The Australian Histories Podcast aims to take a fresh look at some of the brilliant stories from Australia’s past.
What I hope to share with you here, is both an overview of various interesting episodes in Australian History, as well as some humour, interest and perhaps even a new perspective from those in your high school history textbooks!
The podcast content will be presented as a series of themed stories rather than a straight forward chronological structure, so the stories recounted may be mixed up a bit in the Australian history timeline, but I have put a timeline on the webpage, to help you navigate backwards & forwards, as we explore each themed episode & note where each story fits in.
I will be focusing on histories starting from around the time of the British colonization of Australia in the main, as I don’t feel qualified to discuss and illustrate stories related to the deep and culturally significant narratives of our First Australians. Indigenous Australians had been living comfortably and successfully in Australia, for more than 60,000 years before the British settlers arrived, and regrettably, the ongoing & expanding colonial settlements from 1788 onwards, did disrupt and often devastate their ancient way of life, as has happened to many indigenous cultures all over the world.
So I will take the opportunity now, to acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Custodians of our country, and to their Elders, past and present.
I hope everyone will find some interest in the stories related to our shared history, being illuminated in this series.
The Australian Histories Podcast Episodes themselves, will relate to a series of themes, including:
- British Exploration & Settlement
- Transportation & Convicts
- Explorers
- Squatters & Settlers
- Development & Expansion
- Gold rushes
- Bushrangers
- Rogues & Notable Australians
I intend to research each topic carefully and will include for each episode, the books, and other references I use, in case you would care to follow up further. But keep in mind, while I intend the content to be as factual as possible, I do want to keep dates, statistics, and other formulaic data to a minimum. I think these days, there is so much information compiled and at our fingertips, that you can always look those up if you desire.
Most importantly I hope to provide an interesting & easily digestible audio reminder of some fantastic stories that have contributed to the development of the Australia we know today. All this in the comfort of your own earbuds!
I’ve been interested in histories all my life. Not just Australian, but being an Aussie, this is perhaps the best place for me to focus and refresh. I think it helps us all to know where we came from and and understand some of the things that have contributed to our customs and culture, and in deed, have helped forge our collective personalities.
I look forward to sharing the information I find with you. And you are welcome to send back your thoughts and comments after each episode, via the contact option on the site, or via email: AusHistPod@gmail.com
Episodes will become available as soon as the research and production has been completed, so release dates may not always be regular.
Each episode should run about 30 to 45 minutes and will be supported by additional content on the Australian Histories Podcast site here, at www.australianhistoriespodcast.com.au.
While I am not a professional historian, I am a professional information specialist, with a Bachelor of Business in Information Management, majoring in Australian History. I have worked the majority of my career in academic institutions, engineered my life in that direction, as I felt that working in Libraries and Research Institutions would be the closest I could get to fulfilling my desire for lifelong learning, while still earning an actual income! Wouldn’t it be great just to be able to swan around the world & visit & absorb all these things, without the interruption of work?!
I hope you’ll enjoy the retelling of these stories as much as I do.
Cheers. Jenny.
(FYI, the introductory music on the audio is a modified clip from ‘Grand Canyon’ by LÃHSTANA DAVID [CCFM Music])