A fact based comedy podcast. Each week Melbourne comedians Matt Stewart, Jess Perkins and Dave Warneke take it in turns to research a topic and report back to the class. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 30, 2026 · 2:06:27
The Radium Girls were female factory workers who suffered severe radiation poisoning in the 1910s and 1920s after painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. Their plight led…
Sep 23, 2026 · 1:56:52
Pappy Van Winkle is some of the most expensive Bourbon in the world, and in 2013 hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of the liquor went missing from the distillery. This week,…
Sep 16, 2026 · 1:45:00
On this week's episode we hear the story of Joseph Boyle aka Klondike Joe, a Canadian man whose life has so many different chapters your head will spin! We're halfway through our…
Sep 9, 2026 · 2:44:46
Operation Chariot is frankly the most unhinged and daring military operation I have ever read about. In World War II, the Brits were so worried about the Nazi's super battleship…
Sep 2, 2026 · 2:52:47
This week we are joined by public historian Greg Jenner to hear the epic tale of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey! This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at…
Aug 26, 2026 · 2:37:15
This week our Canadian-Australian friend Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall tells us all about the War of 1812, fought between the United States and the United Kingdom. This story,…
Aug 19, 2026 · 2:12:52
Queen Victoria's son, Prince Alfred, was the first member of the British Royal Family to visit Australia. Let's just say, the Aussie's didn't exactly make a great first…
Aug 12, 2026 · 2:29:48
Today we are talking about Tycho Brahe, a brilliant 16th century Danish astronomer - but also a bit of a kook. We are joined by Claire Hooper who is heading to Edinburgh this…
Aug 5, 2026 · 1:40:55
In October 1964, as the Southern African country of Zambia was celebrating independence, an exciting and somewhat surprising announcement was made... Edward Mukuka Nkoloso was…
Jul 29, 2026 · 2:30:23
In 1980 a chance meeting between a talented young film maker and a millionaire philanthropist led to the making of 'Centurians of Rome', the most expensive gay porn film of all…
Jul 22, 2026 · 1:38:57
In 1998, a radio DJ received an anonymous fax from a person claiming to be... from the future!! This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately 06:38 (though…
Jul 15, 2026 · 2:46:11
In 1958, Manchester United were one of the best football teams on the planet. Managed by Matt Busby and nicknamed 'The Busby Babes' because of the team's youth, in February 1958…
Jul 8, 2026 · 2:22:23
Following on from last week's episode, we hear of more adventures undertaken by scientists in the 1760's in the effort to track the transit of Venus! Intrepid astronomers this…
Jul 1, 2026 · 2:27:32
How far away is the sun? English astronomer Edmond Halley suggested that tracking the transit of Venus across the sun would be the key to finding the answer. This set in motion a…
Jun 24, 2026 · 2:10:38
In the 1980s, Disney Animation was at a critical and cultural low point. This week our editor (and friend) AJ is here to tell us how they turned it all around with The Disney…
Jun 17, 2026 · 2:02:31
This week, we hear the story of a wealthy, eccentric woman who raced speedboats, had affairs with Hollywood's hottest actresses, bought a private island, and had a doll best…
Jun 10, 2026 · 3:08:24
You have probably heard of China's famous Terracotta Army, but do you know the story of the man behind them? This week's episode delves into the epic story of the man who unified…
Jun 3, 2026 · 1:25:08
This week we look at the weird history of competitive cave sitting (people seeing how long they can stay in a cave without contact with the outside world), culminating with…
May 27, 2026 · 2:01:17
Back in the 1790's, Samuel Ireland's son, William Henry, came to him with an exciting discovery - he had found a document belonging to the one and only William Shakespeare! But…
May 20, 2026 · 2:06:07
Conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker were world famous in the 19th Century, so much so that for a long period other conjoined siblings were commonly referred to as "Siamese…
May 13, 2026 · 1:40:43
In the late 90's, an aspiring Japanese comedian auditioned for a new reality TV show. What he didn't know, was that the TV show would change his life forever. And not in a good…
May 6, 2026 · 1:20:32
The 1979 New Year's Eve concert at the Sydney Opera House featured the legendary Aussie rock band The Angels, with an estimated 100,000 attendees, unfortunately due to poor…
Apr 29, 2026 · 1:57:33
The 1970s was rocked by two oil crises, and countries were desperate to find alternative sources of fuel. So when two eccentric inventors stepped forward with a machine that…
Apr 22, 2026 · 1:25:16
Anne Bonny was one of the few women recorded as active participants of the golden age of piracy, her story is one wild ride, strap in! This is a comedy/history podcast, the…
Apr 15, 2026 · 2:03:37
