History Lab

Episode

Synopsis

Episode 1

Lindy Chamberlain and the afterlife of evidence

CRN airdate: Wed 07 Aug 2019

What has happens to evidence after a trial? and what happened to all the evidence on which Lindy's trials turned? We take a journey through the archives and speak to Lindy herself in order to explore what's left behind in the wake of the case that divided the nation. After a trial, three appeals, four coronial inquests, a life sentence and a Royal Commission, it was finally proven that Azaria Chamberlain was not murdered by her mother but was taken by a dingo, as her parents had said all along. 

Now, almost 40 years after Azaria's death, her tiny clothes, the family's belongings, and thousands of letters written to Lindy Chamberlain have lost their status as evidence and assumed a new life. 

Episode 2

Damages of a broken heart

CRN airdate: Wed 14 Aug 2019

Quietly buried away in Westen Sydney's state archives is a secret history of love. Lists of lingerie and wedding dresses, love letters and lockets of hair, are stapled and bound to wrists from over 200 years ago.

in the 19th centruy a broken engagement could damn a woman for life. But scorned women had an unexpected way to get square. A now somewhat forgotten law known as 'breach of promise to marry' saw women awarded massive damages after being left jilted at the altar. But why would the Courts be interested inthe failed love lives of working class people? And what does a convict's daughter, a barrister and a former Prime Minister have to do with it?

Episode 3

When the Titanic sank in the desert

CRN airdate: Wed 21 Aug 2019

In the middle of outback Australia, over 400 kilometres from the closest ocean, stands a monument dedicated to the memory of the Titanic. 

Ont he surgace the story of how Broken Hill's Titanic Memorial can be seen as a simple tale of memory and humanity, one community expressing their sympathy for and solidarity with another. But upon closer inspection, Ninah and Tamson discover that a story about trying to remember reveals much about what we choose to forget. 

Episode 4

Fishing for answers

CRN airdate: Wed 28 Aug 2019

Jutting into Sydney's glittering harbour, the Sydney Opera House plays host to musicians and dancers, actors and singers. But beneath the notes of their voices, another song echoes across the city's waters. Can we still hear it? 

Huge middens of shells used to sit on the site now occupied by the Jorn Utzon's architectural masterpiece. They were collected by Indigenous fisherwomen who, in their nawi canoes, sung the fish onto their hooks. 

Anna Clark and Tamson go looking for the fisherwoman's world, and discover that, if you listen closely, the past of Sydney Harbour still sings. 

Episode 5

The Bank, the Sergeant and his bonus

CRN airdate: Wed 04 Sept 2019

In 1817, the Bank of New South Wales opened as the first financial institution of the Australian colonies. But when the first customers arrived for the grand opening, they found someone had already made a deposit. Where did the money come from?

Jason and Nicole follow the record trail and discover the uncertain foundations of Australia's first bank. 

Episode 6

Invisible Hands

CRN airdate: Wed 11 Sept 2019

Where do jelly babies come from? Mass-produced things are all around us. But they all start with a single object.

In this episode, Olivia goes looking for the patternmakers, whose invisible hands are the original creators of much of the stuff we use every day. They see a world no-one else can see. So why are they disappearing? And what will we lose when they are gone? 

Episode 7

Skeletons of Empire

CRN airdate: Wed 18 Sept 2019

In the aftermath of Wolrd War One, nations came together in an attempt to ensure war on the same devasting scale could never occur again. The result? The League of Nations: a revolutionary idea to form the world's first international organisation. But clearly it did not stop the world from going to war. 

A century later we are still questioning our ability to come together. in this episode, Glenda Sluga and Ninah kopel search for the ephermeral traces of a unified past. They find stories of hope, ambition but also skeletons lurking in the closet. Many say the Leauge failed. But did the spirit of Geneva live on?