The plague comes to Australia
July 7, 2020
Sudden deaths from a plague caused panic in Sydney involving quarantining, demolitions and disinfecting. The year was 1900 and the nervousness will feel very familiar today.
Girl Torque - the untimely death of Alice Anderson
June 22, 2020
Alice Anderson was one of Australia’s first female mechanics and her ideas and inventions were ahead of her time. But Alice’s life came to an untimely end on a Friday evening in the back of her garage, with a gunshot to the head. Was it an accident or suicide? We speak with Loretta Smith, author of ‘A Spanner in the Works: The extraordinary story of Alice Anderson and Australia’s first all-girl garage.’
Death comes to Gracie’s store
June 3, 2020
An unspeakable crime – two women murdered, a third left for dead, and a young killer on drugs on the loose. In Autumn 1964, the community of Coorparoo, Brisbane, lost their innocence. We speak with those who were there and remember to this day.
The Box Flat mine disaster
May 19, 2020
On Monday 31 July 1972, the residents of Ipswich in Queensland were awoken by a blast that destroyed the Box Flat Colliery and killed 17 miners. But what happened to the men of the mine who remained entombed on the site?
Bohemian Bea - from the asylum to the streets
March 31, 2020
What’s the real story of the bohemian who broke out of an asylum and was known for her ability to quote any passage from Shakespeare for money?
Once upon a wonder horse
March 17, 2020
Three men went into a pub … no it is not the start of an Irish joke, but it was the start of a syndicate that would turn racing on its head. This is the story of ‘three bushies’ and a publican who bought a bargain basement priced horse that turned out to be a champion. You may know the grey mare as Gunsynd.
Life at the asylum
February 28, 2020
Mental asylums were often regarded as feared places of suffering – but for one young girl and her family who lived at the asylum, the inmates provided a fascinating glimpse into the other world of the people who were sent there.
Back from the dead: the man who claimed to be Dan Kelly
February 12, 2020
Dan Kelly, brother of Ned, died in the 1880 Glenrowan shoot-out with police. So, who was the man living in Ipswich who claimed in 1933 that he was Dan Kelly?
The noose and the hands that shaped it
January 31, 2020
It was school holidays, December 1921 and 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke left home to run an errand in the heart of Melbourne. She was found the next day murdered. The man accused of her murder, Colin Ross, was hanged after witnesses, who pocketed rewards, lined up to add their testimonies. Eighty-six years later, in 2008, DNA results would find a different conclusion. This is Alma and Colin’s story and how they crossed paths on that fateful day.
The eccentric dreamer - Ben Lexcen
January 7, 2020
The winged keel wonder – Australia II and the eccentric mind behind it – Ben Lexcen was the man who engineered the only win over the USA at their own game in 132 years.
