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In March 1912, Australia was stunned to learn that Koombana was missing in nearly identical circumstances to Yongala. In this final episode, we look at how good and bad luck again decided who lived and who died, how the Koombana story crossed over with the loss of Titanic, and how the Adelaide Steamship Company put greed over need. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alongside Yongala, the Adelaide Steamship Company prided itself on its luxury vessel Koombana, designed especially to work the Western Australian coast. But this was a seemingly cursed vessel, where anything that could go wrong did, from disappearing and dead passengers, to collisions, fires and a broken loaf of bread that not only triggered a national crisis but sent a handful of men to their fates. Part Three – Beyond Human Knowledge is available now ad-free for Apple and Patreon supporters. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March 1911, with the loss of the ship Waratah still fresh in memory, a big passenger liner went missing in a cyclone off northern Queensland. As a massive search began, Australia tried to believe that ‘no news is good news’. Incredibly, a year later almost to the day, the same scenario played out again – involving a ship from the same company, in the same conditions, in the same latitude. In this three-part miniseries, we look at the entangled tales of the Adelaide Steamship Company’s coastal vessels Yongala and Koombana – and how these tragedies were bookended by Waratah and Titanic. Part Two – Dead Unlucky and Part Three – Beyond Human Knowledge are available now ad-free for Apple and Patreon supporters. Use a free trial to hear them now! Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’m re-releasing this short as background for the new miniseries, Mysteries of the Sea. 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 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week marks the 70th anniversary of regular television broadcasting in Australia. Channel Nine recently 'recreated' the 'Good Evening and Welcome to Television' moment in a fakes-over-facts promo generated by artificial intelligence. In this short, we look at the strange evolution of Australian TV, which started in colonial times. It’s a rich history, and one that deserves better than cheap slop that flattens understanding. Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Check out my books! They’ll Never Hold Me: https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html The Murder Squad: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html Hanging Ned Kelly: https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html Australia’s Sweetheart: https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blackbirding – A Reckoning with the Australian Slave Trade. We talk about the practices and policies that led to a staggering death toll – and how we don’t remember because our forgetting was engineered by language and laws meant to obscure and hide the true horrors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr James Patrick Murray kidnaps and kills more people, and goes mad and is nearly murdered himself, before returning to Australia to be acclaimed as a saviour during a smallpox outbreak. But the hero becomes villain overnight when the truth of the massacre is revealed. Yet the doctor – dubbed ‘the worst demon of them all’ – still has diabolical tricks to play. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr James Patrick Murray takes the brig Carl to the sunny South Seas and into a heart of darkness beyond the imagination of even Joseph Conrad. In this nightmare of his creation, shooting dozens of defenceless men is only the start of the atrocities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr James Patrick Murray ranks as one of the most evil characters in Australian history. In September 1871, he ordered the massacre of 70 men that his slavers had kidnapped from Bougainville and imprisoned aboard their ship. In Part One, we look at Dr Murray’s background – and how he became widely hated across Australia long before he became a mass murderer. Originally released in 2021. Re-released to accompany the new Talking History episode called Blackbirding – A Reckoning With the Australian Slave Trade Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From 1972, Paul Hogan was the Australian tobacco industry’s most formidable marketing weapon, the Winfield warrior in a new era of mandatory health warnings. When a total ban on ciggie commercials loomed, the manufacturers were to pivot and spend even more money with media companies and sporting bodies to ensure they stayed in play after that fateful day. Much later, Aussie A-list ciggie frontmen would all say the same thing: ‘But, we didn't know…’ Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Check out my books! They’ll Never Hold Me: https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html The Murder Squad: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html Hanging Ned Kelly: https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html Australia’s Sweetheart: https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fifty years ago this week – 1 September 1976 – tobacco commercials were banned on Australian television. So, it was goodbye to Paul Hogan, Stuart Wagstaff, Norman Gunston and other celebs selling ciggies and smoking to adults and kids alike via the idiot box. In this episode, we sift the dirty ashtray of recent history for a look at the powerful profiteers who put the A-list on the payroll, chronicling how multinational tobacco companies, the Australian media and government undermined medical science to make a killing. Part Two will be available first for supporters. It will go on general release later in the week. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aussie writer Charles Shaw came from the school of hard knocks to create a true-blue noir antihero in a series of novels that were internationally popular and compared with the work of hardboiled master Mickey Spillane. He also wrote another bestseller that was adapted into a Hollywood classic in the 1950s. You may even have seen it! Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sixty years ago this week, Gurindji elder Vincent Lingiari led 200 Aboriginal stockmen and their families in the Wave Hill Walk-Off. They were protesting pitiful pay and conditions and demanding the return of traditional lands. The Walk-Off was the start of a brave eight-year struggle. In this episode, we also look at the brutality of the killing times at Wave Hill. Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Check out my books! They’ll Never Hold Me: https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html The Murder Squad: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html Hanging Ned Kelly: https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html Australia’s Sweetheart: https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sixty years ago this week, Gurindji elder Vincent Lingiari led 200 Aboriginal stockmen and their families in the Wave Hill Walk-Off. They were protesting pitiful pay and conditions and demanding the return of traditional lands. The Walk-Off was the start of a brave eight-year struggle. In this episode, we also look at the brutality of the killing times at Wave Hill. Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes. Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia 
 Email: [email protected] Check out my books! They’ll Never Hold Me: https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html The Murder Squad: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html Hanging Ned Kelly: https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html Australia’s Sweetheart: https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Nearly 100 years ago, the village of Wolumla on the far south coast of NSW was shocked by its first murder. The motive for this crime was so scandalous that a wall of silence protected suspects and other victims from police and public exposure. Available for the first time on general release, this episode was made for supporters in 2021. For access to more than a dozen ad-free exclusive bonus episodes, become a Forgotten Australia supporter. Use a free trial: Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia Email: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.