Forgotten Australia

Forgotten Australia

By: Forgotten Australia

Language: en

Categories: History, True Crime

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 s...

Episodes

This Week in 1932: 32 Rabbit Holes – Part One
Oct 27, 2025

From robots and rockets, to mad scientists, anti-democratic techbros and narcissistic fascist strongmen, a lot of what was making news this week in the Great Depression sounds, well, familiar.

But at least we’re not declaring war on emus... just yet. Join me as we jump in and out of 32 strange stories from 1932 – and see which chime – a least a little – with this week in 2025.

Part one includes: Brave New World banned, the plucky young poetess whose pen was a sword against poverty and the plan to turn the South Pole into a garbage dump.


Duration: 00:46:19
This Week in 1907: All Quacked Up
Oct 20, 2025

Doan’s Backache Kidney Pills, Freeman’s Chlorodyne, Hearn’s Bronchitis Cure, Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills – what was in these and other patent medicines and how much good and harm did they do? These questions were being asked this week in 1907, in the wake of a Royal Commission report that showed Australians were risking their health and wealth on costly quack concoctions that were often placebos and/or contained poisons. In this episode, we look at the first attempts to control a hugely profitable unregulated industry that had been built with pioneering techniques in mass marketing and misinforma...

Duration: 01:02:05
Short – The Coastwatcher’s Lonely War
Oct 14, 2025

In July 1942, as Australia’s armed forces were about to begin what would become the legendary battle for the Kokoda Track, in another occupied part of New Guinea, the brave Aussie coastwatcher Con Page was desperately trying to evade a huge force of Japanese soldiers that was systematically hunting him down.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true crim...

Duration: 00:18:13
Short – The Ballad of Australia’s Forgotten Boxing Champion
Oct 08, 2025

In July 1919, tiny-statured but huge-hearted youngster George Mendies won the Australian Flyweight Title. This was a crown he'd defend successfully again and again – until fate dealt him a cruel blow when he did a favour for a fellow boxer.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me: Duration: 00:14:48

Short – One Man, Two Mining Disasters
Oct 06, 2025

Australia suffered what is still our worst industrial disaster when an explosion ripped through the Mount Kembla mine on 31 July 1902. Strikingly, lead rescuer Henry MacCabe had 15 years earlier been acclaimed a hero of the 1887 Mount Keira explosion, which was our previous worst industrial catastrophe. Yet Henry's legacy isn't quite black and white.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian tr...

Duration: 00:13:03
Short: An Aussie Movie Star’s Acid Horror
Sep 29, 2025

At the height of the silent movie era, young Australian star Lotus Thompson set her sights on Hollywood. But she soon faced a problem: her legs were so beautiful that producers couldn’t see past her perfect pins to recognise her as a true acting talent. So Lotus found a horrifying solution – literally, in a bottle of corrosive acid. Had she been driven to this self-destructive act by a cruel industry? Or was Lotus simply a shrewd operator trying to hoax her way to Hollywood fame and fortune?


It’s easy to get a free trial that w...

Duration: 00:27:58
Short: SS Waratah – Australia's Own 'Titanic' Mystery
Sep 26, 2025

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 one-armed 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.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will gi...

Duration: 00:22:24
Short: Australia's Free Speech Martyr
Sep 23, 2025

William Chidley was an early 20th Century Australian eccentric with his own philosophies, which he preached and published - and for which he was relentlessly persecuted. Eventually, Chidley would be charged with being a lunatic – setting the scene for his final battles as a free speech champion.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true crime and history? Check out...

Duration: 00:18:53
This Week in 1981: Don't Believe the Hype
Sep 21, 2025

The death of stuntman Dale Buggins, the arrival of Adam Ant in Australia and new ‘evidence’ in the Azaria Chamberlain case – it was a big week for sensational tabloid stories. Plus: the birth of the Macquarie Dictionary, the Sale of the Century phenomenon, computers for consumers and the opening of Sydney Tower. And, on a personal note: when your protectors are predators, and remembering Australian journalist John Martinkus.


If you need help, call Lifeline Australia on 

131 114 or text 0477 13 11 14. 


Support Forgotten Australia with a free trial that will give you access to ad-free...

Duration: 00:51:13
This Week in 1956: TV debuts, rock ’n’ roll riots and a dancing senior citizen takes on the world
Sep 15, 2025

In the third week of September 1956, a small number of Australians finally saw what all the fuss was about when regular TV broadcasts began. It was a quiet start - unlike the arrival of the raucous, riot-inspiring youth movie Rock Around The Clock. But the new craze didn’t impress Janese Dooley, the 65-year-old widow who’d just danced not around the clock but around the world!


Hear the exclusive short about how TV came to Australia now as an Apple or Patreon supporter.

It’s easy to get a free trial that will give y...

Duration: 00:30:17
Short: The Death of Damien Parer
Sep 11, 2025

This week in 1944, Australia's most famous war cameraman — whose film Kokoda Front Line! had won us our first Oscar the previous year — was killed while filming American Marines trying to retake a tiny Pacific island held by the Japanese.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me...

Duration: 00:13:16
Short: Mark Twain Down Under
Sep 08, 2025

One hundred and thirty years ago this month, Mark Twain, creator of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and hailed as the world’s funniest man, arrived in Australia for the start of a months-long speaking tour. Aussies loved the famous visitor – and those attending his shows were treated to a very modern form of entertainment: American stand-up comedy.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


...

Duration: 00:10:39
Short: When War Came on Father's Day
Aug 31, 2025

As winter became spring in Australia in 1939, the world stood on the edge of the abyss.

Then, on Father's Day, 3 September, everyone's worst fears were confirmed: Australia would once again go to war with Germany. 

In the hours that followed this terrible news, shots were fired off Melbourne, foreigners were rounded up in Sydney, Australians got a crash course in air raid measures and enemy ships were unaccounted for in our waters. European battle updates dominated radios and newspaper headlines. This was the beginning of the beginning.


It’s easy to get a f...

Duration: 00:11:29
Short: Australia's Worst Shipwreck
Aug 29, 2025

180 years ago this month, Australia suffered what is still our worst civil maritime disaster when the emigrant ship Cataraqui struck a reef off King Island and sank in Bass Strait. Of the 409 aboard, just nine were to survive - but fate held a cruel trick in store for two of these men.

It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true cr...

