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.

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The Forgotten

With special guest:

• Dr Will Davies
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

This book started when Will Davies’ insatiable curiosity got him wondering about a group of graves in the war cemeteries of northern France. These graves were all on their own, usually next to the boundary fence. When he went to have a look he found that they were erected for Chinese participants in the First World War.

Since China was supposedly neutral in that conflict and did not have a seat at the table when the powers decided on war reparations what was this all about? Will gives us a fascinating account of the real story behind these forgotten men in his new book The Forgotten: The Chinese Labour Corps and the Chinese Anzacs in the Great War.

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Fathering Adventures

With special guest:

• Darren Lewis
  … in conversation with Bill Kable and Ken Thompson
  

He doesn’t claim to have been the beginning of all fathering adventures but in July 2008 Darren Lewis started an organisation by that name which has made many fathers and their children come alive through adventure based activities. Darren quotes Howard Thurman in recognising that the world needs people who have come alive.

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The Prostate Cancer Challenge

With special guest:

• Peter Dornan AM
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Our guest is not squeamish about many things. He opens up to us today about what it is like to face a condition that we still do not like talking about, urinary incontinence. Incontinence affects men and women; it has been described as the most widespread yet least known and understood affliction in society today. This problem can seriously impact on your lifestyle, job, emotional wellbeing, exercise activity and most importantly, your sex life.

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Private Bill: In Love and War

With special guest:

• Barrie Cassidy
  …in conversation with Bill Kable
  

It makes for a rare occasion when Barrie Cassidy goes to the other side of the microphone. Barrie is one of Australia’s most respected and experienced political journalists and we welcome him to Dads on the Air.

But we are not going to discuss politics in this program. We are going to find out more about Barrie’s father Bill who is the main subject in Barrie’s book Private Bill: In Love and War.

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How much father? How have dads evolved since the 1930s?

With special guest:

• Dr Peter West
  …in conversation with Glen Poole
  

How have dads evolved since the 1930s? In the 1990s Dr Peter West interviewed a wide variety of men who grew up in the decades between the Depression and the final decade on the 20th Century. The result of those interviews was the book Fathers, Sons and Lovers: Men Talk About Their Lives from the 1930s to Today. From footballers to policemen, from railway workers to farmers, he provided a rare glimpse into the lived realities or everyday Australian dads.

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The Men’s Shed Movement: The Company of Men

With special guest: 

• Prof Barry Golding AM
  …in conversation with Bill Kable and Ken Thompson

 When we think of great Australian inventions we might be referring to the Black Box Flight Recorder, electronic pacemakers, cochlear implants or even the stump-jump plough. But today we talk about another Australian invention that has spread internationally and saved thousands of men’s lives. 

Our guest today is Dr Barry Golding who is the honorary patron of the Australian Men’s Shed Association and he provides a fascinating insight into the development and growth of this iconic Australian success story. Barry Golding gives us the benefit of his fifteen years of research in his new book The Men’s Shed Movement: The Company of Men. In talking to us today Barry lets us discover what actually goes on inside the Men’s Sheds we see as we pass through so many country towns. 

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The Making of Men

With special guest:

• Dr Arne Rubinstein
  …in conversation with Bill Kable, Ken Thompson, and Glen Poole
  

“If we don’t initiate our boys they will burn down the village to feel the heat.” This is an African proverb quoted by our guest today Dr Arne Rubinstein that could describe the situation for young men today in Australia and other societies far from Africa.

The Making of Men is a book that Dr Arne Rubinstein has written after seeing first-hand in his medical practice the disasters that can befall boys who are not initiated into life as a man in the community. Arne recognises the qualities valued in young boys when they are naturally loving, energetic, funny, creative and sensitive. What happens then, when so many kids get into trouble as teenagers?

In this program we talk about one of the most important ways in which the community or village can play a role in bringing the boy through to being a valuable man in the community.

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Keith Urban

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 Apter 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 has been married to Nicole Kidman since 2007 to add a bit of Hollywood glamour to his life.

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Anzac and Aviator

With special guest:

• Michael Molkentin
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

If we are looking for a genuine Australian hero then we need go no further than South Australian Sir Ross Macpherson Smith born in 1892. After he volunteered to enlist for the First World War Ross Smith had a very full but tragically short life.

His first experience of war was to wade ashore at Gallipoli, not in the first wave on 25 April 1915 and not on a horse as he might have expected having joined the 1^st Light Horse Brigade as an excellent horseman. His early experience in the War was mostly as an infantry man although he did have one engagement mounted on a horse.

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The Diggers of WW1

With special guest:

• Andrew Tink AM
  … in conversation with Bill Kable and Ken Thompson

No book on Australia covering the early years of the twentieth century could overlook the 61,500 of our men killed or listed as “missing” in World War 1. Another 156,000 had a fate that was sometimes worse, they were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner.

In his book Australia 1901-2001: A narrative history, Andrew Tink, former Member of State Parliament, tells us that like the school children of Villers-Bretonneux France we must never forget the heroism of our soldiers, the diggers of World War 1.

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Man Code

With special guest:

• Carolyn Managh
  …in conversation with Bill Kable
  

Carolyn Managh comes to our program today to lift the lid on what Australian men think about masculinity, women, and brands treating them like idiots. To do this Carolyn interviewed 140 Australian men including influential leaders and role models from diverse aspects of Australian life. These included Australian men in business, sport, men’s brands, military, popular culture, health, hospitality, construction and more.

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Ten Conversations You Must Have With Your Son

With special guest:

• Dr Tim Hawkes OAM
  …in conversation with Bill Kable
  

Parents are all too familiar with the difficulties of relating to their sons in a language that they understand while they grow from boys to men. Our guest today is Dr Tim Hawkes who as Headmaster of The King’s School was responsible for 1500 boys. Dr Hawkes held this position from 1998 to 2017 adding to a wealth of experience gained in England and Australia on how boys can best reach their potential as men.

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The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins

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.

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.

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The Other Glass Ceiling

With special guest

• Charles Areni
  …in conversation with Bill Kable
  

In the news lately there have been frequent references to pay differentials between males and females. This is often put down to the different opportunities available in the workplace because of gender roles that are a hangover from a less-enlightened past. But what about the denial of opportunities to look after the children and get involved in other areas around the home? In brief, Mums have too many roles, Dads have too few.

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Christmas Tales

With special guest:

• William McInnes
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Christmas means……what? The answer is not so easy these days with there being so much commercialisation of the season. What we can say is that Christmas raises lots of emotions in all of us including nostalgia, loss, indulgence, funny presents but most of all family and love.

Our guest today is the very well-known actor and author William McInnes who takes us into his own Christmases over the years in his new book Christmas Tales. William is able to illustrate those Christmas emotions and reactions during this most significant season in the year with lots of stories mostly funny but with a few that tear at your heart.

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Nancy Business

With special guest:

• R.W.R. 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.

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Bad Boy Boogie

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.

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The Platoon Commander

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.

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How to Raise a Man

With special guest:

• Megan De Beyer
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Something many of us wonder about from time to time is what turns a boy into a man. With the title of Megan de Beyer’s new book being How to Raise a Man there was no hiding from this question and Megan dives straight in.

And then there is the most common issue for parents raising young men - how to get more than a grunt in lieu of conversation. In these Covid restricted times as we are forced to spend more time at home this question become even more important. The best approach is to treat this time as a challenge rather than a threat and Megan has lots of suggestions on making this time productive. In brief Megan encourages us to look at ourselves more in this dynamic relationship rather than trying to fix something in our young men.

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