ABC

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Channel • 12 Shows

History

History

Updated 27/12/2025
History

History

Updated weekly
Health & Fitness

Health & Fitness

Series
Documentary

Documentary

Updated weekly
True Crime

True Crime

Weekly series
Personal Journals

Personal Journals

Series
History

History

Weekly series

19/12/2020

Shots Fired

The Gweagal shield is just one of the things James Cook and his shipmates took from the local people when they landed in Botany Bay. Why has it become the most contentious?

19/12/2020

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32 min
25/07/2023

The Fever Tree Hunt

Most heists target gold, jewels or cash. This one targeted illegal seeds. As the British established their sprawling empire across the subcontinent and beyond, they encountered a formidable adversary — malaria. There was a cure — the bark of the Andean cinchona tree. The only problem? The Dutch and the French were also looking to corner the market in cinchona. And the trees themselves were under threat. Grab a gin and tonic and come with us to hear how a botanical empire took off — and gave birth to a quintessential cocktail.

25/07/2023

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30 min
21/11/2020

A Tiger and a Scream

How a toy tiger became the symbol of a struggle between India and its former British colonisers

21/11/2020

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32 min
21/07/2025

Richard Fidler: The Volcano That Toppled Two Empires

What does a volcano in Iceland have to do with the religious and political struggles going on across the world today? Well it turns out, a LOT… Back in 536AD, the skies turned dark and the world cooled. It was all thanks to a massive volcanic eruption in Iceland, that no one even knew had happened. It led to a mysterious plague, which swept through the Roman and Persian Empires. In the great Byzantine city of Constantinople, it was said that 10,000 people were dying every day. Between plague and war, the world’s two ‘superpowers’ were too distracted to notice that something major was happening on the Arabian peninsula. The Prophet Mohammed had united the tribes and, when he died, his followers started pushing north. Instead of encountering resistance, they were able to take huge swathes of the Roman Empire and completely destroy the Persian Empire. Richard Fidler, host of ABC Conversations and the author of The Book of Roads and Kingdoms, tells Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole, Mastermind) the incredible true story of how the language of Arabic and religion of Islam spread across the world, thanks (in part) to a natural disaster and climate change. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au

21/07/2025

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26 min
27/06/2023

The Head in the Library

In an old country town high school library there is a glass case that displays something highly unusual and, for some, confronting. Inside that glass case is a mummified head and according to its plaque, it was donated to Grafton High School in 1915. Now, over 100 years later, questions are being raised about where it really came from and whether it really belongs there. This podcast is a co-production of ABC Australia and CBC Podcasts.

27/06/2023

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41 min
16/11/2021

Strange Fowle

It’s become a symbol for extinction; the dodo is a semi-mythical creature which most of us know only through Alice in Wonderland. But one particular dodo was the victim of a crime – murder. Its skull now sits in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. And it holds the clues to a thrilling mystery which illustrates a little-known colonial legacy. Season Two is co-produced with CBC Podcasts.

16/11/2021

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35 min
09/11/2021

Not Your Venus

Sarah 'Saartjie' Baartman was taken to the UK by a British doctor. But did she know what she was signing up for? Stage-named 'The Hottentot Venus', Sarah was paraded around freak shows in London and Paris. During her life and even after her death, she was objectified, mistreated and abused. More than 200 years after her death, her life story reveals confronting truths about the treatment of black female bodies and how much has, and hasn’t, changed. Season Two is co-produced with CBC Podcasts.

09/11/2021

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35 min
04/07/2023

Bottles in the Basement

Deep in the cellars of one of England’s grandest country homes, covered in dirt and cobwebs, lay dozens of bottles of ancient rum. Their discovery set off a frenzy among collectors vying to own the oldest rum in the world. But where did they come from and who produced them? Sealed inside was the story of an enslaved people in one of the first overseas colonies of the British Empire - Barbados. This podcast is a co-production of ABC Australia and CBC Podcasts.

04/07/2023

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37 min
02/11/2021

Cup Runneth

In County Cork, Ireland, there’s a tree that locals call the Chalice Tree. Local lore says it’s where British Redcoats disrupted a secret Catholic mass, killed two priests and took a sacred chalice. Now that chalice sits in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. But what happened in the intervening 200 years is now being pieced together by two Irish families: the O’Keeffes and the McAulliffe’s. Season Two is co-produced with CBC Podcasts.

02/11/2021

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39 min
27/12/2025

Presenting Conversations

Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may, or may not, have heard about — someone who has seen and done amazing things.

27/12/2025

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The ABC's most bingeworthy podcasts.