Duration: 00:13:18
Short: From Dead Heart to Inland Sea
Aug 27, 2025

With Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre now flooded, we look back on the first time this happened in white history. Seventy-five years ago, Australia’s driest and most inhospitable region became a huge inland sea — and was explored by Elliot Price, a salt-lake-of-the-earth sorta bloke tooling around in a home-made boat.  


Wanna support Forgotten Australia?

It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more ori...

Duration: 00:13:30
This Week in 1931: The Man Who Fell To Earth – Part Three
Aug 24, 2025

Having enjoyed a trifecta of splashy Sydney skydiving successes, Stanley makes a new start in Melbourne only to learn that disasters come in threes.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


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 Murd...

Duration: 00:53:10
This Week in 1931: The Man Who Fell To Earth – Part Two
Aug 21, 2025

After Stanley Thomas’s rapid rise to parachuting success in Sydney, his career starts to stall with a series of jumps that are erratic and dangerous.

*Part Three is available now early and ad-free for supporters. You'll also get access to other ad-free, early and bonus episodes.*

Use a free trial to get started:

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/they...

Duration: 00:29:19
This Week in 1931: The Man Who Fell To Earth – Part One
Aug 17, 2025

Stanley Thomas was a young parachutist who made himself into a star in Sydney in the early years of the Great Depression. In public, he thrilled with his daredevil stunts. In private, he wrestled the darkest of demons. In the first instalment of this miniseries, we delve into the reality and the fantasy of Stanley’s story and explore just how he summoned the courage to step into space at 10,000 feet.


*Part Two and Part Three are available now ad-free for Patreon and Apple supporters*

It’s easy to get a free trial and get...

Duration: 00:49:26
This Week in 1906: The Golden Rule Axe Murder
Aug 07, 2025

When John Hassett was murdered in his Adelaide hotel room, Australia wasn’t faced with a whodunnit but a whydunnit.

Why had his wife Ada committed this cold-blooded crime?

Is she was insane, what had broken her mind?

For the first time, Ada’s tragic history is laid bare - and it speaks directly to issues still making world headlines in 2025.


If you need help, call Lifeline Australia on 

131114 or text 0477 13 11 14. 


If you’re an Ancestry member, you can see Ada Hassett’s Supreme Court files here...

Duration: 01:06:31
The Curious Case of the Two-Headed Baby – Part Two
Jul 27, 2025

Reuben Doodeward faces court, but he’s not backing down, and neither is the NSW government, with the fight over the fate of the two-headed baby headed for the High Court… and beyond.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopi...

Duration: 00:55:05
The Curious Case of the Two-Headed Baby – Part One
Jul 21, 2025

In 1906, Australia was scandalised that Sydney showman Reuben Doodeward (pictured) had exhibited a two-headed baby preserved in a bottle of spirits. Yet he was only doing what his dear old dad had done in Dunedin nearly 30 years earlier. The court case that followed would make for more than just horror headlines – it’d make legal history that continues to shape our world in the age of biotech. 


Supporters can hear part one and part two of this episode early and ad-free.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access t...

Duration: 00:41:23
Before the Mushroom Trial – The Poisoned Footy Player: Part Three
Jul 13, 2025

While the evidence against Veronica Monty was damning, she was also damned by the hypocritical morality of Australia in the 1950s. Tried for attempted murder, she was convicted of far worse — and would pay the price.

It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Want more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me:

https...

Duration: 00:47:38
Before the Mushroom Trial – The Poisoned Footy Player: Part Two
Jul 06, 2025

When Sydney detectives confirm star Balmain rugby league player Bob Lulham has been poisoned with Thall-Rat, they begin an investigation that at first turns up few leads. A series of mysterious phone calls to the CIB keeps the police wondering until they finally make a shocking arrest. While the identification of the suspect is sensational, what emerges at the accused's committal hearing has jaws on the floor in 1950s Australia — as it would be today. 


Wanna hear the rest of the story now, ad-free?

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Duration: 00:37:29
Before the Mushroom Trial – The Poisoned Footy Player: Part One
Jul 01, 2025

On the 20th of July 1953, Sydney detectives discovered that someone had used rat poison to try to murder star Balmain rugby league player Bob Lulham. More than 70 years later, this remains one of Australian sport’s most sensational, strangest and saddest scandals — and among the least remembered. In part one of this deep dive, we explore Bob’s proud family legacy – his father fought at Gallipoli on 25 August 1915 — and Bob’s meteoric rise in rugby league, which included his record-breaking 1947 debut season and him donning the Kangaroo jersey to represent Australia against England in 1948-49.


Wanna hear the res...

Duration: 00:35:10
This Week in 1980 – The Family Court Murders, Miracle Babies and Birds, Our Richest Real Estate and the Village People Conquer Australia
Jun 26, 2025

A judge is gunned down, we welcome our first test tube baby and we try to save the world’s rarest bird. Meanwhile, Sydney sets a record house price and the Village People score bigly Down Under. Plus: Why does President Trump love the YMCA? How did Aussies feel about a Moscow Olympics boycott? Which Hollywood actor’s history with Australia intersected with George Orwell, Oscar Wilde, Sidney Nolan and Port Arthur Gaol? And: the strange story of Sydney Opera House’s strangest solo act!


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you acce...

Duration: 01:03:36
This Week in 1955 – Part Two: A Ban on Aboriginal People, Putting An End to Polio, the Murder Manhunt and the ‘Murderphobia’ Case
Jun 16, 2025

While Sydney welcomes African-American entertainers, Moree bans Aboriginal Australians from exercising their human rights on the land that’s always been their home. But this regressive act will have progressive consequences… eventually. Plus, while Australia plans to vaccinate against polio and the government commits ground forces to a war in Asia, the manhunt for escaped murderer Patrick Platts reaches a climax. But the Platts story will have its sequel nearly 20 years later – in the ‘Murderphobia’ murder case.


To read more about the 1965 Freedom Ride:

https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/1965-freedom-ride


To get hip to...

Duration: 00:32:18
This Week in 1955 – Part One: A Murderer Escapes, Our Politicians Jail Pressmen and an Aussie Witnesses Horror at Le Mans
Jun 12, 2025

Up in the Queensland, a murderer and a robber break out of prison, while down in Canberra our Federal Parliament puts a couple of newspaper blokes behind bars for breaching privilege. Meanwhile, a veteran Aussie journo at Le Mans witnesses history’s worst motor racing disaster. Plus: Hollywood celebrities come Down Under - and turn one Sydney beauty’s life upside down.


