In the 1880s Austrian naturalist and ethnographer Andreas Reischek stole four mummified Māori corpses and smuggled them out of the country so they could be displayed at a museum in Vienna. He also shot hundreds of native New Zealand birds to preserve them "for science".

In the 1880s Andreas Reischek stole four mummified corpses from an urupa near Kawhia so he could sell them to a museum in his native Austria.

The bodies made up just a fraction of a gigantic collection of preserved birds, lizards and Māori artifacts which Andreas collected while travelling around New Zealand.

Unsurprisingly the theft of the bodies has seen Reischek branded an arch-villain of history, but researcher and translator Dr Sascha Nolden has uncovered new information about Reischek which, while not excusing his actions, does shed some light on his motivations.

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The worst kind of villain in New Zealand history was... an Auckland property speculator.

In this week's episode, we learn about the worst kind of villain in New Zealand history... an Auckland property speculator.

Historian and author Vincent O'Malley tells the story of Thomas Russell and his victims, both Māori and Pakeha.

Today these baby boomer 'bastards' are accused of driving house prices through the roof but in the past they helped start and push along the Waikato War, one of the most unjust conflicts in our history.

Chief among this cabal was Russell, the founder of BNZ and many other important Auckland businesses.

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Did you know that after WWI New Zealand established an official eugenics board? We tend to think of eugenics as being something the Nazis invented but really it was embraced all around the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In this episode of Black Sheep historian and disability researcher Hilary Stace traces the history of New Zealand's eugenicists.

CORRECTION: The elderly Chinese man murdered by Lionel Terry was named Joe Kum Yung. He was killed in Haining Street, Wellington, on 24 September 1905, not in Auckland in 1907 as stated in this podcast.

Did you know that after the First World War New Zealand established an official eugenics board? We tend to think of eugenics as being something the Nazis invented but really it was embraced all around the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It was particularly popular among the intellectual classes. Some of our most progressive institutions, the National Council of Women, Federated Farmers and the Plunket Society all either promoted some form of eugenics or had members who did.

In this episode of Black Sheep historian and disability researcher Hilary Stace traces the history of New Zealand's eugenicists.

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Hongi Hika is a man with a difficult legacy. He's one of the greatest figures in New Zealand history, but he's also often held responsible for starting the Musket Wars.

Hongi Hika is a man with a difficult legacy. He's one of the greatest figures in New Zealand history, but he's also often held responsible for starting the Musket Wars - an outpouring of inter-tribal violence which may have claimed the lives of as many as 20,000 Maori.

History Professor Paul Moon tells how Hongi's skill as a political, economic and military leader allowed him to accomplish things no other chief ever has.

We also get Ngapuhi's perspective on Hongi Hika's legacy from one of his descendants, Haami Piripi.

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Arthur Worthington was a con artist who travelled the USA, marrying rich women then abandoning them and stealing all their money. With private detectives hot on his tail, he jumped on a ship bound for Christchurch where he set up his own religion and his own church.

Arthur Worthington was a con artist who travelled the USA, marrying rich women then abandoning them and stealing all their money.

With private detectives hot on his tail in 1890, he jumped on a ship bound for Christchurch where he set up his own religion and his own church, the famous Temple of Truth.

But when his history in the United States caught up with him Worthington had to face the music in an angry confrontation.

It got so out of hand that for the first time ever time in New Zealand the Riot Act had to be read to disperse the crowds.

In a new Black Sheep podcast, William Ray speaks to religious history professor Peter Lineham, who asks why Worthington did it. Was he a common crook? Was he psychopathic? Was he a true believer?

"He's taken the Christian beliefs and turned them into abstract principals that are intended to elevate humanity to the point where they don't need traditional and conventional forms of religion"

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In 1916 John Cullen led a small army of police deep into the forests of Te Urewera to arrest the Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana - his crime? Preaching that his followers shouldn't sign up to fight in the First World War. But the raid is a complete disaster. Cullen oversees the shooting of two men in cold blood and the whole case against Rua unravels due to a huge legal blunder.

In 1916 John Cullen led a small army of police deep into the misty forests of Te Urewera to arrest the Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana - his crime? Preaching that his followers shouldn't sign up to fight in the First World War.

But the raid is a complete disaster. Cullen oversees the shooting of two men in cold blood and the whole case against Rua unravels due to a huge legal blunder.

Historian Mark Derby explains how the son of an Irish turnip farmer rose to the very top of the New Zealand police - and how he didn't pay too much attention to whose neck he stepped on along the way.

Music:

Artist: Survival

Song: Rua Kenana

Composer: Survival

Album: Tribal Stomp

Label: Tangata 790613

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"Four shots, and then another one" - that's how the story of Alice Parkinson begins as the 25 year old waitress gunned down her fiancé, Bert West, in the middle of a street in Napier. So why did thousands of New Zealanders sign a petition demanding her release?

"Four shots, and then another one." That's how the story of Alice Parkinson begins, as the 25 year old waitress guns down her fiancé, Bert West, in the middle of Nelson Street in Napier in 1915.

The first four shots hit Bert in the face, head, neck and chest. The final shot is fired point blank into Alice's own temple.

She had planned it this way, a murder-suicide to get vengeance on the man who promised to marry her when she got pregnant and then deserted her when that child was stillborn.

But Alice doesn't die, and when she's locked in prison for manslaughter, something even stranger happens...

Historian Carol Markwell tells the story of Alice Parkinson - the killer who a hundred thousand New Zealanders said should be set free.

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