience in Homecoming

Homecoming is a work of extraordinary beauty that awakens the voices of four generations of Elfie Shiosaki's family. Written using archival records, family letters and oral history, it is the culmination of five years of research that shares stories of indigenous resistance and renewal.

Homecoming weaves a vivid tapestry of history, language, memory, landscape and spirit that asks something special of the reader. It is a book to be treasured, a reminder of a brutal past and a remarkable story of survival.

In this episode, Gregory Dobbs talks to Elfie Shiosaki about research and writing, about new and ancient ways of storytelling and the process of recasting history in a unique form.

Rebecca Wilson on the untold story of Ned Kelly's little sister Kate Kelly

A huge celebrity in her day, Kate Kelly was eventually forgotten while the reputation of the Kelly Gang graduated from folklore to cultural icon. Kate was a talented horsewoman and often ran decoy for the Gang and was present at the infamous gun battle at Glenrowan.

In later life she changed her name in an attempt to escape the notoriety but her life ended in tragedy. Kate was found drowned in a lagoon outside Forbes but the circumstances around her death remain a mystery.

In this episode, Gregory Dobbs talks to Rebecca Wilson about her fascination with the Kate Kelly story and how she came upon this missing chapter in Australian history.

Lisa Genova on why forgetting isn't as bad as you think, and her first non-fiction book Remember

Remember is the first non-fiction novel from neuroscientist and 'Still Alice' author Lisa Genova, which delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them.

In this episode, Heather Lewis chats to Lisa about the process of writing her first non-fiction novel, how she got started in neuroscience, and some mind-blowing facts about the brain.

Madelaine Dickie and Sam Carmody on Australian surf culture in Lines to the Horizon

This anthology of Australian surf writing celebrates the diversity of surf culture from epic surf adventures in Mexico to the relationship of humans with the sea and to Taj Burrows final campaign in Fiji. Featuring the writing of Sally Breen, Emily Brugman, Sam Carmody Madelaine Dickie, Jake Sandtner and Mark Smith, these non-fiction stories explore the passion, the fear, the joy and the pain of Australian surfing culture in Australia and abroad.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Madelaine Dickie and Sam Carmody about a surfing as a sport, a culture and a lifestyle told in very different ways.

Elizabeth Becker on three extraordinary female wartime journalists in You Don't Belong Here

Catherine Leroy, Frances Fitzgerald and Kate Webb arrived in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968 at the height of the war. Leroy was a French daredevil photographer; Frances Fitzgerald a blue-blood American intellectual; and Kate Webb was the first Australian woman to report on the war in Vietnam.

Together these three women permanently shattered the barriers to women reporting on war in a field of journalism dominated by men. You Don't Belong Here is the story of the lives and legacy of three journalists that fills a void in the history of women and war.

In this episode, Gregory Dobbs talks to Elizabeth Becker about the barriers these women faced and the extraordinary achievements in reporting on a complex and the highly politicised Vietnam war.

Debra Oswald on the ethical and legal dilemmas of exploring family violence in The Family Doctor

Paula is a dedicated GP who witnesses the brutal murder of her friend and her children at the hands of their estranged husband and father. Paula is haunted by the thought that she couldn’t protect them when they most needed it.

Soon after a patient with suspicious injuries attends her surgery and Paula is faced with a decision that could make this woman safe but also compromise everything her training as a doctor has instilled in her.

The Family Doctor is a thrilling and provocative novel about women’s fury, grief and the preciousness of life.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs talks to Debra Oswald about a problem very much of these times.

'Mistakes come from vulnerability' - Katie McMahon on her salacious debut, The Mistake

Bec and Kate are sisters, but they couldn’t be less alike. Bec lives the domestic dream with her surgeon husband Stuart and three perfect children. So why is she so attracted to free-spirited Ryan? Kate’s life is hardly a dream. But when she meets Adam – tall, kind, funny – things start looking up. Until she finds out he’s been keeping secrets from her.

Then there is the incident both sisters are desperate to ignore…

Will they discover that some mistakes can’t be put right?

In this episode, Max Lewis joins debut author Katie McMahon to chat about her suburban thriller The Mistake.

Tanya Bretherton on the post-WWII Sydney women who killed in The Husband Poisoner

After World War II, Sydney experienced a crime wave that was chillingly calculated. Discontent mixed with despair, greed with callous disregard. Women who had lost their wartime freedoms headed back into the kitchen with sinister intent and the household poison thallium, normally used to kill rats, was repurposed to kill husbands and other inconvenient family members.