To read Andrew Moore’s presentation on the Fitzpatrick-Browne affair:

https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Publications_and_resources/Papers_and_research/Papers_on_Parliament_and_other_resources/Papers_on_Parlia...

Duration: 00:40:29
Before the Mushroom Case: Australia’s Infamous Poisoning Murder Trial – Part Five
Jun 11, 2025

Following the verdict, Ronald Griggs has one last trick up his sleeve to amaze Australia. 


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


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-m...

Duration: 00:56:03
Before the Mushroom Case: Australia’s Infamous Poisoning Murder Trial – Part Four
Jun 08, 2025

Having already been convicted by the newspapers, Ronald Griggs stands trial for the murder of his wife. If he’s found guilty, he’ll be sentenced to death.


It’s easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


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

...

Duration: 00:48:03
This Week in 1930 - America's Tariff Apocalypse, Aviatrix Amy Johnson Awes Aussies... and Ferris Bueller?
Jun 05, 2025

In the first week of June 1930, America was on the brink of economic apocalypse with its Smoot-Hawley tariffs – and their effects would be felt terribly Down Under and around the world. In this very same week, Aussies set in motion a process that'd further guarantee we suffered horribly in the Great Depression. At least in good news, Sydney welcomed heroic aviatrix Amy Johnson in what was the first example of modern celebrity hysteria in Australia. For a bit of fun, we also look at the Smoot-Hawley tariff scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, learning how actor-economist Ben Stein later re...

Duration: 00:49:39
Before the Mushroom Case: Australia’s Infamous Poisoning Murder Trial – Part Three
May 30, 2025

After Lottie Condon’s shock confession, Ronald Griggs becomes infamous overnight when Truth newspaper publishes every sordid detail of his scandalous love life. But with his wife’s body exhumed and the true cause of her death established, public shame is soon the least of the embattled Methodist minister’s problems.


Parts four and five are available ad-free now for Apple and Patreon supporters.

As a supporter, you get all episodes ad-free, plus exclusive bonus episodes and a show shout-out!


It’s easy to start a free trial in just a few seco...

Duration: 00:41:26
Before the Mushroom Case: Australia’s Infamous Poisoning Murder Trial – Part Two
May 29, 2025

Following the mysterious death of his wife in the mountain town of Omeo, rumours about Methodist preacher Ronald Griggs reach a fever pitch — and a veteran detective is sent from Melbourne CIB to investigate.


Parts three, four and five are available ad-free now for Apple and Patreon supporters. As a supporter, you get all episodes ad-free, plus exclusive bonus episodes and a show shout-out! It’s easy to start a free trial in just a few seconds.


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


It’s easy to can...

Duration: 00:42:25
Before the Mushroom Case: Australia’s Infamous Poisoning Murder Trial – Part One
May 29, 2025

Nearly a century before Erin Patterson was put on trial in the mushroom murder case, Australia was scandalised by allegations that a young preacher from country Victoria had poisoned his wife, Ethel, the mother of his baby girl, so he could be with his mistress, Lottie, the daughter of one of his most faithful churchgoers.

In this five-part mini-series, we delve deep into the life of holier-than-thou hypocrite Ronald Griggs, who shattered the commandments he supposedly held so sacred.

Everything he said and did cast him as a sinner.

But had this man...

Duration: 00:53:12
This Week in 1905: Aussie Feminist Highs & Lows, the First Empire Day, an American President Ends a Russian War, and a Ratcatcher Echoes in Eternity
May 23, 2025

In London this week, the Aussie suffragist Nellie Martel explains to English women how they can win the vote, while back at home pioneering feminist Louisa Lawson’s publication The Dawn teeters on the brink of closure. Plus: the first Empire Day; the final battles of the Russo-Japanese War mean a Nobel Peace Prize for Teddy Roosevelt; and in Sydney a ratcatching hero survives Bubonic Plague – again.


Kathy Bowrey: "The threat posed by a woman inventor: law, labour and the subjugation of Louisa Lawson"

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14490854.2024.2331591


For a fr...

Duration: 00:39:33
This Week in 1979: Aussie Movies Go Global, Ye Olde TV Listings & Our Forgotten Comedy Genius
May 16, 2025

This week at the Cannes Film Festival, My Brilliant Career made Australian film history, while back home Rupert Murdoch became a Sydney TV mogul, setting the stage for his world-changing Fox News empire. Meanwhile, Aussies lived with limited television choices even as they remained unaware that one of their own was reshaping American screen entertainment with his cutting edge comedies and pioneering reality formats.



For free trial access to early ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus episodes:

Apple.co/ForgottenAustralia or https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/forgotten-australia/id1442763878

Patreon...

Duration: 00:42:49
This Week in 1954 - Sydney Anarchy, Killer Trains, a Climate Warming Warning, Record Setters & the Roo Roo Hop
May 08, 2025

Pirates, sailors, mountaineers and the Abominable Snowman run riot through Sydney – a Sydney were you risk life and limb every time you catch a train. Also this week: scientists prove that the world is warming – and cite civilisation as the cause. Elsewhere, a young bloke tries to set a piano playing record, a Pommy athlete breaks through an ‘impossible’ barrier, Australian television is finally given a green light and American youngsters bounce around like kangaroos.


Roo Roo Kangaroo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq8lImdakvA


For a free trial that will giv...

Duration: 00:28:42
Short – Nazi Aftertaste
May 05, 2025

85 years before American President Donald Trump gave unelected social media mogul Elon Musk unprecedented power with DOGE, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies gave unelected newspaper mogul Keith Murdoch unprecedented power as DGI - that is: Director-General of Information. But Rupert’s dad would overstep almost immediately and be widely criticised as an aspiring fascist dictator along the lines of Adolf Hitler – the very enemy he was supposed to be fighting.


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/f...

Duration: 00:16:29
This Week in 1929: The Blind Digger – Part Two
Apr 27, 2025

Just as Frank’s radio career is taking off, his private life is laid bare in a racy tabloid expose. But the sequel to this scandal is to be far more shocking and sinister. Nearly a century later, questions remain…


For free trial access to early ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus episodes:

Apple.co/ForgottenAustralia or https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/forgotten-australia/id1442763878

Patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


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...

Duration: 00:44:37
This Week in 1929: The Blind Digger – Part One
Apr 23, 2025

Terribly wounded on 25 April 1915 at Gallipoli, AIF Private Frank Downes would be celebrated as The Blind Digger. After returning home on the first hospital ship from Egypt, he was an Anzac hero, a patriotic public speaker, a radio personality and a good husband and father. But Frank’s image was to be tainted by scandal and then shattered by a mysterious death that left Aussies wondering whether this war hero was a cold-blooded murderer.


