The Therapist

With special guest:

• Dr Hugh Mackay AO
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

This is a rare chance to peek inside a Psychotherapist’s office.

Hugh Mackay has a wealth of experience to draw on after so many years working in the community as a social psychologist surveying what we think of ourselves and our issues. After listening intently to so many people’s stories he has distilled for us some fascinating characters facing some modern day challenges. There are therapists who have major personal issues, there are some moral issues to resolve and all this is before we get to the clients and the assistance they need.

The Therapist is very topical with Hugh telling us that a third of the qualified Psychologists in Australia have closed their books to new clients because of the overwhelming demand. Hugh believes that we all need to take some time out for serious reflection on our own life, our relationships, our dreams, the source of our happiness and disappointments, in fact, how are we doing in general.

Podcast (mp3)

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Missing, Presumed Dead

With special guest:

• Mark Tedeschi AM KC
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Mark Tedeschi has faced a number of cold blooded killers in Courtrooms and on many occasions has argued successfully that they should spend the rest of their days in prison. This is an enormous responsibility on behalf of the victims of these crimes but also of the whole community.

In writing his latest book Missing, Presumed Dead Mark’s aim was to let the community know what is involved in a complex and lengthy criminal case such as the murder prosecution of Bruce Burrell. We get a glimpse of the determination needed to bring the felon to justice.

Because our justice system makes it a priority to avoid imprisoning innocent people sometimes the guilty go free and that could have happened with Bruce Burrell. Along with this protection for guilty people sometimes innocent people face accusations and innuendo.

Podcast (mp3)

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Patting the Shark

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)

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Black River

With special guest:

• Matthew Spencer
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Matthew Spencer decided to make a big change in his life after 20 successful years as a journalist.

The challenge he took on was not going to be easy and there were no guarantees. Matthew chose to enter the highly competitive field of writing a crime novel and as with a lot of ventures he needed a bit of luck along the way.

It can be a lonely path requiring in this case four years of working on his original idea. There were a lot of setbacks on this four year journey but Matthew had the good fortune of being able to engage with a professional editor who worked alongside him for most of that journey. Although tough on Matthew her criticisms were always constructive and there never was a time when she said the effort would go unrewarded. Finally all that hard work has paid off and Matthew is proud to unveil his first novel, Black River, which has already received some rave reviews from some of our most respected writers.

Podcast (mp3)

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