The History Listen

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New and compelling stories from Australia and around the world, told by some of our most popular and trusted historians. Step inside a time machine for an immersive journey through history, where stories of people, places and events bring the past vividly into our present world.

ABC Radio


    • Jul 12, 2022 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekly NEW EPISODES
    • 29m AVG DURATION
    • 240 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The History Listen

    Fanny Smith: Icon

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2022 28:35


    In 1899, twenty-three years after her people were declared ‘extinct', Fanny Smith made a revolutionary recording where she announced to the world that she was The Last Tasmanian. Far from ‘extinct', she was a proud Aboriginal woman raising her eleven children and publicly singing and speaking her Pakana language. This is her extraordinary story.

    The Friendship Spitfire: Jack Dawson Green's WW2 story

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2022 28:35


    A story of swagger, bravery, skill and ultimately, friendship, set on the frontline of war

    Acting on a High Wire - a short history of television drama

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2022 28:38


    From the very first night that ABC television beamed into loungerooms around Australia, it offered audiences live drama, initially plays and then serials. The story of the generation of pioneers who helped to create a new art form, shake off the cultural shackles of England, and pave the way for the Australian television which went on to conquer the world.

    Too Old To Run - the Drug Grannies ep 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2022 28:35


    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.

    Too Old To Run - the Drug Grannies ep 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2022 28:37


    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?

    A Day at the Beach - Wanda 1982

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2022 29:04


    Were you at the Wanda gig in 1982? It's forty years since Triple J hosted a free outdoor concert on Sydney's Wanda Beach, where a massive crowd turned up to see the bands whose music defined an era, and who changed the sound of Australian rock forever

    Rottnest Island: White playground

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2022 28:48


    How did the largest deaths in custody site in Australia become a tourist mecca?

    Rottnest Island: Black prison

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2022 28:35


    The dark history of Western Australia's idyllic holiday playground.

    Australia's greatest miscarriage of justice? The Croatian Six - part two

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2022 28:35


    In 1979 a man named Vico Virkez gave a surprise tip off that would lead to one of the longest criminal trials, and some say, the greatest miscarriage of justice, in Australian history.

    Australia's greatest miscarriage of justice? The Croatian Six - part one

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2022 28:35


    The story of six Croatian Australian men who were incarcerated for 15 years for crimes they say they never committed. 40 years later, new evidence has been found in their favour.

    Samuel Plimsoll sails to quarantine

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2022 28:35


    Diaries from two voyages to Sydney aboard the famous Scottish clipper, Samuel Plimsoll. It was a perilous time to be at sea. Disease and fever spread through the ship. Both journeys ended prematurely at Sydney's North Head quarantine station.

    Fairlight CMI - the sound you've never heard of

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2022 31:39


    The Australian instrument that shaped the sound of the 1980s and forever changed how popular music was made

    Sister Edith Blake World War I

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2022 36:06


    Sister Edith Blake's gripping story, from her training in Sydney to nursing Australian soldiers in Gallipoli, to her tragic death in English waters where Germany had promised the safe passage of hospital ships.

    Buried Treasure - the story of Lake Pedder

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2022 28:35


    Lake Pedder, in Tasmania's vast south-west region, was known for its pink quartzite beach, its pristine waters, and its rugged beauty. 50 years ago, it became the site for one of the fiercest conservation battles ever seen in Australia

    The Benalla Experiment

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2022 28:35


    Australia's least remembered migrant camp for 'unsupported' mothers.

    The job with the best view in the world

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2022 34:02


    Working on the Sydney Harbour Bridge isn't for the fainthearted.  Angela Heathcote's dad Kelly told her adventurous tales of working up high on the famous arches. Years after his passing she meets more of the men and women who brave; the elements, the larrikinism, the fireworks and the brushes with death to maintain this Sydney icon.

    William Ah Ket: the first Chinese-Australian barrister

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2022 34:27


    In 1904, William Ah Ket became Australia's first Chinese barrister. He went on to fight racist laws and social prejudice in and out of court.

    Nah Doongh's story

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2022 28:35


    Nah Doongh's story tells of a life that was lost and found; a life that spanned the entire 19th century and bore witness to the colonisation of Australia. It is also a story of love, loss and one woman's tenacity to die on the land on which she was born.  

    Steely women

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2022 28:35


    Forty years ago Australian women weren't fighting for equal pay, they were fighting for an equal right to work. This is the story of our nation's largest class action claim, instigated by a group of blue-collar women against the company known as The Big Australian.

