Tales from Rat City

Episodes

1. 19

   Mining Superstitions in Colonial Victoria

   Miners, and the people of the goldfields of Victoria were often a superstitious lot. Deadly lantern flames, witches cursing cows, and gold hunting with tinder (no, not like that) are just some of the stories that can be found in the history of this region. Credits Research and script: Dr. David...

   Jan 7, 2024
2. 18

   Folkapaloreza! Part I

   On the 19th of August, Tales from Rat City was invited to participate in the online event Folk-a-pa-lore-za, where folklore pod casters around the world came together to discuss their work, their research and their favourite piece of folklore. The night took the form of a competition where each...

   Sep 8, 2020
3. 17

   The Cunning Woman

   In an era when doctors were dangerous hacks, what alternatives did you have? This episode explores the story of Mary Barrel, Australia’s first identified ‘cunning person’. A woman who practiced an ancient traditional craft of folk medicine. We’ll also explore the world of concealed marks and…

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   Nov 9, 2018
4. 16

   A Time of Change

   Over the last two hundred years, we’ve changed Victoria’s ecology beyond recognition. Each generation since White arrival has continued this rapid transformation, irreversibly altering the world once known intimately by Indigenous Australians. But this relationship has not been one-way. Each time...

   Aug 12, 2018
5. 15

   Buckley’s Chance

   Emerging from the Victorian bush in 1835 after thirty-two years with the Wadawurrung people, William Buckley has never ceased surprising Australians. In this episode, hear how an illiterate escaped convict became a rare link between alien cultures. Buckley changed Victorian history forever, and...

   Jul 11, 2018
6. 14

   Edward de Lacy Evans

   Edward’s unnoticed and perfectly ordinary life comes completely unravelled after a dramatic public unmasking. Cast Benjamin Marshall – Pamphlet Writer Jamie Gleeson – Mr Gundry, Mr Brennan Collin Van Uden – Justice Strickland, Journalist, Fellow Miner, Dr Poland Lisa Trelor – Edward de Lacy…

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   May 16, 2018
7. 13

   The Call of the Bunyip

   Despite the wide familiarity, few Australians would know the bizarre and wonderful Indigenous tale that lies behind our Bunyip. Paul Donovan joins us to explain how his compelling and fascinating research may have shed light on this ancient legend, and provide a pretty good case for just what...

   Feb 25, 2018
8. 12

   Ghost Hoaxing in the Goldfields

   In this our fourth episode, we're looking into David's speciality - ghost hoaxing in Australia. Ghost hoaxing or 'playing the ghost' was an oddly popular 1800s prank for dressing up as a ghost and terrifying strangers.

   Sep 22, 2017
9. 11

   Quacks, Opiates, Fake Cures

   In this episode we find out why 1800’s medicine was more likely to kill than cure and meet the various quacks, crooks & kooks that made up the landscape of Goldfields medicine.

   Jun 26, 2017
10. 10

    ‘All the mischief Ah Coon is capable of doing’

    In which we look at life for the Chinese on the Goldfields

    Jun 26, 2017
11. 9

    Affairs of the Spirit

    In this, our first episode, we delve into the late 1800s fad for mediums, seances and contacting the dead; all part of social movement known as Spiritualism. Spiritualism was a weird cat, with ties to progressive social causes such as women's suffrage, an alternative version of heaven called...

    Apr 27, 2017