After serving his country in the trenches of World War One, Father John Joseph Kennedy wrote a play to expose the futility of war. But the priest's statement drew ire all the way up to the PM. State Library Victoria librarian Andrew McConville tells the story of one man's stand.

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As the noose tightened around the necks of John Gunn and George Roberts, the great and the good of Geelong were right there to see the spectacle.And they dressed in their Sunday best to review the macabre event. Historian Deb Robinson recounts the tale.

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How cynical electioneering backfired and gave women a voice. When the suffrage movement was close to victory at the ballot box, a male politician tried to wedge the vote with a contentious clause.But when the vote went through, the clause backfired, and gave women their first voice in the halls of parliament. Melbourne author Mark Wilson tells the story

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In 1796, Scottish cargo master William Clark led his twice-shipwrecked crew on an epic 1000km walk to save 7000 gallons of rum, discovering Bass Strait and finding Australia’s first coal along the way. Find out more in Adam Courtenay's book: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780733341861/three-sheets-to-the-wind/

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She was  a bush nurse, school founder, bushrangers’ ally and accomplished horsewoman. But Rachel Kennedy’s colourful life was almost lost to history, until newspaper editor and author Jeff McGill uncovered her tale. He joins the show with more.
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In Victorian-era Melbourne, it was considered unladylike to talk about sex and using birth control was a sIn. But one pioneering activist set about teaching women how their bodies worked and secretly sold them contraceptives in brown paper bags. Historian Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, returns to the show to tell the story. 

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After she was abandoned while pregnant by the father of her baby, Maggie Heffernan did the unthinkable. But the murder ignited a wave of public sympathy and sparked moral outrage. Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, joins the show to tell the story.

Learn more at https://www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au/maggie-heffernan/

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WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT

In a shameful moment from Melbourne's past, two girls found themselves victim of an unspeakable crime. But their treatment at the hands of the justice system was just as callous. Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, joins the show to tell the story

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Sidney Jeffryes was the brilliant wireless operator that made sure Australia got word of the famous Mawson expedition to Antarctica. But the hardships of the journey wrecked his mind and almost put one of the nation's greatest explorers in jeopardy. Ron Roberts, a tour guide at J Ward, Ararat’s Old Gaol and Lunatic Asylum joins Jen to tell the tale.

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When daredevil Charles Blondin came to Australia, the crowd was wowed by his death defying antics.But when Blondin returned to Europe, homegrown heroes tried their hand at emulating his stunts. And the results were mixed, and sometimes almost deadly. Andrew McConville, from State Library Victoria joins the show with more.

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