65: Motherhood & Comedy with Bron Lewis

This episode discusses themes of birth trauma, post natal depression and anxiety.

Bron Lewis is one of Australia’s most promising new comedians. She was the co-winner of the National Raw Comedy competition in 2022, a four-time champion of the Moth storytelling competition, and both the best and the worst mum living at her house. Bron is a writer at The Project and has a prominent presence on stages all around the country.

Bron’s critically acclaimed show ‘Probably’ sold out in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane, and it scored her a nomination for Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s ‘Best Newcomer’ for 2023.

Bron is performing her live show ‘OBVIOUSLY’ on July 26th at Comedy Republic in Melbourne – tickets available here

You can also follow here on instagram right here at @bronlewiscomedy

64: Matriarchy & Soulful Storytelling with Mietta (Part Two)

Part Two of a conversation with the soulful indie folk singer songwriter Mietta – storytelling and creating on Boonwurrung country in Australia’s Mornington Peninsula. At 22 years of age, Mietta is in a season of emergence. With deep connection to her home roots and her community she is also an education researcher, learning skills mentor, (more…)

62: On the Road with Roberta Giovedi

Hellooo and welcome to another special “Tonts on the Road” episode. This week with a beautiful story and speech by Roberta Giovedi. Hope you have a great week.

59: Mama Rising with Amy Taylor-Kabbaz

Amy Taylor-Kabbaz is a Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Journalist, Matrescence Activist and  Mama of three. After more than a decade covering breaking news and current affairs for the ABC around the country, her ‘traditional’ career took an unexpected turn when she found herself lost, overwhelmed and diagnosed with a thyroid disease after the birth of her first daughter. 14 years – and two more babies – later, she is now the best-selling Hay House author of Mama Rising, the host of the ‘The Happy Mama Movement’ podcast (with more than 400,000 downloads), an internationally awarded Life Coach, runs numerous online programs for mothers all over the world, expert contributor to media outlets around the globe, and the creator of the #1 itunes meditations for children with more than 23 million downloads ‘Bedtime Explorers’. In 2019, she launched her world first Matrescence Facilitator Training – Mama Rising – sharing her unique formula of coaching and support into mother’s transition through matrescence. In 2022, Mama Rising was recognised by the ICF and currently has more than 200 accredited Mama Rising coaches globally. 

55: Motherhood, Midwifery & Witchcraft with Clementine Ford (Part Two)

This is Part Two of my conversation with writer, feminist thinker and broadcaster Clementine Ford. Clementine Ford is a Melbourne based writer, speaker and feminist thinker. She is the author of four books, Fight Like A Girl, Boys will be Boys, How We Love and het latest book I Don’t the case against marriage. She (more…)

53: Still birth & Art as Healing with Larissa Reinboth

Larissa is a freelance illustrator with many strings to her bow. In 2021 she decided to couple her creative powers with her entrepreneurial mindset and founded the bereavement care charity Possum Portraits. This charity provides bereaved Australian parents with keepsake portrait drawings of babies lost to miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death free of charge.

You can find more from Larissa at https://www.larissa-reinboth.com and find more about her incredible work with Possum Portraits at https://www.possumportraits.org

52: Bluey with Mary Bolling

In a very special episode of TONTS. I deep dive into the wonderful world of Bluey podcast with Bluey expert and podcast host Mary Bolling. Mary is a journalist, mum and kids culture enthusiast, and one half of the Gotta Be Done podcast, deep-diving Australian juggernaut Bluey (and parenting, pop culture and everything else!) since 2019. In typical TONTS. and Bluey fashion we talk about the themes in Bluey that so closely match our own experiences. Two mums deep diving into the highs and lows of parenting, grief, loss, miscarriage, the power of story and the vital role of play and silliness. What a joy!

You can find more from Mary Bolling on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/marytbolling/ and listen to her podcast Gotta Be Done here https://www.blueypod.com

https://www.clairetonti.com

https://www.instagram.com/clairetonti/

You can contact the show at [email protected]

Editing: RAW Collings

Social Media: Maisie JG

51: Queer Joy, Motherhood & Creativity with Tess Lehman

Tess Lehman is a photographer, creative, proudly queer and a mother of 3 living in Newcastle, Australia. Her story is honest and raw and an example of what happens when we have the courage to really live a creative life and find ourselves with vulnerability, humour and joy. In this episode we talk about Tess’ coming out story and why it took her to midlife to acknowledge she is queer, what it was like to completely change her life, single parenting, motherhood and identity and also her ADHD diagnosis. We also deep dive into her love of boiler suits. Of which I definitely share. Who doesn’t love a onesie with pockets?

