Forgotten Australia
byForgotten Australia
HistoryTrue Crime
Created by Michael Adams, author of The Murder Squad and Hanging Ned Kelly, Forgotten Australia delves deep into bloody crimes, dark histories, unsolved mysteries, eccentric personalities and bizarre happenings that are almost always stranger than fiction. Each episode brings to life people and events that were once known to everyone but are now barely remembered by anyone. Based on intensive original research, Forgotten Australia is crafted with a novelist’s eye for character and detail to create gripping narratives that sound so fresh it's like they're ripped from today's headlines. This is the history you wish you’d been taught in s...
Episodes(40 episodes)
S9E70 - This Week in 1957: Part Two – Keep Watching the Skies
Space dog Laika and Sputnik II were the green light for the Cold War missile and space races to accelerate at warp speed. With the Russians out in front, the Americans were hellbent on catching up, using Nazi war-criminal know-how as they kicked around making the moon into a military base to launch nukes at the Commies. Meanwhile, as people everywhere were seeing UFOs and worrying about subliminal brainwashing, Sydney and Melbourne had some very specific problems – surviving freak weather and enduring the loved-up antics of Liz Taylor and Mike Todd.It’s easy to get a fr...
Published: Nov 6, 2025Duration: 40:47
S9E68 - This Week in 1957: Part One – Dogs In Space
The world would never be the same after the Russians launched Sputnik II into space and its cosmonaut canine Laika became the first animal to orbit the Earth. Aussies would have to keep their eyes on the skies during an extraordinary week of heavenly happenings, from freak weather and flying saucers to planes in peril and swooping Hollywood stars. One big question: would the Commies really nuke the moon during a total lunar eclipse to mark the 40th anniversary of the Russian Revolution?It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to...
Published: Nov 2, 2025Duration: 40:21
S9E67 - This Week in 1932: 32 Rabbit Holes – Part Three
In 1932, horror movies are on the rise, reflecting fears of an uncertain age – and fair enough, too, because, in addition to the woes of the Great Depression, the rise of fascism and Nazism, and the slide towards another world war, machines are taking jobs, mad scientists are transplanting monkey balls into millionaires, a self-aware robot is trying to kill its master, and an elite cabal of technocrats are hellbent on taking over the world.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit eith...
Published: Oct 31, 2025Duration: 1:06:12
S9E66 - This Week in 1932: 32 Rabbit Holes – Part Two
While Hitler’s rise to power In Germany seems unstoppable and Mussolini celebrates ten years of fascism in Italy, Australia's homegrown New Guard numbskulls have already become irrelevant – and escaped investigation for their planned insurrection. Plus: Ripley’s Believe it Or Not; an extraordinary outback survival story with a Nazi aftertaste; a 'fun' bigamy story turns very dark; and everything that was ‘wrong’ with modern women.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaus...
Published: Oct 29, 2025Duration: 38:16
S9E65 - This Week in 1932: 32 Rabbit Holes – Part One
From robots and rockets, to mad scientists, anti-democratic techbros and narcissistic fascist strongmen, a lot of what was making news this week in the Great Depression sounds, well, familiar. But at least we’re not declaring war on emus... just yet. Join me as we jump in and out of 32 strange stories from 1932 – and see which chime – a least a little – with this week in 2025. Part one includes: Brave New World banned, the plucky young poetess whose pen was a sword against poverty and the plan to turn the South Pole into a garbage dump.<p...
Published: Oct 27, 2025Duration: 46:19
S9E64 - This Week in 1907: All Quacked Up
Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills, Freeman’s Chlorodyne, Hearn’s Bronchitis Cure, Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills – what was in these and other patent medicines and how much good and harm did they do? These questions were being asked this week in 1907, in the wake of a Royal Commission report that showed Australians were risking their health and wealth on costly quack concoctions that were often placebos and/or contained poisons. In this episode, we look at the first attempts to control a hugely profitable unregulated industry that had been built with pioneering techniques in mass marketing and misinforma...
Published: Oct 20, 2025Duration: 1:02:05
S9E63 - Short – The Coastwatcher’s Lonely War
In July 1942, as Australia’s armed forces were about to begin what would become the legendary battle for the Kokoda Track, in another occupied part of New Guinea, the brave Aussie coastwatcher Con Page was desperately trying to evade a huge force of Japanese soldiers that was systematically hunting him down.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian true crim...
Published: Oct 14, 2025Duration: 18:13
S9E62 - Short – The Ballad of Australia’s Forgotten Boxing Champion
In July 1919, tiny-statured but huge-hearted youngster George Mendies won the Australian Flyweight Title. This was a crown he'd defend successfully again and again – until fate dealt him a cruel blow when he did a favour for a fellow boxer.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!They’ll Never Hold Me:</p...
Published: Oct 8, 2025Duration: 14:48
S9E61 - Short – One Man, Two Mining Disasters
Australia suffered what is still our worst industrial disaster when an explosion ripped through the Mount Kembla mine on 31 July 1902. Strikingly, lead rescuer Henry MacCabe had 15 years earlier been acclaimed a hero of the 1887 Mount Keira explosion, which was our previous worst industrial catastrophe. Yet Henry's legacy isn't quite black and white.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian tr...
