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.
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The queen behind the witch hunts
Yesterday00:25:47Tap 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...
1w ago00:25:37Tap 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
2w ago00:25:47Tap 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
3w ago00:25:45Tap 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
4w ago00:25:45Tap 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
Transcribe →A teenager’s party created Hip-Hop
May 2400:25:45Tap to summarizeIt started with two turntables and a microphone and became a worldwide movement. Today, Hip hop is one of the biggest music genres in the world - and it all started at a teenager’s back to school party in the Bronx.Jeff Chang (hip hop journalist and author) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the story of how one girl’s party to raise money for new clothes led to a musical and cultural revolution.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
Transcribe →The vote that shocked the world
May 17Tap to summarizeIn the week before Christmas 1894, a man in the South Australian parliament rolls the dice.He makes a gamble that he thinks will pay off. It’s incredibly risky because if his gamble goes wrong, he gives half the population something he really doesn’t want to give them.Professor Clare Wright OAM (Historian and author of the best-selling Democracy Trilogy) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the remarkable story of how a double bluff by a conservative politician ended up empowering South Australian women and making world history. 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
Transcribe →Beware gifts from Soviet spies
May 10Tap to summarizeAfter the Second World War, relations between America, Britain and the Soviets were frosty and as the Cold War rivalry intensified, they were watching each other with intense side-eye. And it turns out, listening as well.Matt Bevan (If You’re Listening) tells Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) the story of how a gift from the Soviets to the Americans was used as a trojan horse to listen in on conversations, and it was made by a man whose name is now famous but for a very different reason.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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