Planet Perth

Jeff Bullen returns for season five of Planet Perth and he’s bringing producer Danielle Raffaele along for the ride! Brendan James Abbot is considered one of the most notorious criminals in Australian history. His escapades saw him rob banks throughout Perth and across the country with cheeky snaps taken of him while on the run branding him The Postcard Bandit. Jeff and his newly minted co-host Da...

Drew Kraplijanov tells us of a mystery of the Australian outback – The Min Min lights. Described as eerie and unsettling, these floating orbs of light might lead you in the opposite direction of your journey…without you even realising. Gather ’round the campfire for the new season of Planet Perth where some of your favourite RTRFM presenters share Perth urban myths and legends in a series of weird...

Atikah Hurley has a story of one of the largest surviving convict prisons in the world and its dark history. The Fremantle Prison was a place of floggings, riots, dramatic escapes and hangings; with deaths still known to haunt the grounds. One of those is the death of the ‘wicked stepmother’ of Perth. Gather ’round the campfire for the new season of Planet Perth where some of your favourite RTRFM...

Em Lucia has a story of a former US Liberty ship which sunk off the coast of Western Australia. The SS Alkimos is now a recreational and educational diving location, but beware of the curse…it’s said anyone who touches or dives near the wreck risks bad luck! Gather ’round the campfire for the new season of Planet Perth where some of your favourite RTRFM presenters share Perth urban myths and legen...

Margaret River is more than just wine, it has a rich Nyoongar history dating back more than 60,000 years. From a curse to a mythical serpent, Sharlene Baloch gathers some of your favourite RTRFM presenters around the campfire for some ancient stories (as well as some newer ones) about this popular Great Southern town. Gather ’round the campfire for the new season of Planet Perth where some of your...

Bobby Fletcher has a story of a now derelict building not too far from here… The Old South Fremantle Power Station was once an industrial powerhouse, now it’s reached iconic status for it’s graffiti and mysterious deaths. Gather ’round the campfire for the new season of Planet Perth where some of your favourite RTRFM presenters share Perth urban myths and legends in a series of weird and wacky rad...

Are you ready for a ghost story? Gather ’round the campfire for the new season of Planet Perth where some of your favourite RTR presenters share Perth urban myths and legends in a series of weird and wacky radio plays. In episode one, Axel Carrington stirs up our thirst for the occult with a story about The Satanists of Kings Park.

We wrap up Planet Perth in style, with a fun-filled live recording of the season three finale! Join Jeff Bullen at Lawson Flats for a wild night of weird, wacky and unexpected stories from our eccentric city. With special guests Famous Sharron, State Archives senior archivist Damien Hassan, Aleesha O’Donnell and Pam Boland from All Over It podcast, plus some of your favourite local musicians. You...

In 1975, when homosexuality was still criminalised in Perth, Connections opened its doors as a gay nightclub.  Since then, it’s played a central role in the growth of Perth’s queer community. Tim Brown has seen most of this history unfold, first as a punter in the 80s then as owner and caretaker. As the venue approaches its 50th anniversary, Jeff Bullen sits down with Tim for a very special interv...

Crispian Chan was just eight years old when his family’s Chinese restaurant, The Man Lin, was firebombed in a series of coordinated attacks targeting the Asian community. The damage decimated the business but Crispian’s parents didn’t have time to think about who could have been behind it.  Today, Jeff unpacks the dark political history behind this incident; a spree of terrorism, thuggery and raci...

The Brisbane Hotel opened its doors in 1898 and have remained open for more than 120 years. Since then there have been some interesting nights… Like on March 7 1928 when Edward Kelly shot Sergeant Alexander Marks in a struggle to restrain him after a night of heavy drinking. The fatal shooting and subsequent court case would cause a media frenzy and a sensational trial. Jeff Bullen walks through t...

Off the coast of Rhode Island on the 26th of September 1983 Australia II crossed the finish line to win the America’s Cup. It was a win that captivated the nation, breaking the United State’s 132 year winning streak and galvanising the nation.  Jeff Bullen celebrates this iconic moment in Perth’s history, sitting down with 1983 team manager and port grinder John Longley to chat about the long road...

