Talking about teaching with colleagues is one way that academics learn about university teaching. In contexts that offer inconsistent support for teaching, what influences conversations? This study investigated mid-career academics' conversations at an Australian research-intensive university. Twenty-four academics were interviewed and the transcripts analysed using the constant comparative method. Conversations were influenced by common ground between colleagues -- which is likely due to endeavouring to learn about teaching within contexts perceived as adverse. This article reports on an analysis of 'context' to identify the dynamic interaction between; lack of support for teaching; camaraderie, proximity, and similarity, and conversations.