Forgotten Australia
Forgotten Australia
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 school.
You can get early ad-free access and bonus Forgotten Australia episodes by subscribing at Apple or supporting at Patreon.
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Top 10 Forgotten Australia Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Forgotten Australia episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Forgotten Australia for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Forgotten Australia episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
The First Dismissal – Part One and a Half: The Public Servant Who Brought Down The Premier
Forgotten Australia
05/20/22 • 80 min
When – if – Robert Henry Beardsmore is mentioned in connection with the May 1932 dismissal of Jack Lang, he's depicted as merely an old public servant who reluctantly did his job. But in reality he was the Forrest Gump of Australian history in the first half of the 20th Century. In part A, we look at his role on the Aborigines Protection Board and how he was enmeshed in a scandal that tainted Australia's first military victory. Part B is on the way!
Want to support the show? patreon.com/forgottenaustralia
Or leave a rating & review
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Your Stories: 'My Father, the Spitfire Pilot'
Forgotten Australia
05/25/23 • 50 min
Sue Northey knew barely anything about her dad’s experiences during World War II. That was until she found 98 letters he wrote between 1941 and 1945. Sue joins me to talk about rediscovering her dad through this correspondence, which chronicles the great events and the small details of these turbulent and tragic years.
You can get early ad-free access to every episode, along with exclusive bonus shows, by becoming a Forgotten Australia supporter. Free trials are now available on both Apple and Patreon.
Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia
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More Than Australia's Most Beautiful Girl – Part Two
Forgotten Australia
06/23/22 • 50 min
In this concluding instalment, Eve Gray tries to come to grips with being mostly for her beauty before making the move to London that will change her life.
Like the podcast? I'd love it if you'd leave a rating, review or maybe consider becoming a supporter: www.patreon.com/forgottenaustralia
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Pearl Harbor and the Pay Car Ambush – Part One
Forgotten Australia
02/15/23 • 50 min
Just hours after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, cold-blooded bandits staged a ruthless ambush on a railway pay car crew south of Sydney. In the aftermath of this ambush, homicide detectives faced an unprecedented task. How could they get the public’s attention – get the information they needed to catch these killers – when all anyone could talk about was the new and unprecedented threat to Australia?
Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia
To help save Trove, please sign and share these petitions:
Government petition (sign by 22 February) - https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN4747
Change.org - https://www.change.org/p/fully-fund-trove?redirect=false
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The Mayor Of Tiny Town vs Australia's Shiftiest Showman – Part One
Forgotten Australia
12/01/22 • 47 min
From a digitised formerly secret Australian military intelligence file comes one of Forgotten Australia’s strangest stories.
In 1911-1912, from Sydney to Brisbane, Perth to Melbourne, and all points in between, Australia was enthralled by the little people entertainment troupe known as Tiny Town.
Everyone was especially fond its undisputed star, 'The Mayor of Tiny Town', aka 'The Turkish Tom Thumb', the incomparable small-man performer Hayati Hassid.
Yet how did this beloved celebrity - who also acted as editor of 'The Tiny Town Times' - become designated an enemy alien after the Great War broke out?
What did this dark twist have to do with showman and self-professed father of Australian aviation Frederick Hooper Jones?
And just where do genocidal Turkish sultan Abdul The Damned, legendary escapologist Harry Houdini and Aussie rock band The Angels fit into this picture?
Join me for a four-part deep dive that takes us from the harems of the dying Ottoman Empire to the roller-skating-mad London vaudeville scene, from a forgotten antipodean box office blockbuster to the controversial very earliest days of Australia aviation.
You won't believe your ears.
Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia
My new book Hanging Ned Kelly is out now and will make a cracker of a Christmas present.
You can read a free excerpt here - and get 26% off the RRP: https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/hanging-ned-kelly/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How The Bikini Conquered Bondi Beach
Forgotten Australia
12/10/23 • 52 min
Once upon a time not too long ago, wearing a bikini on Australia’s most famous stretch of sand meant you risked the wrath of veteran Bondi Beach inspector Aub Laidlaw. Show too much skin and he’d kick you off – and even threaten you with arrest. But Aub’s enforcement of prudish regulations caused a massive backlash in 1961 when young Joan Barry donned a gold bikini, pushed back against beach bullying and refused to be silenced by the cops and the court.
