ABC Rewind

An arresting photograph has Clare Wright duck-diving into the history of surfing in Australia.

A fishy looking photograph throws Clare Wright into the deep end of the battle between industry and sustainability.

Clare Wright explores the story behind a studio portrait of an Edwardian family, and raises some tricky questions about citizenship, the Australian constitution and the subtle art of belonging.

Clare Wright unravels the dramatic story within a family photograph that takes us to the searing heart of an Australian summer tragedy: bushfire.

A photograph of two men, one Indigenous and one non-Indigenous, holding hands leads Clare Wright to investigate the history of  First Nations resistance in Australia

Historian Clare Wright takes a deep dive into Australia's past through six intriguing photographs. In this episode Clare tries to uncover the story behind a baffling photo, and finds herself transported back to the not-so-swinging 1960s.

Broadcaster Richard Fidler and writer Kari Gislason continue their travels across Iceland to tell the ancient Viking sagas; tales of love, war and humanity. In this episode they follow the steps of Egil. He was a killer, a ruthless opportunist but also one of the greatest court poets of the Middle Ages.  He travelled far and wide through the Viking world in pursuit of fame and wealth. And yet it was back at his family farm Borg á Mýrum, in Iceland’s mid-west, that he faced his ultimate test, and where he would compose his most moving verse.  A thousand years after Egil, Kári and Richard make the return journey to Reykjavik, and receive some unexpected help in the search for Kári’s bloodline.

In the remote north-west of Iceland, Kári Gislason and Richard Fidler follow in the doomed footsteps of Gísli, the most uncompromising of the saga heroes – this is a tale about the complexity of family life, and the difficult choices which can come with it. Back in Reykjavik, Kári begins to unravel the knotty threads of his own Icelandic heritage and is suddenly faced with a choice.   Credits: Writers - Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason Producer -  Richard Fidler Sound Engineer - Steve Fieldhouse Music composition - Richard Fidler   Saga Land is written by Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason, published by Harper Collins/ABC Books, 2018

Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason continue their travels across Iceland to tell the ancient Viking sagas; tales of love, war and humanity. This episode tells the story of Gudrun, the most beautiful woman in Iceland and the two men who loved her. Kari and Richard also continue to try and piece together the mysterious and tantalising threads of Kari’s Icelandic family history.    Credits: Writers - Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason Producer -  Richard Fidler Sound Engineer - Steve Fieldhouse Music composition - Richard Fidler Saga Land is written by Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason, published by Harper Collins/ABC Books, 2018

Broadcaster and author Richard Fidler, with this friend the writer Kari Gislasen, travel across Iceland to discover the Sagas – the ancient tales of Viking love, war and humanity.  This episode tells the story a famous Viking warrior, Gunnar, and his destructive love affair with the most beautiful and dangerous woman in Iceland, Hallgerd. And Richard and Kari have another mission during their time in Iceland: to try and find out if Kari is related the one of the country’s greatest saga writers. Credits: Writers - Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason Producer -  Richard Fidler Sound Engineer - Steve Fieldhouse Music composition - Richard Fidler Saga Land is written by Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason, published by Harper Collins/ABC Books, 2018

If a friend sent you a farewell text, saying she was planning to end her life, what would you do? Jennie’s response was to go and sing with Nia and promise to tell her story. Nia has scleroderma, her skin and lungs have hardened over the last 20 years, the pain and discomfort has now become unbearable. But thanks to the Voluntary Assisted Dying laws that Nia helped establish she will have the death she hopes for.

Sunil Badami's mother loved telling him stories of his colourful uncle, India's best-known sceptic, who devoted his life to disproving fraudulent gurus' "miracles" by eating fire, bending forks and floating mid-air. But at the heart of the Sceptic's magic was a disappearing act.

When Nell and Caitlin moved into a century-old shop in the historic suburb of Stockton in Newcastle unexplainable things started happening; a lady with a bouffant hairdo appeared in their loungeroom, books, clothes and electronic gadgets were disappearing, there was the acrid smell of unwashed old men in the kitchen. This paranormal activity went on for years, until they called in a ghostbuster. Our expert panel - sceptic Adam Spencer, psychic Kerrie Irwin and agnostic producer Greg Appel put their claims to the test.

It was supposed to be a hiking adventure, but it ended in an unforeseeable accident that would change Warren and Geert's futures forever.   When he was sitting around a campfire on a remote island in Far North Queensland, Warren Macdonald made a life-changing decision. He’d sparked up a conversation with a Dutch hiker named Geert van Keulen, and he decided to follow Geert up a mountain the following morning. It was supposed to be a hiking adventure, but it ended in an unforeseeable accident that would change both their lives forever.

