Cathy Charlton is what I consider a medical miracle. Throughout her life, Cathy has continually cheated death, miraculously surviving three separate bouts of cancer and a heart transplant - making her one of the longest living heart transplant recipients in the world.

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Mark Wales has been a sharp end solider in the SAS. Served in several war zones, including four tours of Afghanistan. He saw action. He saw mates killed. And he saw the signs that things were going sour in Afghanistan.

Since leaving the army, Mark completed an MBA in the US, started up a fashion label, became a reality TV star, wrote a number of books and is now considering politics.

In this episode, I find out WHY someone would take all of this on.

Mark is the author of two books including his debut novel, Outrider (Macmillan Australia), published 25th June.

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Behind the people you see running the country, there is a powerful, faceless army of staffers, advisers and political analysts.

They can win and lose an election. They can be responsible for the most excellent policies, and they can be responsible for the dirtiest of dirty tricks.

For 14 years, Kos Samaras was one of those 'faceless' people, working as the deputy campaign director for Labor in Victoria. He's behind one of the most successful Labor elections in Australia - sweeping Dan Andrews into power in landslide election wins.

In this episode, Kos Samaras talks about the personal toll of politics, the power behind the policy and what the Australian public really cares about.

Kos Samaras is now Director Strategy and Analytics at social research company RedBridge Group.

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