For free trial access to early ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus episodes:

Apple.co/ForgottenAustralia or https://podcasts.apple.com/au...

Duration: 00:49:38
This Week in 1904: Rampaging Percy Ramage – Part Two
Apr 19, 2025

Did you have to be crazy to take on 10 cops at once? Was Percy Ramage 'perfectly insane'? The question was key but Melbourne’s best and brightest just couldn’t agree. Percy cashed in on his notoriety with a memoir and tried to go straight. But trouble was never far away – and a surprising tragedy loomed in a stormy future.


For free trial access to early ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus episodes:

Apple.co/ForgottenAustralia or https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/forgotten-australia/id1442763878

Patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Check out my boo...

Duration: 00:46:41
This Week in 1904: Rampaging Percy Ramage – Part One
Apr 16, 2025

In Melbourne and Geelong from the 1890s, Percy Ramage saw red whenever he saw the cops. Known as 'The Policeman Puncher', he was such a 'human tiger' that no-one knew where his badness ended and his madness began. But in trying to contain him, authorities would throw Percy into a gaol where prisoners were dropping like flies – with the ‘Prince of Rioters’ looking like he’d be the next to die.


For free trial access to early ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus episodes:

Apple.co/ForgottenAustralia or https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/forgotten-australia/id144276...

Duration: 00:50:18
Short: Cocaine Kurtz
Apr 11, 2025

This German-born thug's misadventures included shooting his dad in the butt, taking to the bush as an escapee, doing time in a POW camp, selling cocaine in Sydney and dicing with the Razor Gangs. But his life would have an unexpected final act.


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

Au...

Duration: 00:14:24
This Week in 1978: Dead End – The Bloody Last Stand of a Brazen Bank Bandit
Apr 07, 2025

A Brisbane armed robber had hit three banks in twelve months. In the second week of April 1978, the cops had laid a trap he couldn’t escape. Until he did. What followed was an extraordinary car chase and gun battle, all caught by news cameras. But after the smoke cleared, big questions remained.


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Check out my books:


They’ll Never Hold Me:

Duration: 00:45:01
This Week in 1953: One Murderous Cop, Two Serial Killers & Roy Cohn Runs Riot Against the 'Reds'
Mar 31, 2025

It was a big week for true crime and the Red Scare. In Sydney, Roger Rogerson’s future hero, Detective-Sergeant Ray ‘the Gunner’ Kelly, was in court and explaining how and why he’d shot another criminal dead. In London, the cops caught serial killer John Christie, which meant they’d sent an innocent man to the gallows for two murders. In a weird coincidence, a similar failure of justice was about to play out in Adelaide, where serial monster John Balaban had already been set free by the courts to kill again. Meanwhile, the Red Scare was at fever pitc...

Duration: 00:56:08
This Week in 1928: Cocaine Raids, Razor Gangs, Racist Orgy Conspiracies and Girl Bosses vs Man Worms!
Mar 24, 2025

In a bumper episode brought to you by the newfangled "Electric Newspaper" of 1928, Sydney and Melbourne cops carry out spectacular public raids to save white women from the evils of cocaine and African-American jazz men – and, more broadly, to amp up the war on drugs and expand the White Australia Policy. Plus: a Sydney girl makes good in the British movie Moulin Rouge; English women get the vote for a "Flapper Election"; and the "Sex War" is predicted to leave girl bosses in total control of a world of man-worms.


To book Manly Writers' Festival: https://ww...

Duration: 00:55:34
Short: Murder at the Melbourne Races
Mar 23, 2025

In 1906, when a young bookie tried to cheat his customers, he died as the very public victim of a bloodthirsty mob of Melburnians. His murder left the city searching for his killers – and for answers about a state government that continued to allow dangerous unregulated gambling.

This episode updates a previous Australia On This Day episode.


Check out the Manly Writers’ Festival: https://www.manlywritersfestival.org.au/program/true-crime%3A-tales-of-betrayal%2C-escape%2C-and-justice


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patr...

Duration: 00:20:33
This Week in 1903: Gaslight in Perth – Bella Heckler, the Reverend and the Rape Scandal
Mar 17, 2025

In the third week of 1903, Perth was transfixed by one of the most sensational libel cases in Australian history. The legal action had been brought by a popular clergyman, who claimed a newspaper had falsely accused him of being a vile predator, who'd serially raped his young maid, gotten her pregnant, forced her into an abortion, and then conspired to commit her to a lunatic asylum to keep her from spilling her secrets.


Check out the Manly Writers’ Festival:


https://www.manlywritersfestival.org.au/program/true-crime%3A-tales-of-betrayal%2C-escape%2C-and-justice


Check ou...

Duration: 00:53:44
This Week in 1977: Just Like Jaws
Mar 10, 2025

This week was a busy one – a royal visit from the Queen, the Centenary Test and mad bulls running through the streets of Melbourne. But no story was more dramatic than the horrific shark attack off Brisbane, which seemed straight out of that recent horror blockbuster: Jaws. In this episode, we look at the men who died that day on Moreton Bay – and the self-styled warrior who set out to avenge them, propelling himself onto the world stage, where he’d remain for decades, killing sharks ruthlessly and playing a role in creating one of the 20th century’s most con...

Duration: 00:55:55
This Week in 1952: Miss Kangaroo & the Great Koala Heist
Mar 03, 2025

Long before Crocodile Dundee put Australia on the map for American moviegoers, Miss Kangaroo was sent to the USA on a similar mission. But this young polio survivor wouldn’t be alone on her whirlwind 30-city tour – Miss Kangaroo was to chaperone a couple of baby kangaroos. What could possibly go wrong? At the very same time, a separate film stunt saw four koalas shipped to Hollywood – the first such export in decades. Soon all of these poor Australian creatures – including Miss Kangaroo – would be embroiled in a controversy over animal cruelty and the shady exploitation of our beloved fauna by t...

Duration: 00:43:28
Short: The Brutal Birth of Mardi Gras
Feb 28, 2025

In 1978, the first Mardi Gras was met with police intimidation, violence and mass arrests that were followed by custodial abuse, bashings and malicious prosecutions. Though the cops, courts, Labor premier Neville Wran and even the Sydney Morning Herald were against the LGBTQ+ community, they wouldn’t back down in their fight for their right to party – and enjoy the same rights as every Australian.