Yvonne Fletcher disposed of two husbands. Caroline Grills cheerfully poisoned her stepmother, a family friend, her brother and his wife. Unlike arsenic or cyanide, thallium is colourless, odourless and tasteless; victims were misdiagnosed as insane malingerers or ill due to other reasons. And once one death was attributed to natural causes, it was all too easy for an aggrieved woman to kill again.

This is the story of a series of murders that struck at the very heart of domestic life. It's the tale of women who looked for deadly solutions to what they saw as impossible situations. The Husband Poisoner documents the reasons behind the choices these women made - and their terrible outcomes.

Helen Fitzgerald on blue light discos and small town disasters in Ash Mountain

Helen Fitzgerald vividly portrays small town life, and a woman and a land in crisis in her latest thriller 'Ash Mountain'.

Fran vowed she'd never return to Ash Mountain but circumstances draw her back to a blisteringly hot summer in the rural town of Ash Mountain. Confronting the past and dealing with future are sidelined by an impending disaster – a mega-fire is roaring towards Ash Mountain and it will expose all kinds of secrets in its wake.

In this episode, Gregory Dobbs chats to Helen Fitzgerald about growing up in a small Victorian country town, about Blue Light Discos and how disaster and humour can be comfortable bedfellows in this ripping disaster thriller.

Susan Johnson on unlikely friendships in From Where I Fell

Susan Johnson exposes the truths and deceptions in relationships amid a blossoming online friendship between two women in 'From Where I Fell'.

Pamela and Christhani live on different continents, but through a series of email exchanges the two women begin sharing the stories of their lives. Although temperamental opposites they soon establish a connection based on the common ground of grief, loss and new beginnings. 'From Where I Fell' is a funny and endearing story of how unlikely friendships can be the catalyst for deep reflection, new directions and confronting the past.

In this episode. Gregory Dobbs chats to Susan Johnson about the what inspired her to recast the epistolary novel in contemporary form and the overlap between fiction and non-fiction.

Gretel Killeen on the highs and lows of mother-daughter love in My Daughter's Wedding

Nora Fawn's daughter Hope disappeared four years ago and only maintained contact through her big sister Joy. But last night Hope rang Nora to say, 'I'm coming home, I'm getting married, the wedding is in three weeks and it's your job to organise it.'

Desperate to regain her daughter's love and prove her worth as a mother Nora accepts the challenge. Through the medium of a discarded diary, Nora plots the hilarious and emotional journey to redemption through the rocky terrain of mother-daughter relationships and a wedding to end all weddings.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Gretel Killeen about the confounding complexity of mother-daughter love across three generations.

Madeleine Ryan on autism, self love, and her introspective debut A Room Called Earth

A young woman gets ready to go to a party. She arrives, feels overwhelmed, leaves, and then returns. Minutely attuned to the people who come into her view, and alternating between alienation and profound connection, she is hilarious, self-aware, sometimes acerbic, and always honest.

And by the end of the night, she’s shown us something radical about love, loss, and the need to belong.

In this episode, filmmaker and writer Madeleine Ryan joins Max Lewis to chat about her prismatic debut A Room Called Earth.

Michael Brissenden on criminal thrills and a lost Sydney in Dead Letters

Michael Brissenden's second crime thriller Dead Letters brings counter terrorism expert Sid Allen into the sordid and complicated world of Canberra politics.

From the seedy backstreets of 1980s Sydney to the corridors of power in contemporary Canberra, Sidney Allen must pursue the truth behind a baffling crime. Dan LeRoi, rising star of politics and Chair of the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security has been shot dead. But it's not all it seems.

Life becomes complicated for Sid when he joins forces with tenacious journalist Zephyr Wilde. She's still getting letters from her dead mother who was murdered twenty years ago. They're both asking too many questions and knowing who to trust will make the difference between life and death.

Gregory Dobbs chats to Michael Brissenden about the nexus between journalism and politics, and reflections on a lost Sydney.