She was the most famous child star ever, but what do you know about Shirley Temple's life AFTER acting? This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately 10:04…
Apr 8, 2026 · 1:51:36
Those suffering under Apartheid in South Africa found a group of unlikely allies in 1984, when a group of young retail workers in Ireland went on strike after refusing to handle…
Apr 1, 2026 · 1:50:27
The Japanese-Russo War began on the 8th of February 1904, needing something big to tip things in their favour, Russia sent their Baltic Fleet on an epic journey around the world.…
Mar 27, 2026 · 23:55
If you haven't heard, we're touring Canada in September! Four shows in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto (details below). To celebrate the launch of the tour and get…
Mar 25, 2026 · 1:28:27
Aimo Koivunen was a Finnish soldier in the Continuation War, and the first documented case of a soldier accidentally overdosing on methamphetamine and taking off on a wild…
Mar 18, 2026 · 2:28:26
Stephen King is one of the best selling authors in history and over 100 of his stories have been adapted for the screen. It, Carrie, Cujo, The Green Mile, Pet Sematary, The…
Mar 11, 2026 · 1:22:48
On the 6th of September, 2006, 51-year-old Susan Kuhnhausen returned to her Portland home to find an intruder wielding a hammer, this is her remarkable story. This is a…
Mar 4, 2026 · 1:43:07
This week we hear the incredible story of some of the earliest paramedics, and the battle they faced in order to just do their jobs. This is a comedy/history podcast, the report…
Feb 25, 2026 · 2:12:50
After Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour, Japanese Pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi needed a place to conduct an emergency landing. He had been told that the nearby Hawaiian island…
Feb 18, 2026 · 1:32:30
In this episode we hear about some of the silliest criminals of recent times, including the man known as the 'piddler on the roof'! Recorded live at the Fringe Bar in Wellington.…
Feb 11, 2026 · 2:02:28
This week we hear the wild story of the Batavia - it's a story of a shipwreck, murder, mutiny and madness. This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately…
Feb 4, 2026 · 1:13:26
In the mid 1960s, Alexis Mardas met John Lennon from The Beatles, and the self-professed inventor made an immediate impression. With outlandish ideas like an artificial Sun,…
Jan 28, 2026 · 1:34:09
On the 7th of April 1994, at just after 3pm, FedEx Flight 705 departed Memphis, Tennessee for a flight to San Jose, California. What followed was one of the most harrowing and…
Jan 20, 2026 · 1:59:41
This week, we hear the story of a Kentucky family, who were just trying to have a nice family dinner one night in 1955, when they suddenly found themselves under attack by…
Jan 14, 2026 · 2:04:18
At the Sydney 2000 Paralympics, Intellectually Disabled Basketball was included for the first time. Spain easily won the gold medal, but not all was what it seemed... This is the…
Jan 7, 2026 · 1:31:01
In 1995 eight sheep were found dead in Puerto Rico... each completely drained of blood and with strange puncture wounds in their chests. This is the tale of the mysterious beast…
Dec 31, 2025 · 1:38:52
In 2014, a group of Tumblr users decided to put on a Tumblr convention. Except they had no idea how to organise a convention ... This is a comedy/history podcast, the report…
Dec 24, 2025 · 2:51:19
This is the frankly unbelievable story of how far eBay employees went in 2019 to deal with both a small company and a Twitter user being critical of their CEO and company.…
Dec 17, 2025 · 1:32:18
Every year you will hear stories about how "they" want to cancel Christmas - so how much truth is there to it? Are ‘they’ really trying to cancel Christmas?? We go through a few…
Dec 10, 2025 · 1:53:29
In December 1985, around 160 people won tickets to a Washington Commanders game, including a free pre-game brunch and a bunch of extra prizes! The catch? None of those "winners"…
Dec 3, 2025 · 1:15:57
Not only is Canberra the capital of Australia, according to National Geographic it is one of the most haunted cities IN THE WORLD! This week Dave investigates three of Canberra's…
Nov 26, 2025 · 3:17:37
Area 51 is a highly classified United States Military Facility in the Nevada Desert - there are many theories about what goes on: aliens? UFOs? Portals to other dimensions? The…
Nov 19, 2025 · 2:14:37
You may have heard of Stanley Milgram's controversial 1960s social psychology experiments that measured the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure. This week…
Nov 12, 2025 · 1:58:47
It's our 3rd most voted for topic for Block 2025! We go back to 1666, for the Great Fire of London. And in this case, 'great' means massive, not awesome. This is a comedy/history…
Nov 5, 2025 · 2:06:22
Between 1999 and 2015, over 900 British subpostmasters were convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting. The thing is, they were all innocent and were the victims of faulty…
Oct 29, 2025 · 3:24:25