Support Forgotten Australia:
Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia
To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode:
or
https://www.speakpipe.com/forgottenaustralia
Check out my books as possible Christmas presents for yourself or a loved one:
The Murder Squad
https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781922863836.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
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The Aussie Who Saved John F. Kennedy – Part One
Forgotten Australia
07/22/22 • 44 min
Recently I was very pleased to be able to help the United States embassy with information, contacts and material relating to the activities of our coastwatchers, who played such a vital role in the South Pacific during World War II.
This assistance was to help incoming American ambassador Caroline Kennedy pay her respects to these brave men.
Ambassador Kennedy, of course, has a deep personal connection to their heroism because her father, President John F. Kennedy, was saved by Australian coastwatcher Reg Evans in 1943.
A couple of years back I produced a two-part episode about Reg’s life, that incident, how Reg’s role went unknown for so many years and how he was rediscovered after JFK won the 1960 election.
It’s one of my favourite episodes and I’m glad to present it again if you missed it - or if you want to hear it again.
I’ll be back next week to start a new round of brand-new Forgotten Australia episodes.
I’ve been hard at work these past weeks on a handful of amazing stories that I’m really looking forward to sharing.
There’s also a new bonus episode coming down the pipeline for supporters.
But in the meantime, here’s Reg Evans’s story. Lest we forget.
To support Forgottten Australia: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia
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The Terrible Mr Thomas – Part Four
Forgotten Australia
02/28/23 • 38 min
It’s July 1950 and Sydney detectives have Arthur Graham - aka Fred Stevens, aka Thomas Croft, aka Lionel Thomas – cornered in Perth. But can the man they suspect of multiple murders escape justice again?
Support Forgotten Australia:
Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Hanging Ned Kelly – A Special Audio Preview
Forgotten Australia
09/25/22 • 41 min
Note: This episode - like all old and new regular episodes - is free for everyone to listen to.
I'm very pleased to present an exclusive audio version of the first 20 pages of my new book Hanging Ned Kelly, which is published this week by Affirm Press. Here's what it's about:
HANGING NED KELLY
When it came time to hang Ned Kelly, the deed fell to the nightman-turned-quack-doctor-turned-drunken-chicken-thief Elijah Upjohn. Such is life indeed.
Upjohn was the latest in a long line of 19th century flogging hangmen who were allowed to run amok because they did the dirty work of the establishment that allowed officials to keep their hands clean. Despite being duly appointed ‘finishers of the law’, Upjohn and his fellow boozing bunglers were so hated they were often hunted by angry mobs.
In Hanging Ned Kelly, the tale of Elijah Upjohn becomes the rusty scalpel that slices open the underbelly of colonial Victoria – an underworld seething with serial killers, clueless cops, larrikin vigilantes, renegade reporters, racist settlers, furious fallen women and cunning waxwork showmen. Looming over them all: the depraved hangmen... and Australia's most infamous outlaw.
Hanging Ned Kelly is available on 27 September at all good bookstores and online retailers.
To support Forgotten Australia and access early ad-free and bonus episodes:
Apple: http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Cairns Grenade Murders – Part One
Forgotten Australia
10/10/22 • 40 min
On a hot night in January 1946, two women were cold-bloodedly murdered with a grenade in the centre of Cairns. In this three-part special episode – based on the original police murder file – we take a deep dive into this callous crime, whose solution was frustrated not only by the underworld’s code of silence but also by the conduct of Queensland’s most infamously corrupt cop.
Parts Two & Three will be freely available next week via regular podcast platforms. But as an Apple subscriber or Patreon supporter, you can hear them right now ad-free.
Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia
To hear me talk about my new book Hanging Ned Kelly – and for excellent true crime and history podcasts episodes, check out:
Australian True Crime – https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/australian-true-crime/id1217681421
In Black & White – https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/in-black-and-white/id1466009446
To read an excerpt of Hanging Ned Kelly – https://affirmpress.com.au/publishing/hanging-ned-kelly/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Forgotten Australia have?
Forgotten Australia currently has 273 episodes available.
What topics does Forgotten Australia cover?
The podcast is about Australia, True Crime, History, Celebrities, Podcasts and Crime.
What is the most popular episode on Forgotten Australia?
The episode title 'Your Stories: 'My Father, the Spitfire Pilot'' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Forgotten Australia?
The average episode length on Forgotten Australia is 46 minutes.
How often are episodes of Forgotten Australia released?
Episodes of Forgotten Australia are typically released every 6 days, 22 hours.
When was the first episode of Forgotten Australia?
The first episode of Forgotten Australia was released on Nov 11, 2018.
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