At a time when Australian Story has become a Monday night fixture for the ABC, it’s hard to believe that, when it arrived in 1996, it seemed radical. It’s now such a familiar favourite that executive producer Caitlin Shea worries sometimes that it’s too much like “an old, comfy pair of slippers”. As it celebrates its silver jubilee in May, Australian Story is popular with viewers, a cornerstone of a strategically significant prime-time block on a key night, and an enduring reminder that current affairs need not be invasive to be effective. Australian Story subjects (clockwise, from top left): comedian Magda Szubanski, former governor-general Peter