Great Australian Lives With Laura Turner

Join Laura Turner and her guest Laureate Professor Peter Doherty. Professor Doherty (as he himself puts it in his new book) is in the ‘infectious disease and death game’. In 1996 he and a colleague won a Nobel Prize for discovering how our immune cells destroy deadly viruses – it was ground-breaking research that would go on to revolutionise the field of immunology. In early 2020 he was all set to slip into retirement mode when the Coronavirus catapulted the world into chaos and propelled scientists into the battle to protect the community and find a vaccine for COVID 19. Peter's new books is called An Insider’s Plague Year - available at all good books stores now. For more information about Professor Doherty's work and The Doherty Institue - head to www.doherty.edu.au HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals and produced, engineered and edited by Jane Nield for SEN.

Laura’s guest this week is Susan McLean. Susan is Australia’s foremost expert in the area of cyber safety, honing her skills as a member of Victoria Police for 27 years. As the first Victorian Police officer to be appointed into a position championing cyber safety for young people she’s earned the moniker of ‘Cyber Cop’ and helped force many online predators to face justice for their actions. Since leaving the force she’s dedicated her time to educating and supporting Schools, companies and sporting organisations with cyber safety. To find out more about Susan's work and her business Cyber Safety Soloutions head to her website HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals.

Join Laura Turner and her guest Michael Robotham. Michael didn’t set out to be a best-selling crime writer but his fascination with human behaviour and the complexities of the human mind has seen him create characters and storylines that take his readers into some dark places indeed, firmly establishing him as one of the best crime writers of his generation. His psychological thrillers have been published in more than 50 countries, sparked bidding wars with international publishers and sold millions of copies world-wide. Michael's latest novel is Where Your Are Mine - head to Michael's website www.michaelrobotham.com for more details about his work.

Laura Turner chats with author, educator, and parenting and resilience specialist - Maggie Dent. Our guest this week might just open up a ‘can of worms’ type conversation in your household, especially if you’re a parent or grandparent who doesn’t always see eye to eye with others on how to best raise your kids. Maggie Dent is one of Australia’s most pre-eminent and much-loved parenting authors and educators – and her no nonsense approach to parenting has earned her the nick name as ‘the queen of common sense’, and she’s sharing this wisdom in her latest book ‘Parental As Anything’ – which offers practical solutions to the challenges parents and caregivers face today. For more information about Maggie's work head to her website www.maggiedent.com HERE. You can listen to the Parental As Anything podcast HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals - celebrating lives. Produced, engineering and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

This week Laura Turner chats with formervSports journalist and presenter and Beyond Blue Ambassador - Brad McEwan. Brad shares a very personal story with us - a story of loss, a story about a community rallying to support a grieving family, and ultimately a story of hope. Brad has been a familiar voice and face on our radio and TV for decades, but over those years few have known of the deep tragedy at the heart of the McEwan family – the loss of his brother Craig and then his father from suicide. These days Brad is an ambassador for Beyond Blue and shares his story to help break down the stigma around mental illness encouraging people to speak up and get help for themselves, a friend, or family member dealing with depression and anxiety. To connect with Beyond Blue head to their website www.beyondblue.org.au or call 1300 22 4636. To listen to Brad's episode of the Not Alone podcast click HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals, Celebrating Lives. This show is prod

Join Laura Turner and her guest Sam Mac - the Accidental Weatherman.

Laura Turner chats with Jenny Valentish. Our guest this week was destined it seems to be a journalist and writer, after all there’s not many 7 year olds creating their own newspapers. By the age of 16 she was self-publishing which soon led to her first ‘official’ column. She survived her time working in the music industry and in 2006 came to Australia where she firmly established her credentials as a sought after editor, journalist and writer. She’s just published her fourth book called Everything Harder than Everyone Else – why some of us push our bodies to extremes – a fascinating insight into the psyche of high achievers and people who go to extremes. For more information head to www.jennyvalentish.com HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals and produced by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

Laura Turner chats with Sarah Sheridan and Laura Thompson from Clothing the Gaps. Sarah and Laura have both been working tirelessly for many years to elevate the voices of Aboriginal people and share their stories. Their shared passion for creating real change in the community saw them come together to form the Victorian Aboriginal owned and led social enterprise ‘Clothing the Gaps’ which now works to unite people through fashion and causes, one of which is to help close the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and non- indigenous Australians. For more info and to purchase from the Clothing the Gaps range head to their website www.clothingthegaps.com.au or visit the store at 774 Sydney Road in Brunswick, Melbourne. Great Australian Lives is proudly brought to you by Tobin Brothers Funerals - to see videos of our guests like their Facebook page HERE. Great Australian Lives is produced, engineered and edited by Jane Nield.

Join Laura Turner and her guest actor, singer and composer Richard Piper. For more information about Bartok My Father by the Flinders Quartet with Richard Piper head to their website HERE.

Laura Turner chats with Clem Bastow, a Melbourne-based Autism advocate, screenwriter, award-winning cultural critic and semi-retired journalist. She is part of what is being called ‘The Lost Generation’ - people who for years have slipped through the cracks and whose late Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnoses has proven both life affirming and life changing. And now, she’s written her story in a heart-felt ‘coming of age’ memoir called ‘Late Bloomer: How An Autism Diagnosis Changed My Life’ – one of just a handful of books to speak to this lived experience from an Autistic woman’s perspective. For more details about Clem's work - head to her website www.clembastow.com.com HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly brought to you by Tobin Brothers Funerals - to see videos of our guests like their Facebook page HERE. Great Australian Lives is produced, engineered and edited by Jane Nield.

