Nova’s Meshel Laurie explores her love of people and their unique stories, in an intimate podcast series called The Nitty Gritty Committee, launching on iTunes today.

Laurie wanted to create a podcast series featuring interviews and stories that she enjoys. Some of her guests are famous, while others have accomplished extraordinary things with their lives due to circumstances or desire.

Laurie said: “My guests aren’t necessarily ‘topical right now’, or even particularly interested in attention. Even the famous ones had to be cajoled into this conversation, because I was honest with them about the direction I’d be taking, which was inward and relentlessly so.”

The first series of interviews sees Laurie chat to five time rehab attendee Camilla, the daughter of comic legend John Cleese, who is attempting to make a name for herself as a comedian; Spicks and Specks’ Alan Brough who gives a very real account about the challenges of raising children and a Missing Persons special with Loren O’Keefe, Dylan Redman and Amelia Kaiser, all of whom have had family members disappear into thin air.

In upcoming episodes, Laurie has an incredibly frank chat with Osher Gűnsberg about his internal battles, speaks with the deceptively deep Molly Meldrum and shares the story of Lex Arthurson, who at 20 with no training and no supplies, was faced with life defining decisions while running a cholera clinic on the Burma railway.

Laurie said: “I am in love with the medium of podcasting, and have dreamt for a long time of securing some bandwidth of my own in which to settle into conversation with interesting people. It’s nothing short of luxurious to be able to explore an interview, rather than contain one for television or radio purposes.”

The Nitty Gritty Committee will be available for free download from iTunes with new interviews uploaded weekly.