Welcome to Uglieland! …where snake charmers, boxing matches and flying greyhounds were some of the main attractions. But not all is as it seems. Join Jeff Bullen for a deep dive into the weird, wacky and unexplained history of our eccentric city on Planet Perth. From cults, to abandoned theme parks and tank rampages across the CBD, Planet Perth is your guide to the events, personalities and bygone...

In the early hours of August 27 1925, Cyril Gidley was shot dead by his ex-fiance Audrey Jacob in front of hundreds of guests at a charity event in Perth’s Government House. It seemed like an open and shut case of wilful murder…until Audrey was assigned charismatic and well connected prosecutor Arthur Haynes to her defence. Today, in the season return of Planet Perth Jeff Bullen sits down with loc...

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any weirder, Planet Perth has made it’s way to Lawson Flats for a special live podcast event! Planet Perth Live celebrates the weird, wacky and unexplained history of our eccentric city, bringing you a lucky dip of guests sharing their experiences of living, working and coming of age in one of the most isolated cities in the world. Join host Jeff Bullen for ni...

Once upon a time in a land far away, there lived a King and Queen who ruled over a vast sunburnt land, rich with wheat crops. Except the land was just up near Kalbarri and the family were not royal, but the self proclaimed sovereigns of the so-called Hutt River Province. Located 500km from Perth, Hutt River Province was a small micronation created by Prince Leonard who seceded from Australia in 19...

What would you do if your town was infiltrated by a controversial movement that would garner cult status? Author and former Sannyasin Bruce Menzies was a young, educated, family man when he decided to join in. The Sannyasins, colloquially known as The Orange People for their bright orange clothing, were a group dedicated to Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (1931-1990). It’s controversial practic...

The Great Perth Hailstorm of 2010 lives in the memories and perhaps on the bonnets of cars across Boorloo. By the time locals started their commute from work, gusts reached 120 kilometres per hour, with eerie grey clouds rolling in from the north, unleashing the fiercest storm in living memory. In fact, it was one of the costliest weather events in the state’s history. Today on Planet Perth, host...

The 1932 Great Emu War might just be the weirdest, most futile military exercise in Australian history, so much so that it’s captured the minds of folk across the globe. Professor Andrea Gaynor shares her extensive knowledge and little-known facts about the Great Emu War with Jeff Bullen in the latest episode of Planet Perth.  He also catches up with State Library of Western Australia librarian Pe...

Why are there over 400 tiger snakes on Carnac Island? One of the most popular theories is a man by the name of Rocky Vane – a snake charmer who started performing across Fremantle in 1926. Rocky Vane was a man with a checkered past, known for letting his reptiles bite him or other people to promote his snake bite remedy as well as showcasing his scaly friends in sideshow alley performances. Legend...

When Australia joined the global internet in 1989, it was far from what we know and love today. Digital music, video and images were not widely distributed online – that is, until James Pinakis entered the chat. James was studying his PhD in computer science and software engineering at UWA when he decided to write a computer program to distribute pornography. People from all around the world logge...

David Bowie famously pondered if there was life on mars, and though it may sound absurd, knowledge of extraterrestrial life has been pursued seriously for decades; from academics to historians and increasingly Governments.  Many even claim to have witnessed these interactions right here in WA, with some sightings making their way into local police reports. These have never seen the light of day…un...

With over 23 years of practice in Perth, the late Bulgarian born Iwan Iwanoff slowly but surely cemented himself as one of the most iconic architects the State has seen.  From the modernist Madashi House in Dianella to Northam Town Council House, Iwanoff’s idiosyncratic, Besser block homes took European sensibilities and adapted them to the harsh climate of Western Australia.  On today’s episode o...

If you walk along Barrack Street between the Murray and Hay Street malls, you’re likely to stumble upon a series of old abandoned buildings, including the bygone Liberty Theatre. First opening its doors in 1954, The Liberty Theatre was home to Perth’s first arthouse cinema, playing host to exclusive film society nights, before closing its doors in 1997. Now, after sitting empty for almost 26 years...

The continental roll, the hoagie, the submarine… The Re Store in Northbridge is often associated with the birth of the humble Italian sandwich. But did you know that at the height of The Great Depression a poor Sicilian migrant pawed his wife’s wedding ring to start what would become the home of Perth’s unique culinary hallmark? In episode four of our series Jeff sits down with The Re-Store manage...