Maggie Hamilton on reconnecting with others in When We Become Strangers

We're more connected that ever before says Maggie Hamilton and yet feelings of loneliness and isolation have never been more prevalent. We are now more affluent and busier and yet we are leaving our homes less and less as we become more dependent on technology to communicate. 'We've become strangers, exiled from people and situations that are meaningful to us.' says Maggie

When We Become Strangers examines in detail all levels of human interaction and looks into the future with a warning for what we might become. Parenting, love and relationships, brain fatigue, entertainment and the changing nature of the workplace are put under the microscope and placed in the context of our increasing reliance on technology to solve problems.

Maggie proposes simple and effective solutions and actions we can all take to restore the balance and reclaim our unique selves and the places we live and work.

In this episode, Greg Dobbs chats to Maggie Hamilton about how we can reconnect with our fellow humans in a world of instant digital gratification.

B Michael Radburn on the thunderous new novel in the Taylor Bridges series, The Reach

In secluded Devlins Reach, on the shores of the Hawkesbury River, three bodies are unearthed in an excavation site. When a wilderness expert, Park Ranger Taylor Bridges, is called in to assist local police, he soon discovers the town has an unsettling history – one to match Taylor's own haunted past.

But the quiet location and picturesque beauty of The Reach are hiding something darker than Taylor could have anticipated. Within the town's tight-knit community of loggers, store owners and tight-lipped locals, someone is targeting the residents one by one.

As a torrential storm surges ever closer, and the river swells at the levee walls, The Reach goes into lockdown. With no way in or out, Taylor finds himself in a race against the power of nature to find a desperate killer before the whole town goes under.

In this episode, B Michael Radburn chats to Max Lewis about the origins of his Taylor Bridges series, how the Hawkesbury region in NSW inspired the titular Reach and its buried secrets, and how exciting it is to work on a film of your own book.

Aaron Smith on Australia's cultural and moral divide in The Rock

Aaron Smith's new memoir holds up a unique mirror to Australia. What he sees is at once amazing, disturbing and revealing.

The Rock explores the failings of our nation's character, its unresolved past and its uncertain future from the vantage point of its most northerly outpost, Thursday Island. Smith was the last editor, fearless journalist and the paperboy of Australia's most northerly newspaper, The Torres News, a small independent regional tabloid that, until it folded in late 2019, was the voice of a predominantly Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal readership for 63 years across some of the most remote and little understood communities in Australia.

The Rock is a story of self-discovery where Smith grapples to understand a national identity marred by its racist underbelly, where he is transplanted from his white-boy privileged suburban life to being a racial and cultural minority, and an outsider. Peppered with his experiences, Smith gradually and sensitively becomes embedded in island life while vividly capturing the endless and often farcical parade of personalities and politicians including Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott.

In this episode, Aaron Smith joins Max Lewis to unpack his thoughts around The Rock, and how his time on Thursday Island has shaped his life.

Craig Sisterson shares the very best of Southern Cross Crime

Australian and New Zealand crime and thriller writing is booming globally, with antipodean authors regularly featuring on awards and bestseller lists across Europe and North America, and overseas readers and publishers looking more and more to tales from lands Down Under.

Hailing from two sparsely populated nations on the far edge of the former Empire - neighbours that are siblings in spirit, vastly different in landscape - Australian and New Zealand crime writers offer readers a blend of exotic and familiar, seasoned by distinctive senses of place, outlook, and humour, and roots that trace to the earliest days of our genre.

Southern Cross Crime is the first comprehensive guide to modern Australian and New Zealand crime writing. From coastal cities to the Outback, leading critic Craig Sisterson showcases key titles from more than 200 storytellers, plus screen dramas ranging from Mystery Road to Top of the Lake. Fascinating insights are added through in-depth interviews with some of the prime suspects who paved the way or instigated the global boom, including Jane Harper, Michael Robotham, Paul Cleave, Emma Viskic, Paul Thomas, and Candice Fox.

In this episode, Craig Sisterson joins Gregory Dobbs to chat about how he began his love with crime, and his experiences founding the Ngaio Marsh awards and Rotura Noir.

'There was a need to finish what Tilly Dunnage started' - Rosalie Ham on The Dressmaker's Secret

It is 1953 and Melbourne society is looking forward to coronation season, the grand balls and celebrations for the young queen-to-be. Tilly Dunnage is, however, working for a pittance in a second-rate Collins Street salon. Her talents go unappreciated, and the madame is a bully and a cheat, but Tilly has a past she is desperate to escape and good reason to prefer anonymity.

