Australian Histories Podcast

Australian Histories Podcast episodes:

• 03.22.2024

  Ep 69 Waltzing Matilda: Australian History

  Waltzing Matilda is described as 'the people's song'.  More well known than the real Australian National Anthem around the world, Banjo Paterson's jaunty little ditty actually contains clues to some turbulent times he witnessed in Australian history.  This episode shares...

  
• 12.30.2023

  Ep 68 Atomic Australia: Australian History

  In the 1950s Australia hosted a number of British nuclear weapons tests.  The very first one took place on the Montebello Islands, off Australia's north west coast.  This episode we will explore 'Operation Hurricane' on the Montebellos. (75 mins) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Brilliant stories from...

  
• 09.18.2023

  Ep 67 Maria Island: Australian History (remixed)

  Maria Island is a UNESCO World Heritage listed Tasmanian convict site, with a long and varied history, and a number of spectacular natural and geological places of interest.  From its original indigenous use, soon after aboriginal people made their way to...

  
• 06.27.2023

  Ep 66 Australian Dogs: Australian History

  From a land with no native domesticated dogs, nearly 230 years after colonists’ brought their first pets & hunting dogs on the first fleet, Australia now has one of the highest rates of dog ownership in the world.  Almost half of...

  
• 04.29.2023

  Ep 65 Royal Flying Doctor Service: Australian History

  Presbyterian Minister John Flynn had a desire to bring "a mantle of safety" to those living in the remote areas of Australia.  WWI Australian fighter pilot John Clifford Peel suggested a blueprint for such a service.  Alf Traeger tested and...

  
• 01.31.2023

  Ep 64 Buckley & Wathawurrung Pt 3: Australian History

  In this final episode on Buckley & the Wathawurrung, we hear about what happened after Buckley made contact with Batman's party from the Port Phillip Association. Moving back into his original society, he later records his recollections of living amongst the...

  
• 12.11.2022

  Ep 63 Buckley & Wathawurrung Pt 2: Australian History

  In Part 2 of William Buckley's story, living amongst the Wathawurrung people who adopted him, we hear how he adapted and learned a great many skills.  He was able to record many of the practices that allowed his mob to...

  
• 11.12.2022

  Ep 62 Buckley & Wathawurrung Pt 1: Australian History

  William Buckley was an escaped convict who lived amongst the Wathawurrung people for more than 30 years.  Adopted as Murrangurk, he had the opportunity to participate in, witness and later record some of the lifestyle and cultural practices of these...

  
• 08.22.2022

  Ep 61 The Overland Telegraph Line: Australian History

  We talk about 'Telegraph Todd' and the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line, built through the largely unsurveyed and vast centre of Australia.  Only one group of British explorers had, to date, survived a trek all the way from the...

  
• 07.03.2022

  Ep 60 Alexander Pearce - Cannibal Pt 3: Australian History

  In this final episode on Alexander Pearce we hear about his second escape attempt from Macquarie Harbour, with fellow convict Thomas Cox.  They planned a less difficult route for their escape but again, their scheme didn't proceed as they had...

  
• 06.08.2022

  Ep 59 Alexander Pearce - Cannibal Pt 2: Australian History

  We continue the story of Alexander Pearce as he and his fellow convicts continue their escape from Port Macquarie.  They have found themselves in the wild west country, exhausted mentally & physically, and starving with no provisions remaining.  Talk turns...

  
• 05.09.2022

  Ep 58 Alexander Pearce - Cannibal Pt1: Australian History

  Alexander Pearce was one of our more notorious convicts, and one of very few convict escapees from Macquarie Harbour, who survived attempting to reach the settled districts.   As the last man standing from the eight that absconded together, his survival...

  
• 03.28.2022

  Ep 57 Macarthur & Wool: Australian History

  John Macarthur was a divisive character in the first decades of the New South Wales penal colony and he was instrumental in the overthrow of Governor Bligh (see the Bligh series Eps 52-55), along with the discomfort and early recall...

  
• 01.10.2022

  Ep 56 Great Ocean Road Memorial: Australian History

  The 'Great Ocean Road' is it one of Victoria’s, indeed Australia’s, most well known international tourist attractions, and a favoured coastal town drive for locals, dotted as it is with beautiful surf & swimming beaches, but you may be surprised...

  
• 12.10.2021

  Ep 55 Bligh & the Rum Rebellion - Part 4 - Final: Australian History

  This episode is the final in the Bligh-Rum Rebellion series, and we take a closer look at how the day developed, how the arrest of Bligh unfolded at Government House, and what followed on from the revolt by the New...

  
• 10.23.2021

  Ep 54 Bligh & the Rum Rebellion - Part 3: Australian History

  We reflect on the reforms Bligh had introduced and note the rising aggravation amongst the 'trading group', who were beginning to lose some of their previous dodgy income streams and privileged arrangements.  Many were challenging Bligh's authority, particularity through the...

  
• 09.13.2021

  Ep 53 Bligh & the Rum Rebellion - Part 2: Australian History

  This episode looks at William Bligh's background and his reputation as a Naval Captain.  He had some very difficult tasks ahead of him as Governor of the troubled NSW colony, and we need to consider if he had the requisite...

