Martin McKenzie-Murray's new book, Sirens, is an intimate and remarkably powerful portrait of three first responders – a paramedic, a police officer and a firefighter – who are motivated by a desire to serve the community, but they are drawn to their work by more complicated impulses as well. In telling their stories, McKenzie-Murray draws on his own experience and his research into trauma and recovery to ask profound questions about human motivation and survival. He speaks to fill-in host Nick Feik about the research and writing of his book.

McKenzie-Murray is The Saturday Paper's associate editor, and a two-time Walkley finalist and winner of the Melbourne Press Club's Quill Award for commentary. He has worked as a teacher, speechwriter, columnist for The Age and adviser to the chief commissioner of Victoria Police. His first book, A Murder Without Motive, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing. His second, The Speechwriter, won the Russell Prize for Humour Writing.