Raised in Queanbeyan, Country NSW, Hau Latukefu is a world removed from hip hop’s ground zero in New York City. But like his Tongan heritage, he’s fully immersed in the culture and works hard to find his own hip hop voice. As one half of Koolism, Hau is a card-carrying pioneer in the local scene. And when Koolism is nominated for an ARIA award, Hau comes face to face with another pioneer, the legendary Bronx DJ Kool Herc. Will Hau get the nod of approval from the father of hip hop?

Tiana Penitani played every sport she could when she was a kid. Her family were sport obsessed. But when the family suffers an unbearable loss, she gives it all up. That is, until footy comes calling. This is a story about family, grief and healing. It's also about those times you've just got to take the ball and run with it.

Kelly Eng hasn’t gone on a big family holiday since she was a kid. She’s excited to go to Malaysia for a wedding with the whole gang: her mum, dad, brother, and sister-in-law. But some uninvited guests turn their holiday upside down -- and Kelly is left wondering if she’ll get out of there alive.

Melissa Mason is 35, single, and her biological clock is ticking. But before she dips her toes in the dating pool again, she decides to have one last hurrah and sets out to snag the sexy Irish actor, Paul Mescal. The only catch? He’s a decade younger than her.

Reporter Edwina Storie needs to get from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to Sydney. It’s usually a 10-hour drive, but in the rain, in the floods, who knows? She’s got a delivery to make and a secret to keep, and nothing’s going to stop her.

Join us on the wild adventure of a punk kid turned anarcho-activist, through wild nights, fierce politics, and an afternoon involving a video camera, a bit of permaculture, and some pretty delicate body piercing.

With his rap group Deceptikonz, Taupe Daniel ‘Alphrisk’ Maoate is making noise across Australasia. He’s tight with his bandmates, but they’re in the dark about an important detail – Alphrisk is addicted to ice, and it might just sabotage his career.

Joey Joleen Mataele plays the lead in a story about royalty, tradition and reputation, and how having just one person in your corner can let you lead a life that’s truly yours (and meet Sean Connery in a castle while you’re at it.)

Hey you! We’re back and we can’t wait to share our new collection of stories with you – they’re stories about connection, about finding those people who accept you for just the way you are. From September 13, join us for a new story every week, about the day when everything changed.

In Firebomb, the deeply personal new season of Unravel True Crime, Crispian Chan investigates what really happened after his family’s restaurant went up in flames.

An innocent school fundraiser goes awry at Denmark’s LEGO House thanks to 900 ANZAC biscuits and a family meltdown.

When a tsunami threatens to wipe out Kiribati, a young woman returns to her grandmother’s land to reckon with a heritage she’s never truly known.

After a dream wedding, a young wife learns her new husband isn’t what he seems.

Two people fall in love in a cinema and, like all good romantic comedies, there’s a plot twist. As Rudi and Laura find out, staying true to who you are doesn’t necessarily mean staying the same.

A Korean-Australian kid risks everything when he throws himself into the underground world of dance battles.

A talented chef leaves the high-end life to find the donut king – but he's wearing a statement hat she is far from keen on.

This time round on Days Like These, we’re looking at fork-in-the-road moments which lead down entirely different life paths.

At Alice’s 30th birthday, a friend gives a speech that shows a 14-year-old version of Alice – then things go downhill. Will she be cancelled for good?

Tyson Koh’s world moved around nightclubs until the day they were locked up. This is the story of how he battled to prise them open again.

Eunice and her family are part of the tight-knit Plymouth Brethren, and they have an impossible choice to make: follow the leader and go to heaven, or say goodbye to everyone they’d ever known.

Dressed in a dog suit for the TV show Wilfred, Jason Gann has a VIP pass to Hollywood. But can he escape from the dog suit that got him there?

Wing Kuang has been in Australia since she was 17. But before she gets on with her life as a journalist, she needs to prove to a machine she can speak English.

Fran Kelly is offered the chance to meet her idol. But will the reality of meeting a real-life rock legend match her wild expectations?