This week's episode is about the human computers of NASA, focussing on the main three featured in the book Hidden Figures, heading deep into NASA's history along the way! This is…
Oct 22, 2025 · 2:00:39
The sixth most voted for topic for Block 2025 is King Arthur - man or legend? We find out the truth behind the man at the head of the Round Table (except there is no head at a…
Oct 15, 2025 · 2:01:17
Over nearly two months in 1989, student led protests erupted across China as people called for reforms. The centre of the movement was Tiananmen Square in Beijing where more than…
Oct 8, 2025 · 2:18:14
Ketchup - it's America's favourite condiment and close cousin of Australia's fave: tomato sauce, but its history goes back a long long way before either of these countries…
Oct 1, 2025 · 2:50:35
We're kicking of Block 2025 with a disaster episode. Specifcally, one of the worst Mount Everest seasons ever. This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at…
Sep 24, 2025 · 1:23:15
This week, Josh Earl tells us the wild and troubling story of Melvil Dewey, the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System. This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at…
Sep 17, 2025 · 2:46:51
This week we look at the tragic and fascinating life of Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and explore how the novel she started writing as an 18 year old, changed popular culture…
Sep 10, 2025 · 1:36:04
In 19th Century London, a bizarre figure terrorised the streets, lashing out with metal claws and blowing fire in people's faces before leaping over tall fences. Described…
Sep 3, 2025 · 2:11:30
“Tenerife is an example of the 'Swiss Cheese' Model: dozens of individual events, each of them incredibly unlikely in their own right, aligning against all odds to create the…
Aug 27, 2025 · 2:46:58
Early in the morning of the 26th of August 1980, employees at Harvey's Wagon Wheel Resort and Casino discovered a mysterious metallic box. With the mysterious package was a note,…
Aug 20, 2025 · 2:46:44
In 1975, for the first and only time in Australia's history, a Prime Minister was sacked. Gough Whitlam was dismissed after months of political manoeuvring and backstabbing,…
Aug 13, 2025 · 1:48:46
In 1926, Aimee Semple McPherson was one of the most famous women in America. She was an evangelist and healer who attracted huge crowds, and her popularily was growing by the…
Aug 6, 2025 · 2:37:39
This week our friend Marcel Blanch-de Wilt drops by to tell us about the history of the Alien Franchise all the way from humble beginnings to a multi-decade, multi-million dollar…
Jul 30, 2025 · 1:35:00
This is a special episode - it was recorded live in London in November 2024, in front of our largest audience EVER. The crowd were red hot, and we told the story of a kooky…
Jul 22, 2025 · 2:27:48
When Olga of Kyiv's husband Igor was killed in the year 945, she embarked on one of the wildest revenge tours in history, showing no mercy to the killers. We are joined by pod…
Jul 16, 2025 · 3:01:08
You might have seen the 1963 Steve McQueen classic, but this week we look at the real story behind The Great Escape. Tunnels, disguises and forgeries combine for the the most…
Jul 9, 2025 · 1:44:20
In 1828, a teenage boy was found wandering the streets of Nuremberg, Germany. No one knew who he was or where he had come from. What followed was a dramatic few years filled with…
Jul 2, 2025 · 2:29:55
On 11 October 1991, a man was arrested at a Chinese Restaurant in Brisbane. The charge? Enjoying a meal? A Succulent Chinese Meal?? No… actually it was credit card fraud. Now I…
Jun 25, 2025 · 1:51:01
This week we look at the wild and colourful life of Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico no less than 11 times! This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at…
Jun 18, 2025 · 2:01:28
Between October of 2008 and August of 2009, the alleged members of the "Bling Ring" collectively stole more than $3 million in jewelry and high-end designer goods from a number…
Jun 11, 2025 · 2:10:04
On the 31st of January, 1982 29-year-old Kathleen McCormack attended a party at her friend’s house in Connecticut. After she left the party that night, she was never seen again.…
Jun 4, 2025 · 1:56:44
For two weeks in 2006, Australia held its collective breath as a huge rescue effort attempted to save two men (Todd russell and Brant Webb) trapped nearly a kilometre underground…
May 28, 2025 · 2:08:46
How much do you know about the life and career of famed daredevil, Evel Knievel? We look at the man behind the stunts, along with our guest Nick Mason! This is a comedy/history…
May 23, 2025 · 50:42
In honour of our 500th show, we had to include one of our favourite genres of report - a classic heist! In 2003, a group got away with $100million worth of diamonds from a vault…
May 22, 2025 · 50:04
In 1961, a group of ten scientists conducted a somewhat clandestine meeting in Green Bank, West Virginia. They were there to talk about extra terrestrial life, but the real star…
May 21, 2025 · 55:01
We've made to 500 episodes! To celebrate we are releasing three episodes over three days, all recorded live at The Capitol Theatre in Melbourne. First up we have a mysterious…
