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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

Early Tonts! Thanks so much for listening.

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

Early Tonts pod for your Sunday, hope you’ve a great weekend mate.

Merry weekend mate! Please enjoy this early edition of TONTS with the wonderful, Sarah Wilson.

Early edition of a brand new season with Claire Tonti. Thank you so much for the support.

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

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…)