“I just want to be authentic, you know?” Yes, sort of. Who is our authentic self? This season we bring you stories from people who are looking for the answer.

Bec never thought of herself as a spontaneous person, but one flirty fire emoji would lead to the biggest surprise of her life.

Dave was always a skateboarding thrill seeker. But he came as close as you can to death without dying the day he decided to take on Devil’s Mountain.

Fred Leone is an award-winning musician and a descendant of a great Garrwa warrior named Garrinjamaji. This is his story.

Edita Mujkic’s story of escaping war-torn Bosnia, and her attempts to keep her family together and safe, in the middle of a war.

Kiwi comedian James Nokise was on a roll, intoxicating audiences with his stand-up. So why can’t he get out of bed?

Karni Liddell was born in Rockhampton with a neuro-muscular wasting disease. Her parents were told she'd never crawl, walk or even live past her teenage years.

Days Like These is back with new host Farz Edraki. Strap in for a brand new season of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

As Brenden Newton grows up along Sydney’s Northern Beaches in the 1990s, bodyboarding reigns supreme. He loves the physicality, how it brings him into such close contact with the water. And after a fateful trip to Tahiti, he decides to try going pro in the sport. But just as his career takes off, strange thoughts surface over and over, threatening to engulf his mind and his body. And Brenden has to re-build his life before taking on the biggest wave he’s ever encountered.

The day Gough Whitlam is dismissed from office, in November of 1975, Catherine is sitting in the uni library when she hears the news over the loudspeaker. She’s incredulous, incensed. She decides it’s time to formally join the Labor party and, shortly after, Catherine herself is elected as a local member in a harbor-side Sydney council.  And it’s there, in the busy, chaotic world of local government, that Catherine learns how to govern, how to compromise, and how to balance her politics and personal life.

Craig was a happy go lucky 19 year old when an accident changes his life forever. Forced to pay off a debt he decides to go work as a miner in Western Australia. What was a temporary gig to get cash becomes a ten year career avoiding responsibility, danger and exhaustion.

Caroline Winter had a perfectly lovely life with her husband, until the day it all changed. Despite everything she tried, she just couldn’t move forward, so she moved sideways instead. This is a story of loss, loneliness and the ways we keep going.

Konrad has dedicated his life to studying the history of the Jewish people. In the 1980s, he’s invited to work with an East German historian to complete his magnum opus, making frequent trips behind the Berlin Wall and back again. But little does Konrad know that while he is researching in East Germany, East Germany is researching him, too.

Chris Ryan grew up in India in the 1980s, so despite being born in Australia, the pop culture of the time was so exotic she could hardly believe it was real.  Moving countries is hard, you leave behind a lot and making new friends is hard. This was the challenge for nine-year-old Chris, she felt like an outsider even though she looked like she fitted in just fine.  To tackle her problems and make some friends she took some drastic and hilarious measures that would also pay off when she became a grown-up.

It's 1997 and friends Richard and Steve are climbing to the peak of Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. They're carrying 40 kilos of climbing gear and food. But when the climb takes a dangerous turn, much is lost. Then, almost 25 years later, a backpack turns up on Mount Cook. Inside, there's a camera with the film intact, memories long-buried make their way back to the surface once more.

Alan Hale makes a teenage escape from Launceston when he gets work at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. It's the mid 1960s and Taronga's chief benefactor, Sir Edward Hallstrom, is pouring much of his fortune into acquiring new and exotic animals to add to zoo's collection. Alan is apprenticed to the Head Keeper for monkeys and he's charged with cleaning out the cages each morning. He loves the zoo and his job, until he's outwitted by a family of thirty macaque monkeys who disappear over the zoo's walls and into the suburbs of Sydney.

Days Like These is back with a new season.  There’s chaos when thirty monkeys escape from a Sydney zoo. Melting snow on a mountainside unearths a long-buried secret.   A misfit kid tries to dance her way to fame.   And one woman is forced to choose between politics and pot.   Starting June 1 more true stories from across Australia about the day when everything changed.