  
• 08.02.2021

  Ep 52 Bligh & the Rum Rebellion - Part 1: Australian History

  William Bligh, the very same Captain probably best known for the mutiny on the Bounty, was to be recruited in his later life, as the Governor of the Colony of New South Wales. But it seems his days of attracting...

  
• 06.20.2021

  Ep 51 Australian Rules Football: Australian History

  Australian Rules Football and the earliest clubs formed to compete, are said to be the oldest established football clubs in the world.  Started in the late 1850s, initially based loosely on the Rugby School game, within 20 years it had...

  
• 04.30.2021

  Ep 50 WW2 Salvage Operation: Australian History

  Early in World War 2, German Raiders were laying sea mines around Australian & New Zealand coastal waters.  Here we tell the story of one ship that was sunk by those mines, and the exceptional salvage operation that was undertaken to...

  
• 03.31.2021

  Ep 49 Convict Mutineers - Part 2: Australian History

  In Part 2 we will follow William Swallow and his fellow mutineer convicts on the commandeered ship, the Cyprus.  Swallow and his men were delighted to be heading into the Pacific, away from the dreaded Macquarie Harbour, and his sailing skills...

  
• 02.26.2021

  Ep 48 Convict Mutineers - Part 1: Australian History

  In part one of Convict Mutineers, we learn about a felon who just could not bear the idea of a life in exile, willing to take all necessary risks to try to return to England.  And his efforts were extraordinary. ...

  
• 02.11.2021

  Ep 47 Final Readings - Henry Lawson EXTRA: Australian History

  As an appendix to Episode 44, Henry Lawson, today's episode presents two final readings, two more humorous offerings.  We read a Banjo Paterson poem, called 'The Man from Ironbark' which I mentioned in Ep 44, and then a short story...

  
• 01.29.2021

  Ep 46 Debate Poems - Henry Lawson EXTRA: Australian History

  This episode is an appendix to Episode 44- Henry Lawson.  We read poems that contributed to the 'Bulletin Debate', discussed in the earlier episode.  We include Banjo Paterson's 'Clancy of the Overflow', 'In Defense of the Bush' & 'An answer...

  
• 01.21.2021

  Ep 45 Drovers Wife - Henry Lawson EXTRA: Australian History

  Following Ep 44 on Henry Lawson, this episode will be a reading of Henry Lawson's short story (or sketch), The Drover's Wife, published in the Bulletin, July 1892.  Please listen to Ep 44 first, for the life & times of...

  
• 12.30.2020

  Ep 44 Henry Lawson: Australian History

  Henry Lawson was a 'bush poet' and writer from the 1880s-1890s.  One of a number of writers that were focusing on the Australian experience and fostering a pride and understanding of the emerging Australian identity.  Today's episode looks at Henry's...

  
• 11.30.2020

  Ep 43 Shipwreck & first contact: Australian History

  In 1796, the Calcutta merchants Campbell & Clark, sent a boat load of attractive goods, including much needed home and personal wares, and much desired rum, to sell to the isolated people in the new penal colony at Port Jackson...

  
• 10.25.2020

  Ep 42 Snowy Hydro Scheme - Pt 5 - Completion: Australian History

  This episode concludes the series exploring the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme; the vast hydro electric, and irrigation project, that began in 1949 and was under construction for 25 years.  As well as providing much needed electricity  and irrigation water to...

  
• 09.27.2020

  Ep 41 Snowy Hydro Scheme - Pt 4 - Working environments & safety: Australian History

  Today we turn our attention the workers' arrangements.  At the peak of construction, over 1959/60, there were 7300 people employed on the project.  So that’s a lot of people to keep fed & watered, and entertained.  But it was hard...

  
• 08.23.2020

  Ep 40 Snowy Hydro Scheme - Pt 3 - Contractors & townships: Australian History

  The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme began construction at Guthega, with a Norwegian contractor, and before too long, power was being delivered to the people.  Workers and families got used to the new environment and the working conditions as the construction...

  
• 08.06.2020

  Ep 39 Snowy Hydro Scheme - Pt 2 - Getting Land & Workers: Australian History

  The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme was underway.  Now they Authority had to acquire  the land across the Alps, and recruit a workforce, to survey, plan and construct the many parts of the project; not an easy thing to do in...

  
• 06.28.2020

  Ep 38 Snowy Hydro Scheme - Pt 1 - Inception: Australian History

  The Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, took nearly 30 years to complete in the post war period, and was an astounding engineering feat.  It remains one of the “engineering wonders of the world”.  It created thousands of jobs and drove the...

  
• 05.31.2020

  Ep 37 Lady Jane Franklin - Explorer: Australian History

  Lady Jane Franklin was an unusual woman.  In the late 1830s, as the wife of Van Diemen's Land Governor Sir John Franklin, she took the opportunity to explore the new settlements and wilds of Tasmania, undertook an overland trek from...

