Pulitzer novelist Andrew Sean Greer on ‘charm novels’, the Italian life and travel wisdom

Picture this: a crumbling Italian mansion in the Tuscan hills, an eccentric aristocrat, sun-soaked lunches, too much wine and a house humming with secrets. That’s the delightful world into which we’re heading today as we talk to writer Andrew Sean Greer, whose new novel, Villa Coco, is loosely inspired by his own time at an Italian estate around a famous Baroness. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less also joins us to discuss his life in Italy, the pleasures of the charm novel, and the one piece of travel advice he always comes back to. Today’s episode is hosted by books editor Melanie Kembrey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Safran burst into the public consciousness in 1997 as a contestant in the ABC TV show Race Around the World, where young filmmakers travelled the world making four-minute films in just 10 days. Safran won the popular vote on the reality show after running through Jerusalem naked, and asking a voodoo priest to put a curse on an ex-girlfriend. Almost 30 years on, the show is back, with Safran as a judge. Today’s conversation is hosted by Good Weekend senior writer Gay Alcorn, who talks to Safran about that early experience, but also growing up Jewish, antisemitism and the contradictions and limits of free speech.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a profound grief associated with not having kids if you really wanted them, one that's rarely acknowledged, even less understood. But there's also an unexpected joy when you come out the other side. In today's conversation, Good Weekend senior writer Katrina Strickland discusses the ups and downs of her own path into childlessness with Good Weekend editor Melissa Stevens. They traverse what medical developments have given young women today, the potential downsides - and what those worried about the decline in global fertility rates should be paying attention to. They discuss, too, what Strickland wants Millennials and Gen Zs to know: it will be ok, however it turns out for you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shaun Micallef has graced our TV screens since 1989 – from crime caper Mr and Mrs Murder to long-running game show Talkin' About Your Generation and weekly satirical news comedy Mad as Hell.But he's not averse to tackling the big issues, either: his latest series, Going for Broke, examines our national gambling habit.In today's conversation, with senior culture writer Kerrie O'Brien, the lawyer turned funny-man joins us for a chat about two-up, his book about the origin story of Dracula, and what drives him to keep coming up with new ideas for documentaries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social media was once harnessed by Barack Obama to spread hope. Now “angertainers” are exploiting our human instinct to seek threat to divide society and to build their own cultural, political and social capital, often based on misinformation and lies.They create content for platforms that reward stunts, insults and anger – in the process, distorting reality and hijacking any possibility of a considered debate.In this episode of Good Weekend Talks, Ed Coper, author of Angertainment: How Social Media Outrage Ruined Everything, explains how and why that happens, why you can't stop clicking on things that make you angry – and what we can all do about it. This conversation is hosted by Good Weekend senior writer Greg Callaghan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bob Brown has spent the past 50 years trying to make people put the planet before profit. The environmental crusader, former senator and medical doctor, and founding member of the Wilderness Society has fought pivotal battles, including campaigns to save the Franklin River and the Swift parrot. He also practises what he preaches: he has lived sustainably for decades in a one-bedroom home.Today, to celebrate the 300th episode of Good Weekend Talks, deputy editor Konrad Marshall interviews Brown live on stage at the Melbourne Writers Festival.This episode comes to you from the State Library of Victoria, where we are joined by a live audience for a conversation that will cover everything from the origin of the term "tree-hugger" to how Brown still finds optimism in the face of massive challenges facing the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might know her best from Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell, but over the past 20 years, Christie Whelan Browne has become one of the most in-demand stars of the Australian stage, appearing in Britney Spears: The Cabaret, The Producers, Shane Warne: The Musical and Muriel's Wedding. But the thing that has kept her in the headlines is no laughing matter – the allegations of sexual harassment she made against her Rocky Horror Show co-star Craig McLachlan in late 2017. Today, Whelan Browne takes a break from rehearsing a musical version of All About Eve to chat about everything from our shifting attitudes to Britney Spears, the joy of an IVF baby and the stress of living through three very public court cases over six years. Today's episode is hosted by senior culture writer, Karl Quinn.   Further reading Karl Quinn's story 'Even today, the cost continues.' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Fran Lebowitz was growing up in suburban New Jersey in the 1950s, she won a school award for being “the Class Wit” – and in her 50-year career as a writer and speaker, she’s repeatedly earned that label. Among her countless famous aphorisms, this zinger: "The best fame is a writer's fame. It's enough to get a table at a good restaurant, but not enough to get you interrupted when you eat." As a writer herself, Lebowitz has published two best-selling collections of essays – and a children’s book – but today she’s better known as a public intellectual, renowned for her acerbic social commentary, sardonic wit, and iconic status in the cultural life of New York City. Lebowitz joins us ahead of her Australian speaking tour for a chat about everything from the nightmare of long-haul plane travel for smokers, to the only monogamous love of her life: her 1979 Checker Marathon car. Today's episode is hosted by Good Weekend senior writer Amanda Hooton.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Luke Bateman is perhaps Australia’s most unlikely book critic – a former rugby league star and recovered gambling addict who works as a logger on a remote Queensland property. While hardly your average inner-city literary type, Bateman had always loved reading – especially fantasy books – but living in the bush with only black snakes for company, had no one to talk to about it. So one day in April last year, he posted a clip of himself on TikTok, talking about his love of books. The post made him famous – he now has more than a million social media followers, including Reese Witherspoon. His mission: to make reading cool again, and he is most definitely succeeding. Today's episode is hosted by Good Weekend senior writer Tim Elliott.(Please note, this conversation deals with difficult topics – from addiction to suicide. If you are seeking help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe has made a career out of chasing the kinds of stories that most people would be wise to leave alone. The New Yorker writer is drawn to powerful institutions and the people at their heart – from the Sackler dynasty, whose pharmaceutical company created the opioid painkiller OxyContin, in Empire of Pain, to the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in Say Nothing. His latest book, London Falling, delves into the story of 19-year-old Briton Zac Brettler, who had been living a double life, pretending to be the son of a Russian oligarch, before he mysteriously fell to his death from a luxury apartment building in London. Radden Keefe, the so-called “journalist’s journalist”, joins us to discuss London Falling, the ethics of true-crime reporting, and a reporter’s need for scepticism. Plus, we get our own scoop on what he might tackle next – and why it could bring him to Australia. Today’s episode is hosted by Spectrum editor Melanie Kembrey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.