Meanwhile, Sergeant Farrat and the McSwiney clan have been searching for their resident dressmaker ever since she left Dungatar in flames. And they aren't the only ones. The inhabitants of the town are still out for revenge (or at least someone to foot the bill for the new high street). So when Tilly's name starts to feature in the fashion pages, the jig is up. Along with Tilly's hopes of keeping her secrets hidden...

In this episode, author Rosalie Ham joins Gregory Dobbs to chat about returning to Tilly Dunnage and the residents of Dungatar, 20 years after readers were first introduced.

'We need a different approach': Tim Flannery on solving our climate crisis in The Climate Cure

Tim Flannery’s new book The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of Covid-19 marks a change in attitude toward those in government and the lack of action in the fight against climate change.

'The Federal Liberal/National Party is the last blockage in the fight against climate change,' says Tim Flannery. While state governments and local councils are doing great things in advancing clean energy prospects, the Federal government is holding the entire country to ransom – there are just 25 sceptics in this Federal Liberal/National Party.

Gregory Dobbs talks to Tim Flannery about the challenges and the solutions to the climate emergency and busts a few myths along the way.

'You are your baby's favourite rockstar' - Anita Collins on The Music Advantage

Ground-breaking music educator Dr Anita Collins' new book The Music Advantage draws on the latest international neurological research to reveal the extraordinary and surprising benefits of children learning music. Music plays an important role in brain development that promotes learning, concentration and the ability to persevere with challenging tasks.

Gregory Dobbs talks to Anita about the value of singing to your baby and why sound is one of the most valuable senses in cognitive development. Discover why learning music as a child supports and promotes learning and is a critical component in learning to read. 'Music learning', says Dr Collins, 'promotes confidence and persistence, and creates a culture of lifelong learning that has benefits right through to adulthood.'

Alan Carter on returning to Sergeant Nick Chester and the Wakamarina Valley in Doom Creek

Sergeant Nick Chester has dodged the Geordie gangsters he once feared and is out of hiding and looking forward to the quiet life. But gold fever is creating ill feeling between prospectors, and a new threat lurks in the form of trigger-happy Americans preparing for doomsday by building a bolthole in the valley. As tensions simmer, Nick finds himself up against an evil that knows no borders and no depths.

In this episode, Alan Carter joins Max Lewis to talk about his experiences living in the Wakamarina Valley of New Zealand inspired the latest chapter in the Sergeant Nick Chester series, Doom Creek.

Ronni Kahn on finding her calling in A Repurposed Life

As the owner of a successful events company, throwing away huge volumes of leftover food at the end of the day came with the territory. But when Ronni Kahn hit midlife, she found herself no longer able to turn a blind eye to her food waste problem. Hand delivering the untouched food to homeless shelters around Sydney became her renegade solution. Little did she know that fixing her small problem at work would lead her to unlock a hidden purpose at the very core of her inner life.

Now founder and CEO of the food rescue organisation OzHarvest, Ronni leads hundreds of staff and thousands of volunteers with the goal to nourish Australia. She serves in an advisory capacity to government and is an instrumental leader in changing federal laws to improve social justice and environmental policies.

A Repurposed Life is the story of how Ronni found her voice, her heart and her deepest calling. From her early years growing up under the brutal system of apartheid South Africa, to a socialist commune in Israel, Ronni finally settled in Australia to discover a profound new way of living. Shared with the humour, warmth and energy that have made her an internationally renowned keynote speaker, this heartfelt exploration of the choices that define us will speak to anyone seeking a more passionate expression of being alive.

In this podcast, Ronni joins Greg Dobbs to chat about finding her calling in OzHarvest, and the process of co-writing the memoir with her daughter-in-law, Jessica Chapnik Kahn.

Heather Morris on the art of listening in Stories of Hope

Heather Morris, author of the internationally bestselling novels The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey, grew up on a farm in rural New Zealand. On her way back across the paddocks from school, Heather would visit her great-grandfather and listen to his experiences of war - stories he told only Heather. From a young age Heather discovered that people would tell her their stories if she stopped and listened.

In Stories of Hope, Heather Morris will explore the art of listening - a skill she employed when she met Lale Sokolov, the Tattooist of Auschwitz. It was her ability to listen that led him to entrust her with his story. Stories of Hope will examine Heather's extraordinary journey, in the form of a series of beautifully rendered tales of the people she has met, the remarkable stories they have shared with her, and the lessons they hold for us all.

