AMplify - Conversations at the Australian Museum

Early British settlers were so flummoxed by the platypus that they thought it an elaborate hoax, created by stitching a duck’s beak onto the body of a mole. But Australia’s greatest charlatan is an entirely different creature to behold.

Behind every object is a story – join Charles Wooley and Kim McKay as they reveal some of the Treasures at the Australian Museum.

One of the most significant objects in the Australian Museum’s collection is a humble, hand-crafted bird-shaped pestle. Its invention marked a crucial moment in human history, upon which entire civilisations grew. The influence of the simple stone object stretched all the way to the Pacific, where this story takes a sudden, violent twist. Our new podcast series reveals the hidden stories behind some of the world’s greatest wonders. Join journalist Charles Wooley and Australian Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay as they explore the astounding objects and specimens of the 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum exhibition, housed in the nation’s oldest museum gallery.

One of the most significant objects in the Australian Museum’s collection is a humble, hand-crafted bird-shaped pestle. Its invention marked a crucial moment in human history, upon which entire civilisations grew. The influence of the simple stone object stretched all the way to the Pacific, where this story takes a sudden, violent twist.

Behind every object is a story – join Charles Wooley and Kim McKay as they reveal some of the Treasures at the Australian Museum.

The wilful and wanton destruction of the Tasmanian Tiger is a sad reminder of the importance of conserving our natural history. Charles Wooley reveals the tragic tale of the man who shot the world’s last Tasmanian Tiger in the wild. And the team tells the story of resurrecting the world’s rarest insect, now living on a lonely volcanic rock at sea. Our new podcast series reveals the hidden stories behind some of the world’s greatest wonders. Join journalist Charles Wooley and Australian Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay as they explore the astounding objects and specimens of the 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum exhibition, housed in the nation’s oldest museum gallery.

The wilful and wanton destruction of the Tasmanian Tiger is a sad reminder of the importance of conserving our natural history. Charles Wooley reveals the tragic tale of the man who shot the world’s last Tasmanian Tiger in the wild. And the team tells the story of resurrecting the world’s rarest insect, now living on a lonely volcanic rock at sea.

Mel Ward started life on the stage as an acrobat and comedian. But something about the creatures he found on the beach as a child kept calling him back to the sea. But what drove him to collect 25,000 crabs from around the world? And what exactly is eccentric dancing?

Behind every object is a story – join Charles Wooley and Kim McKay as they reveal some of the Treasures at the Australian Museum.

Working in a museum in the 19th century was a hazardous occupation. In 1831, the Australian Museum’s inaugural custodian William Holmes accidentally shot himself with his own shotgun, while collecting a cockatoo. But the sudden demise of museum curator, Darwinian and “guardian angel” Gerard Krefft, was more curious still.

Behind every object is a story – join Charles Wooley and Kim McKay as they reveal some of the Treasures at the Australian Museum.

Sydney in the early 1800s was a fledgling colony, full of convicts, soldiers, settlers and social climbers – the kind of town where you might win and lose your fortune in a single day. With the release of Australia’s first bank note and the subsequent gold rush in NSW came the whiff of financial security. But how did a large gold nugget go from an abandoned mine shaft to a government office corridor game of cricket? Our new podcast series reveals the hidden stories behind some of the world’s greatest wonders. Join journalist Charles Wooley and Australian Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay as they explore the astounding objects and specimens of the 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum exhibition, housed in the nation’s oldest museum gallery.

Sydney in the early 1800s was a fledgling colony, full of convicts, soldiers, settlers and social climbers – the kind of town where you might win and lose your fortune in a single day. With the release of Australia’s first bank note and the subsequent gold rush in NSW came the whiff of financial security. But how did a large gold nugget go from an abandoned mine shaft to a government office corridor game of cricket?

Behind every object is a story – join Charles Wooley and Kim McKay as they reveal some of the Treasures at the Australian Museum.

Step inside the treasure that is the Westpac Long Gallery, Australia’s oldest gallery in the nation’s first museum. When it opened to the public, in 1857, a quarter of Sydney’s population queued to witness its wonders of nature and culture. The gallery now houses the 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum. Behind every object is a story – join Charles Wooley and Kim McKay as they reveal some of them.