Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

What happens when a test to prove someone wrong changes your life?

Anne Freeman was 22, confident, and certain life would unfold exactly as she imagined. After leaving a controlling relationship and starting anew, she felt unstoppable, until her health quietly began to unravel.

Weight loss, relentless thirst, and exhaustion crept in. She ignored it all until colleagues joked about her condition. Wanting to shut it down, she booked a GP appointment to prove there was nothing wrong. Instead, she received an unthinkable diagnosis: Type 1 Diabetes.

In this deeply personal episode, Anne shares what it feels like to have your body shift from familiar to unpredictable in an instant. She speaks honestly about denial, fear, and the confronting reality of daily insulin injections and lifelong monitoring. Over time, she reflects on how the diagnosis reshaped her identity, deepened her compassion, and found its way into the women she now writes about.

This is a story of learning to live with vulnerability and redefining the future inside a body that demands constant attention. A conversation for anyone navigating chronic illness, disability, or curveballs that arrives without warning.

Anne Freeman is a contemporary fiction writer from Melbourne, Australia. Her novels explore the extraordinary ways women shake themselves loose from stuck lives. Anne draws inspiration from her own experiences, including her journey with Type 1 Diabetes.

For more information about Anne, please visit her website:
https://www.annefreeman.com.au/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annefreemanwrites/

For support with diabetes, please visit: https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/

Support the show

⚠️ Our episodes contain conversations about difficult life experiences. Some episodes include coarse language and themes such as childhood trauma, sexual assault, infant loss and references to suicide. Please take care while listening and prioritise your wellbeing.

If this episode brings up anything for you, support is available:

• Lifeline – 13 11 14
• Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
• Beyond Blue – 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace – 1800 650 890

Support the show:

• Subscribe for new episodes every week!
• Follow us on Instagram @ThatDayPodcast
• Have a story to share? Email us at hosts@thatdaypodcast.com
• Donate

Production assistance from John Hresc at Sydney Sound Brewery and Rory Fox at Flatline Productions.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

What happens when the year you’ve been waiting for turns into the one that tests you the most?

On New Year’s Day 2023, Jodie entered what she believed would be her fresh start. She had survived her hardest years: working and parenting through lockdowns, farewelling three beloved aunties, and ending a 19-year relationship. She bought a house, began renovations, finalised her divorce, and settled her boys into a new rhythm. A year of freedom and fun was ahead.

Within days, a car accident, a camping trip, and a text message about a long-forgotten mammogram shattered that optimism.

Breast cancer. Two tumours.

What followed was a year defined by survival and medical misogyny. Multiple surgeries, and the devastating news (twice!) that the cancer hadn’t been fully removed. She made the agonising decision to have a double mastectomy, followed by forced menopause, chronic pain, and relentless insomnia.

A sudden change at work while she was still on sick leave, the reality of a mortgage resting solely on her shoulders, and two teenage boys watching their mum try to hold it together took its toll.

She kept working, parenting, renovating, and showing up when she had nothing left to give. But resilience has limits. By the second half of the year, the cracks showed. Physical exhaustion collided with emotional depletion.

This is not a story of pink ribbons. It’s about grief, determination, and the brutal reality of starting again when you thought the hard part was already behind you.

And still, you find a way through.

• The financial course Jodie mentions.

Support the show

Support the show

⚠️ Our episodes contain conversations about difficult life experiences. Some episodes include coarse language and themes such as childhood trauma, sexual assault, infant loss and references to suicide. Please take care while listening and prioritise your wellbeing.

If this episode brings up anything for you, support is available:

• Lifeline – 13 11 14
• Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
• Beyond Blue – 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace – 1800 650 890

Support the show:

• Subscribe for new episodes every week!
• Follow us on Instagram @ThatDayPodcast
• Have a story to share? Email us at hosts@thatdaypodcast.com
• Donate

Production assistance from John Hresc at Sydney Sound Brewery and Rory Fox at Flatline Productions.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

What happens when the person who tries to block your teaching dreams accidentally launches your career?

For years, Vikki Petraitis lived a double life. By day, she was a teacher in a prestigious private school, shaping young minds and paying the bills. By night, she was deep in cold cases—researching, investigating, and writing true crime stories driven by a fierce desire to see justice served.

What began as a side passion grew into something far bigger: twenty books, a loyal podcast audience, and a thriving community of writers.

And yet, within the very institution she worked, Vikki found herself repeatedly overlooked. Despite her qualifications, her publishing record, and her growing public profile, she was told she wasn't qualified enough to teach senior English.

But instead of shrinking, she expanded. She enrolled in a PhD and quietly proved—to herself as much as anyone—that her value was never up for debate.

Her PhD novel The Unbelieved went on to win the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize and was later adapted for television as Dustfall, starring Anna Torv and premiering on the ABC in 2026.

Today, Vikki is a full-time writer, podcaster, speaker, and workshop facilitator, still devoted to the power of story but now working in a world that recognises her worth.

This is a story about what can happen when you refuse to be defined by the limits other people place on you.

For more information about Vikki, head to her website or follow her on Instagram @vikkipetraitis.

Support the show

⚠️ Our episodes contain conversations about difficult life experiences. Some episodes include coarse language and themes such as childhood trauma, sexual assault, infant loss and references to suicide. Please take care while listening and prioritise your wellbeing.

If this episode brings up anything for you, support is available:

• Lifeline – 13 11 14
• Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
• Beyond Blue – 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace – 1800 650 890

Support the show:

• Subscribe for new episodes every week!
• Follow us on Instagram @ThatDayPodcast
• Have a story to share? Email us at hosts@thatdaypodcast.com
• Donate

Production assistance from John Hresc at Sydney Sound Brewery and Rory Fox at Flatline Productions.