May 14, 2025 · 2:26:26
In 1905 a motor boat race was staged from Algiers to Toulon and it's fair to say things didn't go well! This week we hear about the race and the amazing life of one of the…
May 7, 2025 · 2:05:23
Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr. was many things... an engineer, a teacher, a monk, an academic, a psychologist, a prison warden, a sheriff's deputy and even a surgeon. The only…
Apr 30, 2025 · 1:53:47
It's a scandal you have definitely heard of, but do you know exactly what happened in the Clinton - Lewinsky scandal? This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at…
Apr 23, 2025 · 2:33:18
You know his hat, you know his beard, but what about the man himself? Well it turns out he lived quite an incredible life! This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at…
Apr 16, 2025 · 1:55:51
Japan, 1915 - a brown bear attacks and kills multiple villagers*. The people attempt to defend themselves but it seems the bear is stalking them and outsmarts them at every turn.…
Apr 9, 2025 · 2:02:51
This week we're joined by friend and cryptozoology enthusiast, Jackson Baly! He tells us the tale of the ecentric millionaire and Yeti Hunter, Tom Slick. This is a comedy/history…
Apr 2, 2025 · 1:38:14
This week Alice Tovey joins us to tell us the story of one of Australia's most notorious criminal identities, Mark "Chopper" Read. This is a comedy/history podcast, the report…
Mar 26, 2025 · 2:46:04
At the scene of a New York City shooting in 1990, an eerie note was found by the victim that simply read "Zodiac - Time to die!" This week we are joined by friend of the show…
Mar 19, 2025 · 1:45:17
Whether you are a baseball fan or not, you will definitely enjoy the story of the life and career of 'The Rube' Waddell. Famous for his pitching skills AND off the field antics.…
Mar 12, 2025 · 2:02:09
In 1973, eleven brave souls from around the world set out on a small raft for a completely isolated 101 day journey across the Atlantic Ocean - all in the name of science! But…
Mar 5, 2025 · 1:39:12
Julie d’Aubigny was a French opera-singing sword fighter from 17th-century France who lived a wild life and I can't wait for you to hear all about it! This is a comedy/history…
Feb 26, 2025 · 2:04:42
In the mid 1800s, a young heir tragically disappeared at sea. But then, miraculously, he turned up in regional Australia! (But he no longer had a French accent... or spoke any…
Feb 19, 2025 · 2:10:37
Jane Austen is one of the most revered writers in history, but how much is actually known about her life? On this episode we dive into the life and work of the author behind…
Feb 12, 2025 · 2:00:12
Disney, the most magical place on earth - but what lurks in the shadows? All sorts of stuff apparently! We're joined by Cameron James to hear all about it! This is a…
Feb 5, 2025 · 2:11:46
El Dorado, the mysterious lost city of gold that is said to exist somewhere in South America - what is the story? This week we find out! This is a comedy/history podcast, the…
Jan 29, 2025 · 1:54:01
If there's one thing we love, it's game show scandals! And this week we hear about a very successful contestant on the American game show Press Your Luck . But WAS he just lucky,…
Jan 22, 2025 · 1:29:15
Alfred the gorilla was an icon of Bristol Zoo, known and loved around the world, when he died his body was put on display at the Bristol City Museum. One morning in 1956, staff…
Jan 15, 2025 · 1:48:20
This week, we go back to 2005, when a group of young Brits were chosen to be the first British tourists sent to space. But there was more to this adventure than they realised ...…
Jan 8, 2025 · 1:35:43
Recorded in front of a HOT Dublin crowd, we hear the story of Ireland's tennis champ, Vere St Leger Goold... and the story takes quite a few twists and turns along the way! This…
Jan 1, 2025 · 1:52:36
More than 125 years since the character debuted, Dracula remains the quintessential vampire. But why is he so famous and what led to him enduring for so long? On this episode we…
Dec 25, 2024 · 1:51:11
In 2004 the Sri Lankan handball team made headlines around the world, but it wasn't for their on field prowess, instead they were wrapped up in an international mystery! This is…
Dec 18, 2024 · 1:37:26
Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas! Let's celebrate with a very jolly topic indeed ... the story of a string of bombings in 1980 at multiple Woolworths stores in New South Wales... This…
Dec 11, 2024 · 2:12:37
This week we talk about Yasuke, the first non Japanese person to become a Samurai. Born somewhere in Africa, Yasuke became a samurai and close confident to the powerful Oda…
Dec 4, 2024 · 1:38:27
In the 1690s, Scotland tried to establish a colony in Panama... it did not go well. In fact it went so badly that it bankrupted almost the entire country. Recorded live at The…
Nov 27, 2024 · 2:34:55
Here it is, the number one most voted for topic for Block 2024! On the evening of the 5th of April, 1815 the sounds of massive explosions rang out across modern day Indonesia.…
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