Episodes

  • Ep 20 – The struggle against anti-Aboriginal racism in 1920s and 1930s Australia

    Ep 20 – The struggle against anti-Aboriginal racism in 1920s and 1930s Australia
    Sep 15 2024
    When Australia was invaded in 1788, the new colony’s nascent ruling class deployed violence and repression on two fronts. On one side of the frontier, the colonial administration used troops and pastoralists to wage genocidal war against Aboriginal nations, and on the internal side of the frontier, very often the same troops and the same...
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • Ep 19 – Jobs for women! Fighting sexism at the Port Kembla steelworks

    Ep 19 – Jobs for women! Fighting sexism at the Port Kembla steelworks
    Jul 13 2024
    Since it was founded in the 1920s, BHP’s Port Kembla steelworks has completely dominated the town of Wollongong, employing over 25,000 workers at its peak and physically towering over the city. For much of its existence, the steelworks also systematically discriminated against women. Company management deliberately confined women to only the lowest-paying jobs, refused to...
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    1 hr
  • Ep 18 – SCA here to stay! The campaign to save Sydney College of the Arts

    Ep 18 – SCA here to stay! The campaign to save Sydney College of the Arts
    Apr 24 2024
    In mid-2016, the University of Sydney abruptly announced that it would be closing Sydney College of the Arts, its internationally-renowned arts school. Within the space of a few months, the school, which had produced scores of famous graduates and offered an almost unique education in visual and fine arts, would be closing its doors, its...
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    56 mins
  • Ep 17 – Years of rage: social conflict in the Malcolm Fraser era

    Ep 17 – Years of rage: social conflict in the Malcolm Fraser era
    Feb 10 2024
    In November 1975, the elected Labor Party government of Australia was sacked without notice by Sir John Kerr, the governor-general. Having single-handedly gotten rid of the elected government, Sir John then personally appointed a new government of his own choosing led by Malcolm Fraser and the Liberal Party. The dismissal – or the Kerr Coup...
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    1 hr and 21 mins
  • Ep 16 – Resistance and rebellion in convict Australia

    Ep 16 – Resistance and rebellion in convict Australia
    Sep 24 2023
    When the British Empire invaded Australia in 1788, the colony’s new ruling class had a problem – there was no pre-existing working class in Australia waiting around to work for them. Governments and employers could establish all of the farms, workshops, factories and other workplaces that they liked, but without people who had no alternative...
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    56 mins
  • Ep 15 – Fighting for the right to protest in 1970s Queensland

    Ep 15 – Fighting for the right to protest in 1970s Queensland
    Jul 18 2023
    In 1977, the premier of Queensland, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, abolished the right to hold street protests. “Don’t bother applying for a march permit,” he declared. “You won’t get one. That’s government policy now.” In response to this decision, activists swung into action, launching a massive campaign to win back the right to protest. Rally after rally...
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    35 mins
  • Ep 14 – How anti-racists defeated Pauline Hanson in the 90s

    Ep 14 – How anti-racists defeated Pauline Hanson in the 90s
    Apr 24 2023
    In 1996, newly elected politician Pauline Hanson swept to national prominence after making an extraordinarily racist and inflammatory maiden speech in federal parliament attacking Aboriginal people and Asian-Australians. In the wake of this performance, Hanson’s entire speech was printed word for word in most newspapers across the country, while for several months she received more...
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Ep 13 – The Workers’ University: adult education in the Communist Party of Australia

    Ep 13 – The Workers’ University: adult education in the Communist Party of Australia
    Feb 5 2023
    In the 1940s, the Communist Party of Australia was approaching the peak of its power as the largest and most influential left-wing organisation in Australian history. The Communist Party of Australia demanded far more of its members than an average political organisation. To be a communist, you were expected not just to become an activist...
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    50 mins