    The bay leaves of West Terrace cemetery

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2022 33:21


    The uplifting story of the Baby Memorial at Adelaide's West Terrace cemetery.

    Only Joking

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2022 28:35


    Comedian David Rose digs into the archives and discovers a very personal story: about a life lived on stage, the parallels of history, and a surprising family legacy which dates all the way back to the music hall era

    Fight for the Forest

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2022 28:35


    In an unprecedented political move, the Western Australian state government will end logging of native forest. Meet the people who have dedicated their lives to saving these incredible forests.

    Mrs C private detective

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2022 27:35


    A journey back to the mean streets of Brisbane in the 1920's with feisty private detective – Mrs Kate Condon.

    The lost journal of Jeanne Barret: Part 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2022 30:34


    The continuation of the amazing story of the first woman to sail around the world.

    The lost journal of Jeanne Barret: Part 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2022 30:14


    The amazing story of the first woman to sail around the world.

    Tommy Walker and the bone collector

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2022 28:36


    Ngarrindjeri elder Major Sumner tells the tale of two men from the opposite ends of Adelaide society at the turn of the twentieth century. The fates of fringe-dweller Tommy Walker and State Coroner William Ramsay Smith entwined and ultimately exposed what was really going on in the mortuaries, gaols, medical schools and graveyards of South Australia at that time.

    The Little Sparrow - the ASIO spy inside the Communist Party

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2022 28:36


    In the early 1950s Adelaide housewife Anne Neill made a life-changing decision: she joined the Communist Party of Australia, and ended up travelling behind the Iron Curtain and befriending KGB spy Vladimir Petrov. But what did this extraordinary woman truly believe in?

    Yarramundi and the people of Dyarubbin

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 4, 2022 28:36


    Dyarubbin, the mighty Hawkesbury River, winds its way along the foot of the Blue Mountains, around the north western rim of Sydney's Cumberland Plain. Settlement along the river, like much of Australia's history, has been told from a colonial perspective. We hear from Darug knowledge holders about their long and enduring relationship with this country, and the river they know as Dyarubbin

    Diamond Jack, Smirnov and the Pelikaan

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2021 28:36


    A wild ride involving a Russian flying ace, an escape from Java in World War 2, and a missing package of diamonds.

    The Lost Boys of Daylesford

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2021 28:36


    On a clear cold Sunday morning in June 1867, three little boys wandered away from their home near the town of Daylesford, on Dja Dja Wurrung country in central Victoria. Over the next six weeks the boys' story gripped the colony.

    Finding Eve Langley, writing a life

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2021 34:55


    Where does the life of Australian poet and writer Eve Langley end and her fiction begin?

    Commemorating James Stirling?

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2021 29:21


    The statue of Western Australia's first governor, Captain James Stirling, in central Perth is hard to miss; there's also a mountain range, a suburban municipality and even a school named after him. But as the state looks towards its bicentenary in 2029, new questions are being asked about James Stirling, including his involvement in frontier violence and in the British slave trade. How should he be remembered?

    Caribbean Convicts in Australia

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2021 28:35


    In 1836, the convict ship the Moffatt left Portsmouth harbour in England to travel halfway around the world to the colony of NSW. On board were eighteen convicts from the West Indies, including former slaves William Buchanan and Richard Holt. Jamaica born, Sydney based author Sienna Brown goes on a deep dive into the archives to uncover the little known history of these men, and their lives in Australia.

    Respect! - the 1986 Nurses Strike

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2021 28:35


    In the lead up to Christmas 1986, a battle was fought on the streets, in the hospital wards, and on the tram lines around Melbourne. Nurses, trained to care for the sick with no complaint or question, had had enough. Tired of overcrowded wards, poor pay and lack of career opportunity, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

    150 years at the Art Gallery of NSW

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2021 28:35


    For most of its life, the Art Gallery of NSW was dank and dingy. In the 1970s, there was no air conditioning or electric lights in its exhibition spaces. A short history of this institutions' amazing transformation.

    Resonate

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2021 29:12


    Nazi collaborator is a label that still resonates in Belgium 75 years after the end of the Second World War.  Peter Lenaerts grew up listening to his grandmother's stories, about her brother Paul and how, one night in September 1944, he was dragged out of bed and nearly killed by an angry mob, about her brother Bert, who volunteered and fought in the horrors of the Eastern Front.  Peter's intrigued and goes digging in the archives to understand why his family took one side in the war and what happened to them because of that decision.  He discovers that in war it's never a simple story of winners and losers.

