
The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show
LiSTNR
Categories: Health
Listen to the last episode:
In this SAFE SPACE episode, Jess sits down with Cheng Lei to explore what it’s really like to be Wrongly Imprisoned.
Chinese Born Australian Journalist Cheng Lei’s life was upended when she was wrongfully detained in China on charges of espionage. For more than three years, Cheng endured isolation, interrogation, and imprisonment, cut off from her family, her children, and the outside world.
With courage, dark humour, and remarkable insight, Cheng shares what it took to survive, the unexpected friendships that sustained her, and how love, desire, and the human spirit helped her endure the unthinkable. This is her extraordinary story of resilience, injustice, and ultimately, freedom.
Is there somebody you'd like to share this episode with? Just tap the 3 dots above ⬆︎ and pass it on
LINKS:
- Find out more about Cheng Lei’s story in her remarkable ‘Memoir of Freedom’
If you or someone you love needs support after leaving prison, organisations like Samaritans are here to help. For over 25 years, Samaritans has supported people transitioning from prison back into the community, providing practical assistance to help rebuild life on the outside. Along with Mission Australia and Reboot Australia.
And if this conversation has brought up difficult feelings, Lifeline is here 24/7 on 13 11 14 You’re not alone.
CREDITS:
Host: Jessica Rowe
Guest: Cheng Lei
Executive Producer: Nic McClure
Audio Producer: Nat Marshall
Digital Content Producer: Zoe Panaretos
The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show acknowledges the Gadigal people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which we recorded this podcast, and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples here today.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Previous episodes
-
206 - Safe Space: What is it like to be Wrongly Imprisoned? Tue, 08 Jul 2025
-
205 - Safe Space: What is it like to live with a Terminal Illness? Tue, 01 Jul 2025
-
204 - Jane Fonda ‘I Feel Younger in Every Way That Matters’ Tue, 24 Jun 2025
-
203 - Montaigne ‘I've never done anything like that before’ Tue, 17 Jun 2025
-
202 - Katrina Gorry ‘A weight had lifted, finally I can let it out’ Tue, 10 Jun 2025
-
201 - What happens when we stop living through the lens of ‘we’? Tue, 03 Jun 2025
-
200 - Holly Wainwright 'Can Friendship Outlast Romantic Love?' Tue, 27 May 2025
-
199 - Larry Emdur 'If not now, when?' Tue, 20 May 2025
-
198 - The Mother of All Bonus Ep's Sat, 10 May 2025
-
197 - Penelope Rowe ‘I feel a click in my brain and I know that's it’ Tue, 06 May 2025
-
196 - Jackie Gillies ‘I love you, but I love myself more’ Tue, 29 Apr 2025
-
195 - Sam Wood 'No one's ever asked me that before' Tue, 22 Apr 2025
-
194 - Brooke Boney 'I felt like I'd been punched in the gut' Tue, 15 Apr 2025
-
193 - Tierney Brothers ‘It was pretty brutal’ Tue, 08 Apr 2025
-
192 - Ione Skye 'I was just in over my head' Tue, 01 Apr 2025
-
191 - Vincent Fantauzzo ‘It took me 10 years to tell my wife’ Tue, 25 Mar 2025
-
190 - Christine Anu ‘I was doing it in plain sight’ Tue, 18 Mar 2025
-
189 - Layne Beachley ‘No one sees the shit you go through’ Tue, 11 Mar 2025
-
188 - Michelle Brasier 'I didn't see that coming' Tue, 04 Mar 2025
-
187 - Guy Pearce ‘I was devastated about that’ Tue, 25 Feb 2025
-
186 - Mahalia Barnes 'That was probably the darkest period for me' Tue, 18 Feb 2025
-
185 - Gabby Bernstein 'Ditch your Resolutions and do this instead' Tue, 11 Feb 2025
-
184 - Tanya Hennessy ‘Part of me wishes I'd never spoken about it’ Tue, 04 Feb 2025
-
183 - BIG Summer Book Club: Trailblazing Women + A candid Conversation with Wendy Harmer Tue, 28 Jan 2025
-
182 - BIG Summer Book Club: Personal Growth & Becoming Your Best Self + A Conversation with Megan Dalla-Camina Tue, 21 Jan 2025
-
181 - BIG Summer Book Club: Powerful Memoirs + An Inspiring Conversation with Jelena Dokic Tue, 14 Jan 2025
-
180 - BIG Summer Book Club : Uplifting reads for Mental Wellbeing + a deep dive with Julie Goodwin Tue, 07 Jan 2025
-
179 - BIG Summer Book Club: Jess's Fiction Faves + a deep dive with Liane Moriarty Tue, 31 Dec 2024
-
178 - BIG Summer Book Club : Unlocking Self Acceptance + a deep dive with Alison Daddo Tue, 24 Dec 2024
-
177 - BIG Summer Book Club : Exploring Sex, Desire, and Life as a Madam with Antonia Murphy Tue, 17 Dec 2024
-
176 - Liz Ellis 'That really did test me' Tue, 10 Dec 2024
-
175 - Darren Hayes 'I felt I deserved it' Tue, 03 Dec 2024
-
173 - Torvill & Dean ‘We never realised what those four minutes would mean to us’ Tue, 26 Nov 2024
-
172 - Jamie Oliver ‘I always come back stronger' Tue, 19 Nov 2024
-
171 - Manu Feildel ‘I never want to go back to that time’ Tue, 12 Nov 2024
-
170 - Sarah, Duchess of York ‘She was more my mother than my own mother’ Tue, 05 Nov 2024
-
169 - Noni Hazlehurst ‘I felt very ashamed and shocked’ Tue, 29 Oct 2024
-
168 - Tina Arena 'I f***ing earned that line' Tue, 22 Oct 2024
-
167 - Radha Mitchell ‘I think you just have to confront it’ Tue, 15 Oct 2024
-
166 - Tim Minchin 'How deep do you want to go?' Tue, 08 Oct 2024
-
165 - Kasey Chambers ‘I wrote it from this really lonely place’ Tue, 01 Oct 2024
-
164 - How do I Silence my Inner Critic? with Megan Dalla-Camina Tue, 24 Sep 2024
-
163 - Liane Moriarty ‘It feels like I got drunk at a dinner party and talked too much’ Tue, 17 Sep 2024
-
162 - Elle Macpherson ‘At that time I was not confident, I wasn't comfortable, I was fearful’ Tue, 10 Sep 2024
-
161 - Harry Garside 'The man I am now is because of those things' Tue, 03 Sep 2024
-
160 - SAFE SPACE: What's it like to experience fatphobia and weight stigma? Tue, 27 Aug 2024
-
159 - SAFE SPACE: What is it like to experience racism? Tue, 20 Aug 2024
-
158 - SAFE SPACE: What is it like to live with Schizophrenia? Tue, 13 Aug 2024
-
157 - SAFE SPACE: What is it like to be addicted to Ice (Methamphetamine)? Tue, 06 Aug 2024
-
156 - Introducing SAFE SPACE a mini-series with Jess Rowe Mon, 05 Aug 2024