13 11 14 is one of the most recognisable phone numbers in the country. It connects callers to Lifeline’s free crisis support at any time of the night or day, and for some, it’s a call that saves their life. In this bonus episode, we go behind the scenes to meet the volunteers who answer calls from strangers going through the darkest times of their lives. ***Warning: this episode talks about suicide***

Penny married John in the 80s. She always believed marriage was forever, and she felt comfortable in her role of wife and mother.  Then one day, 30 years into her marriage, she receives a message that shatters her reality. It sets Penny off on a journey to confront the lies and deception that litter her love life.

Aidan Jones is a stand up comedian. Jokes and stories are his stock in trade. But the defining story of his life happened before he was born: when his mum was in her 20s, she returned home from an extended trip around South America only to realise that she'd just fallen pregnant to her Colombian boyfriend. Aidan was the result. It's a series of events that would take almost thirty years for Aidan to untangle, until he finally comes face to face with his real dad.

Think about where you are stored in your brain. Your sense of self and identity, who you are basically. What if your brain decided it wanted to shut a few things down? That's what happened to ABC broadcaster Karen Tighe. As an experience sports journalist she's covered the world's biggest events with a career's worth of memories and experiences to reference. But after Karen contracted encephalitis in 2020, her brain shut off part of those memories and tried to contain her sense of self.

Alyce Nelligan is used to being a trailblazer.   Born with minicore myopathy, a rare muscle disease, she was the first kid at her primary school in a wheelchair, and the first person with a physical disability to graduate from her high school in Toowoomba, Queensland.   She’s also used to being told what she is and isn’t capable of achieving.  But Alyce, hasn’t met a barrier she hasn’t been able to smash through.  Until now.   A shock pregnancy discovery turns into the fight of her life – will her doctors, and her body, allow her have this baby?

Out of nowhere, the lightning bolt struck both of them. A last minute visit to the beach becomes a bigger ordeal than anyone could have imagined, enough to change the course of their lives. But that’s not exactly how publishers Kevin and Hannah see things. Especially when they keep getting asked about that day over and over again.

Sporting heroes can seem so far away, out of reach like sporting gods. Only in our dreams could we play with such deities. David Jack's had an idol like that, George Best. A Manchester United legend, footballing genius and style icon who was known as the fifth Beatle. Like a lot of kids in Manchester, David was brought up on a diet of football and David's dream was to play with Best. We follow David's story of chance, skill and luck that saw him achieve his dream more than once, just not in the way he imagined.

Barb grew up in a large Irish Catholic family headed by her father Dave, an eccentric and devout man.   Barb’s childhood is steeped in her father's faith like the power of saintly examples, repenting for your sins and messages passed to the world through apparitions of Mary, Our Lady.  As a young adult, Barb forms her own opinion and walks away from the Church and everything her father believes. That is until Dave cooks up a plan to bring peace to Northern Ireland through prayer, and Barb finds herself, and her faith, thrown right into the middle of it.

It's 2011. Australia is in its tenth year of the War on Terror. Reports of hate crimes are on the rise. And 20-something Nazeem Hussain is a tax specialist. Before he was selling out shows and touring stand-up internationally, Nazeem Hussain wore a suit and clocked in at 9am for his day job. At evenings and weekends, he was also media spokesperson for the Islamic Council of Victoria. And one morning, he gets a phone call that sets him on a path worthy of a spy drama.

Days Like These is back — with spies, comedians, lost parents and a lightning strike — oh, and then there’s a pilgrimage of the agnostic  and the atheist, travelling from Sydney to Ireland with a wooden statue of Mary. And that’s just for starters. So join us, for more stories of the day when everything changed.

Days Like These is taking a break for the summer, but while we’re away we wanted to share with you some of our favourite true story podcasts. One Sunday evening, widower Warren Kirk was home alone and decided to do something he'd never done before in his life. He rang an escort service. Hear other great stories like this on Earshot, on Radio National and on podcast.