    Brother artist Hosea Easton

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2021 36:48


    In 1899 two thousand people attended the funeral of an African-American banjo player in Sydney.  Who was he? How did he come to be in Australia and why was he so loved? Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe tells the story of Hosea Easton, along with the history of minstrel music and the banjo, in Australia and the United States.

    Henson Park: the eighth wonder

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2021 28:35


    History, tragedy, and triumph. Marrickville's Henson Park is an icon of Sydney's inner west. But before the unshakable Newtown Jets footy fans called it home, the community oval was a giant hole in the ground supplying Sydney's building boom. When at least nine children drowned at the site, council took charge and began to dream big. It paid off for them when their hidden suburban park wound up on the world stage.

    May Wirth: bareback riding queen

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2021 28:35


    'I can do things no woman ever did before in the history of the circus business.' May Wirth

    Pentridge prison: a violent past and complicated present

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2021 28:36


    There's a brutal history behind the imposing walls of Melbourne's Pentridge prison, stretching from 1851 right up until its closure in 1997. Today there's a playground, supermarket, cinema and apartments on site – but not everyone's happy about it. Those who know Pentridge best offer their answers to a difficult question: how should you treat a site with such a violent past?

    The illusory life of magician Esme Levante

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2021 28:37


    Underwater escapes, padlocked trunks and a magic trick featuring a wallaby called JoJo - the story of Esme Levante has it all. Yet for decades the life of this remarkable woman has been overshadowed by her more famous father, the Great Levante, one of Australia's greatest magicians. So, who was Esme Levante, “the most daring girl in the world”?

    Ray Denning part 2: stitch up

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2021 34:18


    With nothing to lose, Raymond Denning escapes Grafton prison in a rubbish bin. He has help from prisoner rights groups and an agenda to raise awareness about police corruption. The man-hunt for Denning turns farcical when he uses the media to make the police look foolish.

    Ray Denning part 1: breaking out

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2021 28:26


    The story of one of Australia's most misunderstood criminals. After a traumatic childhood, Raymond Denning jumps from juvenile detention to jail. When an escape attempt goes wrong, a prison warder is critically injured and the finger is pointed at Denning. As his treatment within the correctional system deteriorates Denning begins to find his voice.

    You are not alone: 100 years of PEN International Part 2

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2021 28:35


    Have writers been imprisoned in Australia for their work?  Most definitely and PEN has worked to have them freed.  In this history of PEN in Australia Arnold Zable tells the story of Cheikh Kone, a journalist from the Ivory Coast who was detained in Port Hedland and writer Behrouz Boochani detained on Manus Island. As well as the letters members of PEN have written to imprisoned writers around the world, like those in Myanmar, to tell them that they are not alone. I am a stranger to you but please know that you are no stranger to me – Maria Tumarkin in a letter to Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian writer detained in Iran until recently.

    You are not alone: 100 years of PEN International Part 1

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2021 28:35


    Writers go to prison for the courageous pursuit of their craft and PEN has been working to get them out.  Melbourne writer Arnold Zable tells the story of PEN International - from its creation out of the scars of World War 1 to bring societies together through their literature, to its growing human rights work across the globe, protecting freedom of speech and supporting imprisoned writers. If you don't know the truth you can't act – Jennifer Clements - President of PEN International

    The curious geologist

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2021 30:09


    How a South Australian geologist named Reg Sprigg helped solve Charles Darwin's dilemma

    Seachange: 20 years on from the Tampa Affair

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2021 53:30


    When a Norwegian container ship - the MV Tampa – rescued 438 asylum seekers from a sinking boat on August 26, 2001 who was to know the political fallout it would leave in its wake?

    Miner Poets - songs and verse from the west coast of Tasmania

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2021 28:35


    We travel to the west coast of Tasmania, to meet the mining communities who carry on a rich cultural tradition of storytelling who in poetry and song.  

    Stories from the Archibald

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2021 28:35


    On the 100th anniversary of Sydney's Archibald portrait prize, artist Wendy Sharpe takes a look at some its most controversial moments.

    Stories from the Archibald

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2021 28:35


    On the 100th anniversary of Sydney's Archibald portrait prize, artist Wendy Sharpe takes a look at some its most controversial moments.

    Alone with J.S. Bach

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 3, 2021 31:41


    The music of Johann Sebastian Bach is a lifetime companion for many violinists. And in our time of Covid-19 isolation, his Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin have taken on a new resonance. These pieces are spiritual, virtuosic, joyful - and enigmatic.

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