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Forgotten Australia
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.
Need help?
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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
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74. Australia’s Slave Ship Massacre – Part Two: Shoot Them All
52:48||Season 10, Ep. 74Dr 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.
73. Australia’s Slave Ship Massacre – Part One: Doctor Evil
01:02:17||Season 10, Ep. 73Dr 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
72. The Last Gasp: Stubbing Out Ciggie Commercials – Part Two
45:54||Season 10, Ep. 72From 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/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
71. The Last Gasp: Stubbing Out Ciggie Commercials – Part One
01:02:31||Season 10, Ep. 71Fifty 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/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com
70. Short - Our Forgotten Crime Fiction Mastermind
19:28||Season 10, Ep. 70Aussie 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/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com
69. Short – Bravery & Barbarism: The Wave Hill Walk-Off
13:18||Season 10, Ep. 69Sixty 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/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
68. The Small Town ‘Teacher’s Pet’ Murder
35:50||Season 10, Ep. 68Nearly 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/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com
67. Aussie History Trivia Quiz #4 – Cops, Crims, Kooks, Censors & Singers
29:44||Season 10, Ep. 67How well do you know your murderers, mobsters, armed robbers and bent coppers? How good is your memory for Aussie rock hits of the 1970s and 1980s? Test yourself with this all-new trivia quiz. 30 questions across three rounds.How high can you score?Use a free trial for access to supporter benefits: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
65. Dead Men Don’t Fill Out Census Forms – Part Two: A Forgotten Serial Killer?
36:23||Season 10, Ep. 65Digging into the murderer’s past and future is to find two more cold-blooded killings.Forgotten Australia is created and hosted by Michael Adams, author of the acclaimed true crime books The Murder Squad, Hanging Ned Kelly and They'll Never Hold Me. He’s also a regular guest on ABC Nightlife, ABC Overnight and Australian True Crime.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.com