Days Like These is taking a break for the summer, but while we’re away we wanted to share with you some of our favourite true story podcasts. History, tragedy, and triumph. Marrickville’s Henson Park is an icon of Sydney's inner west. But before the unshakable Newtown Jets footy fans called it home, the community oval was a giant hole in the ground supplying Sydney's building boom. This is one of many great stories on the History Listen podcast.

Days Like These is taking a break for the summer, but while we’re away we wanted to share with you some of our favourite true story podcasts. Holidays can stir up memories of loved ones no longer with us. They can be a time to remember things that were once a bone of contention but now speak to a beautiful understanding between husband and wife. As told by our Executive Producer, Sophie Townsend for the Tall Tales and True podcast.

When horse lover Nicole began to learn about brumbies, there was one who took her breath away on Facebook page: Paleface. He was the most famous stallion of all the wild horses on the Snowy Mountains. A rock star horse with a breathless online following. But after the bushfires of 2019, he disappeared. Fast forward to 2021 when Nicole helps rescue a herd of brumbies from the Mountains: could an angry, malnourished stallion in the back of the horse truck be him? It's up to Nicole to find out, armed with only with an obsession to find out the truth and a d*ck pic.

Growing up in pre-revolution Iran, Jaleh Misaghi dreams of becoming a race car driver. So strong is the pull of rubber on the road, she glues herself to the TV, watching Formula 1, practicing her moves and yearning for the speed of the track.  But after the Iranian revolution, Jaheh’s driving quest is shattered – she can’t even get her licence. With the regime cracking down and a young daughter to care for, she must decide on a new road, one that ultimately brings her to Australia and, finally, behind the wheel.

Jacek Koman grew up in theatres, the son of two actors performing their way around Communist Poland in the 1950s and 1960s. At school he’s more interested in learning Russian than stagecraft, by the time Jacek reaches university he decides to follow in their footsteps and go to drama school.   But, after a night out ends in a brush with the Polish secret police, Jacek and his brother make a run for the West.    Over the years, he rebuilds his career from scratch to become one of the Australia’s most cherished actors on stage and screen, with roles in Belvoir Street plays, The Secret Life of Us and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.  But Jacek’s rusty Russian also plays a reprising role when he’s called to become the front man of a band performing the songs of the Russian criminal underground.

It’s mid-winter in the Snowy Mountains and in the Thredbo river, where the water is 3.3 degrees, a woman swims laps. She’s wearing just a regular swimsuit, cap and goggles.   The swimmer is 40-year-old Joy Symons, attempting an ‘ice mile’, a feat considered by some the most dangerous swim in the world. To achieve this official ice mile, she must give proof that she is alive 45 minutes after the event.  A former Australian representative swimmer, she and her family live at the public pool they manage in sunny Rockhampton, Queensland.  So what’s brought her to swim in this murky pond with snow falling around her? And how will the grit that made Joy competitive as a young swimmer help her today?

Sonya grew up in Brisbane. But at 26 she decides to move her life to London. Within days of arriving, she meets a beautiful woman at a bar in Soho. They click instantly. They fall in love, get married and build a life together in their adopted city. The only thing missing is… a baby. But after 5 years of trying, it doesn’t happen for them and they decide to call it a day.    Not long after Tess and Sonya find themselves on holidays on the Greek island of Crete. And that’s when their life changes forever. Because that’s when they meet HER. She has black hair and her socks are white despite playing in the dust. Apparently she’s been living in the ruins of an old palace by herself. They can’t just leave her there… can they?

Growing up in a small city in south-west China during Mao’s Cultural Revolution led Guojian to join the People's Liberation Army, China’s military.   He was a doctrinaire solider until an illegal Australian radio station, and a love song, opened his world.

When Megan met Leon, they thought they were just in for a holiday romance. But it became a long distance thing. Then it became a real life thing.  And then it wasn't a thing. Leon had his life sorted out, while Megan felt her real life hadn’t even started.  They let each other go, they met other people, they had adventures... but eventually, real life and real love collided – but could it work, all those years later?