Paulina always knew she had half- siblings around the world. They all shared the same Tongan father. Finding them was the best thing she ever did.

Jim Everett puralia meenamatta - born on Flinder's Island in 1942 - is a man of many selves – philosopher, fisherman, scholar, activist, poet, soldier, filmmaker. When he was sixteen years old, he discovered a hidden part of himself.

When her Parkinson's Disease medication stopped working musician and writer Linda Neil was in a very dark place. But a treatment called Deep Brain Stimulation has allowed her to return to playing the violin, singing, songwriting, living an independent life and riding her pink bicycle.

There’s a government file about my life. A file full of reports. The reports date from 1985 to 2003. That’s 18 years. File 105538. No, I’m not a terrorist or a spy. From two weeks old, to the day I turned 18, I was a foster child. I do not own the file about my life. It belongs to the state of Queensland.  But when I turned 18 I wanted answers.   What I found rocked me to my core. This is my story.

The Australian instrument that shaped the sound of the 1980s and forever changed how popular music was made. At the start of the 1980s the Fairlight caught the eye of synthesiser pioneers likes Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. By the end of the 1980s it had caught the ear of millions of people around the world, even if they didn't know it.

It's the 1980s, and the first devastating decade of the AIDS pandemic. A young student nurse tests positive for the virus. and this information ends up on the front page of his local newspaper. A tale of fear and prejudice. but also of great courage, and love.

It's 1865 in remote central west NSW. A police office is fatally shot by a man he believes is a Chinese bushranger. But all may not be as it seems. A bushranging tale with a twist

What if the most remarkable of all your ancestors was the one left out of the family tree? Historian Kacey Sinclair and two of Fanny Finch’s direct descendants reconstruct the life and legacy of a  Victorian goldfields trailblazer, a woman of colour whose story was hidden for generations.

The Kangaroo dog is unique to Australia. It's a mystery dog with a big story. Born in the early Sydney colony, this deerhound-greyhound mongrel dog was bred to hunt and kill kangaroos. The kangaroo dog was there at key moments in Australia's colonial past - from hunting dog that fed the colony, to bushrangers best mate - to battle dog in the Frontier wars, and family member. The kangaroo dog has seen a lot. What happens when we see history through a dog's eyes?

Where did Jack Karlson learn the lines he delivers in his famous viral video?  This episode unravels the story of a prison playwright and his muse which led Jack to utter those now infamous words “This is democracy manifest.”

Who is the man behind Australia's most iconic internet meme, who famously said “What is the charge? Eating a meal, a succulent Chinese meal? Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest"?

In this extra episode Sisonke Msimang tells stories of First Nations Australians, Rugby and the fight to end Apartheid. When Aboriginal Rugby player Lloyd McDermott refused to declare himself an honorary white for the Wallabies tour of South Africa in 1963 he began a tradition of First Nations Australians using the sport to get under the skin of the country’s regime. But when Glen Ella from the famous Aboriginal Rugby Union playing family joined a Rebel Rugby 7s tour of South Africa in 1985 he broke the sports boycott and almost tore his  family apart. Then Rugby brought the nation of South Africa together in a magic moment of reconciliation when Nelson Mandela wore the Springboks guernsey at the World Cup.

After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela is free and the anti-apartheid movement is full of hope.  But as apartheid legislation is repealed and South Africa starts transitioning to democracy, not everyone is happy. Right-wing Afrikaner groups take to the streets with guns and the Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party inflicts terrible violence within the black community. There are mass killings and peace talks that keep falling apart; will the country make it across the finish line to free and fair elections?  There's an entire system to dismantle and wounds to heal. There’s so much work to be done. What will the new South Africa look like?

The 1980s see South Africa spin out of control as defiance to apartheid and the regime’s crackdown builds. A cultural boycott of South Africa sees international musicians refuse to play there until Paul Simon controversially records his album Graceland with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The world finally gets to hear the vibrant sounds of Zulu music but at what cost to the anti-apartheid movement?

It's 1984, and in Dublin, Ireland, 21 year old shop assistant Mary Manning refuses to sell a South African grapefruit. Her action draws world attention to the campaign to hit Apartheid where it hurts, by crippling the South African economy. At the same time a young Australian seaman starts a global ban on shipping oil to South Africa. How South Africans won their freedom from the racist Apartheid regime, and the Australians who helped them fight for it.

How South Africa won their freedom from the racist Apartheid regime and the Australians who helped them fight for it. A new leader emerges in South Africa, a young man with radical ideas. Steve Biko’s ‘black consciousness’ movement inspires a generation.  His murder at the hands of authorities is a moment of reckoning.  When the children of Soweto township are forced to study in Afrikaans, the language of their oppressor, they rebel and set the country on fire with their resistance. Hundreds of them are killed by the regime.  Steve Biko’s murder in a prison cell sparks a wave of militant activism, as the government doubles down with more violent raids and arrests. And an Australian diplomat gets swept up in the conflict.

