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New Season Miniseries: Death-Defying Death Divers – Part One
Welcome to Season 10! There are a lot of wild stranger-than-fiction episodes and miniseries coming your way in 2026. To start the New Year, let's splashback 130 years...
In 1895, Australians were astounded by Charles Peart, whose claim to fame was diving head-first from 100 feet into water just six feet deep. How did he do it? How long could he do it?
In this four-part miniseries, we plunge into the strange world of striving divers, conniving showmen and sensationalist reporters who brought dizzying and often deadly thrills to audiences in England, the United States, Australia and New Zealand from the 1880s. Join these diving ‘Professors’ as they try to defy death with stunts from the highest of pool platforms – and the even-higher reaches of the world’s most famous new bridges in London, New York and, eventually, Sydney.
*All four episodes of Death-Defying Death Divers are available now ad-free for supporters.*
Use a free trial to hear them. Cancel before it expires and you won't be charged
Apple users – click Forgotten Australia Plus – Subscribe – or go to www.apple.com/forgottenaustralia
For Patreon – www.patreon.com/forgottenaustralia
The epilogue episodes, Death-Defying Destiny Deciders will be available soon for supporters and go on general release late in the month.
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Want 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.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
Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com
More episodes
View all episodes
86. The Runaway Plane – Part One: “There’s No Pilot!”
35:41||Season 10, Ep. 86In August 1955, Sydney was suddenly under threat from a rogue plane.Had it really taken off by itself? Would it crash into the city?What were the RAAF doing about it?Be sure to check out my new true crime show Australian Murder.Find it wherever you get your podcasts.Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes.To use a free trial and get immediate access:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com
85. Introducing Australia Murder
04:24||Season 10, Ep. 85I'm launching a new true crime podcast called Australian Murder.Here's the lowdown.Check out Australian Murder wherever you get your podcasts.Follow to get the first episode as soon as it's released next week!
84. Talking History – Musquito: The Real Story of a Legendary Colonial Warrior
57:54||Season 10, Ep. 84Who was Musquito, the Aboriginal warrior feared by colonists in Sydney and Tasmania? Historian Naomi Parry Duncan's new book takes us behind the myths for a better understanding of this remarkable man.But Musquito: The Real Story of a Legendary Colonial Warrior is much more than a biography – it also tells the entwined stories of Naomi's own colonial ancestors.Booktopia Awards:https://www.booktopia.com.au/booktopia-book-award/promo4387.htmlSupport Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes.Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.comCheck out my books!They’ll Never Hold Me:https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.htmlThe Murder Squad:https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.htmlHanging Ned Kelly:https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.htmlAustralia’s Sweetheart:https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html
83. Australian Frankenstein – Part Two: The Infernal Machine
32:08||Season 10, Ep. 83Having successfully toured Australian cities with Frankenstein, Professor Hornburg invents a new machine man that uses a new energy source. But he and his creation – called Adam Iron, first man of iron – will have to share the limelight with a snake charmer and his nest of vipers. Two showmen scientists. Deadly serpents and an infernal machine. What could possibly go wrong?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/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.comCheck out my books!They’ll Never Hold Me:https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.htmlThe Murder Squad:https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.htmlHanging Ned Kelly:https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.htmlAustralia’s Sweetheart:https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html82. Australian Frankenstein – Part One: The Steam Man
46:14||Season 10, Ep. 82Just as the Iron Outlaw Ned Kelly is going to the gallows, Australians are astonished by a walking automaton called ‘Frankenstein - The Steam Man’. Professor Hornburg’s invention is intriguing, ingenious and imaginative. But is it really ‘the greatest piece of mechanism in the universe’? How much is science and how much is showmanship? To put it bluntly: Is Hornburg a Humbug?Step right this way and all will be revealed!All true and all bizarre, this is a strange parable for our own age of Gods and Monsters.Australian Frankenstein – Part Two: The Infernal Machine is available now early & ad-free to Forgotten Australia supporters.If you're using Apple, click on that episode and follow the instructions for a free trial.Or go to:apple.co/forgottenaustraliaTo access via Patreon (and listen on other podcast apps):patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaapple.co/forgottenaustraliaTo see the 1880 'Steam Man' poster: https://cyberneticzoo.com/steammen/1876-steam-man-mechanical-horse-hornburg-australian/Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com81. Mysteries of the Sea – Part Three: Beyond Human Knowledge
57:27||Season 10, Ep. 81In 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.80. Mysteries of the Sea – Part Two: Dead Unlucky
01:04:11||Season 10, Ep. 80Alongside 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 Knowledgeis available now ad-free for Apple and Patreon supporters.Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com79. Mysteries of the Sea – Part One: More Haste, Less Speed
48:37||Season 10, Ep. 79In 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 Knowledgeare available now ad-free for Apple and Patreon supporters.Use a free trial to hear them now!Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com78. Short – The Mystery of the Waratah
21:59||Season 10, Ep. 78I’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.