This episode updates an archived episode of Australia on this Day.

My books:


They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html<...

Duration: 00:15:00
This Week In… 1927: The First Miss Australia & the Newspaper Stunt that Launched a Media Empire
Feb 24, 2025

In the last week of February 1927, Sydneysiders could go to the Crystal Palace Theatre to see Australia’s very own ‘Queen’ – the winner of the first Miss Australia pageant. Not only would she appear in her costumes, she’d tell of her adventures going to Atlantic City to ‘challenge’ Miss America. Soon she'd take her show all across Australia. In the background, newspaper mogul-in-the-making R.C. Packer was pulling the strings and pocketing the profits that’d establish a mighty media empire. But Miss Australia was more than a pretty face – and she’d use her smarts like a modern-day influence...

Duration: 00:46:38
This Week in 1902: Bubonic Plague, the Crutchy Push, Breaker Morant, Boer War barbarities & the first choice for an Aussie capital
Feb 17, 2025

In the third week of February 1902: the first Australian senators select a sweet site for our national capital and the first Australian commonwealth soldiers embark for overseas service... right as Australia's first prime minister and first opposition leader act as bipartisan boosters for Britain’s conduct in the Boer War... unaware the Poms are about to execute Australian legend Breaker Morant. Plus: stupidity steers Sydney into a Bubonic Plague sequel right as Melbourne's larrikin criminal leader of 'The Crutchy Push' faces court in a follow-on from a notorious Crutchy murder case.


For a free trial and ac...

Duration: 00:50:34
Your Stories: ‘My Father was Count Copernicus!'
Feb 13, 2025

As an adoptee, Pam Korreng always wondered about her biological parents. In 2021, hoping for some answers, she used Ancestry DNA. What Pam discovered was that her dad, Dave Clark, was an immensely talented singer, musician, actor, comedian, karate expert, stripper and cosmic seeker, who, after pioneering Australian rock ’n’ roll in the 1950s with Barry Crocker, became glam-rock shocker Count Copernicus in the 1970s. But her father’s story runs deeper than that, beginning in the horrors of war during The Blitz and ending in the bliss of a peaceful NYC spiritual community in the 21st century.


Patr...

Duration: 00:47:25
This Week in… 1976: Ned Kelly lives, Apocalypse Now dies, sex sells cinema tix but Australia’s star stripper quits
Feb 10, 2025

In this special movie episode: the same week that we rediscover the first filmic Ned Kelly, we lose the chance to have Apocalypse Now made in Australia – and while sexy times sell ‘sinema’ tickets, singer-stripper-philosopher-turned-soft core star Count Copernicus hangs up his G-string. Plus, the new trend to sci-fi flicks that includes ‘The Star Wars’, Colonel Sanders pops in for a meat pie and a British fashion commando gives our blokes the big thumbs up.


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies - the link is act...

Duration: 00:40:09
This Week In… 1951: Melbourne’s Retro “Teacher’s Pet” Case
Feb 03, 2025

This week in 1951, Melbourne’s detectives and a police diver were searching the waters off Frankston for the body of Caroline Scully, a wife and mother who’d been missing for eight months. The chief suspect in her suspected murder? Her husband Edward, hailed as an Australian military Masterchef.


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


To buy They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html<...

Duration: 00:42:34
This Week in... 1926: Ugly Men, Tesla's Predictions, a Fascist ‘Footloose’ and a Mysterious Masked Dancer
Jan 26, 2025

As a sensuous Catwoman seduces Sydney society and Perth’s Ugly Men stage their annual carnival at Uglieland, ugly meanie Mussolini uses his new executive powers to protect fascist Italy from having fun while Elon Musk's original man crush Nikola Tesla predicts a wireless world where you can watch an American presidential inauguration on your pocket-sized screen device.


This week's bonus episode for subscribers delves into the identity of the Masked Dancer, who was a household name in mid 20th century Australia for a career that extended from vaudeville to videotape.


For a fr...

Duration: 00:39:46
This Week in... 1901: the first election, a federal erection and the dying queen
Jan 19, 2025

Australia talks about the first federal election campaign, weeps about the death of beloved Queen Victoria and laughs at a visionary’s plan for a giant statue that’ll rise over Sydney Harbour. Plus: our most famous astronomer mocks Nikola Tesla's "messages from Mars", our most famous meteorologist makes like Elon Musk by firing rockets into the heavens, and our most famous hangman is news for setting a record with his noose. This episode features a short interview with Rachel Franks, historian and author of An Uncommon Hangman: The Life and Deaths of Robert 'Nosey Bob' Howard. (There's also a fu...

Duration: 00:54:04
This Week in… 1975: Sex, Speed, Strippers & Skyhooks!
Jan 13, 2025

In the third week of January 1975, the ‘The Sensual Seventies’ live up to the label when 2JJ plays a banned song about bonking as its first-ever broadcast while sex documentary The Love Epidemic erupts in cinemas and causes a 'porn' controversy. Plus: a shocking road toll, weird Darwin fundraisers, power blackouts threaten Number 96, Gough brings home some art and a nudist cop faces his court comeuppance.


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


To...

Duration: 00:36:43
Summer Shorts - The Murdochs and the Child Murders
Jan 09, 2025

On New Year’s Eve 1921, Australia was shocked by a Melbourne child murder. Desperate to boost the Herald’s stagnant circulation, newly appointed editor Keith Murdoch ran sensational coverage that helped to send an innocent man to the gallows. Forty years later, when Australia was shocked by a Sydney child murder, Rupert Murdoch, new editor and owner of the lagging Daily Mirror, followed in his father’s footsteps and laid the foundations for the media empire that’d reshape the world.


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Duration: 00:23:48
Forgotten Australia This Week… In 1950
Jan 06, 2025

Will the Chinese invade Taiwan? Is nuclear war with Russia inevitable? While it sounds like these questions are ripped from today's headlines, these were actually the biggest issues in the world in the second week of 1950. Plus, closer to home: the RSL’s purges Commies but embraces Pokies; a female playwright tackles white Australian attitudes to Aboriginal people, and a giant eagle attacks a woman and her daughter… right in the heart of Kings Cross!


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patreon.com/forg...

Duration: 00:39:49
Summer Shorts: TAA Flight 408 – Australia’s First Skyjacking
Jan 03, 2025

In July 1960, Australia was shocked by a new breed of criminal desperado – a gun-wielding and bomb-toting skyjacker.


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


To buy 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...

