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The History Listen is now ABC Rewind, the home of gripping narrative history series. Dive into true stories told by the people who lived through them.

8 HR AGO

Introducing Rewind

We''ve got news! The History Listen has been given a makeover. Our new show, ABC Rewind, is still your home for gripping audio storytelling, and still the podcast where you'll hear true stories told by the people who lived through them. Come on a deep dive into the past on Rewind.
6 DAYS AGO

Inside the Big Day Out: from Nirvana to nightmare

Come on a wild ride through the extraordinary story of the Big Day Out; the festival which, for over two decades, was a summertime rite of passage for music lovers around Australia

29 min
19 JAN

Sam Poo: A Chinese bushranger?

It's 1865 in remote central west NSW. A police office is fatally shot by a man he believes is a Chinese bushranger. The story of Sam Poo is a bushranging tale with a twist

29 min
11 JAN

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
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
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
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
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

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Rebecca Huntley

Host

The History Listen is now ABC Rewind, the home of gripping narrative history series. Dive into true stories told by the people who lived through them.