By the 1970s the anti-apartheid movement is growing around the world as protesters find ways to hit the South African government where it hurts most. In Australia, the action takes place in a very public way, by heading onto the sports field. Seven former Wallabies rugby players refuse to compete against the South African Springboks when they tour Australia. As mass protests divide the country, Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen declares a state of emergency in Queensland. First Nations activists join the fight, and even Aussie cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman gets caught up in the action.

How South Africans won their freedom from the racist Apartheid regime and the Australians who helped them fight for it. It’s 1990 and Sisonke Msimang is glued to the TV, watching Nelson Mandela, the world’s most famous political prisoner, walk free after 27 years. She’s weeping with joy for a country she knows and loves but has never seen. Since 1948 South Africans have been divided along race lines, called Apartheid. Blacks, Indians and ‘coloured’ people are separated from white people, and cannot marry them, earn the same wage, or get the same education as whites. Blacks are simply cheap labour for the mines and for rich white families. Then in 1960 police open fire on a protest in Sharpeville, killing 69 blacks. This is a turning point: world leaders condemn the massacre, and inside South Africa, the resistance movement galvanises. Sisonke’s dad Mavuso is a rebellious young man and dedicates his life to fighting for the freedom of his people. This commitment takes him all the way to Russia and an uncertain future.

In the summer of 1978, Australian narcotics agents intercepted a campervan being unloaded on the Melbourne docks. What they discovered inside the van turned out to be the largest haul of an illicit substance, black hashish, to land on Australian soil at the time. The campervan belonged to two elderly American women tourists, whose overseas holiday odyssey quickly spiralled into a hellish nightmare.

How South Africans fought to win their freedom, and the Australians who helped them fight for it. It's 1990, and the world is watching as Nelson Mandela walks free from his prison cell after 27 years. The global movement to end the racist policy of Apartheid in South Africa is finally on the brink of victory. Host Sisonke Msimang grew up in a family of South African freedom fighters, and in this series, she talks to South Africans who risked their lives in the struggle to end apartheid. She also meets Australians who used sport, culture, alongside boycotts and sanctions to bring South Africa to its knees. This is a story of hope in unsettled times, a story about the power of collective struggle to change the course of history.

In the summer of 1978, narcotics agents discovered the largest ever haul of illicit drugs to land in Australia, stashed inside a campervan belonging to two elderly American women tourists. But were these women truly drug smugglers or naive puppets in an elaborate plot masterminded by someone else?

Forty years ago this January, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated on its way into orbit. All seven astronauts on board were killed. In the days after the tragedy, the world wanted answers. What really caused the shuttle to explode? And should the launch have been stopped altogether? For season five of Science Friction, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and Fiona Pepper investigate how the Challenger disaster unfolded — and what that has meant for space exploration from 1986 to now. The Challenger Legacy is a five-part series from Science Friction. Out NOW — search Science Friction and The Challenger Legacy.

In a shocking and brutal end to a colourful life, Australian wallpaper designer Florence Broadhurst was murdered in her Paddington studio on the 15th of October, 1977.  So who was suspected of this crime and why is the case still unsolved to this day?  Please listen with care - this episode contains graphic content.    Guests: Tony Russell – Former NSW Police officer  Helen O’Neill – Journalist and author, Florence Broadhurst: her secret and extraordinary lives    Mark Whittaker – Journalist and author, Granny killer: the story of John Glover  Babette Hayes OAM – Interior designer  Vincent Jones – VP Sales & Licensing, Asia-Pacific, Centa IP  David Lloyd-Lewis – Grandson of Florence Broadhurst    Credits: Producer – Zoe Ferguson  Engineer – Simon Branthwaite  Executive Producer – Michelle Rayner

She’s one of Australia’s most prolific and popular designers, and yet not many people know her name, let alone her audacious life story.    Florence Broadhurst was from regional Queensland but people who met her later in life,  thought she was English aristocrat. She reinvented herself many times throughout her life.    Today she’s known for her wallpaper designs that cemented her in Australian design history.  But a shadow lingers over her legacy; her unsolved murder in 1977.   Guests: Helen O’Neill – Journalist and author, Florence Broadhurst: Her secret and extraordinary lives    Dr Andrew Field – Associate Professor of Chinese History, Duke Kunshan University  Babette Hayes OAM – Interior designer  David Lennie – Screen printer, Signature Prints  Sheridan Black – Owner, Signature Handprints  Tony Russell – Former NSW Police officer  David Lloyd-Lewis – Grandson of Florence Broadhurst  Laura Doble – Interior design graduate   Credits: Producer – Zoe Ferguson  Engineer – Simon Branthwaite  Executive Producer – Michelle Rayner

When journalist Annika Blau learns of the discovery of two tea chests of highly valuable letters under the floorboards of an old Sydney home, she begins to uncover secrets, silences and shame from a chapter of Australia's history some would prefer to forget.

