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The History Listen is now ABC Rewind, the home of gripping narrative history series. Dive into true stories told by the people who lived through them. 

 
422 Episodes
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She’s one of Australia’s most prolific and popular designers, and yet not many people know her name, let alone her audacious life story.   Florence Broadhurst was from regional Queensland but people who met her later in life,  thought she was English aristocrat. She reinvented herself many times throughout her life.   Today she’s known for her wallpaper designs that cemented her in Australian design history. But a shadow lingers over her legacy; her unsolved murder in 1977.Guests:Helen O’Neill – Journalist and author, Florence Broadhurst: Her secret and extraordinary lives   Dr Andrew Field – Associate Professor of Chinese History, Duke Kunshan University Babette Hayes OAM – Interior designer David Lennie – Screen printer, Signature Prints Sheridan Black – Owner, Signature Handprints Tony Russell – Former NSW Police officer David Lloyd-Lewis – Grandson of Florence Broadhurst Laura Doble – Interior design graduateCredits:Producer – Zoe Ferguson Engineer – Simon Branthwaite Executive Producer – Michelle Rayner  
The ABC's biggest investigative true crime podcast Unravel has just dropped their new season, Huntsman, and it's already rocketing up the podcast charts.You might remember when former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn was convicted of murder in the High Country. The story made headlines when Lynn admitted to burning the campers' bodies to cover his tracks.But behind the scenes, people who knew him years ago began talking and sending messages.It sparked an ABC investigation that uncovered the full story of his dark past and his abusive relationship with his first wife, Lisa Lynn, which ended in tragedy.In this new season, investigative reporter Rachael Brown uncovers the details of Greg Lynn's former life and the fear and damage he left behind him in the suburbs.You can find the podcast on ABC listen, or search for Unravel: Huntsman wherever you get your podcasts.
When journalist Annika Blau learns of the discovery of two tea chests of highly valuable letters under the floorboards of an old Sydney home, she begins to uncover secrets, silences and shame from a chapter of Australia's history some would prefer to forget.
When two tea chests full of letters are found under a house in Sydney, they're identified as one of the most important finds in Australia's postal history. But for journalist Annika Blau, they also expose family secrets, silences and shame, as more startling truths are revealed about who her family really is and where they come from. 
Gold medal winning Paralympian and coach Louise Sauvage tells the controversial story of classification at the Paralympics and the fallout from Spanish intellectually impaired basketballers who faked their disability at the Sydney 2000 games. We meet champion swimmer Siobhan Paton whose dreams of winning future medals were shattered when all the intellectual disability categories were cancelled.An advertising campaign at the London 2012 Paralympics portrayed competitors as superhuman and kickstarted a change in visibility and respect for all disabled people. Today the games and some competitors attract big money and sponsorship deals but wheelchair racer Angie Ballard reminds us that it’s still a physical and financial struggle for many.
Join wheelchair racing legend Louise Sauvage for the intriguing history of The Paralympics. The games had their beginnings back in 1948 as life-saving rehabilitation for World War 2 soldiers but today have become an elite sporting event watched by millions. Along that journey Australia radically changed the way the world saw athletes with a disability by treating them equally to the Olympic competitors at the Sydney 2000 games. Louise introduces us to some Australian sportspeople with remarkable stories. Aboriginal wheelchair basketball player Kevin Coombs who went to five Paralympic games; wheelchair table tennis star and backbone of the Australian athlete community Danni di Toro and Ryley Batt who stubbornly refused to use a wheelchair as a child but is now a rugby champion.Presenter - Louise SauvageProducer - Sarah AllelySound designer - Russell StapletonSupervising producer - Claudia TarantoFor a deeper dive into the history of the Paralympics check out the podcast series Unbroken.
In the final episode of Anzac Massacre,  host William Ray delves into the unanswered questions surrounding the killings at Surafend, in Southern Palestine  by the Anzac Mounted Division in December 1918. What motivated this brutal act?
In part two of this series, host William Ray unravels the story of the Surafend massacre in December 1918, and the events which followed it - including the little known role that the Anzacs played in suppressing the 1919 Egyptian revolution.
01 | Anzac Massacre

01 | Anzac Massacre

2025-11-0129:03

The story of the Surafend massacre of December 1918, an event described by one historian as the worst war crime ever committed by  New Zealand and Australian military personnel.
It’s 1994 and fugitive billionaire tycoon Christopher Skase lies in a Majorcan hospital bed under police guard. A Spanish court has ordered he is well enough to be extradited back to Australia to face corporate crime charges. But Skase is appealing. When the decision finally comes, it’s a shock.
In June 1993, the Australian Federal Police get a call. Someone from Christopher Skase’s inner sanctum, someone who knows all the ins and outs of his business dealing, who knows exactly where all the bodies are buried, is defecting. But Skase isn’t going down without a fight and he’ll use every trick in the book to avoid extradition back to Australia.
It’s April 1989 and Christopher Skase is reclining on his private jet, sipping a flute of champagne as he flies home from Hollywood. He's just made a $1.2 billion bid for the MGMUA/United Artists film studio. There’s one small problem though - he doesn’t have the money.
02 | Building a Mirage