One night, fresh from his first big break-up, a 23-year-old Graham Panther is hanging out at a friend’s house when she pulls out a massive bag of weed.   Together, they decide to cut loose, forget about their troubles for one night.   But what starts as a light-hearted trip soon sours, as Graham finds himself tumbling into a different dimension. And when he returns to reality, things are not as they used to be.  Graham created The Big Feels Club as a space to talk about all the big, scary feelings that come with being human. Check them out at https://bigfeels.club/  **Please keep in mind that this story details one person’s experience regarding choices and medication. If it raises anything for you, please seek support from a medical professional. And remember, Lifeline can be reached via text or on 13 11 14 at any time of the night or day.

Emma Jane Holmes is a funeral director by day, but when night falls, her alter ego appears.  Emma takes our lead reporter Pat Abboud behind the closed doors of a mortuary, to reveal how the death care industry is dealing with the pandemic and letting us in on her secret double life.

Two men go head-to-head over a set of photographs taken in the Tasmanian wilderness. The images could rewrite the history of a legendary animal, if only they can agree on what they're looking at. Here are the images captured by Neil Waters and the Thylacine Awareness Group. *A previous version of this story claimed that the parties had not met, which was inaccurate and has now been corrected.

At the beginning of 2019, country singer Felicity Urquhart was preparing for a huge year of performing and publicity. She was about to release Frozen Rabbit, her first solo album in a decade. Creating the record had been an extended labour of love for her and her husband, Glen Hannah, also a musician and producer. But the year would unfold in ways that no one saw coming, and the album would mark a turning point in Felicity’s career and her life.   ***Warning: this episode contains content to do with suicide***

When Jane Rowe tries her first hit of heroin, the relief it offers is undeniable. Rebelling against her privileged upbringing, she throws herself into the punk scene of 1970s London, rubbing shoulders with rock stars and moguls. But when the party's over and Jane's rattled by the aftershocks of addiction, she sets out to rescue the forgotten victims of drug abuse.

A cold-war thriller, set on the streets of Sydney. Our hero, a man only recently promoted from the ASIO mail room to spy-catcher, finds that chasing a KGB operative doesn’t always follow a James Bond-type script.

Two friends set off on a one-way ticket overseas intending to have the time of their lives. It’s their big adventure before settling down to start “real life’.  But, in a small village in Nepal, amongst hikers from all over the world, it all goes terribly wrong... and it’s all they can do just to survive.  To take a look at Athena’s photos and to find out more, head to  www.athenazelandonii.com/

A brother and sister duo face a life-changing diagnosis, a family secret and flooding rains as they race across state borders to make it home. This is a story about the frustrations and fractures of addiction, the loneliness of life in a pandemic and the wonders of long-distance love.  Mostly, it’s about the ties that bind, and the people who are always there for us, even when you don’t expect it.

One evening, a team of scientists realise that a tracking device they'd attached to a bull shark off the coast of NSW has come ashore and is now leaving a GPS trail all over Wollongong and surrounds. This tag, once attached to a bull shark's dorsal fin, contains valuable scientific data that could help unlock the secrets of the deep, and of the apex predators who call it home. But will a team of researchers, citizen scientists and a social media frenzy be enough to track down a lost shark tag before the signal goes dead?

This season, we follow two men, facing off in the Tasmanian wilderness, there’s a shark-hunt through a university campus, and a strange chase down Sydney streets, in the pursuit of a Russian spy. There’s an avalanche, an addiction, and a drive down the east coast of Australia in relentless, flooding rain. Welcome to the days when everything seems to change.

The Days Like These teams are busy cooking up some new stories for you, and we'll be back later in July. Listen out for our first episode on the 28th. Meanwhile, there are plenty of stories in the back catalogue to get into — stories that will make you laugh, or cry, or both.

Cut Copy. Evermore. Bliss n Esso. British India. Tame Impala! You've got your tickets. Your favourite band is headlining and your mates are by your side. A music festival in amongst the wild animals at a South Australian Zoo ... it could have been so right. So how did everything go so, so wrong?

Singer-songwriter Shellie Morris still remembers the first time she heard Yothu Yindi's Treaty. She had left her adopted white family in Sydney when "Treaty yeah, Treaty now" blared through her car radio, and changed her forever.  The song would become part of the soundtrack of her incredible journey to find her Aboriginal birth family in the Northern Territory and to work out where, and what, home really is.

