{"podcast":{"title":"Conversations","slug":"conversations-320217","podcast_index_feed_id":320217,"rss_url":"https://www.abc.net.au/feeds/7711104/podcast.xml","website_url":"https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/","image_url":"https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/9419a7d446ad3f4620983df5d8d048f1.jpg?src","author":"ABC Australia","episode_count":2000,"summary":"Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met. Journey into their world, joining them on epic adventures to unfamiliar places, back in time to wild moments of history, and into their deepest memories, to be moved by personal stories of resilience and redemption. Hosted by Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Conversations is the ABC's most popular long-form interview program. Every day we explore the vast tapestry of human experience, weaving together narratives from history, science, art, and personal storytelling. Conversations Live is coming to the stage! Join Sarah Kanowski and Richard Fidler for an unmissable night of unforgettable stories, behind-the-scenes secrets, and surprise guests. Australia’s most-loved podcast — live, up close, and in the moment. Find out more at the Conversations website.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-16T12:19:56.982931+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217"},"episode":{"title":"Learning from the mighty matriarchs of the animal kingdom","slug":"learning-from-the-mighty-matriarchs-of-the-animal-kingdom","published_at":"2026-06-04T01:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217/learning-from-the-mighty-matriarchs-of-the-animal-kingdom","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217","url":"https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/erna-walraven-zoo-animals-feminism-rpt/106743066","audio_url":"https://mediacore-live-production.akamaized.net/audio/02/l5/Z/tb.mp3","summary":"Erna Walraven was one of the first female zookeepers to work at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in the 1980s. She ignored practical jokes from her male colleagues, like animal dung in her gumboots, and this led to career highlights like travelling the globe to select the zoo's next gorilla patriarch. (R) Erna was born in The Netherlands, to parents who were involved in the Dutch resistance during World War II. Erna's love of languages took her to Spain, where she lived for many years with her widowed sister and young nephew. It was there she met a penniless Australian backpacker and fell in love, starting Erna on the path to the rest of her life. Further information Originally broadcast May 2025. Hear Me Roar was published by Affirm Press in 2025. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Nicola Harrison. This episode touches on feminism, sexism, animals, breeding gorillas, zoos, captive animals, Dutch resistance, marry an Australian, Spain, love of languages, history and Europe. To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.","meta_description":"Erna Walraven was one of the first female zookeepers to work at Sydney's Taronga Zoo in the 1980s. She ignored practical jokes from her male colleagues, l…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3134,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/conversations-320217/episodes/learning-from-the-mighty-matriarchs-of-the-animal-kingdom/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217/learning-from-the-mighty-matriarchs-of-the-animal-kingdom.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}