In this episode, Greg Dobbs chats to Heather Morris about why she wanted to write Stories of Hope, and the experience of writing her first memoir.

Stella Budrikis on the 1907 trial that gripped Perth, The Edward Street Baby Farm

In 1907, Alice Mitchell was arrested for the murder of five-month-old Ethel Booth. During the inquest and subsequent trial, the general public was horrified to learn that at least 37 infants had died in Mitchell's care in the previous six years. It became clear that she had been running a 'baby farm', making a profit out of caring for the children of single mothers and other 'unfortunate women'. The Edward Street Baby Farm retraces this infamous tragedy and a trial which gripped the nation and led to legislative changes to protect children's welfare.

Ian McGuire unpacks his gritty story of revenge and the past, The Abstainer

Manchester, 1867.

Stephen Doyle arrives in Manchester from New York. He is an Irish-American veteran of the Civil War and a member of the Fenians, a secret society intent on ending British rule in Ireland, by any means necessary. Now he has come to seek vengeance.

James O'Connor has fled grief and drink in Dublin for a sober start in Manchester as Head Constable. His mission is to discover and thwart the Fenians’ plans. When his long-lost nephew arrives on his doorstep, he never could have foreseen how this would imperil his fragile new life – or how his and Doyle's fates would come to be intertwined.

In this episode, Booker Prize longlisted author Ian Mcguire joins Max Lewis to unpack his gritty new historical fiction novel, The Abstainer.

Leon Silver on the true family story of love and survival in his book The Miracle Typist

Conscripted into the Polish army as Hitler’s forces draw closer, Jewish soldier Tolek Klings vows to return to his wife, Klara, and son, Juliusz. However, the army is rife with anti-Semitism and Tolek is relentlessly tormented. As the Germans invade Poland, he is faced with a terrible dilemma: flee home to protect his family – and risk being shot as a deserter – or remain a soldier, hoping reports of women and children being spared by the occupying forces are true.

What follows is an extraordinary odyssey that will take Tolek – via a daring escape from a Hungarian internment camp – to Palestine, where his ability to type earns him the title of ‘The Miracle Typist’, then on to fight in Egypt, Tobruk and Italy. A broken telegram from Klara, ending with the haunting words, ‘We trouble’, makes Tolek even more determined to find his way home and fulfil his promise.

In this episode, Leon Silver joins Greg Dobbs to tell the true story of his father-in-law Tolek Klings that inspired his book The Miracle Typist.

Petronella McGovern unpacks her tense psychological thriller The Good Teacher

Every evening, Allison watches her husband's new house, desperate to find some answers. Every morning, she puts on a brave face to teach kindergarten. She's a good teacher, everyone says so - this stalking is just a tiny crack in her usual self-control.

A late enrolment into her class brings little Gracie. Allison takes the sick girl under her wing, smothering Gracie with the love she can't give her own son. When Gracie has a chance to go to America for treatment, Allison whips up the community into a frenzied fundraising drive.But as others start to question her judgement and the police arrive at her door, Allison wonders if she can trust herself. Has she crossed a line? How far will the good teacher go to save a life? And whose life will that be?

In this episode, Greg Dobbs joins Petronella McGovern to chat about her latest psychological thriller, The Good Teacher.

Kate Mildenhall talks dystopia, motherhood & the sailing trip of a lifetime in The Mother Fault

Mim’s husband is missing. No one knows where Ben is, but everyone wants to find him – especially The Department. And they should know, the all-seeing government body has fitted the entire population with a universal tracking chip to keep them ‘safe’.But suddenly Ben can’t be tracked. And Mim is questioned, made to surrender her passport and threatened with the unthinkable – her two children being taken into care at the notorious BestLife.

Cornered, Mim risks everything to go on the run to find her husband – and a part of herself, long gone, that is brave enough to tackle the journey ahead. From the stark backroads of the Australian outback to a terrifying sea voyage, Mim is forced to shuck off who she was – mother, daughter, wife, sister – and become the woman she needs to be to save her family and herself.

In this episode, Kate Mildenhall joins Max Lewis to chat about living in an almost-dystopia while writing 'The Mother Fault', the influences of her own motherhood on her writing, and almost dying while researching for the book.

