Hello No Filter Listeners. We know how much you love an extraordinary story. Have we got one for you.

Sometimes, a pivot isn’t triggered by a failure.
Sometimes, it happens because you keep looking for a way to make the world a little bit fairer.

Anne Aly was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and moved to Australia when she was just two years old. Her parents worked hard in factory jobs to give their family a foothold here, and those early experiences of displacement, resilience and possibility stayed with her.

By her late twenties, Anne was a single working mother raising two young boys in Perth on the minimum wage. She knew what it meant to juggle life’s demands with no safety net, and she used that as fuel to keep pushing forward.

She went back to study. And then studied some more, earning a Master’s and a PhD focused on countering violent extremism. From there, Anne became a globally recognised expert in her field, advising the United Nations, publishing hundreds of academic works, and even being the only Australian invited to speak at President Obama’s White House summit on countering violent extremism.

But academia was never where her story stopped.

In 2016, Anne took another monumental pivot — into politics. She was elected as the Federal Member for Cowan, becoming the first Muslim woman in the Australian Parliament, and then a minister in federal government, shaping policy on multicultural affairs, small business and international development.

Along the way, she has championed issues close to her heart, from community safety to meaningful support for domestic and family violence survivors, turning her own life experience into public purpose.

In this episode, Anne talks about how she navigated seismic life shifts with grit, compassion, and that same drive to make space for voices too often overlooked — and how she keeps pivoting even when the stakes are high.

THE END BITS:

Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay.

Discover more Mamamia podcasts here.

Feedback: podcast@mamamia.com.au

Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP.

Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review.

CREDITS:
Guest: Anne Aly
Host: Sarah Davidson
Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser
Senior Producer: Sally Best

This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online.

Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After being crowned Jungle Queen and winning $100,000 for charity, Concetta chose to donate the prize to Full Stop Australia, the organisation that helped her family escape domestic violence when she was growing up.

As a child, Concetta lived in a home where violence and fear were constant. Eventually, her mother made a secret call to a domestic violence hotline and began planning what the family would later describe as their escape.

Concetta, her mother and her sister left their home, fled across the country and started again under new names.

In this conversation with Kate Langbroek, Concetta speaks openly about the childhood she kept secret for years, the moment everything changed for her family, and the complicated journey of rebuilding a life after violence.

She also reflects on the strange path that led her to comedy, the inner critic that still lives in her head, and the joy she has found in finally being able to live freely.

If this conversation raises anything for you, support is available. Full Stop Australia runs a 24-hour confidential helpline for people affected by sexual, domestic and family violence. Details are in the show notes.

You can listen to Concetta Caristo on triple j Breakfast.

SUBSCRIBE here: Support independent women's media

What To Listen To Next:

• Listen: Rachel Ward Looks Her Age. When Did That Become Radical?
• Listen: For 15 Years, No One Was Listening To Lainey Wilson. Now She's Everywhere
• Listen: Supermodel Rachel Hunter Was The Ultimate 90s Muse - Then She Walked Away
• Listen: Michelle Slept by Her Son’s ICU Bedside for Most of Last Year

Discover more Mamamia Podcasts here.

Watch No Filter on YouTube. Follow us on Instagram here. Follow us on TikTok here.

Feedback: podcast@mamamia.com.au

Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP.

Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review.

CREDITS:

Guest: Concetta Caristo

Host: Kate Langbroek

Group Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Executive Producer: Bree Player

Assistant Producer: Coco Lavigne

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

Video Producer: Josh Green

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rachel Ward recently went viral for a video filmed in a paddock on her farm. The internet had a lot to say about how she looked.

At 66, the former Thorn Birds star suddenly found herself at the centre of a global conversation about ageing, beauty, and what people expect women who were once famous for their looks to look like decades later.

In this episode of No Filter, Rachel talks to Kate Langbroek about the viral moment and why she believes the reaction had very little to do with her and everything to do with society’s discomfort with women ageing in public.

Rachel reflects on her extraordinary life, from British aristocracy to international fame, from Hollywood film sets to regenerative farming on the mid north coast of New South Wales.

She also speaks candidly about mental health, the “crumbles” that forced her to reassess everything, and the instinct she has learned to trust when it is time to leave one chapter of her life behind and begin another.

CREDITS:

Guest: Rachel Ward

Host: Kate Langbroek

Group Executive Producer: Naima Brown

Executive Producer: Bree Player

Assistant Producer: Coco Lavigne

Audio Producer: Jacob Round

Video Producer: Josh Green

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.