Invisible History

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Invisible History unearths the hidden, forgotten and uncelebrated stories in Melbourne's past, and explores how they have shaped people's lives in Melbourne today. Produced by Clare Rawlinson, with additional audio production by Dave Williams.

ABC Local


    • Mar 10, 2016 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 6m AVG DURATION
    • 14 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Invisible History

    Chapter 4: Skeletons in the closet

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2016 7:00


    A relative of the convicted killer Morris Ansell describes the man he knew as a gentle uncle, long after Ansell served his prison sentence and began his life again in New Zealand.

    Chapter 3: Someone to blame

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2016 5:10


    Joan stumbles on a description of the killer, Morris Ansell, which challenges her long-held suspicions about the murder. She also reveals how she eventually did track down her mother, and what happened when they met as adults.

    Chapter 2: Searching for answers

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2016 6:17


    Alfred Atherton's murder case has been kept closed for 75 years, but in January 2016, the Public Records Office of Victoria opened it to its public collection. Joan is able to read the file for the first time, finding it stirs memories of the legacy her mother left her as a child.

    searching public records office
    Making Sense of a Murder, Chapter 1: What Joan knows so far

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2016 5:43


    In the third season of Invisible History, we follow one woman's journey to make sense of her father's murder in 1939, with the central question being what role her mother may have played.

    Chapter 5: Keeping the Olympic spirit alive

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2015 7:08


    Despite its challenges, Maxine says there is something keeping her living in the village, and she will never leave.

    Chapter 4: Hard times at home

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2015 6:31


    Maxine's living situation became so traumatic at one point, she went into a deep depression.

    Chapter 3: Sticking together

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2015 5:03


    Once a week, locals gather to share lunch in the backyard of a Marist Brother's house in the village. They say they may not have much money, but they have each other.

    Chapter 2: 'The Bronx' of Melbourne

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2015 8:26


    In the 1970s, generational disadvantage amongst the community was compounded by the ageing housing stock.

    Our Olympic Village, Chapter 1: an unlikely past

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2015 6:24


    Nearly 60 years after Melbourne hosted the Olympic Games, those living in the old athletes' village still suffer the effects of a rushed development and public housing policies of the time.

    Chapter 1: The promise of a future

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2015 7:41


    Robert Young begins to retrace the lives of two daring young Indigenous men. Starting at the corner of Franklin and Bowen Streets in Melbourne's CBD, then going back to the early 1800s in Tasmania, Robert discovers the men are closely connected to one of his own ancestors.

    Chapter 2: The breaking point

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2015 5:22


    Something tipped Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheener over the edge when they were in Victoria with George Augustus Robinson, but no one knows for sure what it was.

    Chapter 3: The confrontation on the coast

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2015 4:47


    A daring departure soon leads to an inevitable confrontation between Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheener's group and the colonists.

    Chapter 4: The example of death

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2015 6:22


    The first formal executions in Victoria raise questions regarding how to define a murderer in the midst of colonial conflict.

    Chapter 5: The way we remember

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2015 5:56


    Memorials everywhere, but what do they tell us? A controversial push for frontier conflict to be recognised is close to becoming a reality in Melbourne.

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