You can access all previous shows via the BELLY PODCAST – Belly – Omny.fm
21 Jul 2026, 9am Belly You know the sorts of people who carry a spark, the ones who walk into a room and before you know they’ve lit it up? Well today’s guest is one of those people. Simone O’Brien is a physical theatre performer, a feminist, a firecracker of a woman and a bloody great storyteller. Simone grew up on the edge of a National Park with five brothers, and learned toughness the hard way, discovering early on in life that the world wasn’t going to hand her anything, so she went out and built her own world instead. She’s done so much in the 60 odd years she's been on this earthly plane. Well, much of it has been spent flying high above audiences on a trapeze! She's also toured the globe with a queer aerial troupe, survived a damaging fall, battled illness, confronted her father in a moment of radical forgiveness, and rebuilt herself, body and soul, to emerge as the person you’re about to get to know a whole lot better. Simone lived inside the wild beating heart of Sydney’s 90s arts scene, she's marched through the waves of feminism, explored sexuality with honesty and now, in her sixties, she’s navigating menopause, hormone therapy, and the politics of women’s health with the same fierce intelligence she brings to everything, including her post-menopausal post punk cabaret band Mutton, alongside fellow band mate and WOW Ep.4 guest Gabrielle Griffin. Simone is a brilliant storyteller, a woman who won’t be silenced, who continues to be seen, and who invites us to see ourselves more clearly in the process. Today on Belly you’ll be hearing the final episode in the CBF grant funded project WOW: Wise Older Women. That means we’re taking a deep dive into Simone’s life: complete with triumphs, trauma, art, politics, the body, the healing, and the burning fire that never went out. This is a story about feminism brought about by family dynamics, and the power of performance, something Simone was born to own. FYI: Due to Simone's incredible gift of storytelling, our original interview went for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Great in podcast version, not so great if you’re trying to fit it into a two-hour radio show! In lieu of this, and the fact I simply refuse to edit any more from its rich context, and descriptive depths, you'll hear only the first half on the show today. Part 2 next week! This project was made possible with the support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation CBF.org. The WOW2 podcast version of the series will be available in July and broadcast nationally via the Community Radio Network (CRN) later in the year.
14 Jul 2026, 9am Belly Before we begin today’s conversation, I want to acknowledge the courage, the heart, and the deep wairua (spirit) that our guest brings into this space. It’s also important to acknowledge that what you’ll hear is not just a story of trauma – it is a story of survival, cultural memory, spiritual awakening, and of a woman who has walked through darkness and chosen, again and again, to stand in love and light. This episode contains discussions around childhood sexual abuse, violence, and intergenerational harm. They’re difficult topics, and they might bring up strong emotions. Please take care of yourself as you listen. Pause if you need to. Take a breath. Come back when you’re ready. Side note: The way that Kara shares her story creates a confronting yet comforting listening environment. It’s unlike any other view of trauma or abuse I’ve ever heard. There’s a calming wisdom that prevails which allows us to feel into a life that many people would consider unbearable, were it not for the innate wisdom within, the wairua, the spirit of the soul, guiding it home, beyond what was happening, and into what it has become, two very different places along the path of life. My guest Kara Gray lived a life shaped by forces no child should ever have to face. But she’s also lived a life shaped by ancestors, ceremony, by intuition and compassion, and by a fierce commitment to breaking cycles that have travelled through generations. She joins us not to relive the past, but to share the wisdom she’s gathered, the healing, the reclamation, the return to her inner child, and the deep knowing that we are so much more than what has happened to us. It’s an honour to hold this kōrero with Kara Gray today. To listen and learn and to be trusted with such an important sharing of her wise and wonderful words. I never know what a guest will want to share, how open they’ll be to the project and the process. Each interview in the series so far, has moved me in its own way. It’s not just about the content, it’s the bravery that accompanies it, the authenticity in each voice, and the messages that come through, which will be different for each of us. Listen with love.
7 Jul 2026, 9am Belly Today’s episode of WOW is the story of a woman who has created a full and colourful life by choice. The choice to seek truth, to choose dance, and to say yes when others might have said no. Gabrielle Griffin aka GG was born in France, raised across Europe, and grew up in a family shaped by secrets, including one that didn’t surface until she was in the throes of teenage life as her mother revealed she had adopted out a baby before GG was born. That revelation cracked open GG’s world and set her on a path of rebellion, independence, and ultimately, truth‑seeking. At twenty, she moved to Australia alone. She reinvented herself along the way from Sydney to Byron Bay, the wild tropics of FNQ to Adelaides art scene and many other places in between. She navigated culture shock, inherited anxiety, queerness, and the search for belonging in a country that felt both foreign and full of possibility all at the same time. Her life has taken her through family lies and discoveries, activism and political queer culture, motherhood followed by dark postnatal depression, relocating to another state without her son, disability arts, adult puppetry, explorations into her own sexuality in her 40’s and GG put in the hard work of rebuilding a creative identity after everything felt like it had fallen apart. She has lived through rupture and reconnection, including eventually finding the brother she never knew she had. And through it all, she has followed one constant: That of the performing arts. Movement, dance, performance, and embodiment, was the language she trusted even when nothing else made sense. Today, she is one half of the post punk cabaret duo MUTTON, a performer whose life experience is woven into every beat, every gesture, every delightful moment on stage. GG is also an adult puppeteer, a Pilates instructor, an Activist, a blogger and a disability dance teacher and who knows what's next? This is a story about the search for identity, family, queerness, reinvention, and the courage to keep going, even when the path ahead is unclear. This project was made possible with the support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation CBF.org. The WOW2 podcast version of the series will be available in late July and broadcast nationally via the Community Radio Network (CRN) later in the year.
30 Jun 2026, 9am Belly Today’s guest is Gayle Cue a woman who grew up under a wide Montana sky in the Northwest of the US. The harsh and heavenly country, the great outdoor lifestyle, the grit and groundedness gave her the gift of resilience and strength that has helped carry her through life and what that journey brings. Gayles story weaves through all the juicy ingredients of a life lived in flow, allowing what is meant to be: to simply be. It might have taken her a few years or even a few decades to get to where she is today but she’s here and her story, in all its glorious entirety is what we’ll be sharing on the show today. Gayle married at 18 and became a young mum, before recognising the need for change which steered her toward navigating blended family life, with four kids under seven and the adventures that brought. Then came the moment that changed everything: Gayles second husband sat up in bed one morning and announced, “We’re going on a trip.” And just like that, Gayle’s view of life underneath those Montana skies expanded beyond realms, the world opened up and offered her a new vista and a way of being she couldn’t ignore. The family took a giant leap that carried them across the world, to eventually land right here in Byron Bay, where she co‑created Sound Waves Music Store which housed and helped build a community radio station and all of its volumeters, and became one of the quiet forces shaping the creative heartbeat of the town. She’s lived through profound loss, rebuilt her life more than once, travelled to sacred sites around the world, remembered past lives, more recently she’s embraced shared living, and stepped into elderhood with a mix of humility, humour, and deep soulful insight. Gayle is vibrant, wise, grounded, and endlessly curious. She’s the kind of elder we can look to, to be reminded that as life expands, so do we. Let's head deep into the life of another extraordinary wise older woman and see what wisdom arises. This is, in a nutshell, the life of Gayle Cue. This project was made possible with the support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation CBF.org. The WOW2 podcast version of the series will be available in July and broadcast nationally via the Community Radio Network (CRN) later in the year.