S L Lim on desire, art and the power of resistance in Revenge: Murder in three parts

A family favour their son over their daughter ... Shan attends university before making his fortune in Australia while Yannie must find menial employment and care for her ageing parents. After her mother’s death, Yannie travels to Sydney to become enmeshed in her psychopathic brother’s new life, which she seeks to undermine from within …

Revenge is a novel that rages against capitalism, hetero-supremacy, mothers, fathers, families – the whole damn thing. It’s about what happens when you want to make art but are born in the wrong time and place. S L Lim brings to vivid life the frustrations of a talented daughter and vengeful sister in a nuanced and riveting novel that ends in the most unexpected way. It will not be easily forgotten.

In this episode Max Lewis joins S L Lim to talk the fiery follow up to 'Real Differences', the 'grubby compromises' we make in order to create art, and the inspiring work of the brit-pop band Pulp.

Meg Keneally on confronting (and escaping) the past in her colonial-era novel The Wreck

In 1820 Sarah McCaffrey, fleeing arrest for her part in a failed rebellion, thinks she has escaped when she finds herself aboard the Serpent, bound from London to the colony of New South Wales. But when the mercurial captain's actions drive the ship into a cliff, Sarah is the only survivor. Adopting a false identity, she becomes the right-hand woman of Molly Thistle, who has grown her late husband's business interests into a sprawling real estate and trade empire. As time passes, Sarah begins to believe she might have found a home - until her past follows her across the seas ...

In this episode, Meg Keneally joins Greg Dobbs to chat about her new historical fiction novel The Wreck.

Andrew Boe on Australia's flawed justice system in The Truth Hurts

Drawing on his experiences as a child of Burmese migrants fleeing a military junta and his evolution from a naive law clerk, too shy to speak, into a lawyer whose ponytailed flamboyance and unbridled willingness to speak truth to power riled many within the legal establishment, Andrew Boe delves into cases he found unable to leave behind. These cases have shaped who he has become.

Taking us from a case of traditional punishment gone wrong in the Gibson Desert to deaths in police custody on Palm Island and in Yuendumu in the Northern Territory - places where race relations are often stalled in a colonial time warp - to an isolated rural home, and the question of what is self-defence after decades of domestic abuse; to cases of children abandoned, 'stolen' and then fought over; and into prison interview rooms and courthouses around the country where Boe defended serial killers, rapists, child sex offenders, murderers as well as the odd politician - he holds fast to the premise that either every one of us is entitled to the presumption of innocence or none of us are.

In this episode, Andrew joins Max Lewis to expand on The Truth Hurts - explaining our misconception that the justice system is designed to find the truth, and the effect of the Black Lives Matter movement on this country's tragedy of Indigenous deaths in custody.

The Good Reading Podcast · Andrew Boe on Australia's flawed justice system in 'The Truth Hurts'

Jess Scully on how a better world is possible in Glimpses of Utopia

It’s hard to be excited about the future right now. Jess Scully asks, What can we do? The answer is: plenty! All over the world, people are refusing the business-as-usual mindset and putting humans back into the civic equation, reimagining work and care, finance and government, urban planning and communication, to make them better and fairer for all.

Meet the care workers reclaiming control in India and Lebanon, the people turning slums into safe havens in Kenya and Bangladesh, and champions of people-powered digital democracy in Iceland and Taiwan. There are radical bankers funding renewable energy in the USA and architects redesigning real estate in Australia, new payment systems in Italy and the Philippines that keep money in local communities, and innovators redesigning taxation to cut pollution and incentivise creative solutions.

Glimpses of Utopia is a call for optimism. Humans everywhere are rising up to confront our challenges with creativity, resilience and compassion. Harnessing technology and imagination, we can reshape our world to be fair and sustainable. Jess Scully shows us how.

The Good Reading Podcast · Jess Scully on how a better world is possible in 'Glimpses of Utopia'

Rose Carlyle on exciting twists and evil twins

Beautiful twin sisters Iris and Summer are startlingly alike, but beyond what the eye can see lies a darkness that sets them apart. Cynical and insecure, Iris has long been envious of open-hearted Summer's seemingly never-ending good fortune, including her perfect husband, Adam. Called to Thailand to help sail the family yacht to the Seychelles, Iris nurtures her own secret hopes for what might happen on the journey. But when she unexpectedly finds herself alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, everything changes.

Now is her chance to take what she's always wanted - the idyllic life she's always coveted. But just how far will she go to get the life she's dreamed about? And how will she make sure no one discovers the truth?