Duration: 00:17:55
Forgotten Australia This Week … in 1925
Dec 31, 2024

Happy New Year!

We kick off 2025 by adding a new format in which we look at a different week from each year in the 20th Century. And what better place to start than 100 years ago? In the first week of January 1925, Australia was wowed not only by a world record test cricket attendance at the MCG but also by a giant leap forwards in live radio coverage. Also this week: a Melbourne ghost mystery, dark accusations made against a future prime minister, and the sensational disappearance of national celebrity Jack DeGaris (pictured).


For a...

Duration: 00:33:15
Summer Shorts: Archibald McCafferty – Australia's Charles Manson
Dec 30, 2024

In 1973 in Sydney, a delusional young criminal and his band of disciples set out to ‘Kill Seven’ as a way to resurrect a dead child.


For a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes:


Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia


To buy 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:

http...

Duration: 00:25:17
Summer Shorts: Curtains for the Magician
Dec 23, 2024

In the first of the Summer Shorts series, we step back to the day in 1974 that underworld serial killer Stewart John Regan, known as ‘The Magician’ for his trick of making people disappear, met his own bloody fate on a Sydney street.


To support Forgotten Australia:

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duration: 00:16:17
The End of the Year Interview Episode
Dec 23, 2024

Recently, Nine radio network host Simon Owens interviewed me for his Saturday night show, which is broadcast on Australian east coast stations, including 2GB, 3AW and 4BC. With Simon’s kind permission, here’s the interview, which covers my books They’ll Never Hold Me, The Murder Squad and Hanging Ned Kelly, as well as delving a little into the evolution of Forgotten Australia. We also talk about my writing influences, my career in television and, um, the year I spent watching one bad movie every day. So, if you've ever wanted to get to know your Forgotten Australia creato...

Duration: 00:41:00
The Model & The Murder Case – Part Two
Dec 09, 2024

In 1954 popular Sydney model Shirley Beiger went on trial for the shooting murder of her boyfriend, with the already sensational proceedings made wilder by her outbursts, a media frenzy, the appearance of a crazed mystic, the accused's unruly cheer squad and a confused verdict. Next month, the Sydney Festival premieres The Model Murder, based on this scandalous case. In the meantime, here's a reprise of the 2019 Forgotten Australia episode that first explored Shirley's story in all its strange and colourful detail.


Check out my new book, They’ll Never Hold Me

https://affirmpress.com.au...

Duration: 00:55:38
The Model & The Murder Case – Part One
Dec 08, 2024

Seventy years ago – in 1954 – glamorous Sydney model Shirley Beiger shot her lover dead outside a city nightclub. But why did she kill him — and what punishment would she face?


Next month, the Sydney Festival premieres The Model Murder, based on this scandalous case. In the meantime, here's a reprise of the 2019 Forgotten Australia episode that first explored Shirley's story in all its strange and colourful detail.


Check out my new book, They’ll Never Hold Me

https://affirmpress.com.au/author/61917


Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://ap...

Duration: 00:36:23
Vanishing Cousins – Part Two: The Suspects
Nov 28, 2024

In April 1974, teenage cousins Yvonne Waters and Raelene Eaton went to a surfside pub in Perth to enjoy a Sunday session. They were never seen again, victims of an unknown killer or killers. In recent years, veteran journalist and television producer Melenie Ambrose has investigated this haunting cold case. In part two of this two-part interview episode, Melenie tell us about the police’s murder suspects, her recent discoveries of vital new evidence and her hopes that there might still be a breakthrough that’ll bring the killer or killers to justice.


Watch Vanishing Cousins at:

Duration: 00:30:02
Vanishing Cousins – Part One: The Disappearance
Nov 28, 2024

In April 1974, teenage cousins Yvonne Waters and Raelene Eaton went to a surfside pub in Perth to enjoy a Sunday session. They were never seen again, victims of an unknown killer or killers. In recent years, veteran journalist and television producer Melenie Ambrose has investigated this haunting cold case. In part one of this two-part interview episode, Melenie discusses the lead-up to the disappearance of the girls and why the police didn’t take their families’ fears of foul play seriously.


Watch Vanishing Cousins at:

https://7plus.com.au/vanishing-cousins-evil-by-the-beach


Cr...

Duration: 00:46:38
Michael Adams talks They’ll Never Hold Me with Australian True Crime – Part Two
Nov 22, 2024

They’ll Never Hold Me is in bookstores now. Michael sat down with Meshel Laurie of the Australian True Crime podcast to talk all things Kevin John Simmonds. Part Two covers Simmo’s 1959 crime spree and the first few weeks of what was the largest manhunt in Australian history.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duration: 00:32:39
Michael Adams talks They’ll Never Hold Me with Australian True Crime – Part One
Nov 21, 2024

They’ll Never Hold Me is in bookstores now. Michael sat down with Meshel Laurie of the Australian True Crime podcast to talk all things Kevin John Simmonds. Part One covers Simmo from his birth during the Great Depression to his 1959 decision to become an armed robber.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duration: 00:28:36
They’ll Never Hold Me – The Next Few Audiobook Chapters
Nov 14, 2024

Please enjoy a second audiobook extract that continues the story of young Kevin John Simmonds, as he grows up in Griffith, grapples with the lure of criminality and gets a preview of his life in the saga of legendary Sydney characters Darcy Dugan and Ray ‘the Gunner’ Kelly.


Buy the full audiobook here:

https://rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/9781004181971/

Buy the paperback:

Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au

Big W

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/they-ll-never-hold-me-by-michael-adams/p/6000238?srsltid=AfmBOoqf5VwhCrlNow0Drn0-IcoViT5ttqXdXsyX1iacELJzuYvEW8Mv

Duration: 00:38:59
They'll Never Hold Me – Exclusive Audiobook Excerpt
Nov 06, 2024

My new book, They'll Never Hold Me, which chronicles the life, times and crimes of Long Bay Gaol escapee Kevin John Simmonds, has just been released as an audio book. I'm pleased to present this exclusive excerpt, which comprises the prologue and first two chapters.


The full version is available right now via this product page, which offers all the key places to buy They'll Never Hold Me.


https://rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/9781004181971/


Email me: michaeladamswrites@gmail.com


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Duration: 00:35:28
Arizona Ryan and the Sydney Shootout – Part Two
Oct 25, 2024

Who was this good guy with a gun? We delve into life of American cowboy Albert “Arizona” Ryan, who became a celebrity in 1919 in Australia after killing a man to end a Sydney siege. Hear how Arizona, like Dirty Harry, had a history of trigger-happy vigilantism, and how, like Dirty John, his creepy marriage to a wealthy woman came to a violent end.


