Podcast
No One Saw It Coming
Hosted by ABC Australia · EN
The bit players, the unexpected twists, the turning point you missed. Join Walkley award-winner Marc Fennell as he uncovers the incredible moments that changed the course of history.
New episodes out Tuesday.
14episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The suit that sparked a riot
5d ago00:26:17Tap to summarizeWhat do you get when you combine fashion, race and a world war? From the jazz clubs and dance halls of the 1940s to an infamous city riot in Los Angeles, the zoot suit was made to draw attention. But sometimes, that wasn't such a good thing.Monica L. Miller (Chair and Professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the story of the zoot suit; how it put a target on its wearer's back and how it's evolved to this day. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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Richard Fidler: The lie that toppled a regime
2w ago00:25:45Tap to summarizeA well-placed lie can bring down a whole government. Hard to believe, but in Prague in 1989 that’s exactly what happened.In amongst a heaving student protest, a body was carried away. That body became a flashpoint for Czechoslovakians to say enough is enough, and call for the end of the communist regime. But who was that dead person, really? Richard Fidler (Host, Conversations, Author, The Golden Maze) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) an epic tale set in a magical city full of twists and turns where you'll have to sort truth from lies. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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Escaped the Nazis and lost by Australia
3w ago00:25:45Tap to summarizeShe stands tall with her head tilted towards you. She’s wearing an incredible gown made of the most beautiful fabric. This is a society woman living in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. But she will see things that will shock and disturb her. Her world will be turned upside down, and she’ll travel to the other side of the world to keep her family safe, only to be rejected by one of Australia's most important institutions.Cultural historian and curator Professor Tim Bonyhady (Author, Good Living Street) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the epic family tale behind this artwork that was smuggled out amid war and destruction, and came to reside in Sydney in an apartment full of treasures.Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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The queen behind the witch hunts
4w ago00:25:47Tap to summarizeIn the late 1500s a man sails across the North Sea. He’s battered by wind and wave. The sea seems angry, almost furious at him. He thinks it must be more than just a bad storm. It must be supernatural. This man is James VI, the King of Scotland and son of Queen Mary of Scots. The tempest instils in him a paranoia and hatred that sparks one of the earliest witch trials in British history. Author Kate Forsyth (The Changeling) sits down with Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) and tells him how the epic tale of the Scottish witch hunts began with a coerced queen’s signature that set into motion a reign of terror that continued for over a century and still reaches into our lives today.Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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An 11-year-old sent us on a mission...
Jul 500:25:37Tap to summarizeGetting a letter these days is pretty special, especially when it’s from an 11-year-old listener. Ellie wrote us a letter asking about the nursery rhyme Ring a Ring o' Roses, wondering if it really is about the plague. Amelia Huw Morgan, Senior lecturer in illustration in Cardiff School of Art and Design, sits down with Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) to explain the deeper story behind the nursery rhyme, how it came to be connected to the plague and the woman who made the nursery rhyme popular with children and families for generations. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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The secret Aussie plant that saved D-Day
Jun 2800:25:47Tap to summarizeD-Day was the biggest land and water invasion in history and would go on to be a huge turning point in WWII. And it all depended on a plant.Specifically a leaf from a tree that grows on the east coast of Australia, that would treat seasick soldiers and allow them to fight.Dr Chris Kavelin joins Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) to tell the incredible, and little known, story of how Indigenous Australian knowledge would shape WWII and make sure D-Day actually happened. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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Grapefruits vs Apartheid
Jun 2100:25:45Tap to summarizeIn a Dublin supermarket in 1984, a young woman makes a split-second decision. She refuses to sell two grapefruits. Her job is on the line, and there’s a recession raging across the country. But she’s doing it for the human rights of people thousands of kilometres away, that she’s never even met. Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) is joined by Mary Manning to hear the story of how a union strike took her on a wild and unforgettable adventure, where she ended up meeting world icons and changing the law. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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History’s favourite sex toys
Jun 1400:25:45Tap to summarize*CONTENT WARNING* This episode explores mature themes such as sex and masturbation.When the wooden object was unearthed, the archaeologists were stumped. What was this thing? It looked like a club and was found among bits of cloth so they thought it was a darning tool.But it was another kind of tool. One that would raise eyebrows and cause some people to blush.Sex historian Dr Kate Lister (Flick: The Story of Female Pleasure) charts the history of female pleasure with Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole), unearthing sex toys from archaeological digs to nunneries.Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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The houseplant that changed the British Empire
Jun 700:25:44Tap to summarizeOn the face of it, it’s just a box. It has wooden slats, a peaked roof and glass panels. But inside this box is something that will breathe, grow, and impact lives around the world, for better or worse. Dr Luke Keogh (author, The Wardian Case: How a Simple Box Moved Plants and Changed the World) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the story of how a box designed to grow plants became a tool for imperial horticulture and rewrote the future of the British Empire. Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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Stop blaming rats for the plague
May 3100:25:46Tap to summarizeIf you were asked where the plague came from you’d probably say rats. Or fleas. And you’d say it swept across Europe killing up to half of the population.But where exactly did it start and how did it get to Europe in the first place?Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega sits down with Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) and debunks the biggest myths about the black death and tells the real story behind one of the worst pandemics the world has ever seen.Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.Get in touch:Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au
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