Half-Arsed History

In this week's episode, hear the story of the Dismissal: the 1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis, when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was turfed out by the governor-general.

The ballpoint pen may not have ushered in a technological revolution as so many other inventions in this series did, but it nonetheless played a significant role in making everyday writing simple, cheap, and relatively smudge-free.

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of Robert Curthose, who managed to cause all sorts of headaches for his two kingly brothers, despite being older than both of them.

In this week's episode, apropos of nothing, meet three historical younger-born princes who nothing but a royal pain in the arse for their older brothers.

Penicillin was a miraculous, marvellous discovery that revolutionised modern medicine and saved millions upon millions of lives, ushering in the age of antibiotics, where a little scratch doesn't result in amputation or death. 

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of the Venus de Milo, the most famous ancient statue in the world, and perhaps second-most famous artwork in the Louvre. 

In this week's episode, learn about the Louvre's most infamous heist: the time that the Mona Lisa itself was stolen by an Italian carpenter named Vincenzo Peruggia. 

Plastic is everywhere - these days, it's impossible to live a completely plastic-free life; but that's not necessarily entirely a bad thing, as even with all its environmental ills, plastic has nonetheless ushered in an age of material abundance. 

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the Lake Nyos Disaster, when over 1,700 people living around Lake Nyos mysteriously perished one night in 1986.