Written with the chilling suspense of The Girl on the Train and Before I Go to Sleep, The Girl in the Mirror is an addictive thriller about greed, lust, secrets and deadly lies.

In this episode, Rose joins Erin Christie to discuss what it's been like writing her first novel and releasing it during a pandemic, and how it was to create a family of siblings who share an intense rivalry, despite the lovely and supportive relationship she shares with her own sister.

The Good Reading Podcast · Rose Carlyle on exciting twists and evil twins

AUGUST BOOK CLUB - A chat with Charlotte McConaghy

How far you would you go for love? Franny Stone is determined to go to the end of the earth, following the last of the Arctic terns on what may be their final migration to Antarctica.

As animal populations plummet and commercial fishing faces prohibition, Franny talks her way onto one of the few remaining boats heading south. But as she and the eccentric crew travel further from shore and safety, the dark secrets of Franny’s life begin to unspool. A daughter’s yearning search for her mother. An impulsive, passionate marriage. A shocking crime. Haunted by love and violence, Franny must confront what she is really running towards – and from.

In this episode, Erin Christie speaks to Charlotte McConaghy about The Last Migration - and the incredible amount of research that went into it - launching a book in a pandemic, and leaning into the climate crisis.

The Good Reading Podcast · AUGUST BOOK CLUB - A chat with Charlotte McConaghy

'Beyond the Pale': Adrian Tame on his time at Australia's most notorious paper in The Awful Truth

Hailed as ‘a fearless exposer of folly, vice and crime’ when it first hit the streets in the 1890s, Truth was later condemned by a High Court Judge as ‘a wretched little paper, reeking of filth, injurious to the health of house servants and young girls’.

Adrian Tame knows that better than anyone as he worked for Truth for more than a decade as a reporter and news editor. In the years it was owned by the Murdoch family he worked alongside young Rupert as he cut his teeth on the shock horror scandals that graced the pages of Truth when it was selling a whopping 400,000 copies a week.

Funny, often outrageous and always thoroughly entertaining, The Awful Truth is a rollercoaster ride through an colourful era of newspapers and larger-than-life reporters that we will never see the like of again.

In this episode, Adrian joins Max Lewis to chat about revisiting his scandalous time at 'Truth' (including a Bikie story too shocking for the book), and his opinions on journalism today.

The Good Reading Podcast · 'Beyond the Pale': Adrian Tame on his time at Australia's most notorious paper in 'The Awful Truth'

Paddy Manning shares the human cost of climate change in Body Count

Suddenly, when the country caught fire, people realised what the government has not: that climate change is killing us. But climate deaths didn’t start in 2019. Medical officers have been warning of a health emergency as temperatures rise for years, and for at least a decade Australians have been dying from the plagues of climate change – from heat, flood, disease, smoke. And now, pandemic.

In this detailed, considered, compassionate book, Paddy Manning paints us the big picture. He revisits some headline events which might have faded in our memory, and brings to our attention less well-publicised killers. In each case, he has interviewed scientists to explore the link to climate change and asks how – indeed, whether – we can better prepare ourselves in the future.

In this episode, Paddy joins Max Lewis to open up about his experience in writing the book, and how the current climate disaster and COVID-19 pandemic have more in common than we might think.

The Good Reading Podcast · Paddy Manning shares the human cost of climate change in 'Body Count'

Julie Sprigg on the life of a physiotherapist in Ethiopia in Small Steps

As a child, Julie dreamed of being somewhere else, of making a difference. Now, she can’t wait to meet the nuns she will live with and the children she will provide physiotherapy for in Ethiopia.

But Julie has trouble sticking to convent rules and soon finds herself wondering how much difference a single physio can make anyway.

When she takes a teaching role at a university, Julie finally feels closer to fulfilling her dreams – training Ethiopia’s first physiotherapists, treating paediatric patients, and losing her heart to a handsome colleague.

Then civil unrest reaches the university, forcing Julie’s students to choose between their safety and their future. When it comes to being a part of change, why do all steps feel like small steps?

In this episode, Max Lewis joins Julie as she reflects on her time in Ethiopia.

The Good Reading Podcast · Julie Sprigg on the life of a physiotherapist in Ethiopia in 'Small Steps'

Greg James & Chris Smith on the exciting finale of the Kid Normal series

Murph Cooper is famous … and he's not happy about it.Kid Normal and the Super Zeroes used to save the day in secret. But suddenly everyone knows who they are.