You can find more from Tess Lehman at https://tessdoes.com/ and on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tessdoes

https://www.clairetonti.com

https://www.instagram.com/clairetonti/

You can contact the show at [email protected]

Editing: RAWCollings

Social Media: Maisie JG

50: Good Mourning with Sally Douglas & Imogen Carn

Sally Douglas and Imogen Carn met after the sudden deaths of their mothers only months apart. Their experiences led them to launch a podcast, and their no-holds-barred, relatable approach to talking about grief sparked a growing following of people eager to have honest conversations about what it really feels like to deal with loss. Good (more…)

49: La Loba, The Wolf Woman

An early episode of TONTS. and the final episode of the year. Thank you so much for the support. Trigger Warning – this episode discusses themes of emotional abuse and trauma. If this brings anything up for you at all please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 Tickets to the live album launch are available (more…)

48: Rediscovering Ourselves with Holly Ringland Part Two

Part Two of this beautiful conversation with author, storyteller and presenter Holly Ringland. For more from Holly you can find her here https://hollyringland.com/ For more from Claire you can find her here https://www.clairetonti.com/ Show credits: Editing – RAW Collings, Claire Tonti Music – Avocado Junkie Sorry mate, you need to be signed in to access (more…)

47: Discovering Magic with Holly Ringland Part One

Holly Ringland is a writer, storyteller, and television presenter. Her award-winning, bestselling debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, has been published in 31 countries/territories and will stream globally in 2023 as a seven-part series on Amazon Prime, starring Sigourney Weaver. In May 2019, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart won The Australian Book (more…)

46: Fertility with naturopath Freya Lawler

Freya Lawler (naturopath) joins me again to discuss how we can care for our fertility throughout our lives and also what to do when we are faced with subfertility and the challenges to conceiving. Even if you have had children or don’t plan to this conversation is so important as Freya has so much to (more…)

45: Endometriosis with naturopath Freya Lawler

Album Launch Tickets available here https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/claire-tonti-album-launch-tickets-460602724147 Freya Lawler joins me again today to deep dive into Endometriosis, a condition that effects so many women and is still chronically under diagnosed and often misunderstood. Freya Lawler is a bachelor qualified nutritionist, naturopath and natural fertility educator specialising in reproductive health, fertility and hormones. She is passionate (more…)

44: ADHD, Marriage & Murder with Sally Hepworth

Album Launch Tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/claire-tonti-album-launch-tickets-460602724147 Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, most recently The Younger Wife and her new release The Soulmate. Her novel, The Mother-In-Law (2019), has been optioned for a TV series by Hollywood actress and producer, Amy Poehler. Drawing on the good, the bad and the (more…)

43: Giving it a RED HOT GO with Lizzy Hoo

My guest today is Lizzy Hoo WHO is many things – a writer, noodle enthusiast, designer, actor, sports lover, and rescue greyhound owner. Lizzy is also a stand-up comedian who has rapidly become one of Australia’s most exciting new voices. Lizzy only started doing stand-up in 2017, originally as a way to gain more self-confidence. (more…)

42: Boundaries & Self Love with Sam Buckingham

Sam Buckingham is an alternative pop, folk singer songwriter based in Byron Bay, Australia. In May 2020, after receiving a Resilience Fund grant from the Australia Council, Sam Buckingham setup up a makeshift studio in her living room to start pre-production on her new album Dear John. Co-produced with long time collaborator Kent Eastwood, the (more…)

41: Climate Action & What We Can All Do Right Now with Claire O’Rourke

My guest today Claire O’Rourke is an author, environmentalist and advocate, with more than two decades working in journalism, communications and campaigns across Australia and around the world. Claire helps others take action on climate change, currently as Australia Energy Transformation Program Co-Director at The Sunrise Project. Claire’s first book, Together We Can, was published (more…)

40: Joy, Art & Queerness with David Martin Harris

My guest today is David Martin Harris. They are the CEO of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, they have worked for the Australian centre for contemporary art, as the chair person and co-curator of SEVENTH gallery, they have been the co-recipient of an FBI Smack Award for best NSW arts program and they were also (more…)

39: Writing & Motherhood with Jane Harper

My guest today is bestselling author Jane Harper. Jane’s first novel The Dry following the story of Detective Aaron Falk was written in 2016 and has since sold over 1.5m copies in Australia and 3.5m worldwide. It also became a hit film in 2020, starring Eric Bana as Falk. The Dry is now the 15th (more…)

38: Hormones, Perimenopause & Chronic Stress with Naturopath Freya Lawler

Freya Lawler is a bachelor qualified nutritionist, naturopath and natural fertility educator specialising in reproductive health, fertility and hormones. She is passionate about helping people achieve whole body wellness through a root-cause approach to women’s health. In this episode we talk PCOS and gut health, fertility, heavy periods, PMS and PMDD, how to eat better (more…)

37: Toxic Masculinity with Tim Loveday

Tim Loveday is a poet, a writer and editor. He writes primarily on masculinity, intergenerational violence and rural communities reckoning with climate collapse. Look out for his forthcoming book titled Your Father Was A Bastard. Tim is the recipient of a 2021 Next Chapter Wheeler Centre Fellowship, a 2021 Varuna Residential Fellowship, a 2022 Bundanon (more…)

36: Why Stories Matter with Astrid Edwards

My guest today is Astrid Edwards. The host of The Garret: Writers on Writing, you can also read her book reviews in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Future Women, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue and Australian Book Review. In 2021 Astrid contributed to the anthology Growing Up Disabled in Australia. She is one (more…)