  
• 04.26.2020

  Ep 36 Jandamarra: the Bunuba Warrior Pt 2: Australian History

  PART 2:  Jandamarra was a Bunuba man, from the Kimberly region in Western Australia, who has been called both an outlaw and a hero.  It’s a story of conflict between the indigenous peoples, and the new comers to Australia; a...

  
• 04.26.2020

  Ep 35 Jandamarra: the Bunuba Warrior Pt 1: Australian History

  Jandamarra was a Bunuba man, from the Kimberly region in Western Australia, who has been called both an outlaw and a hero.  It’s a story of conflict between the indigenous peoples, and the new comers to Australia; a chapter in...

  
• 03.29.2020

  Ep 34 The Great Emu War: Australian History

  In the early 1930s the post WW1 Soldier Settlers in Western Australia were doing it hard, trying to make a living growing wheat in a tough economic climate.  When the native Emus descended on their crops on mass, they called on...

  
• 02.28.2020

  Ep 33 Eureka Pt5: Eureka Trials: Australian History

  With the rebellion at the Eureka Stockade ended, the authorities moved the main players to Melbourne to be tried for treason. In the days immediately following, the people of Victoria were at first apprehensive that there may be further outbreaks of...

  
• 01.30.2020

  Ep 32 Eureka Pt4: Eureka Stockade: Australian History

  With no positive response to their delegations, pleading & petitions, the Ballarat miners determined they must boycott the corrupt system all together and physically resist when the troopers came to arrest them. Under the leadership of Peter Lalor, the men swore...

  
• 12.31.2019

  Ep 31 Eureka Pt3: Ballarat Reform League: Australian History

  Relations between the authorities and the diggers on the Ballarat goldfield continued to deteriorate, and despite the reports of corruption and violent behaviour being reported to the senior government officials, no action was being taken. Following a murder on the goldfield,...

  
• 12.30.2019

  Ep 30 Eureka Pt2: Ballarat goldfield: Australian History

  We turn our attention to the Ballarat Goldfield.  The road to the Eureka Rebellion here was actually quite long, and contained a myriad of grievances & triggers, which finally came to an unhappy clash on December 3rd 1854 at the...

  
• 11.28.2019

  Ep 29 Eureka Pt1: Gold: Australian History

  Gold miners built the Eureka Stockade at the Ballarat goldfields in December 1854, but trouble between the miners and the authorities had started pretty much with the gold rush in 1851.  Before we start looking at the Eureka uprising itself,...

  
• 10.24.2019

  Ep 28 The Dingo Fence: Australian History

  Australia has a number of massive continuous barrier fences, built by farmers and pastorlists  from the late 1800's, to try and control the movement of native and introduced pests that were threatening their land and stock. We’re going to look at...

  
• 09.23.2019

  Ep 27 Convicts and Cascades Pt 2: Australian History

  We’re continuing our look at the convict era, in particular, the experiences of women convicts who passed through the Cascades Female Factory, in Hobart, Tasmania. After serving their sentences, many became successful members of their communities, and they are representative...

  
• 08.29.2019

  Ep 26 Convicts and Cascades Pt 1: Australian History

  We’re going to look at the female convicts who passed through the Cascades Female Factory, in Hobart, Tasmania, and reflect on the different experience the women convicts may have had, to those of the male convicts. There are both harrowing...

  
• 07.25.2019

  Ep 25 Mawson: Antarctic Explorers Pt 5: Australian History

  Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition concluded, and the last of the expeditioners arrived back in Adelaide in February, 1914.  A lot had happened, both on the frozen continent and across the world, in the years they had been away.  We...

  
• 06.27.2019

  Ep 24 Mawson: Antarctic Explorers Pt 4: Australian History

  Douglas Mawson’s expedition was well underway, and the teams from the Cape Denison base had returned, after completing their various research programs.  All except Mawson and his team.  They had undertaken the most ambitious and distant trek, and were now...

  
• 05.31.2019

  Ep 23 Mawson: Antarctic Explorers Pt 3: Australian History

  After returning from Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition and despite rejecting any idea of returning to Antarctica, the trauma of his polar trekking faded and Douglas Mawson began to consider all the exploration & discovery that still lay waiting there.  He set...

  
• 04.25.2019

  Ep 22 Mawson: Antarctic Explorers Part 2: Australian History

  Douglas Mawson, who would later become the leader of Australia’s first Antarctic expedition, undertook his first trip to Antarctica as part of Ernest Shackleton’s “Nimrod Expedition”,  1908.  Though he was young and this was his first foray in to the...

  
• 03.21.2019

  Ep 21 Mawson: Antarctic Explorers Part 1: Australian History

  Australia’s first formal expedition to Antarctica in 1911, the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was led by Douglas Mawson, a geologist from Adelaide University.  This episode we’ll look at what brought Mawson to the Antarctic, and at the earlier British expeditions that...

  
• 02.21.2019

  Ep 20 Building the Sydney Harbour Bridge: Australian History

  The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge: After a surprisingly long gestation, it’s path to construction threads through the history, of growth & colonial settlement in Sydney, including the political machinations at state, federal and even international levels.    And that’s before we...