Oily villain Nicholas Knox has told the public that superheroes are dangerous. He wants to lock them all up and take over the world! *Cue evil cackling*

Murph must expose Knox's evil plan, or the world of heroes is doomed forever!

In this episode, Max Lewis joins Greg and Chris to chat about the Kid Normal series, and its thrilling final book.

The Good Reading Podcast · Greg James & Chris Smith on the exciting finale of the 'Kid Normal' series

'Fear isn't just natural, it's necessary': Eva Holland on the science behind phobias in Nerve

In 2015, Eva Holland was forced to confront her greatest fear when her mother unexpectedly had a stroke and passed away. After the shock and grief subsided, Holland was sent on a deep dive into the science of fear, digging into an array of universal and personal questions.

On her journey, Holland meets with scientists who are working to eliminate phobias with a single pill, she explores the lives of the few individuals who suffer from a rare disease that prevents them from ever feeling fear, and she immerses herself in her own fears, including hurling herself out of a plane.

In this episode, Max Lewis chats with Eva Holland about her debut Nerve, to find out more about her journey into her own fears, and how she came out the other side.

The Good Reading Podcast · 'Fear isn't just natural, it's necessary': Eva Holland on the science behind phobias in 'Nerve'

The Good Reading Podcast · '

Craig Cormick and Harold Ludwick on changing Australia's history in On a Barbarous Coast

On a night of raging winds and rain, Captain Cook's Endeavour lies splintered on a coral reef off the coast of far north Australia. A small disparate band of survivors, fracturing already, huddle on the shore of this strange land - their pitiful salvage scant protection from the dangers of the unknown creatures and natives that live here.

Watching these mysterious white beings, the Guugu Yimidhirr people cannot decide if they are ancestor spirits to be welcomed - or hostile spirits to be speared. One headstrong young boy, Garrgiil, determines to do more than watch and to be the one to find out what exactly they are.

In On a Barbarous Coast, Craig Cormick and Harold Ludwick tell a story of what might have been if things went a little differently. The pair joined Max Lewis to chat about creating fiction from reality, and the importance of Indigenous perspective when it comes to the discovery of this land.

The Good Reading Podcast · Craig Cormick and Harold Ludwick on changing Australia's history in 'On a Barbarous Coast'

Hayley Katzen on bushfires and belonging in her memoir Untethered

When urban academic Hayley Katzen moves to a remote Australian cattle property to live with her farmer girlfriend, she hopes, at last, to find home.

But this is no happy-ever-after tree change. Lecture halls, law reform and the arts are replaced with castrating calves, shovelling manure, fire-fighting and anti-gas blockades. In a place that attracts people who live by their own rules, Hayley must confront her limitations and preconceptions to forge her own identity.

Lucy Worsley on a lifetime of loving Jane Austen in The Austen Girls

Anna Austen has always been told she must marry rich. Her future depends upon it. While her dear cousin Fanny has a little more choice, she too is under pressure to find a suitor.

But how can either girl know what she wants? Is finding love even an option? The only person who seems to have answers is their Aunt Jane. She has never married. In fact, she's perfectly happy, so surely being single can't be such a bad thing?

The time will come for each of the Austen girls to become the heroines of their own stories. Will they follow in Jane's footsteps?

In this episode, historian Lucy Worsley chats to Erin Christie about her love of history and Jane Austen, and how she plans to pass this on to the next generation of young girls through her writing.

Jon Doust on the misadventure of a lifetime in Return Ticket

It’s 1972. When hot-headed, impetuous Jack Muir gets off the ship in Durban, he fails to get back on. Instead, he sails into misadventure, fleeing the stifling town of Genoralup to try to lose himself in South Africa at the height of apartheid. But the past has a way of catching up with you, and soon Jack is running again, this time to a kibbutz in Israel.

In the course of a lifetime, Jack will travel far, always caught between fleeing from and seeking those things he needs: a mother’s precious gift, a lover in a time of war, the loss of a child, a kind and steady woman.

And, across time and across continents, old Jack Muir will remember those who helped him become a decent man, a better father and a friend.

In this episode, Western Australian author Jon Doust chats with Greg Dobbs about Return Ticket, the final book in his trilogy that began with the Booker longlisted Boy on a Wire.

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