{"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":"2026-09-24T00:20:44.125501+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217"},"episode":{"title":"The day my big, fat Egyptian wedding went pear-shaped","slug":"the-day-my-big-fat-egyptian-wedding-went-pear-shaped","published_at":"2026-08-31T01:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217/the-day-my-big-fat-egyptian-wedding-went-pear-shaped","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217","url":"https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/tess-woods-egypt-wedding-family-novelist/107082850","audio_url":"https://mediacore-live-production.akamaized.net/audio/02/o1/Z/aj.mp3","summary":"Author Tess Woods had always dreamed of her big day, growing up watching her beloved Nana create in-demand bridal gowns. The stories of these dresses became a way for Tess to understand her family’s origins in North Africa, which she left in the late 1970s. (Warning: This episode references the loss of a child.) Tess moved to Melbourne from Egypt when she was five years old. At large family gatherings, Tess dreamed of a big, fat, Egyptian wedding with 250 guests, food for days, belly dancing — the works. But after she became engaged to her sweet, mild-mannered Australian boyfriend Paul, Tess’ parents’ marriage imploded and she decided to elope to Fiji with a wedding party of just 11. Tess’ cherished and feisty Nana made her wedding dress and her wedding underwear, and the nuptials were an unexpected hit. Tess and Paul moved their young family to Perth to begin their own story, which would unfold with ambition, tragedy and religion. Further information The Cairo Bridal Shop is published by Penguin Random House. This episode refers to the loss of a child. Please contact Red Nose on 1300 308 307 if you need support. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. It explores migration, getting married, homemade wedding dresses, loss of a child, stillbirth, Japanese shrines, Kyoto, philosopher's walk, near death experience, collapsed lung, intubation, fear of death, religion, Coptic Christian, Catholic, lapsed Catholic, catholicism, church, Mass, Perth, physiotherapy, physiotherapist, historic fiction, divorce, family get togethers. 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…","meta_description":"Author Tess Woods had always dreamed of her big day, growing up watching her beloved Nana create in-demand bridal gowns. The stories of these dresses beca…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3099,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/conversations-320217/episodes/the-day-my-big-fat-egyptian-wedding-went-pear-shaped/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-320217/the-day-my-big-fat-egyptian-wedding-went-pear-shaped.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}