In Black and White

Before true crime became a staple of podcasts and streaming services, the public was transfixed with the story of Frank Butler. Tales of murderous journeys had the public enthralled as his crimes brought him ever closer to the noose. Author and podcaster Michael Adams joins the show with more. Get Michael's latest book at:  https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/hanging-ned-kelly/ Like the show? Go...

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT: As Squizzy Taylor started his ascent through the Melbourne underworld, it was his first wife Dolly Gray who mentored his rise. Crime author Roy Maloy joins the show  to outline Dolly's colourful career. Like the show? Get more at  https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw Advertising enquiries:  newspodcastssold@news.com.au   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a grand plan was hatched for a breakaway Australian state centred around Mildura, the town jumped at the chance to sever ties with Melbourne. But the ambitious bid collapsed when the ostentatious “American” spruiking the idea had his dark past exposed. Author David Nichols tells the story. More about David’s book: https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/the-alert-grey-twinkling-eyes-of-c-j-degaris L...

From a childhood of poverty and inequality, Vince Copley rose to becoming a tireless fighter for Indigenous rights. And his journey took him to the halls of power and even an audience with royalty. Lea McInerney, co-author of Vince's autobiography, and his daughter Kara join the show to outline his amazing life. Learn more about the book at:  https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780733342448/the-wond...

Elijah Upjohn was a sewage worker turned quack doctor who found himself behind bars for chicken thievery. But his life took a sharp turn when a notorious bushranger was convicted - and the state was in need of a hangman. Author and podcaster Michael Adams tells the story. More about Michael's book:  https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/hanging-ned-kelly/ More about the Forgotten Australia podcast...

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT: When a doctor was put in charge of Melbourne’s first lunatic asylum, it should have heralded an era of better treatment for inmates. Instead, the gruesome reign of Robert Bowie was plagued by allegations of bodies hanging from trees, patients restrained in body bags, and brains left in a cup. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before he would become an iconic US President, John F Kennedy was a US Navy officer in the WW2 Pacific. And when his PT boat is sunk by the Japanese, it was an Australian coastwatcher and his Solomon Islander allies who came to his rescue. Author  Michael Veitch joins the show again to tell the story. Read more about Michael's book at: https://www.hachette.com.au/michael-veitch/ Like the show? Get...

The coastwatchers of World War 2 were civilians who weren’t paid and received no military training. But when Japan invaded Papua New Guinea, they were called into service to spy on the enemy. And one of their number, in partnership with a wealthy widow, managed to pull off one of the biggest and most daring rescues in Australian military history. Author  Michael Veitch  tells their extraordinary s...

It was designed to be an unsinkable ship. But just like the Titanic, disaster struck the Dunbar just as it neared home, and it was the passengers who paid the price. Author Larry Writer joins the show to outline one of Australia's worst maritime tragedies, and the remarkable story of its sole survivor. More information about Larry's book:  https://www.qbd.com.au/the-shipwreck/larry-writer/97817608...

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT. This week we tell the story of an Australian PoW in World War 2, who was damned for helping his Japanese captors but hailed for helping send war criminals to the gallows. Author Tom Gilling tells the story. More about Tom’s book at:https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Tom-Gilling-Witness-9781760879273 If you or anyone you know needs help Lifeline: 13 11 14 Beyond...

The outback Queensland town of Cunnamulla feared famine when floodwaters cut it off from the world. But a young Afghan entrepreneur named Abdul Wade and his unusual herd stepped in to save the day. Author Ryan Butta tells the story. More information about the book: https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/the-ballad-of-abdul-wade/ Like the show? Get features, background and more at  https://heraldsun...

Historian Mat McLachlan joins the show again to tell the rest of the tale of Hajime Toyoshima, the Japanese fighter ace, who found himself a prisoner of war and the main instigator of the only battle of the second world war to take place on Australian soil. Get Mat's book:  https://www.hachette.com.au/mat-mclachlan/the-cowra-breakout Like the show, get features, backgrounds and more at:  https://h...