Tai Snaith has always loved animals, especially horses. After growing up on a farm, she thought she was used to the practical cycles of life and death that Australian country life can throw at you. But when her beloved horse Ziffy dies, she shares an unbelievable moment with him… it’s on the very boundary of the known and the unknown. She knows this bond will last forever.

How do you orchestrate a meeting with your hero? For Tate Sheridan it was simple: a clandestine operation involving a long and heartfelt letter, a demo CD, some wrapping paper and sneaky dash backstage at a big Elton John gig. Two years later, Tate was to join his now mentor on tour, performing in front of 38,000 Elton John fans playing the actual piano of a real life rock and roll god. Thanks to Tate Sheridan for scoring this episode and for allowing us to use his music. Tracks in the episode are 'Life Was Lonely', 'Fade to Black' and 'Angel Man'

Jason grows up with saltwater in his veins and adventure in his bones. In a little seaside Queensland town with the Coral Sea as their playground, Jason and the locals tie up mud crabs for sport ... with their toes. When opportunity calls him to a seafaring job in Thailand, he leaves home behind — the crabs, the family, the quiet fishing life he knows. He couldn’t imagine the mayhem ahead and what it would cost him. Jason’s journey home to Stanage Bay is long and difficult ... but ultimately triumphant.

Narelle Grech was a teenager when she first discovered that she'd been conceived using donor sperm. As her shock turned to deep curiosity, Narelle decided — she had to meet this man. All she has to go on is his donor code, T5. It leads her on a search that spans two decades, take her across continents and results in a landmark law that allows donor-conceived people to learn the identity of their donor — and vice versa. Thanks to the ABC's Damien Carrick and Sarah Dingle for the use of archival interviews in this episode.

An actor's life can be punishing. It's competitive, unpredictable and, no matter how hard you work, success is often down to dumb luck. There are no guarantees, and maintaining a thick skin is essential. When actor Kate McNamara wins an award that could potentially transform her career, her life does change. Just not in the way she expected. From a miserable night in Sydney to an energy healer in Bali, how will she make peace with what could have been?

A decade ago, Jennifer Mills found out there was a watercolour painting of her on the wall of a major gallery. The thing is, she’d never sat for one, and she’d never spoken to an artist about being in a portrait. So, what was the picture? How did it come to be there? How would it connect her to more than three hundred other women, all called Jennifer Mills? Follow our Jenni as she enters a portal to a global adventure, where a stranger with the same name has the power to revive her deepest and most precious memories.

A police officer with his knee on a man's neck in Minneapolis. Guards rushing a cell in Sydney's Long Bay jail to stop a man from eating biscuits. George Floyd and David Dungay Junior are dead and the world is catching fire around law student Taylah Gray. It sets her own smouldering sense of justice aflame. She's not a lawyer yet, but Taylah spearheads the legal case to hold a Black Lives Matter protest in Newcastle during the first heightened days of the pandemic. It makes her a lightning rod for criticism and also for the hope of the movement. Under threat of wearing the legal cost from the authorities, she takes her protest all the way to The Supreme Court — will she emerge victorious?

Russell Cheek spent his thirties touring Australia in the beloved performance group, The Castanet Club. He poured himself into the art and the lifestyle. For him, the band was his life, there was no Plan B. So, when The Castanets breaks up, he finds himself middle aged, broke and at a creative loose end. His solution: he writes away to Sale of the Century. But does he have what it takes to win eight nights in a row — and take home the jackpot? A big thanks to NBN Newcastle and Fremantle Australia for providing access to some of the archival audio in this episode. Archival audio is used courtesy of Fremantle Australia.

Guts. Justice. Surprise families. Playing Elton John’s piano. Deep disappointment. Risking it all on a gameshow. Danger on the high seas and low roads. Perseverance. Hope for the future.  Days Like These is BACK and things are wilder than ever before. Russell is staking everything on winning Sale of the Century. Taylah has a fire in her belly that only justice can quench. And Jennifer? She’s just trying to find out why someone would paint a portrait of her without asking and stick it on a gallery wall.  New episodes every Wednesday from April 28, 2021.

