ABC

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Channel · 11 Shows

History

History

Updated weekly
True Crime

True Crime

Weekly series
Health & Fitness

Health & Fitness

Series
History

History

Series
History

History

Updated 01/08/2023
Science

Science

Updated twice weekly
Personal Journals

Personal Journals

Series

18 Oct

Fake names and forbidden love at sea

In 1766, a "man" named Jean boarded a French naval ship as a botanist's valet. But Jean was hiding a secret. For years, that secret sailed around the world with them, until one day it was revealed that Jean was actually a woman and was sailing illegally. Dr Glynis Ridley (English Professor, University of Louisville, and Author, The Discovery of Jeanne Baret) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the story of Jeanne Baret; the first woman to circumnavigate the globe and her huge botanical legacy that history almost forgot. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
4 Oct

Australia's secret slave trade

From the mid-1800s, more than 62,000 Pacific Islanders were kidnapped, tricked or coerced into labour on Queensland's sugar and cotton plantations. Ryan Butta (Author, Blackbirding) and Emelda Davis, whose grandfather was taken from Vanuatu as a boy, tell Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) how Australia avoided the word "slavery" by disguising the trade in euphemism. It was called 'blackbirding' and it came to an end thanks to what is arguably the most racist piece of Australian legislation. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
27 Sept

The Pastry War: Half-baked diplomacy

A ransacked bakery. A wildly inflated bill. A demand so absurd it should have been laughed out of the room. Instead it triggered warships. In 1838, France used a pastry chef's grievance to justify a blockade, a siege, and an assault on Mexico. But was the baker's claim ever really the reason? Or just the excuse the French government had been waiting for? Food historian and author Seren Charrington-Hollins tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) about how a bakery grievance and unpaid debts led to a war that history barely remembers by its real name. This is the fourth and final episode in the special series This Stupid War. Listen to the full series in the No One Saw It Coming podcast feed on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
16 Aug

Titanic mistakes sunk a black empire

Marcus Garvey is known as a civil rights activist and leader of the Pan-Africanism movement. But there’s a part of his story you may not know about. Social historian Darrel Blake tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the lesser known chapter in Marcus Garvey’s life - about how he established a shipping company but ended up creating a symbol of black liberation and empowerment, but not before condemning his reputation, being called a fraud and sabotaging a black empire. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
18/08/2025

From War to Wardrobe: The Epic Saga of the High Heel

When you picture someone wearing high heels, what do you imagine? I'm guessing it's not horseriding archers on a Persian battlefield... But it turns out the high heel was indeed invented for men, as a brutally effective tool of war. And it was only because of colonialism, and later capitalism, that this iconic footwear made it to Europe and became embedded in women's fashion. Shoe historian Elizabeth Semmelhack tells Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole, Mastermind) how high heels have been at the centre of power struggles - both male and female - for centuries. It's an epic saga that will forever change the way you think about fashion, gender and your shoes. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
Season 5, Episode 7

BONUS Expanse: Nowhere Man | Gunslinger

The search for Robert Bogucki brought together a cast of colourful characters, including a cigar-toting, moustachioed American named Garrison ‘Gunslinger’ St Clair.
12/05/2025

America’s Secret Pact with the Mafia

After the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the United States was on edge. So when it seemed like spies for the Nazis and Mussolini were operating along the harbour in New York, the government decided that something had to be done. So they turned to an unlikely wartime ally: the Italian Mafia. As Podcast host Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole, Mastermind) discovers, the clandestine coalition did help change the outcome of World War 2, but labour and crime historian Matt Black questions who really wins when the US government forms secret deals with mobsters and murderers. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
13 Sept

The mythical football war

It’s called The Football War and raged for just 100 hours. It’s a catchy name for a conflict supposedly sparked by a World Cup qualifier game. But behind the catchy title, and away from the football pitch lies a deeper, darker history about politics, poverty, power and a war that claimed thousands of lives. Fionntan O’Hara from the London School of Economics tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the story of how the battle on the pitch became a real war between El Salvador and Honduras and what led up to that football game. This is the second episode in the special series This Stupid War. Listen to the full series in the No One Saw It Coming podcast feed on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. Get in touch: Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
Season 8, Episode 8

08 What Became of Jack? | BONUS Behind the scenes

Journalist Rob Burgin breaks down his approach to investigating What Became of Jack? with Stephen Stockwell, host of the ABC's true crime podcast, "The Case Of." Stocky asks Rob about the challenges he had reporting the story, what he thinks of the evidence, and what's next for the people at its centre.
Season 1, Episode 8

S1 Bonus | Breakthrough in Maria James cold case

The discovery of a police exhibit - thought to be missing for around three decades - could finally help unmask the killer in the 1980 cold case of Maria James.

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