All Episodes

Two pioneers who brought the outback into Australia

The real history of Australian immigration

Andrew Roberts: How Churchill shows us the power of history and its heroes

Seeing Australia through the eyes of a Japanese Spy

More than Middling: Australia’s role in the construction of a new global order

Henry Ergas: What has multiculturalism done to Australia?

Bringing ANZUS to Life: Belinda Murrell on the power of historical fiction

Australia's first Asian Barrister

Nick Bisley on how globalisation made & may unmake Asia: "The world looks quite different"

Paul Kelly & Alexander Downer on the frustration & legacy of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Governments: "We don't know what they stand for"

Michael Wesley on Australia's need to recommit to Southeast Asia: "In historical terms"

Rae Frances & Bruce Scates on Mary Booth, the woman who shaped the Anzac legend: "War unsettles the gender orders"

Patrick Mullins on the flawed & fascinating redemption story of stained man Richard Meagher: "Australia is a land of new beginnings"

Jeff Kildea on the rise & demise of the Catholic-Labor alliance: "The lifelong habit"

Alex McDermott on Menzies as the man who made modern Australia: "When the will is triggered"

Rohan Howitt on how Australia once dreamed of an Antarctic Empire: "Tremendous opportunities down there"

Tania Ragusa on the challenges & rewards of teaching Australian history: "My favourite part"

Sarah Irving-Stonebraker on the devastating effects of our Ahistoric Age: "Embedded in larger stories"

Jesse Clark on the Anglosphere's past, present & future: "Unique political culture"

Kylie Moore-Gilbert on the nature of the Iranian regime & conflict: "The desire to build a better Iran"

Amanda Laugesen on telling Australia's story through the evolution of our language: "Tell you something about the Australian psyche"

Xiaoxi Cui on understanding Menzies's approach to the Suez Crisis | Menzies Early Career Network

Molly Doran on the centrality of the family in Menzies's political philosophy | Menzies Early Career Network

Ethan Westwood on Menzies's denunciation of 'false values' | Menzies Early Career Network

Aryan Ilkhani on Menzies's conception of the Rule of Law | Menzies Early Career Network

Jamie Robbins on the formation of Menzies's Cabinets | Menzies Early Career Network

Chantal Moore on Ancient lessons for modern democracy | Menzies Early Career Network

Fiona Duncan on the attempt to ban the 'Friends of the Soviet Union' | Menzies Early Career Network

Charlie Hume on Robert Menzies's trips to America | Menzies Early Career Network

Axel Melkonian on post-war German immigration to Australia | Menzies Early Career Network

Mary Coleman on Civic Virtue in a Technological Age | Menzies Early Career Network

Pablo Avaria-Jimenez on Australia's middle power statecraft | Menzies Early Career Network

Anton Vassallo on the historic importance of Australia's wool exports to Japan | Menzies Early Career Network

Andrew Fankhauser on Konfrontasi & the evolution of Australian defence policy | Menzies Early Career Network

Brent Taylor on Australia's WW2 Commander Sir Thomas Blamey: "A real stomach for pugnaciousness"

Leila Brammer on the art of fostering healthy debate: "Tell me more"

Andrew Hastie on 75 Years of ANZUS & the Challenges that Australia Faces Today: "What value do you bring"

Damien Wright on the Anzacs who fought in the Russian Civil War: "Tragedy... in that remote Russian forest so many years ago"

Michael Gawenda on the rise of antisemitism in Australia: "Growing up... I don't even think I knew what it was"

Joseph Healy on what Adam Smith would make of modern Australia: "We focus so much on what is counted and lose sight of what counts"

Ben Saunders on the intent behind Australia's utilitarian Constitution: "The Character of the People"

Lydia Khalil & Zachary Gorman on the Conditions for a Successful Democracy: "They go hand in hand"

Bruce Kingston on the eccentricities, dominance and legacy of Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen: "The truth is"

Denis Porter on the importance of the Coal Industry throughout Australian History: "We were desperate for more coal"

Christina Twomey on Australia's treatment of our returned WW2 POWs: "Suffered on behalf of the nation"

Hilary Silbert on Australia's first female parliamentarian Edith Cowan: "You will not get back"

Alexander Downer & Tony Parkinson on the life & times of Australia's longest serving Foreign Minister: "We took a view"

Tony Abbott on his new History of Australia: "A bad history does not produce a good present"

Peter Kurti on maintaining national unity amidst Australia's growing pluralism: "Multiculturalism works when it's Civic Anchored"

Summer Series 2025-6 Part 7: Paul Brown, Andrew Kemp, & Lucas McLennan

Summer Series 2025-6 Part 6: Michael de Percy, Greg Melleuish, & Peter Kurti

Summer Series 2025-6 Part 5: Dan Brettig, Teesta Prakash, Stewart Gill, & Tim Rowse