When two tea chests full of letters are found under a house in Sydney, they're identified as one of the most important finds in Australia's postal history. But for journalist Annika Blau, they also expose family secrets, silences and shame, as more startling truths are revealed about who her family really is and where they come from.

Join wheelchair racing legend Louise Sauvage for the intriguing history of The Paralympics. The games had their beginnings back in 1948 as life-saving rehabilitation for World War 2 soldiers but today have become an elite sporting event watched by millions. Along that journey Australia radically changed the way the world saw athletes with a disability by treating them equally to the Olympic competitors at the Sydney 2000 games.  Louise introduces us to some Australian sportspeople with remarkable stories. Aboriginal wheelchair basketball player Kevin Coombs who went to five Paralympic games; wheelchair table tennis star and backbone of the Australian athlete community Danni di Toro and Ryley Batt who stubbornly refused to use a wheelchair as a child but is now a rugby champion. Presenter - Louise Sauvage Producer - Sarah Allely Sound designer - Russell Stapleton Supervising producer - Claudia Taranto For a deeper dive into the history of the Paralympics check out the podcast series Unbroken.

Gold medal winning Paralympian and coach Louise Sauvage tells the controversial story of classification at the Paralympics and the fallout from Spanish intellectually impaired basketballers who faked their disability at the Sydney 2000 games. We meet champion swimmer Siobhan Paton whose dreams of winning future medals were shattered when all the intellectual disability categories were cancelled. An advertising campaign at the London 2012 Paralympics portrayed competitors as superhuman and kickstarted a change in visibility and respect for all disabled people.  Today the games and some competitors attract big money and sponsorship deals but wheelchair racer Angie Ballard reminds us that it’s still a physical and financial struggle for many.

In the final episode of Anzac Massacre,  host William Ray delves into the unanswered questions surrounding the killings at Surafend, in Southern Palestine  by the Anzac Mounted Division in December 1918. What motivated this brutal act?

In part two of this series, host William Ray unravels the story of the Surafend massacre in December 1918, and the events which followed it - including the little known role that the Anzacs played in suppressing the 1919 Egyptian revolution.

The story of the Surafend massacre of December 1918, an event described by one historian as the worst war crime ever committed by  New Zealand and Australian military personnel.

It’s 1994 and fugitive billionaire tycoon Christopher Skase lies in a Majorcan hospital bed under police guard. A Spanish court has ordered he is well enough to be extradited back to Australia to face corporate crime charges. But Skase is appealing. When the decision finally comes, it’s a shock.

In June 1993, the Australian Federal Police get a call. Someone from Christopher Skase’s inner sanctum, someone who knows all the ins and outs of his business dealing, who knows exactly where all the bodies are buried, is defecting. But Skase isn’t going down without a fight and he’ll use every trick in the book to avoid extradition back to Australia.

It’s April 1989 and Christopher Skase is reclining on his private jet, sipping a flute of champagne as he flies home from Hollywood. He's just made a $1.2 billion bid for the MGMUA/United Artists film studio. There’s one small problem though - he doesn’t have the money.

In the 1980s, Christopher and Pixie Skase are headline news, right on top of the billionaire food chain. Australia can’t get enough of them. Skase builds the luxury Mirage resorts in Queensland and throws epic, over-the-top, star-studded parties. Pixie flies in flowers, chefs and dresses on their private jet. It’s a wild ride. But if something seems too good to be true it quite possibly is.

Christopher Skase wants to be a corporate cowboy. He’s handsome and elegant, with Hermes ties and flowing locks. His wife Pixie is beautiful, in a 1980s kind of way, with bouffant blonde hair and more diamonds than a high street jeweller. Together they take on the Melbourne business establishment and start building the Qintex empire.

Mercia Masson is one of Australia’s longest serving undercover spies in Cold War era Australia. But her double life remains a secret to those closest to her, including her family, for nearly 50 years

Young Alexandrina Grant is an audacious liar.  Host Richard Roxburgh follows this clever and ambitious crook as she travels from the alleys of Aberdeen to a convict cell in Van Diemen's Land, then onto the streets of colonial Melbourne.  It's there that Alexandrina Askew emerges, transformed into a squatter’s wife, with a distinguished pedigree and connections.  But when her disguise is revealed, the newspapers pounce. And this notorious fraudster has serious questions to answer.