Check out my new book, They’ll Never Hold Me

https://affirmpress.com.au/author/61917


Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon...

Duration: 00:37:53
Arizona Ryan and the Sydney Shootout – Part One
Oct 25, 2024

In 1919, in the Sydney slum of Surry Hills, a Chinese gunman shot more than a dozen people, triggering a dramatic police siege that was only ended by the violent intervention of a lone American vigilante. But who was this self-styled cowboy with the six-shooter?


Check out my new book, They’ll Never Hold Me

https://affirmpress.com.au/author/61917


Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See a...

Duration: 00:32:31
To Live & Die in D.C. – Part Five: A Forensic Furore
Oct 17, 2024

With their suspect in custody, D.C. detectives still can’t celebrate because in Washington in 1972 seven out of every ten murderers go free.

Forty years after the verdicts in these murder trials, the FBI will make a bombshell forensic revelation to cast doubt on whether justice was done.


Check out my new book, They’ll Never Hold Me

https://affirmpress.com.au/author/61917


Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail...

Duration: 00:52:30
To Live & Die in D.C. – Part Four: A Killer Named Goliath
Oct 07, 2024

With another Washington woman murdered in identical circumstances to Sherry and Sharan, D.C. detectives finally have a suspect – but can they find the disturbed man who stalks the D.C. streets, hides in apartments and calls himself ‘Goliath’?


Check out my new book, They’ll Never Hold Me

https://affirmpress.com.au/author/61917


Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

Duration: 00:39:13
To Live & Die in D.C. – Part Three: Dead Ends and Another Dead Woman
Sep 30, 2024

Despite the best efforts of D.C. detectives and Sydney cops – including Senior Constable Roger Rogerson – Sherry and Sharan’s killer remains at large. When a breakthrough comes, it’ll be in the worst possible circumstances.


To pre-order They'll Never Hold Me:

https://affirmpress.com.au/browse/book/Michael-Adams-They%27ll-Never-Hold-Me-9781923046474


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Check out my new book, They’ll Never Hold Me

https://affirmpress.com.au/author/61917


Em...

Duration: 00:56:33
To Live & Die in D.C. – Part Two: A Race Against Time
Sep 25, 2024

Sherry Frahm and Sharan Tapp settle into living and working in Washington. But it’s dangerous being a counter girl in a McDonald’s during D.C.’s ever-bloodier wave of senseless murders.


The five-part miniseries is based on information unearthed in Australian government archives, US court transcripts, American and Australian historic newspaper articles – and on recent interviews with two family members.


More than a true crime deep dive, this miniseries remembers two fearless Australian women whose fates have been overlooked while Billy and Sonia McMahon’s ‘sexy’ White House shenanigans became part of pop culture...

Duration: 00:58:49
To Live & Die in D.C. – Part One: Two Aussie Girls
Sep 23, 2024

In November 1971, at the exact moment that Prime Minister Billy McMahon’s wife Sonia stepped out in her infamously revealing dress at a White House dinner, Australian embassy officials in Washington were thrust into the first crucial hours of a serial killer investigation. Two young women had just been found murdered in a nearby apartment and D.C. homicide detectives believed the victims were from Down Under. In a race against time, American and Australian cops and diplomats would have to work together to identify the maniac before he stuck again.


To Live & Die in D.C...

Duration: 00:51:58
The Rise of Roger Rogerson – Part Two: Men Died Because of What He Did
Sep 19, 2024

How was the 1976 case of armed robber Phillip Western a prototype for the “Green Light” that’d soon be given to Neddy Smith? Continuing our in-depth interview, veteran journalist Neil Mercer explains how Roger Rogerson perverting the legal system for profit resulted in a forgotten murder and set the scene for future bloodbaths. Be sure to read Neil Mercer’s new book, The Kingpin and the Crooked Cop: The Definitive Inside Story of Neddy Smith and Roger Rogerson, Partners in Crime.



Buy it here:

https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Neil-Mercer-Kingpin-and-the-Crooked-Cop-9781760879952


Duration: 00:39:27
The Rise of Roger Rogerson – Part One: All Hell Broke Loose
Sep 16, 2024

How did a hero detective become Australia’s most notoriously corrupt killer cop? In an in-depth conversation, veteran journalist Neil Mercer talks about the Rogerson he interviewed and investigated, starting with their first meeting in 1982. Be sure to read Neil Mercer’s new book, The Kingpin and the Crooked Cop: The Definitive Inside Story of Neddy Smith and Roger Rogerson, Partners in Crime.



Buy it here:

https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Neil-Mercer-Kingpin-and-the-Crooked-Cop-9781760879952


Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https...

Duration: 00:41:09
The Boys of Death Row – Part Six: Lives Hanging in the Balance
Sep 01, 2024

A new murder committed by a 17-year-old brings the tally of boys on Death Row to ten. From April 1936 onwards, the NSW government has to decide who’ll live and who’ll die. With time running out in one case, they rush towards a ‘ghastly mistake’, while in another what they decide will lead to another murder more than 50 years later in Queensland.


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Check out my books:

(there’s a new one…)<...

Duration: 00:58:33
The Boys of Death Row – Part Five: The Defence of Consent
Aug 26, 2024

In March 1936, a young Italian woman testifies against her seven rapists in open court, speaking bravely against their claims she’d consented to their violent group assault.


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Check out my books:

(there’s a new one…)

They’ll Never Hold Me @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/theyll-never-hold-me-by-michael-adams-9781923046474


Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hanging-ned-kelly-by-michael-adams-9781922992185

The Mur...

Duration: 00:32:10
The Boys of Death Row – Part Four: A Murderer About Town
Aug 21, 2024

In the lazy days between Christmas and New Year in Wagga Wagga in 1935, a 17-year-old boy spends the festive season indulging in romantic fakery, prepared to defend his deception with cold-blooded murder.


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Check out my books:

(there’s a new one…)

They’ll Never Hold Me @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/theyll-never-hold-me-by-michael-adams-9781923046474


Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au...

Duration: 00:39:45
The Boys of Death Row – Part Three: The Hooded Bandit
Aug 18, 2024

Another young criminal faces the ultimate penalty after being convicted of shooting a man during a Sydney railway robbery. But is the Hooded Bandit about to be hanged because the government is making a ghastly legal mistake?