Join Laura Turner and her guest writer and comedian - Jennifer Wong. Jennifer’s first job in TV was writing for Good News Week in 2008. Since then, she’s worked on comedy and factual programs with production companies such as Roving Enterprises, Zapruder’s Other Films, Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder, ITV, and Blackfella Films and her stand-up show, How to English Harder, had a sold-out run at the 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Jennifer is also a food enthusiast and host of the new ABC TV show ‘Chopsticks or Fork?’

This week Laura Turner chats with Melbourne chef, Shane Delia. Shane lives and breathes food and flavours and through an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to his craft has become one of Melbourne’s most successful and well recognised chefs. With a work ethic instilled in him by his hard working Maltese family and a desire to achieve more than was ever expected of him by his high school teachers he’s now considered the maestro of Australia’s Middle Eastern food scene and shares his passion for food via his various TV shows including Postcards on Channel 9 – but just don’t call him a celebrity chef! Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals - celebrating lives. Produced, engineering and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

Laura Turner's guest this week Dr Ben Arthur takes take us into the wilds of Tasmania, the seas the surround it and beyond and introduces us to some of the incredible creatures that have been the focus of his research as a marine ecologist. As a science educator and communicator for the CSIRO he’s now tasked with the job of engaging people who visit our Marine National Facility in the importance of understanding and preserving our precious marine environment.

Laura Turner chats with Detective Senior Sergeant Joy Murphy who has been described as a world-wide trailblazer, so much so that she was recently inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in that very category. She’s been recognised by the International Association of Women in Policing as the longest-serving female police officer in the world. While there has been monumental change in society in her 50 years of service - her dedication to helping the victims of sexual assault and family violence has remained steadfast as has her advocacy for the advancement of women in policing and in the broader community. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals - celebrating lives. Produced, engineering and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

Laura Turner's guest this week Jock Serong may describe himself as a rather conventional guy, but his life and career path perhaps tell another story altogether. As a successful criminal lawyer and partner in a law firm – it seemed his career was on course before he decided to chuck it all in and try his hand at becoming a writer. Starting as a surfing writer he's now published five books and, it would seem leaving the law was a pretty good bet. Along with telling us his story he’s going to transport us back in time to some of the moments in Australian history that he so dramatically evokes in his writing including his last two books Preservation and The Burning Island. For more information about Jock's books head to his website www.jockserong.com HERE. 

Join Laura Turner and her guest Paul Brown - co founder and CEO of Jigsaw Australia, bridging the gap between award wage job and Australian's living with a disability. For more information about Jigsaw Australia head to their website www.jigsawaustralia.com.au HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals - celebrating lives. Produced, engineering and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

Laura Turner chats with Despina Meris - Melbourne-based author, writer and editor. Every Conceivable Way is her debut memoir about her and her husband's nine-year quest to become parents. For more information about Despina's work and Every Conceivable Way head to her website www.despinameris.com HERE. If you need support around pregnancy loss and miscarriage there is help available at www.sands.org.au HERE or call their 24/7 support line on 1300 308 307. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals - celebrating lives. Produced, engineering and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

Laura Turner chats with Louise Davidson - Chief Executive of the Australian Council of Superannuation investors which represent some $1 trillion of our super funds under management. Outside of that role she’s a woman who has drawn on a deep personal loss, the death of her mother to inspire one of Australia’s most successful charity events. In its 24 years the Mother’s Day Classic has raised a staggering $38 million for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and encouraged tens of thousands of people around the nation to throw on their running shoes and clock up a few kilometres on Mother’s Day for a very worthy cause – breast cancer research. To be a part of the Mothers Day Classic or to donate head to their website www.mothersdayclassic.com.au HERE. Great Australian Lives is proudly supported by Tobin Brothers Funerals - celebrating lives. Produced, engineering and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

Laura Turner chats with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. When NASA classified Karl as non-astronaut material in 1981 he walked straight into ABC Radio station Double J and offered to talk about the Space shuttle launch. They said ‘Okay’ and his radio career took off from there. Great Moments In Science’ ran on Double J while Karl moonlighted as a medical student. Since then, his media career has exploded from radio, to TV, books, newspapers, magazines, scripting, professional speaking, podcasts and the internet. He’s also the author of dozens of science books including most recent, Dr Karl's Little Book of Climate Change Science.

Laura Turner chats with Aussie music legend – Richard Clapton. His iconic songs – ‘Girls On The Avenue’, ‘Deep Water’, ‘Capricorn Dancer’, ‘I Am An Island’, ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’, ‘Lucky Country’, ‘Glory Road’ – have provided the soundtrack to endless Australian summers. His latest album, ‘Music is Love (1966-70)’, delivers 15 cover songs that Clapton calls "hippie anthems". Great Australian Lives is proudly brought to you by Tobin Brothers Funerals - to see videos of our guests like their Facebook page HERE. Great Australian Lives is produced, engineered and edited by Jane Nield.