ABC

•

Channel • 12 Shows

Health & Fitness

Health & Fitness

Series
History

History

Updated weekly
History

History

Weekly series
Documentary

Documentary

Updated weekly
Science

Science

Updated twice weekly
Comedy

Comedy

Series
History

History

Updated 27/12/2025

5 JAN

The Forgotten Female Codebreakers of WWII

As the Second World War raged in the Pacific, there was a team of codebreakers in Australia working around the clock intercepting and deciphering Japanese messages. It was Australia’s own Bletchley Park, but the team were young, female and worked in a shed. And they called themselves The Garage Girls. Author Alli Sinclair tells Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole) the story of these codebreakers and how they secured the Allies’ victory in the Pacific, only to be lost in history... until now. 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

5 Jan

•

26 min
22/12/2025

The Nativity Scene You Know—And The One You Don’t

You see it on Christmas cards, in shop windows and at your local church. The nativity scene is everywhere at this time of year. But the scene you know of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus in the manger, with some animals around is actually thanks to some mistranslations and a popular saint in the Middle Ages who wanted to imprint the story of the birth of Christ into people’s memory. Art historian Mary McGillivray tells Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole) about the first nativity play and why its tableau has lasted over 800 years. 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

22/12/2025

•

25 min
15/12/2025

An 1843 Lifehack Became a Christmas Tradition

There’s one man you can thank - or curse - for your hand cramp after writing all your Christmas cards. Sir Henry Cole was a ‘dumpy’ Englishman who had too many jobs and not enough time to write back to his friends and family so he created the first Christmas card in 1843. It caused quite the stir, and not exactly in the way he expected. Author and all-things-Christmas expert Ace Collins tells Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole) how the Christmas holiday evolved in Victorian England and why the first Christmas card took the country - and the world - by storm. 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

15/12/2025

•

26 min
29/12/2025

Time is Chaos. The Calendar Tries (And Fails) to Fix That.

From moons to mind bending maths and revolutions, the story of how we got the modern calendar is messy. Matthew Champion, Associate Professor in History at the University of Melbourne, takes Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole) through time to understand the many iterations of calendars and why the one we use today can still be improved. 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

29/12/2025

•

26 min
12 JAN

The ballet that caused a riot and changed music

When you combine Russian ballet, French aristocracy, and a little bit of Walt Disney you get a recipe for a riot and one of the most important musical moments in history. Host of Radio National’s The Music Show, Andrew Ford, sits down at the piano and tells Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole) about why Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring was so confronting that it caused a riot in 1913 and how it went on to change music forever. 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

12 Jan

•

26 min
25 JAN

The colony that broke Scotland (and made Great Britain)

It was meant to be Scotland’s saving grace - a bold plan to build a colony and dominate global trade. But disease, starvation, and frankly just bad planning was their undoing... and the failed outpost paved the way for a union with their biggest rival. Archaeologist Mark Horton tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) about the story of the Darien Scheme and how the failed venture bankrupted Scotland, deepened economic despair, and indirectly paved the way for the 1707 Act of Union with England, arguably changing the course of British history. 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

25 Jan

•
18 JAN

The Hollywood femme fatale who invented wi-fi

She was called the most beautiful woman in the world and was seen as an exotic Hollywood star in the 1930s. But Hedy Lamarr was more than that. She was also an inventor. During WWII she patented a technology to sink German U-boats. It was ignored and shelved, only to be picked up decades later to and be used every day on our phones and computers. Ruth Barton, Emeritus Professor of Film from Trinity College Dublin, tells Marc Fennell (Stuff the British Stole) about how Hedy Lamarr invented the foundations of wi-fi and why it took decades for it to be a part of her legacy. 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

18 Jan

•
SEASON 3, EPISODE 6

06 | West Coast shockwaves; a new era for politics and protest

The Franklin river's fate all comes down to a legal challenge between state and federal powers. In the final episode of Saving the Franklin: the moment this so-called wilderness war all came to an end.

S3, E6

•

35 min
12/09/2022

Who's Gonna Save Us? 04 | We fought the law

Gomeroi woman Dorothy Tighe stood up to a room full of powerful people for her country. Student Solomon Yeo took his message from a Vanuatu university to the UN General Assembly. Solomon's story and the fight of the Gomeroi are part of a new wave of climate action: one that's happening in courtrooms. It's all about finding bold and creative ways to stand up and be heard, amid a surge of climate litigation around the world. The law is there to protect us. So what can it say about the biggest threat of all? Guests: Dorothy Tighe, Karra Kinchela, Solomon Yeo, Samson Vilvil Fare, Romabeth Siri, Ralph Regenvanu, Jacqueline Peel Host: Jo LauderReporters: Ellie Grounds, Cheyne AndersonSeries Producer: Cheyne AndersonExecutive Producer (audio): Joel WernerExecutive Producer (digital): Clare BlumerSound engineer: Hamish Camilleri

12/09/2022

•

47 min
SEASON 1 TRAILER

Finding Drago 00 | INTRODUCING

The discovery of a bizarre book about the ROCKY film franchise is the first thread of a mystery about Ivan Drago, the underground world of fan fiction and fake identities. Episode 1 drops December 7.

S1 Trailer

•

2 min

The ABC's most bingeworthy podcasts.