Episodes
Monday Mar 14, 2022
The Tall Tale of Captain Moonlite
Monday Mar 14, 2022
Monday Mar 14, 2022
In 1880 the bushranger era came to a dramatic end in Eastern Australia with the infamous death of Ned Kelly in Melbourne. Earlier that same year a man just as infamous at the time was hanged at Darlinghurst Gaol after engaging in his own wayward adventures across the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria and in the South Pacific.
Some 110 years later the letters Andrew George Scott, known to the 19th century public as 'Captain Moonlite' wrote,came to light in the New South Wales State Archives. These letters gave a surprising insight into the mind of a fascinating character and gave queer Sydney an erstwhile hero.
In this episode we explore just a few of Scott's misadventures and discuss his ongoing significance to Australian culture.
This episode was written based on the work of Garry Linnell is his book 'Captain Moonlite: The Tragic Love Story of Captain Moonlite and the Bloody End of the Bushrangers'.
Monday Feb 28, 2022
Red Gold and the Cedar Getters
Monday Feb 28, 2022
Monday Feb 28, 2022
Well before the gold rushes of the mid 1800s, there was another all but forgotten resource extraction boom which played an important role in the expansion of the early colony. After being first logged along the Hawkesbury River, red cedar soon became the third largest export from the nascent port of Sydney and was known colloquially as “red gold”. It played a vital role in the foundation of places as diverse as Kiama, Maitland, and Byron Bay, and its presence is still to be observed in many buildings throughout Sydney today.
A short video on red cedar which features the Reading Room in Canberra is available here. You can also check out the Macquarie Armchair, the oldest surviving piece of Australian red cedar furniture, or read this short article which contains many beautiful images of red cedar trees. Stories about red cedar have also featured in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Newcastle Herald.
Monday Feb 14, 2022
Sydney Cove and Her Preservation
Monday Feb 14, 2022
Monday Feb 14, 2022
This episode we discuss the story of the Sydney Cove, a ship that set sail from Calcutta bound for its eponymous port in 1796. The Sydney Cove never quite made it the whole way, but after countless misadventures just under half of her crew did.
Join us as we discuss a story that is not only all but unbelievable but is one of the most significant stories of first contact between First Nations people and visitors from across the British Empire. This tale was more or less lost to time for much of the 20th century but from the unearthing of the shipwreck in 1977 there was no putting this tale back in the rum bottle, as it were.
The original inspiration for this story came from reading Jock Serong's work of historical fiction: Preservation. The factual heavy lifting was largely courtesy of Mark McKenna's book: From the Edge; Australia's Lost Histories. If you'd like to read the full text of William Clark's published account of their journey you can find it, and an assortment of other relevant correspondence, here.
And if you know where we an get a carton of James Squire's Preservation Ale we'd love to hear from you!
Monday Jan 31, 2022
The Local Bowlo
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Monday Jan 31, 2022
We discuss the history and significance of the local bowlo with special guest Louis Heath. Perhaps you, like us, have always wondered where this quaint game comes from, and why so many bowling clubs dot the streets of Sydney. If so, then you're in luck! We'll dive into the royal origins of the sport, its enormous boom in popularity in the post-war era, and what the future holds for these local institutions.
If you would like to discuss bowlos or share resources with Louis, you can reach him at louisheath@hotmail.com. You can also read his thesis here, or simply reference this graph showing the steady rise and fall of bowling clubs over the last 100+ years. Here is the newspaper article about the significance of third places during the COVID pandemic that is mentioned during the episode.
You can also read Wendy Bacon's investigative stories on the proposed development of Paddington Bowling Club here, and this Herald article about the recent restoration of the land to the Aboriginal Land Council.
Monday Jan 17, 2022
Coming Up in Season 3
Monday Jan 17, 2022
Monday Jan 17, 2022
To celebrate both boys recording from Sydney for the first time ever, we've included some bonus material about Manly in our introductory episode to Season Three - a "vignette from Sydney" as Jed likes to call it! Plus, find out about the exciting new episode format set to feature this season, and hear about the topics that we have prepared for you (or in some cases soon will be preparing).
Monday Sep 13, 2021
The Macleays and Their Collection
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Monday Sep 13, 2021
Despite their household name being all but forgotten, the Macleay family were a force to be reckoned with in Colonial Sydney society. They owned vast swaths of NSW as it was carved up in the 19th century, they represented much more of the colony in parliament, they built a most impressive sandstone mansion at Elizabeth Bay House and after 3 generations of collection famously bequeathed one of the world's vastest natural history collections to the University of Sydney. Join us this episode as we discuss one of the most important but oft overlooked colonial Sydney families; the Macleays.
Monday Aug 30, 2021
A Tale of Obelisks and Sewers
Monday Aug 30, 2021
Monday Aug 30, 2021
Tracing the history of sewerage infrastructure in Sydney provides a wild ride through the origins of democracy in NSW, the popularity of Egyptian obelisks in the nineteenth century, and the unsavoury prospect of surfing in the city’s muck. Join us on this week's episode of Stories from Sydney as we discuss the fractious history of the city’s waste disposal projects, and the monumental architecture that still exists right under our noses (or rather, above them!)
Monday Aug 16, 2021
Camp Extravaganzas
Monday Aug 16, 2021
Monday Aug 16, 2021
Until more recent years Sydney's large and visible queer community was generally ill considered by wider society, in large part due to the negative light the police and mainsteam media portrayed them in. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, a secret world of partially hidden dance parties was occurring across the city on an epic scale. This episode tracks the history of Sydney's gay bashes (the good kind) over the last 100 years, always present, but just out of sight - except of those who knew where to look.
Monday Aug 02, 2021
A Stroke is Born at Bronte Baths
Monday Aug 02, 2021
Monday Aug 02, 2021
We discuss the swimming scene in Sydney at the turn of the century, some iconic locations, our first Olympic champion, and the stroke that changed everything.
Monday Mar 29, 2021
The Town Where the Bell Meets the Macquarie
Monday Mar 29, 2021
Monday Mar 29, 2021
This episode we head West from Sydney to a town that has long shared connections with the Harbour City. From Ancient Caves to Pistol Duels and Unfinished Roads, through 3 short stories (and a generous introduction) we learn a little bit about a little town called Wellington.