It's 1980s Australia and everyone wants to be seen with billionaire power couple Christopher and Pixie Skase. They have it all — money, power, fame and big hair. Then, in the blink of an eye, they don't. This is the story of Australia's most famous fugitive entrepreneur, his epic fall from grace and the multi-million-dollar chase for Skase. By the age of 40, Christopher Skase's Qintex empire is worth $2 billion, his extravagance legendary, the couple's lavish taste questionable. It's said a glass dome sits in his home office with a million dollars inside. Shredded. An homage to his first mill. But when Skase makes an audacious tilt at Hollywood, his empire collapses. In one of the greatest escapes Australia's ever seen, Christopher and Pixie skip the country owing a whopping $1.5 billion. The Australian courts, government and media are baying for blood. But the billion-dollar question is — will Skase outfox them all? To binge more incredible podcast episodes about 'Australia's fugitive entrepreneur,' the billionaire con man Christopher Skase, hosted by Mark Humphries; search 'Rewind Skase: Fall of a Tycoon podcast' on the ABC listen App (Australia), or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's May 1971, and Qantas flight 755 takes off from Sydney on a routine flight to Hong Kong.  Then a man calls the airline, saying he wants a half a million dollars, or else 'the plane will blow up'. The public anxiously watch the skies above Sydney, as bomb experts are called in, and the plane's fuel runs dangerously low. How can someone hold a plane full of passengers to ransom?   Host Richard Roxburgh takes a deep dive into the events of that fateful day.

Is he a baronet or a butcher from Wagga Wagga? Can he claim the estate of an English aristocrat thought to be lost at sea? Throughout the 1870s, this question attracted global attention, and was the subject of one of the longest, most sensational court cases Britain had ever seen.    Guests:  Robyn Annear (author) The Man Who Lost Himself: The Unbelievable Story of the Tichborne Claimant Zadie Smith (author) The Fraud Claire Campbell (former) Wagga Wagga head librarian and Tichborne aficionado   Credits:  Narrator - Richard Roxburgh Producer - Lyn Gallacher Sound engineer - Angie Grant Script Editors - Kirsti Melville & Tom Wright Music - Matthew Crawford Artwork - Lachlan Conn

One of Australia’s craftiest counterfeiters forges two million dollars in his suburban basement in the 1950s. Richard Roxburgh, renowned for playing shady characters on screen, tells the story of Robert Baudin and his brazen ability to make fake money.

After help from the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, the people of Rongelap atoll, in the Marshall Islands, have a new, safer place to live. But at what cost? What does the future hold for them? And will they ever be able to go home?  Credits: Writer, producer, host: James Nokise Writer, script editor: Sophie Townsend Writer, producer: Justin Gregory Head ABC Radio Australia: Justine Kelly Executive Editor Audio RNZ: Tim Watkin Content Director ABC Radio Australia: Faleagafulu Inga Stünzner RNZ Production Coordinator: Briana Juretich ABC Production Manager: Alison Barclay Audio engineer RNZ: Rangi Powick Design RNZ: Dexter Edwards Editorial Policies advisor ABC: Tiger Webb

It’s July 1985, and public anger is at its peak in New Zealand, as the hunt begins for those responsible for bombing the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour. Shockwaves ripple around the globe once it’s discovered who is behind the attack.

By 1985, nearly four decades after the US nuclear testing in the Pacific's Marshall Islands,  advocate Jeton Anjain has had enough. He decides to act to save his people of Rongelap Atoll. And with the help of some well-connected friends, he pulls off one of the great humanitarian feats of the 20th century.

In the days following the 1954 Castle Bravo nuclear detonation, the people of Rongelap, in the Marshall Islands,  desperately need help.  But when that help arrived, it came with something they didn’t expect and never agreed to.

The Atomic age arrives in the Marshall Islands as the US turns the region into a nuclear testing ground. But after one massive detonation, nothing will ever be the same for the people of Rongelap Atoll.

Miyakatsu Koike was a mild-mannered Japanese bank official who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was working in Surabaya in Indonesia when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour. Koike was arrested by the Dutch East Indies authorities and sent to Loveday detention camp in South Australia where he spent four long years behind the wire.

The crew of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior should have felt safe and welcome when they arrived in Auckland, New Zealand in July 1985. Instead they became the target of a violent attack, which led one person dead. But why – what is the twisted back-story to these events, which led to spies, secrets and bombs?

Italian anarchist Francesco Fantin fled Mussolini's Italy for the freedom of the Queensland cane-fields, only to find himself locked up in a detention camp in wartime Australia, surrounded by his political enemies.

The extraordinary tale of one man's mind-bendingly long kayak journey that begins in Germany and ends up in an Australian Detention camp during World War 2.