Hajime Toyoshima was a crack fighter pilot who flew his Zero in the attack on Pearl Harbor. But it was an Australian machinegun that saw him tumbling out of the sky and into the history books. Historian Mat McLachlan joins the show to start the story. Get Mat's book: https://www.hachette.com.au/mat-mclachlan/the-cowra-breakout Like the show, get features, backgrounds and more at: https://heraldsun...

19-year-old Gary McKay was determined to avoid being sent to Vietnam, so he enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces for six years instead. But as fate would have it, Gary wound up in Vietnam anyway and earned a Military Cross for extraordinary bravery under fire. He tells his amazing story. Learn more about Gary's book at: https://livinghistorytv.com  and  http://garymckay.com.au/ Like the show? G...

In 1943, as war raged in Europe, the larger-than-life British PM had one thing on his mind: how to import a marsupial to keep as a pet. Journalist and author Alistair Paton joins the show to tell that tale - and many more. Get the book at:  https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/marsupials-and-men Like the show? Read more at  https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

After serving his country in the trenches of World War One, Father John Joseph Kennedy wrote a play to expose the futility of war. But the priest's statement drew ire all the way up to the PM. State Library Victoria librarian Andrew McConville tells the story of one man's stand. Like the show? Get more at: https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the noose tightened around the necks of John Gunn and George Roberts, the great and the good of Geelong were right there to see the spectacle. And they dressed in their Sunday best to review the macabre event. Historian Deb Robinson recounts the tale. Like the show? Go to:  https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw  for more   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How cynical electioneering backfired and gave women a voice. When the suffrage movement was close to victory at the ballot box, a male politician tried to wedge the vote with a contentious clause. But when the vote went through, the clause backfired, and gave women their first voice in the halls of parliament. Melbourne author Mark Wilson tells the story Like the show? Go to  https://heraldsun.com...

In 1796, Scottish cargo master William Clark led his twice-shipwrecked crew on an epic 1000km walk to save 7000 gallons of rum, discovering Bass Strait and finding Australia’s first coal along the way. Find out more in Adam Courtenay's book: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9780733341861/three-sheets-to-the-wind/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She was  a bush nurse, school founder, bushrangers’ ally and accomplished horsewoman. But Rachel Kennedy’s colourful life was almost lost to history, until newspaper editor and author Jeff McGill uncovered her tale. He joins the show with more. Like the show? go to heraldsun.com.au/ibaw for more   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Victorian-era Melbourne, it was considered unladylike to talk about sex and using birth control was a sIn. But one pioneering activist set about teaching women how their bodies worked and secretly sold them contraceptives in brown paper bags. Historian Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, returns to the show to tell the story.    See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

After she was abandoned while pregnant by the father of her baby, Maggie Heffernan did the unthinkable. But the murder ignited a wave of public sympathy and sparked moral outrage. Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, joins the show to tell the story. Learn more at https://www.oldtreasurybuilding.org.au/maggie-heffernan/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT In a shameful moment from Melbourne's past, two girls found themselves victim of an unspeakable crime. But their treatment at the hands of the justice system was just as callous. Margaret Anderson, director of the Old Treasury Building, joins the show to tell the story Like the show? Go to: https://heraldsun.com.au/ibaw for more See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy i...

Sidney Jeffryes was the brilliant wireless operator that made sure Australia got word of the famous Mawson expedition to Antarctica. But the hardships of the journey wrecked his mind and almost put one of the nation's greatest explorers in jeopardy. Ron Roberts, a tour guide at J Ward, Ararat’s Old Gaol and Lunatic Asylum joins Jen to tell the tale. Like the show? Make sure you catch Jen's f...

When daredevil Charles Blondin came to Australia, the crowd was wowed by his death defying antics. But when Blondin returned to Europe, homegrown heroes tried their hand at emulating his stunts. And the results were mixed, and sometimes almost deadly. Andrew McConville, from State Library Victoria joins the show with more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.