Short: SS Waratah – Australia's Own 'Titanic' Mystery
In July 1909, the world wondered what had become of the SS Waratah, last seen off coast of South Africa with more than 200 souls aboard. This grim mystery was even more sensational for featuring a one...
26 Sep 202522min
Short: Australia's Free Speech Martyr
William Chidley was an early 20th Century Australian eccentric with his own philosophies, which he preached and published - and for which he was relentlessly persecuted. Eventually, Chidley would be c...
23 Sep 202518min
This Week in 1981: Don't Believe the Hype
The death of stuntman Dale Buggins, the arrival of Adam Ant in Australia and new ‘evidence’ in the Azaria Chamberlain case – it was a big week for sensational tabloid stories. Plus: the birth of the M...
21 Sep 202551min
This Week in 1956: TV debuts, rock ’n’ roll riots and a dancing senior citizen takes on the world
In the third week of September 1956, a small number of Australians finally saw what all the fuss was about when regular TV broadcasts began. It was a quiet start - unlike the arrival of the raucous, r...
15 Sep 202530min
Short: The Death of Damien Parer
This week in 1944, Australia's most famous war cameraman — whose film Kokoda Front Line! had won us our first Oscar the previous year — was killed while filming American Marines trying to retake a tin...
11 Sep 202513min
Short: Mark Twain Down Under
One hundred and thirty years ago this month, Mark Twain, creator of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and hailed as the world’s funniest man, arrived in Australia for the start of a months-long speaking tour....
8 Sep 202510min
Short: When War Came on Father's Day
As winter became spring in Australia in 1939, the world stood on the edge of the abyss.Then, on Father's Day, 3 September, everyone's worst fears were confirmed: Australia would once again go to war w...
31 Aug 202511min
Short: Australia's Worst Shipwreck
180 years ago this month, Australia suffered what is still our worst civil maritime disaster when the emigrant ship Cataraqui struck a reef off King Island and sank in Bass Strait. Of the 409 aboard, ...
29 Aug 202513min