35: Fall in love with your clothes with Lucianne Tonti

Today I speak to my little sister Lucianne Tonti about her book Sundressed that has just been released (so very very proud) but also about how to fall in love with your clothes and by extension yourself. About our parents, about womanhood and creativity and about a future we can find that is beautiful and (more…)

34: Finding Your Voice with Santilla Chingaipe

My guest today is the extraordinary journalist, filmmaker, advocate and writer Santilla Chingaipe. Meeting Santi I was immediately drawn into her whip smart, funny and deeply insightful perspectives about the human experience. From her short documentary Black As Me to the TV series Third Culture Kids or Date my Race, Santi explores identity, migration, politics (more…)

33: Inside Our Broken Hospitals with Dr Neela Janakiramanan

My guest this week is the powerhouse that is Dr Neela Janakiramanan. In her own words Neela is a reconstructive plastic surgeon who spends most of her time playing with power tools to fix hands and wrists, while accidentally teaching, mentoring, writing, and fighting the patriarchy. She can also change a flat tyre and operate (more…)

32: Kindred Women with Erin Pluekhahn

My guest today Erin Pluekhahn is a doula, an event manager and now founder of kindred women – a beautiful business that creates women’s circles, gatherings and retreats that aim to nurture, care and restore women through meditation, journaling, movement, nature and sound immersion. I attended a session ran by Erin and it was such (more…)

30: Music Therapy with Pip Reid

My guest in this episode is a very old friend of mine Pip Reid who is a music therapist and one of my heroes. Which I know sounds very corny but I’ll explain. She is someone who shares my enthusiasm for well almost everything and is a big feeling type of person. When I met (more…)

29: Teenage Girls Are Awesome with Maggie Zhou

My guest today Maggie Zhou @yemagz is a writer, producer, instagrammer and slow fashion advocate. She has become a really influential voice in the fight for sustainability in the fashion industry here in Melbourne and her instagram photography gives you such a joyful window into the way she views the world. We talk about what (more…)

28: The Mother Wound with Amani Haydar

My guest this week Amani Haydar is a writer and artist. Her story is one of unimaginable pain and also triumph in the face of the murder of her mother Salwa Haydar at the hands of her father and the loss of her grandmother Teta who was murdered in the 2006 war in Lebanon. Her (more…)

27: Inherited Memories with Siân Darling

It is clear to me that my guest today Siân Darling who is also a dear friend and the partner of my dad’s cousin Paul Kelly, has lived a life impacted by the stories and memories of her families past. She is a little bit magic, deeply feeling, highly creative, a champion of people who (more…)

26: Play Therapy with Felicity Odgers

My guest today is a very good pal of mine Felicity Odgers. Flick was a primary school teacher and is now a qualified play therapist with a masters from Deakin University. Flick and I team taught many years ago in a remote community in the Kimberlys, working with a very special group of first nations (more…)

25: Living Fearlessly with Rhiannon Joyce

My guest today is Shameless Media’s Rhiannon Joyce. Rhi is an integral part of the Shameless team – spear heading brand partnerships which is an integral role in growing what is a really fresh new approach to media. If you haven’t heard of Shameless let me fill you in. Co-founded by Zara McDonald and Michelle (more…)

24: Knowing Your Body with Freya Bennett

My guest today is Freya Bennett musician, illustrator, writer and founder of the digital magazine Ramona. Ramona Magazine is full of content from cis and trans women, as well as non-binary people who are comfortable in a space that centres the experiences of women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people (more…)

20: Office Space with James Clement

This week on TONTS. I talk to James Clement (otherwise known as my husband man or Mr Sunday Movies). This is the final episode in the season and is one of my favourites. James and I discuss why the film Office Space changed the trajectory of his life, what it’s like to become a parent, (more…)

19: Dirty Dancing with Ellen Steele

Jennifer Grey’s character of Baby in the 80s iconic film Dirty Dancing was a revelation writes the Guardian’s Melissa McEwan and in re-watching this classic movie for this episode I whole heartedly agree. I remembered this movie for the swoon worthy Patrick Swayze, the corny but brilliant soundtrack and that lift at the end. In (more…)

18: Writing Your Own Story with Benjamin Law 羅旭能

Benjamin Law grew up in Queensland, gay, Asian and from a big, hilarious, hardworking family. Benjamin is my guest this week and he is a writer of books and TV shows and plays. You might recognise him from the award winning SBS TV series The Family Law based on his memoir of the same name. (more…)

17: Shining a Light in Dark Places with Laura Conti

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to grow up in a secretive Christian sect? And what happens if you leave? My guest today Laura Conti has done just that and not only left but thrived. Her story is one of fierce tenacity, feminist principles and the power of a good education. More (more…)

16: Living the Questions with Yves Rees

Today I am joined by Dr Yves Rees. They are a La Trobe University historian, a podcaster, radio broadcaster and now an author of the brilliant, paradigm shifting memoir All About Yves. Yves’ book is searing and articulate, bringing to the fore with real clarity and insight what it was like for them to identify (more…)