The Days Like These team is off whipping up more wild and wonderful true stories for your listening pleasure.

A boyhood visit to the dentist turns Tim Rogers into a lifelong fan of The Rolling Stones. But when the Aussie musician's dream comes true and his band is picked to support the bad boys of rock'n'roll, an inside joke aimed at his idols threatens to tip the whole relationship off the rails.

If someone told you they could hear their own eyeballs moving, their blood pumping through their veins and their voice echoing inside their own head would you believe them? Get ready to go inside the minds of two young women struggling with all those symptoms and one of the world's most disturbing medical conditions. Prepare for a sonic trip of swerves you never saw coming as we take you inside the operating theatre for a world-first procedure to try and fix the syndrome.

In the rough-as-guts Bondi breaks of the 1980s, rising surf star Pauline Menczer was one of the only women in the water. And, boy, did she pay for it. Hot on the heels of her idol Jodie Cooper, both women discover it's not only big waves that can wipe you out. When they finally face each other in the water, they also take on the conservative, sexist world of professional surfing… and change it forever.

When Marisa and Peter Skillen set off with their kids for their first family camping trip, they're expecting a peaceful couple of days among the gum trees. But when one of their young twins slips away with only his bumblebee backpack, their dream weekend turns into a living nightmare as they desperately scour the bush to find him before it's too late.

When a young Jenna Holmes discovers the magic of The Oprah Winfrey Show while channel surfing one afternoon, it cracks open a whole new way of thinking for the Toowoomba schoolkid.  The undisputed master of daytime TV becomes Jenna’s guide for life.  Chutzpah, visualisation, Celin Dion’s legs... the education Jenna’s getting is a little different to the other nine-year-olds.   Can Jenna use what she’s learned to realise her dream of meeting Oprah in person?

During a renovation in Canberra, a World War II dog tag is found in a pile of rubble. This discovery sets off a remarkable chain of coincidence, synchronicity and luck, bringing together families whose long-dead loved ones shared a journey of survival through some of the war's most notorious chapters.

Havi watches from the car as the Rabbi holds a cloth up to the sunlight, peering at it for answers. It's a moment that will change her life forever... and set her on a new path beyond the stringent framework of the Orthodox Judaism she grew up in... where a complex system of rules shapes every aspect of life, from cradle to grave.

Grainne goes to school in 1980s Dublin when it's all nuns and compulsory Irish Gaelic. Not a good place to be dyslexic, especially if you've never heard the word "dyslexia" let alone understand its meaning. Grainne's dream is to be zoologist and to get there she uproots to Australia. Her challenges follow her here, but a developing love of magpies and other native birds helps Grainne find her own voice and, eventually, the people who appreciate her unique read on the world.

Rupert's beloved bike is stolen from his work garage. Stricken and desperate to see it returned, he's put in touch with an obsessive ex-cop who's made it his personal mission to fight bike crime. Working with a motley crew of bike lovers and justice seekers, they'll stop at nothing to get it back.

Bill Edgar is a private investigator from Australia's Gold Coast who's become know internationally as "The Coffin Confessor". His popularity soared when his very strange side hustle hit headlines all over the world. Bill says the deceased pay him (before they die) to rock up at their funerals and deliver previously-unsaid "truth bombs" to loved ones. But, what the media blitz about Bill Edgar didn't uncover was the secret he's been keeping all of his life — until now.

Truth. Manifestation. Wild surf. Wild coincidences. Feminists. Birds. Jailbirds. Secrets from beyond the grave. A rock and roll conversion in a dentist's chair. Oprah. A bicycle theft vigilante who won't take no for an answer. The rollercoaster that is Days Like These is BACK and we can't guarantee your safety... so you'd better hop aboard, strap in and say your prayers. Every episode lets you ride shotgun with an Australian as they live through something wild. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts... and a shiny new true story will drop into your podcast feed every Wednesday.