Published: Oct 6, 2025Duration: 13:03
S9E60 - Short: An Aussie Movie Star’s Acid Horror
At the height of the silent movie era, young Australian star Lotus Thompson set her sights on Hollywood. But she soon faced a problem: her legs were so beautiful that producers couldn’t see past her perfect pins to recognise her as a true acting talent. So Lotus found a horrifying solution – literally, in a bottle of corrosive acid. Had she been driven to this self-destructive act by a cruel industry? Or was Lotus simply a shrewd operator trying to hoax her way to Hollywood fame and fortune?It’s easy to get a free trial that w...
Published: Sep 29, 2025Duration: 27:58
S9E59 - Short: SS Waratah – Australia's Own 'Titanic' Mystery
In July 1909, the world wondered what had become of the SS Waratah, last seen off coast of South Africa with more than 200 souls aboard. This grim mystery was even more sensational for featuring a one-armed double murderer, a passenger plagued by prophetic visions and a veteran sea captain with a charmed reputation. But once all hope was lost, a likely explanation for the disaster was to come from a former Waratah passenger: Australian professor William Bragg, who a few years later would win the Nobel Prize.It’s easy to get a free trial that will gi...
Published: Sep 26, 2025Duration: 22:24
S9E58 - Short: Australia's Free Speech Martyr
William Chidley was an early 20th Century Australian eccentric with his own philosophies, which he preached and published - and for which he was relentlessly persecuted. Eventually, Chidley would be charged with being a lunatic – setting the scene for his final battles as a free speech champion.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian true crime and history? Check out...
Published: Sep 23, 2025Duration: 18:53
S9E57 - This Week in 1981: Don't Believe the Hype
The death of stuntman Dale Buggins, the arrival of Adam Ant in Australia and new ‘evidence’ in the Azaria Chamberlain case – it was a big week for sensational tabloid stories. Plus: the birth of the Macquarie Dictionary, the Sale of the Century phenomenon, computers for consumers and the opening of Sydney Tower. And, on a personal note: when your protectors are predators, and remembering Australian journalist John Martinkus.If you need help, call Lifeline Australia on 131 114 or text 0477 13 11 14. Support Forgotten Australia with a free trial that will give you access to ad-free...
Published: Sep 21, 2025Duration: 51:13
S9E55 - This Week in 1956: TV debuts, rock ’n’ roll riots and a dancing senior citizen takes on the world
In the third week of September 1956, a small number of Australians finally saw what all the fuss was about when regular TV broadcasts began. It was a quiet start - unlike the arrival of the raucous, riot-inspiring youth movie Rock Around The Clock. But the new craze didn’t impress Janese Dooley, the 65-year-old widow who’d just danced not around the clock but around the world!Hear the exclusive short about how TV came to Australia now as an Apple or Patreon supporter.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give y...
Published: Sep 15, 2025Duration: 30:17
S9E54 - Short: The Death of Damien Parer
This week in 1944, Australia's most famous war cameraman — whose film Kokoda Front Line! had won us our first Oscar the previous year — was killed while filming American Marines trying to retake a tiny Pacific island held by the Japanese.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!They’ll Never Hold Me...
Published: Sep 11, 2025Duration: 13:16
S9E53 - Short: Mark Twain Down Under
One hundred and thirty years ago this month, Mark Twain, creator of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and hailed as the world’s funniest man, arrived in Australia for the start of a months-long speaking tour. Aussies loved the famous visitor – and those attending his shows were treated to a very modern form of entertainment: American stand-up comedy.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia...
Published: Sep 8, 2025Duration: 10:39
S9E52 - Short: When War Came on Father's Day
As winter became spring in Australia in 1939, the world stood on the edge of the abyss.Then, on Father's Day, 3 September, everyone's worst fears were confirmed: Australia would once again go to war with Germany. In the hours that followed this terrible news, shots were fired off Melbourne, foreigners were rounded up in Sydney, Australians got a crash course in air raid measures and enemy ships were unaccounted for in our waters. European battle updates dominated radios and newspaper headlines. This was the beginning of the beginning.It’s easy to get a f...
Published: Aug 31, 2025Duration: 11:29
S9E51 - Short: Australia's Worst Shipwreck
180 years ago this month, Australia suffered what is still our worst civil maritime disaster when the emigrant ship Cataraqui struck a reef off King Island and sank in Bass Strait. Of the 409 aboard, just nine were to survive - but fate held a cruel trick in store for two of these men.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian true cr...
Published: Aug 29, 2025Duration: 13:18
S9E50 - Short: From Dead Heart to Inland Sea
With Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre now flooded, we look back on the first time this happened in white history. Seventy-five years ago, Australia’s driest and most inhospitable region became a huge inland sea — and was explored by Elliot Price, a salt-lake-of-the-earth sorta bloke tooling around in a home-made boat. Wanna support Forgotten Australia?It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more ori...
Published: Aug 27, 2025Duration: 13:30
S9E49 - This Week in 1931: The Man Who Fell To Earth – Part Three
Having enjoyed a trifecta of splashy Sydney skydiving successes, Stanley makes a new start in Melbourne only to learn that disasters come in threes.It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!They’ll Never Hold Me:https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.htmlThe Murd...
Published: Aug 24, 2025Duration: 53:10