The story of one of Australia's most misunderstood criminals. With nothing to lose, Raymond Denning escapes Grafton prison in a rubbish bin. He has help from prisoner rights groups, and a desire to expose police corruption. The man-hunt for Denning turns farcical when he uses the media to make the police look foolish.

The story of one of Australia's most misunderstood criminals. After a traumatic childhood, Raymond Denning jumps from 'juvie' to jail. When an escape attempt goes wrong, a prison warder is critically injured and the finger is pointed at Denning.

Asbestos was once known as the wonder mineral. It's now banned in Australia. But before that happened, companies kept making asbestos products despite growing evidence of its deadly dust and a mounting death toll.

When a vast coal seam was found running through the escarpment around the NSW town of Wollongong it seemed that this beautiful part of Australia had got lucky. But had it? Van Badham heads back to her hometown to explore the deadly cost of coal mining for those who worked the pit.

Van Badham explores the human cost of mining in Australia across the past 2 centuries. Gold may have made Australia rich, but historians are now digging up evidence about the devastating impact of the silica dust that surfaced with it.

It's the early 1970s and the power of good is unleashed. In the Age of Aquarius the public get wise to being hoodwinked by advertising. Health campaigners hijack the medium — and turn it to their advantage.

The hunt is on for the winning TV ad — the one that keeps the client happy and the consumers consuming. What's the right method for making the perfect advertisement?               In 1970 a young bloke called John Singleton thought he had the answer. Host Dee Madigan continues her adventures through the vaults of Australian advertising.

It’s the 1970s and we're entering Australia's golden age of advertising. The Aussie larrikin makes his TV appearance and liquid lunches get longer. Salaries get bigger and the egos to match them. Join host Dee Madigan as she digs through the history of advertising in Australia.

Join host Dee Madigan for a wild ride through the golden days of Australian advertising.  When TV arrived in Australia in 1956,  it brought American ad agencies, international sophistication and the rise of the cultural cringe.

In this bonus episode Jan Fran and historian Dr Geraldine Fela discuss how the waterfront dispute has shaped the way we work in Australia today. 27 years later work is more precarious – casual and fixed term jobs have grown, the kind of work we do has changed and employers now have more power over employees. Politics and industrial relations were also changed by the dispute and unions have learned to fight in a very different way.

Was the Howard government the puppet master of the Waterfront dispute? Host Jan Fran reveals new evidence that provides some answers to questions that’ve dogged Australian politics for 27 years.

After Patrick Stevedores sacks its 1,400 maritime union workers the waterfront dispute turns into a courtroom drama as the legal teams battle it out in the Federal Court before heading all the way to the High Court.

The Maritime Union knows Patrick Stevedores is building up to a dramatic move. But it’s shocked when the company sends in balaclava-clad security guards and dogs to forcibly lock out workers in the dark of night. The union's lawyers take the company to the Federal Court where Patrick drops a bombshell on day one of the hearing.

After the collapse of the Dubai plan Patrick Stevedore's boss Chris Corrigan turns to Plan B, training fresh-faced farmers to work as wharfies. The MUA suspect the farmers will take their jobs and so create chaos at the gates of Patricks’ Webb Dock to stop the farmers getting through. Meanwhile the heat remains on Corrigan to fess up to his masterminding of Dubai.

When the Opposition Labor Party breaks the news in Parliament about a secret group of ‘industrial mercenaries’ training in Dubai to take over the wharfies' jobs some big questions are asked: who exactly is behind the training operation, and is the government involved?

When Patrick Stevedores locks out and fires 1400 wharfies overnight on April 8, 1998, it divides the country. But behind all this is a story of high drama and political intrigue, a complex web of double dealing and high-stakes leaks. It's no secret that the Howard government wants waterfront reform but what role is it playing in Patrick owner Chris Corrigan's "revolution"?

On 8 April 1998 Australians woke up to the startling news that dogs and men in balaclavas were invading the docks around the country, locking out workers.   This is a story of political intrigue, of lies, double dealing, high stakes leaks and high stakes finances. And guns. It takes us from Queensland’s Ettamogah pub to the ports of Dubai, from low-rent motel rooms to the highest court in the land. And all the way to the Prime Minister. In this six-part investigation into the waterfront dispute between Patrick Stevedores and the Maritime Union of Australia, host Jan Fran talks to the all major players, and digs up new evidence revealing the depth of the government's involvement in one of the biggest industrial showdowns in Australian history.

In the final episode of Anzac Massacre, Black Sheep podcast host William Ray delves into the unanswered questions surrounding the killings at Surafend, Southern Palestine  by the Anzac Mounted Division in December 1918. What motivated this brutal act?

