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Forgotten Australia — History
Forgotten Australia

Bloody crimes, unsolved mysteries, eccentric celebrities, dark events and bizarre happenings: it’s all here – the stuff you wish they’d taught you in school!

Dive into our strange-but-true history via never-before-told stories, author interviews, weekly flashbacks and the weekly trivia quiz.

Forgotten Australia is created and hosted by Michael Adams, author of the acclaimed true crime books The Murder Squad, Hanging Ned Kelly and They’ll Never Hold Me.

He’s also a regular history and true crime commentator on ABC Nightlife and the podcast Australian True Crime.

Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month to get ad-free early episodes, exclusive bonus episodes, a show shout-out and the chance to win prizes in the special edition trivia quiz episodes.

Get a week’s free trial here:

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html

The Murder Squad:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html

Hanging Ned Kelly:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest Episodes:

Talking History – Musquito: The Real Story of a Legendary Colonial Warrior Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

Who was Musquito, the Aboriginal warrior feared by colonists in Sydney and Tasmania?

Historian Naomi Parry Duncan's new book takes us behind the myths for a better understanding of this remarkable man.

But Musquito: The Real Story of a Legendary Colonial Warrior is much more than a biography – it also tells the entwined stories of Naomi's own colonial ancestors.

Booktopia Awards:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/booktopia-book-award/promo4387.html

Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes.

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html

The Murder Squad:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html

Hanging Ned Kelly:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australian Frankenstein – Part Two: The Infernal Machine Oct 12, 2026

Show notes

Having successfully toured Australian cities with Frankenstein, Professor Hornburg invents a new machine man that uses a new energy source. But he and his creation – called Adam Iron, first man of iron – will have to share the limelight with a snake charmer and his nest of vipers. Two showmen scientists. Deadly serpents and an infernal machine. What could possibly go wrong?

Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes.

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html

The Murder Squad:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html

Hanging Ned Kelly:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australian Frankenstein – Part One: The Steam Man Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

Just as the Iron Outlaw Ned Kelly is going to the gallows, Australians are astonished by a walking automaton called ‘Frankenstein - The Steam Man’. Professor Hornburg’s invention is intriguing, ingenious and imaginative. But is it really ‘the greatest piece of mechanism in the universe’? How much is science and how much is showmanship? To put it bluntly: Is Hornburg a Humbug?

Step right this way and all will be revealed!

All true and all bizarre, this is a strange parable for our own age of Gods and Monsters.

Australian Frankenstein – Part Two: The Infernal Machine is available now early & ad-free to Forgotten Australia supporters.

If you're using Apple, click on that episode and follow the instructions for a free trial.

Or go to:

apple.co/forgottenaustralia

To access via Patreon (and listen on other podcast apps):

patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

apple.co/forgottenaustralia

To see the 1880 'Steam Man' poster:

https://cyberneticzoo.com/steammen/1876-steam-man-mechanical-horse-hornburg-australian/

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mysteries of the Sea – Part Three: Beyond Human Knowledge Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

In March 1912, Australia was stunned to learn that Koombana was missing in nearly identical circumstances to Yongala. In this final episode, we look at how good and bad luck again decided who lived and who died, how the Koombana story crossed over with the loss of Titanic, and how the Adelaide Steamship Company put greed over need.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mysteries of the Sea – Part Two: Dead Unlucky Sep 27, 2026

Show notes

Alongside Yongala, the Adelaide Steamship Company prided itself on its luxury vessel Koombana, designed especially to work the Western Australian coast. But this was a seemingly cursed vessel, where anything that could go wrong did, from disappearing and dead passengers, to collisions, fires and a broken loaf of bread that not only triggered a national crisis but sent a handful of men to their fates.

Part Three – Beyond Human Knowledge

is available now ad-free for Apple and Patreon supporters.

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mysteries of the Sea – Part One: More Haste, Less Speed Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

In March 1911, with the loss of the ship Waratah still fresh in memory, a big passenger liner went missing in a cyclone off northern Queensland. As a massive search began, Australia tried to believe that ‘no news is good news’. Incredibly, a year later almost to the day, the same scenario played out again – involving a ship from the same company, in the same conditions, in the same latitude. In this three-part miniseries, we look at the entangled tales of the Adelaide Steamship Company’s coastal vessels Yongala and Koombana – and how these tragedies were bookended by Waratah and Titanic.

Part Two – Dead Unlucky

and

Part Three – Beyond Human Knowledge

are available now ad-free for Apple and Patreon supporters.

Use a free trial to hear them now!

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Short – The Mystery of the Waratah Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

I’m re-releasing this short as background for the new miniseries, Mysteries of the Sea.

In July 1909, the world wondered what had become of the SS Waratah, last seen off coast of South Africa with more than 200 souls aboard.

This grim mystery was even more sensational for featuring a double murderer, a passenger plagued by prophetic visions and a veteran sea captain with a charmed reputation. But once all hope was lost, a likely explanation for the disaster was to come from a former Waratah passenger: Australian professor William Bragg, who a few years later would win the Nobel Prize.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Short – Good Evening and Welcome to Television: The Real Story Behind An AI Slop Promo Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

This week marks the 70th anniversary of regular television broadcasting in Australia. Channel Nine recently 'recreated' the 'Good Evening and Welcome to Television' moment in a fakes-over-facts promo generated by artificial intelligence. In this short, we look at the strange evolution of Australian TV, which started in colonial times. It’s a rich history, and one that deserves better than cheap slop that flattens understanding.

Support Forgotten Australia for a few bucks per month for ad-free early and exclusive bonus episodes and the chance to win prizes.

Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustralia

Apple: apple.co/forgottenaustralia

Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com

Check out my books!

They’ll Never Hold Me:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.html

The Murder Squad:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.html

Hanging Ned Kelly:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.html

Australia’s Sweetheart:

https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talking History – Blackbirding: A Reckoning With the Australian Slave Trade Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

Blackbirding – A Reckoning with the Australian Slave Trade. We talk about the practices and policies that led to a staggering death toll – and how we don’t remember because our forgetting was engineered by language and laws meant to obscure and hide the true horrors.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australia’s Slave Ship Massacre – Part Three: Confessions of Mass Murderers Sep 07, 2026

Show notes

Dr James Patrick Murray kidnaps and kills more people, and goes mad and is nearly murdered himself, before returning to Australia to be acclaimed as a saviour during a smallpox outbreak. But the hero becomes villain overnight when the truth of the massacre is revealed. Yet the doctor – dubbed ‘the worst demon of them all’ – still has diabolical tricks to play.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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