The History Blokes Conan Elphicke and Chris McCombe

This is the second and final highlights episode and therefore the absolute final, final ep of the History Blokes. So, that's it from us. Thanks to all of you for listening!

This bumper edition of The History Blokes includes highlights from the series.

In this, the final original episode of The History Blokes, Conan looks at the smallpox epidemic that devastated Sydney's Aboriginal population a year after the First Fleet arrived. Meanwhile, Chris walks us through the Black Death and the Spanish Flu.

Stay tuned though for two best-of compilation eps coming soon!

In this, the penultimate episode of The History Blokes, Conan looks at Australian citizenship, which didn't exist until the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948. He also examines the emergence of the Australian flag, which was designed in 1901 but didn't become the official national flag for another 50 years.

There's a strong Kiwi flavour to this ep. Conan subjects Chris to a quiz on New Zealand history, while Chris looks at the referendums a few years ago that nearly saw the New Zealanders change their flag.

Happy new year, everyone! In this ep, Conan warbles about author Miles Franklin who so beautifully captured both the spirit of rural Australia at the time of Federation and the frustrations of so many young women who yearned to escape the ties that bound.  In the intermission, Chris looks at the Ern Malley affair, which has been described as the 20th century's most significant literary hoax.

In this episode, Chris and Conan deploy a grovelling apology for the long delay since they last laid an ep. More importantly, Conan talks about aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford Smith and the trans-Pacific flight that made his name, while Chris looks at a bizarre episode in Australian aviation history that took place over Bass Strait during the 1970s.