02 | Building a Mirage

2025-09-2636:191

In the 1980s, Christopher and Pixie Skase are headline news, right on top of the billionaire food chain. Australia can’t get enough of them. Skase builds the luxury Mirage resorts in Queensland and throws epic, over-the-top, star-studded parties. Pixie flies in flowers, chefs and dresses on their private jet. It’s a wild ride. But if something seems too good to be true it quite possibly is.
Christopher Skase wants to be a corporate cowboy. He’s handsome and elegant, with Hermes ties and flowing locks. His wife Pixie is beautiful, in a 1980s kind of way, with bouffant blonde hair and more diamonds than a high street jeweller. Together they take on the Melbourne business establishment and start building the Qintex empire.
It's 1980s Australia and everyone wants to be seen with billionaire power couple Christopher and Pixie Skase. They have it all — money, power, fame and big hair. Then, in the blink of an eye, they don't.This is the story of Australia's most famous fugitive entrepreneur, his epic fall from grace and the multi-million-dollar chase for Skase.By the age of 40, Christopher Skase's Qintex empire is worth $2 billion, his extravagance legendary, the couple's lavish taste questionable. It's said a glass dome sits in his home office with a million dollars inside. Shredded. An homage to his first mill.But when Skase makes an audacious tilt at Hollywood, his empire collapses.In one of the greatest escapes Australia's ever seen, Christopher and Pixie skip the country owing a whopping $1.5 billion.The Australian courts, government and media are baying for blood. But the billion-dollar question is — will Skase outfox them all?To binge more incredible podcast episodes about 'Australia's fugitive entrepreneur,' the billionaire con man Christopher Skase, hosted by Mark Humphries; search 'Rewind Skase: Fall of a Tycoon podcast' on the ABC listen App (Australia), or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mercia Masson is one of Australia’s longest serving undercover spies in Cold War era Australia. But her double life remains a secret to those closest to her, including her family, for nearly 50 years 
Young Alexandrina Grant is an audacious liar. Host Richard Roxburgh follows this clever and ambitious crook as she travels from the alleys of Aberdeen to a convict cell in Van Diemen's Land, then onto the streets of colonial Melbourne. It's there that Alexandrina Askew emerges, transformed into a squatter’s wife, with a distinguished pedigree and connections. But when her disguise is revealed, the newspapers pounce. And this notorious fraudster has serious questions to answer. 
It's May 1971, and Qantas flight 755 takes off from Sydney on a routine flight to Hong Kong. Then a man calls the airline, saying he wants a half a million dollars, or else 'the plane will blow up'.The public anxiously watch the skies above Sydney, as bomb experts are called in, and the plane's fuel runs dangerously low.How can someone hold a plane full of passengers to ransom?  Host Richard Roxburgh takes a deep dive into the events of that fateful day. 
Is he a baronet or a butcher from Wagga Wagga? Can he claim the estate of an English aristocrat thought to be lost at sea?Throughout the 1870s, this question attracted global attention, and was the subject of one of the longest, most sensational court cases Britain had ever seen. Guests: Robyn Annear (author) The Man Who Lost Himself: The Unbelievable Story of the Tichborne ClaimantZadie Smith (author) The FraudClaire Campbell (former) Wagga Wagga head librarian and Tichborne aficionadoCredits: Narrator - Richard RoxburghProducer - Lyn GallacherSound engineer - Angie GrantScript Editors - Kirsti Melville & Tom WrightMusic - Matthew CrawfordArtwork - Lachlan Conn
One of Australia’s craftiest counterfeiters forges two million dollars in his suburban basement in the 1950s. Richard Roxburgh, renowned for playing shady characters on screen, tells the story of Robert Baudin and his brazen ability to make fake money.
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Comments (15)

Peta Yates

Mark's great humour is beautifully trickled through this. Love it.

Oct 22nd
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ID183128740

The audio attached to this episode is actually part 2, not part 1 as described.

Jul 13th
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Lis Stanger

Great podcast, thank you

Dec 5th
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Lis Stanger

One of the best podcasts so far, so glad the area was saved

Nov 26th
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Lis Stanger

great podcast

May 12th
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Jabulani Bulle

Great podcast series - amazing production and a fun soundtrack in the background. Cant wait for the rest of the series.

May 7th
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Chiranth Wodeyar

That was a great listen, thanks for making it. Really liked the pacing, it was like being out in the desert. Have you published any of the field recordings by themselves anywhere?

Apr 8th
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Brian

9 I hi u 4 7p0 7uo iv8o o v9v8v8v7g8gv 65i BUT 8

Mar 28th
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Lis Stanger

Another great podcast

Feb 27th
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mia norris

I'm listening to this on the bus going to work...im giggling away, looking like a grinning idiot at 7am on a monday morning. thankyou ever so much for possibly the funniest episode of a podcast 8ve ever heard. absolutely wonderful

Jul 21st
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Lis Stanger

another excellent podcast

May 11th
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Keith Gribben

Was it a dirigible or was it a hot air balloon. Can't be both.

Oct 5th
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Essie

There are online communities that share ideas about surviving disasters. For example, don't use hair conditioner when washing off nuclear debris because it makes radioactive material stick to you. Hmmm.

May 16th
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Essie

This was gorgeous to listen to. Thank you. I'd love to hear something similar investigating Australia's mythological heritage.

Feb 27th
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