Radio New Zealand podcast Black Sheep  brings us the story of the Surafend massacre of December 1918, an event described by one historian as the worst war crime ever committed by New Zealand and Australian military personnel.

The story of the Surafend massacre of December 1918, an event described by one historian as the worst war crime ever committed by New Zealand and Australian military personnel.

Come on a wild ride through the extraordinary story of the Big Day Out; the festival which, for over two decades, was a summertime rite of passage for music lovers around Australia. Was it really a victim of its' own success?

We''ve got news! The History Listen has been given a makeover. Our new show,  ABC Rewind,  is still your home for gripping audio storytelling, and still the podcast where you'll hear true stories told by the people who lived through them. Come on a deep dive into the past on Rewind.

Come on a wild ride through the extraordinary story of the Big Day Out; the festival which, for over two decades, was a summertime rite of passage for music lovers around Australia

It's 1865 in remote central west NSW. A police office is fatally shot by a man he believes is a Chinese bushranger. The story of Sam Poo is a bushranging tale with a twist

At the height of the Cold War a New Zealand teenager is sent to a hospital in the Soviet Union to grow new fingers on her left hand. Sounds like fiction? This actually happened to Miranda Jakich and in this episode  she tells her tale.

Was he Australia's greatest con artist?  That was the title given to John Friedrich, the former head of the Victorian Division of National Safety Council of Australia.  Back in the 1980s, he famously made $293 million of investors’ money disappear. When his fraud was uncovered, he went missing himself for sixteen days, prompting a nationwide manhunt and a media storm that reported both facts and the fictions. Guests: Barry Whitehead - former NSCA operations manager Frank Bongiorno - professor of history, ANU Peter and Ann Synan - regional historians & Sale residents Zyg Zayler - criminal lawyer, Melasecca Kelly & Zayler Credits: Composer - Matthew Crawford Sound engineer - Tim Symonds Producer - Lyn Gallacher

When Bill Garner began exploring his family history, a puzzling gap in the family tree led him to discover a most extraordinary ancestor: Fanny Finch. Finch was a well-known and controversial figure during the Victorian gold rushes. A London-born woman of African heritage, she pushed a wheelbarrow from Melbourne to the goldfields in 1852, where she became a sly grogger and restaurateur. She actively resisted police corruption, supported women and children against domestic violence and in 1856, cast a vote in municipal elections, decades before women were granted suffrage. And yet her story was not passed down to her descendants. When Bill met historian Kacey Sinclair, who had been researching Finch’s life, a fascinating and sometimes challenging conversation began. In Finding Fanny Finch, Sinclair joins Finch’s direct descendants, Bill and his daughter Alice, in a theatrical reconstruction and reflection on the life and legacy of an unforgettable woman. Credits Written by Bill Garner and Sue Gore Based on research by Kacey Sinclair Performed by Kacey Sinclair, Bill Garner and Alice Garner Music by ‘Friends of Wendy Cotton’: Briony Phillips, Stephanie Carson, Nicole Simirenko, Christine Webb, Anthony Webb Original music recordings by Casey Rice Sound engineering by Angie Grant Additional music mixing by Brendan O'Neill Adapted for radio by Miyuki Jokiranta

Laya Semler was the last Jew sent to a concentration camp from Wennigsen, Germany, in 1945. Her non-Jewish husband Adolf was sent to slave labour for not denouncing her.  Both survived. Now, Wennigsen has invited their Australian family back, to commemorate Laya and Adolf’s incredible story of courage and love.  In Part 1, their great-grandchildren discovered a town perhaps finally ready to accept the extent of its role in the Nazi regime. In Part 2, they will experience that history face-to-face. They experience that history face-to-face -- when they visit the slave labour camp, only recently unearthed, where Adolf was held.  And where they must reckon with horrors that will shock even the German historians guiding them.       Michaela Kalowski, Joanna's husband John Hempton, Joanna Kalowski and Rick Kalowski Guests: Joanna Kalowski - internationally recognised mediator and granddaughter of Laya and Adolf Semler Michael Wittich - historian for the town of Wennigsen Christina Muller - city councillor in Wennigsen Jutta Henza - historian of the Stolen Gustav slave labour camp Credits: Writers: Rick Kalowski and Michaela Kalowski Presenters: Michaela Kalowski and Rick Kalowski Producer: Claudia Taranto Sound Engineer: Hamish Camilleri Research assistance : Tadhg Kalowski