Summer Series 2025-6 Part 4: Selwyn Cornish, John Hawkins, Mark Lunney, & Eliezer Rubenstein Sturgess

Summer Series 2025-6 Part 3: David Furse-Roberts, Charles Richardson, Alex McDermott, & Kit Kowol

Summer Series 2025-6 Part 2: Lee Rippon, Wayne Reynolds, & Sue Thompson

Summer Series 2025-6 Part 1: Martin Farr, Josh Woodward, & David Lee

Andrew Kemp ranking our best & worst PMs by term: "It's Whack-a-mole"

Matthew Bailey on the Rise of the Australian Shopping Centre: "A Triumph of Consumer Capitalism"

Roland Perry on Australia's Nuclear Genius Mark Oliphant: "I wanted to scream on the steps"

Stuart Ward on Australia's formerly pervasive British identity: "The cement of Australia's civic culture"

David Day on Labor icon Ben Chifley: "It seems in hindsight extraordinary"

Troy Bramston on his new biography of Gough Whitlam: "We know about the legacy"

Julian Leeser & Damien Freeman on the poetry of R.G. Menzies: "Part of our shared inheritance"

Charles Moore on Margaret Thatcher's Life, Legacy & 100th Birthday: "Almost Revolutionary Fervour"

Toby Young on the Current Battle for Freedom of Speech: "A Very Chilling Effect"

Margaret Simons on the life, legacy & liberalism of Malcolm Fraser: "Changed the face of Australia"

Kirsten McKenzie on the Bigge Report & inquiries into 19th century British Imperial Administration: "An extraordinary snapshot of imperial life"

Jackie French & Kate O'Donnell on the History of Book Week: "United Through Books"

Bonus Episode - Kai Bowie on 100 years of the Melbourne University Liberal Club: "Facilitators of a wider student experience"

Alex McDermott on John Hirst's contribution to the study of Australian history: "Look at what we are creating here"

Hugh Rogers on the life & foreign policy legacy of arch-conscriptionist Billy Hughes: "A seat at the table"

Nicholas Ferns on Australia's attempt to guide Papua New Guinea towards economic development & self government: "We've cracked that code"

Salvatore Babones on the Ascent of Democracy in India: "A Sense of Nationhood"

Charles Richardson & Zachary Gorman on the Future of Australia's Two Party System: "A Tangible Choice"

David Lee on Prime Minister & Statesman Stanley Melbourne Bruce: "The Outstanding Australian of Our Time"

William Coleman on 5-time NSW Premier John Robertson: "The Grandfather of Australian Liberalism"

Zachary Gorman on the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta's legitimisation: "The Power of the Narrative"

Kit Kowol on Chamberlain, Churchill & the British Conservative Party during WW2: "There were other futures available"

Wendy Michaels on NSW's first female MP Millicent Preston Stanley: "How Dare She"

Greg Melleuish on the Evolution of Political Terms: "That's yesterday's liberalism, therefore it's conservatism"

David Hunt on enlivening Australian history with fact-based entertainment: "History with humour"

Michael Samaras on Jim McNeill & the Aussies who fought Fascism in Spain: "Soldiers of Conscience"

David Headon on our first PM Edmund Barton: "The Iscariots of history"

Sir Peter Cosgrove on Vietnam, his experience in the ADF & Australia's current defence concerns: "underscore and capitalise DETERRANT"

Katti Williams on the design process that produced Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance: "Surrogate Tombs"

David Day on Foundational Labor PM Andrew Fisher: "To the last man and the last shilling"

John Roskam & Zachary Gorman on the 2025 election & where to now for Australian liberalism: "Ideological Incoherence"

Bob Crawshaw on the communications revolution that defeated Bank Nationalisation & won the 49 election: "Highly Orchestrated"

Mark Johnston on the story of Don Company: "Astonished by how brave a group of people could be"

Paul Strangio on the Great Labor Split: "There you are Judas"

Andrew Levidis on Kishi Nobusuke & the Australia-Japan Reconciliation: "Historians should never say miracle"

Judith Brett on Alfred Deakin: "Organic Australian Policy"

Greg de Moore on John Cade & the Miracle of Lithium: "The first effective medication ever discovered for any mental illness in the world"

Grantlee Kieza on Matthew Flinders & the Naming of Australia: "The vast majority of Australians wouldn't know that"

Chris Berg on the History of Banking Regulation: "At the centre of almost every major political movement that defined Australian history"

Augustine Meaher on the Singapore strategy & Australia's failure to arm itself ahead of WW2: "It's always easy to blame the British"

Richard Davis on Dame Nellie Melba: "A Wonderful Queen of Song"

Alistair Thomson on the Ten Pound Poms: "Implicitly assumed they weren't migrants"

Michael Easson on Depression era PM James Scullin: "Trying to hold the place together"

David Lowe on the 75th Anniversary of the Colombo Plan: "Opened a lot of Australian eyes"