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Check out my books:

(there’s a new one…)

They’ll Never Hold Me @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/theyll-never-hold-me-by-michael-adams-9781923046474


Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

ht...

Duration: 00:46:33
The Boys of Death Row – Part Two: The Calmest Killer
Aug 14, 2024

With Monty Henwood’s 17-year-old alleged killer in custody, police are amazed by the youth’s calm confessions… even though they might see him sentenced to death.


*Part two of The Boys of Death Row.

The whole miniseries is available ad-free and early to supporters.

Parts three to six on general release over the next three weeks.*


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Check out my books:

(there’s a new one...

Duration: 00:37:46
The Boys of Death Row – Part One: A Body on the Line
Aug 11, 2024

On a Monday morning in November 1935, a battered man is found dead beside railway tracks in the Blue Mountains. The victim is revered and his death is a mystery. But Sydney police, led by murder expert Detective-Sergeant Tom McRae, are soon on the trail of a young killer.


*Part one of The Boys of Death Row.

The whole miniseries is available ad-free and early to supporters.

Parts two to six on general release over the next three weeks.*


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/fo...

Duration: 00:50:18
The Masked Murderer
Jul 30, 2024

Originally released in 2019, this episode tells the story of a Saturday night stick-up in Sydney that went very, very wrong – leaving a mystery that has endured for nearly a century.

My upcoming miniseries will include the similar case of “The Hooded Bandit”, along with other crimes that shocked Australia in 1935-1936. It'll be with you very soon!


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com


Check out my books:

Hanging...

Duration: 00:59:08
The Forgotten Man – Part Four: The Truth
Jul 28, 2024

One of Australia’s most respected journalists tells us about his early career on Sydney tabloid The Sun and how he got an exclusive interview with The Forgotten Man to ask the question: ‘Did you do it?’


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com


Check out my books:

Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hanging-ned-kelly-by-michael-adams-9781922992185

The Murder Squad @ Dymocks

https://www.dym...

Duration: 00:41:05
The Forgotten Man – Part Three: The Trial
Jul 25, 2024

The man accused of John Smillie’s murder finally has his day in court. But the verdict won’t settle the haunting question of his guilt or innocence.


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com


Check out my books:

Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hanging-ned-kelly-by-michael-adams-9781922992185

The Murder Squad @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/the-murder-squad-by-michael-adams-9781923046504

Hosted on Ac...

Duration: 00:58:09
The Forgotten Man – Part Two: The Accused
Jul 21, 2024

Following new information, received six months after the murder of John Smillie, detectives from Sydney’s CIB swoop on their suspect.

What happens next is decried as a travesty of justice.


To support the show:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com


Check out my books:

Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hanging-ned-kelly-by-michael-adams-9781922992185

The Murder Squad @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/boo...

Duration: 00:59:19
The Forgotten Man – Part One: The Murder
Jul 16, 2024

In September 1935, John Smillie was shot dead in his taxi in western Sydney.


Who had murdered this war veteran, loving husband and doting father? Was it a robbery gone wrong? A maniac with a grudge against cabbies? Or was he the victim of mistaken identity in a vicious gangland war?


The Forgotten Man is an incredible tale of murder and mystery, fact and fantasy, insanity and injustice, which unfolded over nearly half a century.


This four-part miniseries concludes with an unexpected revelation from one of Australia’s most respected journalists, wh...

Duration: 00:48:11
The Comic Book Killer
Jul 12, 2024

From 1946, Sydney’s Leonard Lawson was a hero to kids for creating the comic book The Lone Avenger. But in reality the young artist was a psychopathic villain responsible for crimes far more terrible than anything in his stories. For five decades, Lawson would outrage the nation by destroying innocent lives and making a mockery of the law’s ability to control violent offenders.


I’ve re-released The Comic Book Killer in anticipation of my new miniseries, The Forgotten Man, which will be out from next week. Not only does The Comic Book Killer fit with this s...

Duration: 00:38:35
Weachurch: Werewolf of Pentridge – Part Three
Jun 28, 2024

A year after he's 'disappeared' into a solitary cage at Pentridge, Weachurch makes a last stab at freedom... and leaves behind a haunting legacy of resistance to injustice.


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com


Check out my books:

Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hanging-ned-kelly-by-michael-adams-9781922992185

The Murder Squad @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/the-murder-squad-by-michael-adams-9781923046504

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duration: 00:45:37
Weachurch: Werewolf of Pentridge – Part Two
Jun 27, 2024

With Weachurch’s pleas for justice ignored and obstructed as he has punishments piled upon him illegally, he takes desperate action against him enemies again... and again... and again.


This never-before-told story is based on extensive research in archival files. It’s made possible by Ancestry’s sponsorship and by supporter contributions.


Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com


Check out my books:

Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book...

Duration: 00:44:15
Weachurch: Werewolf of Pentridge – Part Two
Jun 26, 2024

With Weachurch’s pleas for justice ignored and obstructed as he has punishments piled upon him illegally, he takes desperate action against him enemies again... and again... and again.


This never-before-told story is based on extensive research in archival files. It’s made possible by Ancestry’s sponsorship and by supporter contributions.


Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia


Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com


Check out my books:

Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book...

Duration: 00:44:15
Weachurch: Werewolf of Pentridge – Part One
Jun 24, 2024

A century before Mark ‘Chopper’ Read became infamous in Pentridge, a convict named Weachurch struck terror into that prison’s warders and from behind its bluestone walls he loomed large as an Australian boogeyman. Weachurch’s attacks were so bloodthirsty that he was dubbed a ‘human tiger’ – a ‘wehrwolf’ – and he was kept in a cage in between court trials for attempted murder. If convicted, he faced the hangman. But Weachurch risked the noose because he was a rebel with a cause: he wanted the public to hear about his illegal detention and the barbaric treatment he suffered ‘outside the regulations’.

<...

Duration: 00:52:37
The Murder of Mary Edson
Jun 20, 2024

The 1931 murder of young Adelaide wife and mother Mary Edson shocked Australia.

But despite this crime’s gruesome details, it was even then a depressingly familiar sort of outrage committed by a depressingly familiar sort of offender.

Nearly 100 years later, not enough has changed.


1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service.

If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call se...

Duration: 00:32:00
The Meticulous Maniac – Part Two: We Have All Got To Die Sometime
Jun 05, 2024

With Kingsgrove people reeling from the outrage committed on Paterson Avenue, Sydney detectives swarm the streets to piece together what happened, who was responsible and why the madman struck at beloved citizens.


Support Forgotten Australia:

Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duration: 00:47:22