In 1945, Laya Semler became the last Jew sent to a concentration camp from Wennigsen, Germany.  Her non-Jewish husband Adolf chose slave labour rather than abandon her.  They both survived. In 2022, the village of Wennigsen invited their Australian family back to commemorate Laya and Adolf’s bravery. Told by their great-grandchildren, Laya and Adolf’s story is testament to the power love has to bridge even the greatest differences.  But it’s also the story of a town only just coming to terms with the truth of its past.  A truth that, as Laya and Adolf’s descendants discover first-hand, not everyone in the town is ready to accept...   Joanna Kalowski at the opening of the new street in Wennigsen, Germany, named after her grandmother Laya Semler Guests: Joanna Kalowski - internationally recognised mediator and granddaughter of Laya and Adolf Semler Michael Wittich - historian for the town of Wennigsen Franz Blazek - former mayor of Wennigsen Silke Stremlau - resident of Wennigsen Credits: Writers: Rick Kalowski and Michaela Kalowski Presenters: Michaela Kalowski and Rick Kalowski Producer: Claudia Taranto Sound Engineer: Hamish Camilleri Research assistance : Tadhg Kalowski

Fifty years ago, in the early hours of Christmas Day 1974, Cyclone Tracy killed 66 people and decimated the city of Garramilla/Darwin. Afterwards more than 30,000 residents were evacuated, many never returning to Darwin.  Writing down memories of the event helped some survivors of the cyclone process the experience. Hear a handful of these stories, set in crumbling houses, airborne cars, a busy restaurant and an overcrowded hospital, all set to the terrifying real-life soundtrack of Cyclone Tracy.   (image courtesy of the NT Archive : LANT LJ Adams NTRS 3129 P2, item 1 Caption "Chris Adams looking at Cyclone Tracy destruction, 26 December 1974")

It’s the early 1900s and a gang of men moves through the gritty streets of inner-city North Melbourne: they dress sharp and inspire fear wherever they go. This gang, the Crutchy Push ruled the streets of North Melbourne over a ten year period, from late 1890s. And the reason for their curious name? All the members of this gang were amputees: mostly one-legged, and they used a crutch - and not just for walking! To mark the International Day for People With Disability, Melbourne-based writer and disability advocate  Kaitlyn Blythe digs up the little-known story of the gang and its’ charismatic leader Valentine Keating, and explores how it busts a lot of myths about disabled people in Australian history.   Guests: Brendan Gleeson Tansy Bradshaw   Readings  -  Toby Truslove    Credits: Producer -  Kaitlyn Blythe  Sound design and production -  Matthew Crawford Supervising Producer -  Michelle Rayner

It’s March 25th, 1999, and Australia’s most remarkable prison escape has just taken place, after a helicopter hovers above the recreation grounds at the Silverwater maximum security prison, in Sydney. In the blink of an eye, a prisoner runs towards the chopper, climbs onboard, and is on his way to freedom. This is the story of that airborne escapee, John Killick, a man who spent much of his life leading the authorities on a merry dance. Somehow he survived his dangerous escapades and many prison stints. Today, in his early 80s, John is a writer, a public speaker. and a counsellor to ex-crims.   Credits: Producer: Brian McKenzie Sound Engineer: Tim Symonds

In a shocking and brutal end to a colourful life, Australian wallpaper designer Florence Broadhurst was murdered in her Paddington studio on the 15th of October, 1977.  So who was suspected of this crime and why is the case still unsolved to this day?  Please listen with care - this episode contains graphic content.    Guests: Tony Russell – Former NSW Police officer  Helen O’Neill – Journalist and author, Florence Broadhurst: her secret and extraordinary lives    Mark Whittaker – Journalist and author, Granny killer: the story of John Glover  Babette Hayes OAM – Interior designer  Vincent Jones – VP Sales & Licensing, Asia-Pacific, Centa IP  David Lloyd-Lewis – Grandson of Florence Broadhurst    Credits: Producer – Zoe Ferguson  Engineer – Simon Branthwaite  Executive Producer – Michelle Rayner

She’s one of Australia’s most prolific and popular designers, and yet not many people know her name, let alone her audacious life story.    Florence Broadhurst was from regional Queensland but people who met her later in life,  thought she was English aristocrat. She reinvented herself many times throughout her life.    Today she’s known for her wallpaper designs that cemented her in Australian design history.  But a shadow lingers over her legacy; her unsolved murder in 1977.   Guests: Helen O’Neill – Journalist and author, Florence Broadhurst: Her secret and extraordinary lives    Dr Andrew Field – Associate Professor of Chinese History, Duke Kunshan University  Babette Hayes OAM – Interior designer  David Lennie – Screen printer, Signature Prints  Sheridan Black – Owner, Signature Handprints  Tony Russell – Former NSW Police officer  David Lloyd-Lewis – Grandson of Florence Broadhurst  Laura Doble – Interior design graduate   Credits: Producer – Zoe Ferguson  Engineer – Simon Branthwaite  Executive Producer – Michelle Rayner