The History Listen

ABC listen
The History Listen

New and compelling stories from Australia and around the world. Step inside a time machine for an immersive journey into the past.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Secrets and Lies | A year behind the Iron Curtain

    At the height of the Cold War a New Zealand teenager is sent to a hospital in the Soviet Union to grow new fingers on her left hand. Sounds like fiction? This actually happened to Miranda Jakich and in this episode  she tells her tale.

    34 min

  2. 4 JAN

    Friedrich the Fraud

    Was he Australia's greatest con artist?  That was the title given to John Friedrich, the former head of the Victorian Division of National Safety Council of Australia.  Back in the 1980s, he famously made $293 million of investors’ money disappear. When his fraud was uncovered, he went missing himself for sixteen days, prompting a nationwide manhunt and a media storm that reported both facts and the fictions. Guests: Barry Whitehead - former NSCA operations manager Frank Bongiorno - professor of history, ANU Peter and Ann Synan - regional historians & Sale residents Zyg Zayler - criminal lawyer, Melasecca Kelly & Zayler Credits: Composer - Matthew Crawford Sound engineer - Tim Symonds Producer - Lyn Gallacher

    29 min

  3. 28/12/2024

    Finding Fanny Finch

    When Bill Garner began exploring his family history, a puzzling gap in the family tree led him to discover a most extraordinary ancestor: Fanny Finch. Finch was a well-known and controversial figure during the Victorian gold rushes. A London-born woman of African heritage, she pushed a wheelbarrow from Melbourne to the goldfields in 1852, where she became a sly grogger and restaurateur. She actively resisted police corruption, supported women and children against domestic violence and in 1856, cast a vote in municipal elections, decades before women were granted suffrage. And yet her story was not passed down to her descendants. When Bill met historian Kacey Sinclair, who had been researching Finch’s life, a fascinating and sometimes challenging conversation began. In Finding Fanny Finch, Sinclair joins Finch’s direct descendants, Bill and his daughter Alice, in a theatrical reconstruction and reflection on the life and legacy of an unforgettable woman. Credits Written by Bill Garner and Sue Gore Based on research by Kacey Sinclair Performed by Kacey Sinclair, Bill Garner and Alice Garner Music by ‘Friends of Wendy Cotton’: Briony Phillips, Stephanie Carson, Nicole Simirenko, Christine Webb, Anthony Webb Original music recordings by Casey Rice Sound engineering by Angie Grant Additional music mixing by Brendan O'Neill Adapted for radio by Miyuki Jokiranta

    29 min

  4. 22/12/2024

    Laya's Way Home - part 2

    Laya Semler was the last Jew sent to a concentration camp from Wennigsen, Germany, in 1945. Her non-Jewish husband Adolf was sent to slave labour for not denouncing her.  Both survived. Now, Wennigsen has invited their Australian family back, to commemorate Laya and Adolf’s incredible story of courage and love.  In Part 1, their great-grandchildren discovered a town perhaps finally ready to accept the extent of its role in the Nazi regime. In Part 2, they will experience that history face-to-face. They experience that history face-to-face -- when they visit the slave labour camp, only recently unearthed, where Adolf was held.  And where they must reckon with horrors that will shock even the German historians guiding them.       Michaela Kalowski, Joanna's husband John Hempton, Joanna Kalowski and Rick Kalowski Guests: Joanna Kalowski - internationally recognised mediator and granddaughter of Laya and Adolf Semler Michael Wittich - historian for the town of Wennigsen Christina Muller - city councillor in Wennigsen Jutta Henza - historian of the Stolen Gustav slave labour camp Credits: Writers: Rick Kalowski and Michaela Kalowski Presenters: Michaela Kalowski and Rick Kalowski Producer: Claudia Taranto Sound Engineer: Hamish Camilleri Research assistance : Tadhg Kalowski

    29 min

  5. 14/12/2024

    Laja's Way Home part 1

    In 1945, Laya Semler became the last Jew sent to a concentration camp from Wennigsen, Germany.  Her non-Jewish husband Adolf chose slave labour rather than abandon her.  They both survived. In 2022, the village of Wennigsen invited their Australian family back to commemorate Laya and Adolf’s bravery. Told by their great-grandchildren, Laya and Adolf’s story is testament to the power love has to bridge even the greatest differences.  But it’s also the story of a town only just coming to terms with the truth of its past.  A truth that, as Laya and Adolf’s descendants discover first-hand, not everyone in the town is ready to accept...   Joanna Kalowski at the opening of the new street in Wennigsen, Germany, named after her grandmother Laya Semler Guests: Joanna Kalowski - internationally recognised mediator and granddaughter of Laya and Adolf Semler Michael Wittich - historian for the town of Wennigsen Franz Blazek - former mayor of Wennigsen Silke Stremlau - resident of Wennigsen Credits: Writers: Rick Kalowski and Michaela Kalowski Presenters: Michaela Kalowski and Rick Kalowski Producer: Claudia Taranto Sound Engineer: Hamish Camilleri Research assistance : Tadhg Kalowski

    29 min

  6. 07/12/2024

    Cyclone Tracy: survivor stories

    Fifty years ago, in the early hours of Christmas Day 1974, Cyclone Tracy killed 66 people and decimated the city of Garramilla/Darwin. Afterwards more than 30,000 residents were evacuated, many never returning to Darwin.  Writing down memories of the event helped some survivors of the cyclone process the experience. Hear a handful of these stories, set in crumbling houses, airborne cars, a busy restaurant and an overcrowded hospital, all set to the terrifying real-life soundtrack of Cyclone Tracy.   (image courtesy of the NT Archive : LANT LJ Adams NTRS 3129 P2, item 1 Caption "Chris Adams looking at Cyclone Tracy destruction, 26 December 1974")

    28 min

  7. 30/11/2024

    The Crutchy Push

    It’s the early 1900s and a gang of men moves through the gritty streets of inner-city North Melbourne: they dress sharp and inspire fear wherever they go. This gang, the Crutchy Push ruled the streets of North Melbourne over a ten year period, from late 1890s. And the reason for their curious name? All the members of this gang were amputees: mostly one-legged, and they used a crutch - and not just for walking! To mark the International Day for People With Disability, Melbourne-based writer and disability advocate  Kaitlyn Blythe digs up the little-known story of the gang and its’ charismatic leader Valentine Keating, and explores how it busts a lot of myths about disabled people in Australian history.   Guests: Brendan Gleeson Tansy Bradshaw   Readings  -  Toby Truslove    Credits: Producer -  Kaitlyn Blythe  Sound design and production -  Matthew Crawford Supervising Producer -  Michelle Rayner

    24 min

  8. 26/11/2024

    A Good Honest Criminal

    It’s March 25th, 1999, and Australia’s most remarkable prison escape has just taken place, after a helicopter hovers above the recreation grounds at the Silverwater maximum security prison, in Sydney. In the blink of an eye, a prisoner runs towards the chopper, climbs onboard, and is on his way to freedom. This is the story of that airborne escapee, John Killick, a man who spent much of his life leading the authorities on a merry dance. Somehow he survived his dangerous escapades and many prison stints. Today, in his early 80s, John is a writer, a public speaker. and a counsellor to ex-crims.   Credits: Producer: Brian McKenzie Sound Engineer: Tim Symonds

    29 min
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About

New and compelling stories from Australia and around the world. Step inside a time machine for an immersive journey into the past.

Information

  • Creator
    ABC listen
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    297
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All right reserved.
  • Show Website
    The History Listen

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