Eric admittedly hates Christmas and is a bit of a lightweight... but needs a holiday job. *This story was originally published in 2014, a co-commission for Paper Radio and ABC RN's Radiotonic.

Carefree and dancing on the podium at a Perth nightclub, aspiring actress/comedian Nikki Britton spies a strapping man with a prominent tongue ring. It's lust at first sight, quickly morphing into a whirlwind romance... then a long-distance relationship. But when her dashing courtier invites her to uproot her life to be with him, Nikki's hit by a curveball that will change her... and provide a lifetime of standup material.

Mesmerised by the hard-headed glamour of bikie culture, the son of Afghan refugees finds brotherhood in an outlaw motorcycle club. But when death strikes twice close to Mahmood Fazal, he’s forced to confront his own mortality. Will he be allowed to cut the ties that bind him to Melbourne’s underworld?

"Stephen saved us." Those words transport us from a glittering harbourside wedding to the grime-filled depths of internet dating. It's time to peek inside the heady and secretive world of the professional wedding celebrant, where random acts of kindness can (and will) change your life.

It's a hot jolt of dread in your stomach, the cold sweat breaking out on your palms. You're watching the clouds cruise by from the cabin of the plane when turbulence hits. Usually, it's short-lived. You tell yourself 'everything will be okay'. But British Airways Flight 09 was far from usual. For the passengers and crew aboard, that one terrifying moment would stretch out into the longest 12 minutes of their lives.

It's a hot jolt of dread in your stomach, the cold sweat breaking out on your palms. You're watching the clouds cruise by from the cabin of the plane when turbulence hits. Usually, it's short-lived. You tell yourself 'everything will be okay'. But British Airways Flight 09 was far from usual. For the passengers and crew aboard, that one terrifying moment would stretch out into the longest 12 minutes of their lives.

Imagine you spend your whole life searching for the elusive, perfect fiery opal. And then, one day, you realise you're holding — literally in the palm of your sweaty hand — a glittering prize of a gem that burns with a secret that could unlock the history of the Australian continent. Welcome to the crazy world of opal mining at Lightning Ridge, NSW, where fossicker Mike Poben is facing a choice that will change his life forever.

Conspiracy theorists are easy to laugh at, right? Well, yeah, until it's your loved one spewing out those convoluted and plainly BS beliefs at the family dinner. This is exactly what happened to Kasey when her mum disappeared down some deep QAnon rabbit holes. It's been devastating for her family. FaceTime with gran is likely cancelled this Christmas.

Will rock god Jon Toogood surrender? Or will the Shihad singer keep fighting his fate? Jon built a career as frontman for the New Zealand band Shihad, infusing stadium-sized songs with his avowed atheism. But when he fell in love with a Muslim woman, he was forced to wrestle with his identity and belief — and forces way beyond his control. From Wellington to Melbourne and Los Angeles and back, Jon charts his journey through an epic tale of love, identity, empathy and belief... plus a few things he could never have seen coming.

A distracted moment during a shopping trip with her toddler goes horribly wrong for Marisa. During hours of desperation and anguish, she gets a surprising peek behind the curtain of a suburban Melbourne mega mall. A hilariously-told story confirming the kindness of strangers... and the awesome power of the online "mummy mafia".

During Australia's worst bushfires, Cate Tregellas and her family are forced to evacuate their home in Mallacoota, retreating to the local wharf as fire closes in on their small seaside town. But, in an effort to protect each other through a long, terrifying night, the family discovers a big secret they're all keeping from each other. It's a New Year's Eve they'll never forget.

A kiss on a crowded dance floor in another country offers Spencer a chance at two great loves ... but at what price? A unique, yet universal, love story about making a family ... and a miraculous birth.

Heartbreaking and hilarious, each episode of Days Like These introduces you to a regular human as they live through something wild. In surprising stories of love and joy, they'll triumph against the odds, face their darkest days, and occasionally fall flat on their face. Because these are strange times and sometimes you just need a little hope to get you through. New episodes weekly from October 14.