Podcast · History

ABC Rewind

by ABC Australia · English · History

A deep dive into the past told by the people who lived through it. The Rewind podcast interrogates the events and characters that have shaped our world and revisits history through archives, interviews, and compelling storytelling.

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 29 min
Latest: 8 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

04 | Bondy | Inside the boy's club

With his hands deep in the West Australian government ‘s coffers, a chance meeting with a man named Tiny could spell the beginning of the end for Alan ‘Bondy’ Bond. The Black Monday stock market crash sends shock waves through the world economy, threatening to turn Bondy’s business empire upside down. With everything on the line, Bond needs to act fast but his recklessness catches the attention of his enemies, who seize the opportunity to bring him down. This is episode 4 of a 6-part history podcast series for ABC Rewind from Radio National and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

1 Oct 2026
03 | Bondy | Burn the b*stards
Diamonds, mansions and mistresses, Bondy has been living the high life, but his ruthless pursuit of success begins to have devastating consequences for his marriage to Eileen. After his win in the America’s Cup banks lend Bond billions and he’s doing deals with the likes of Donald Trump. But his true character is revealed when he becomes a beer baron and ruins the lives of people on the edge of his empire. This is episode 3 of a 6-part history podcast series from ABC Rewind for Radio National and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
24 Sep 2026 · 40 min
02 | Bondy | An ulterior motive
As his yacht crosses the finish line of The America’s Cup and sails into history, the world holds its breath, but does Alan Bond have an ulterior motive when he enters this race? Bondy infuriates the Yanks with his radical boat design and brazen attitude. But combined with a crack crew and heaps of underdog energy, the Aussies' are in Newport Rhode Island to win. This is episode 2 of a 6-part history podcast series from ABC Rewind for Radio National and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
24 Sep 2026
01 | Bondy | The Outsider
Determined to make his first million before his 21st birthday, Alan Bond's questionable business ethics ruffle feathers in small-town Fremantle and earn him a reputation as an audacious English upstart. Shaped by his deprived childhood in post-war Britain, Bondy develops the gift of being able to sell anything to anyone. In his new home of Perth WA his rapid rise from juvenile delinquent to property developer is astonishing. This is episode 1 of a 6-part history podcast series from ABC Rewind for Radio National and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
10 Sep 2026
INTRODUCING: Bondy From Hero to Zero
Alan Bond was a genius, master salesman and con man. His '80s win of the America’s Cup, the sailing race of tycoons, put Australia on the global stage and the public adored Bond for it. In this series of ABC Rewind, satirist Mark Humphries tells the remarkable true story of Alan Bond; from his sporting highs, to building his global business empire and his lavish lifestyle rubbing shoulders with celebrities, to his business empire crashing and burning spectacularly and the scandal uncovered that saw Bondy pay the ultimate price. This is a 6-part history podcast series from ABC Rewind for…
10 Sep 2026
06 | Shooting the Past | The Glide
An arresting photograph has Clare Wright duck-diving into the history of surfing in Australia.
10 Sep 2026
05 | Shooting the Past | Roughy Justice
A fishy looking photograph throws Clare Wright into the deep end of the battle between industry and sustainability.
10 Sep 2026
04 | Shooting the Past | Alien Nation
Clare Wright explores the story behind a studio portrait of an Edwardian family, and raises some tricky questions about citizenship, the Australian constitution and the subtle art of belonging.
10 Sep 2026
03 | Shooting the Past | All Tragic to the Moon
Clare Wright unravels the dramatic story within a family photograph that takes us to the searing heart of an Australian summer tragedy: bushfire.
10 Sep 2026
02 | Shooting the Past | Camp Sovereignty
A photograph of two men, one Indigenous and one non-Indigenous, holding hands leads Clare Wright to investigate the history of First Nations resistance in Australia
5 Sep 2026 · 29 min
01 | Shooting the Past | The Ruins of Science
Historian Clare Wright takes a deep dive into Australia's past through six intriguing photographs. In this episode Clare tries to uncover the story behind a baffling photo, and finds herself transported back to the not-so-swinging 1960s.
29 Aug 2026 · 26 min
04 | Saga Land | The story of Egil
Broadcaster Richard Fidler and writer Kari Gislason continue their travels across Iceland to tell the ancient Viking sagas; tales of love, war and humanity. In this episode they follow the steps of Egil. He was a killer, a ruthless opportunist but also one of the greatest court poets of the Middle Ages. He travelled far and wide through the Viking world in pursuit of fame and wealth. And yet it was back at his family farm Borg á Mýrum, in Iceland’s mid-west, that he faced his ultimate test, and where he would compose his most moving verse. A thousand years after Egil, Kári and Richard make…
22 Aug 2026 · 29 min
03 | Saga Land | The story of Gisli
In the remote north-west of Iceland, Kári Gislason and Richard Fidler follow in the doomed footsteps of Gísli, the most uncompromising of the saga heroes – this is a tale about the complexity of family life, and the difficult choices which can come with it. Back in Reykjavik, Kári begins to unravel the knotty threads of his own Icelandic heritage and is suddenly faced with a choice. Credits: Writers - Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason Producer - Richard Fidler Sound Engineer - Steve Fieldhouse Music composition - Richard Fidler Saga Land is written by Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason,…
15 Aug 2026 · 28 min
02 | Saga Land | The story of Gudrun
Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason continue their travels across Iceland to tell the ancient Viking sagas; tales of love, war and humanity. This episode tells the story of Gudrun, the most beautiful woman in Iceland and the two men who loved her. Kari and Richard also continue to try and piece together the mysterious and tantalising threads of Kari’s Icelandic family history. Credits: Writers - Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason Producer - Richard Fidler Sound Engineer - Steve Fieldhouse Music composition - Richard Fidler Saga Land is written by Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason, published by…
8 Aug 2026 · 29 min
01 | Saga Land | The story of Gunnar
Broadcaster and author Richard Fidler, with this friend the writer Kari Gislasen, travel across Iceland to discover the Sagas – the ancient tales of Viking love, war and humanity. This episode tells the story a famous Viking warrior, Gunnar, and his destructive love affair with the most beautiful and dangerous woman in Iceland, Hallgerd. And Richard and Kari have another mission during their time in Iceland: to try and find out if Kari is related the one of the country’s greatest saga writers. Credits: Writers - Richard Fidler and Kari Gislason Producer - Richard Fidler Sound Engineer -…
6 Aug 2026
08| Remember Me | The middle of the air
If a friend sent you a farewell text, saying she was planning to end her life, what would you do? Jennie’s response was to go and sing with Nia and promise to tell her story. Nia has scleroderma, her skin and lungs have hardened over the last 20 years, the pain and discomfort has now become unbearable. But thanks to the Voluntary Assisted Dying laws that Nia helped establish she will have the death she hopes for.
1 Aug 2026
07 | Remember Me | The Sceptic
Sunil Badami's mother loved telling him stories of his colourful uncle, India's best-known sceptic, who devoted his life to disproving fraudulent gurus' "miracles" by eating fire, bending forks and floating mid-air. But at the heart of the Sceptic's magic was a disappearing act.
25 Jul 2026
06 | Remember Me | Good Spooks bad spooks
When Nell and Caitlin moved into a century-old shop in the historic suburb of Stockton in Newcastle unexplainable things started happening; a lady with a bouffant hairdo appeared in their loungeroom, books, clothes and electronic gadgets were disappearing, there was the acrid smell of unwashed old men in the kitchen. This paranormal activity went on for years, until they called in a ghostbuster. Our expert panel - sceptic Adam Spencer, psychic Kerrie Irwin and agnostic producer Greg Appel put their claims to the test.
18 Jul 2026
05 | Remember Me | Mt Bowen
It was supposed to be a hiking adventure, but it ended in an unforeseeable accident that would change Warren and Geert's futures forever. When he was sitting around a campfire on a remote island in Far North Queensland, Warren Macdonald made a life-changing decision. He’d sparked up a conversation with a Dutch hiker named Geert van Keulen, and he decided to follow Geert up a mountain the following morning. It was supposed to be a hiking adventure, but it ended in an unforeseeable accident that would change both their lives forever.
11 Jul 2026
04 | Remember Me | Half Caste Legends
Paulina always knew she had half- siblings around the world. They all shared the same Tongan father. Finding them was the best thing she ever did.
5 Jul 2026
03 | Remember Me | Jim Everett
Jim Everett puralia meenamatta - born on Flinder's Island in 1942 - is a man of many selves – philosopher, fisherman, scholar, activist, poet, soldier, filmmaker. When he was sixteen years old, he discovered a hidden part of himself.
27 Jun 2026
02 | Remember Me | Return of the Songbird
When her Parkinson's Disease medication stopped working musician and writer Linda Neil was in a very dark place. But a treatment called Deep Brain Stimulation has allowed her to return to playing the violin, singing, songwriting, living an independent life and riding her pink bicycle.
20 Jun 2026
01 | Remember Me | The Foster Files
There’s a government file about my life. A file full of reports. The reports date from 1985 to 2003. That’s 18 years. File 105538. No, I’m not a terrorist or a spy. From two weeks old, to the day I turned 18, I was a foster child. I do not own the file about my life. It belongs to the state of Queensland. But when I turned 18 I wanted answers. What I found rocked me to my core. This is my story.
12 Jun 2026
Fairlight CMI - the sound you've never heard of
The Australian instrument that shaped the sound of the 1980s and forever changed how popular music was made. At the start of the 1980s the Fairlight caught the eye of synthesiser pioneers likes Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel. By the end of the 1980s it had caught the ear of millions of people around the world, even if they didn't know it.
6 Jun 2026
Blood, prejudice and nursing
It's the 1980s, and the first devastating decade of the AIDS pandemic. A young student nurse tests positive for the virus. and this information ends up on the front page of his local newspaper. A tale of fear and prejudice. but also of great courage, and love.
29 May 2026
The story of Sam Poo - Chinese bushranger?
It's 1865 in remote central west NSW. A police office is fatally shot by a man he believes is a Chinese bushranger. But all may not be as it seems. A bushranging tale with a twist
23 May 2026
Finding Fanny Finch
What if the most remarkable of all your ancestors was the one left out of the family tree? Historian Kacey Sinclair and two of Fanny Finch’s direct descendants reconstruct the life and legacy of a Victorian goldfields trailblazer, a woman of colour whose story was hidden for generations.
15 May 2026
The Roo Dog
The Kangaroo dog is unique to Australia. It's a mystery dog with a big story. Born in the early Sydney colony, this deerhound-greyhound mongrel dog was bred to hunt and kill kangaroos. The kangaroo dog was there at key moments in Australia's colonial past - from hunting dog that fed the colony, to bushrangers best mate - to battle dog in the Frontier wars, and family member. The kangaroo dog has seen a lot. What happens when we see history through a dog's eyes?
10 May 2026
02 | A succulent chinese meal
Where did Jack Karlson learn the lines he delivers in his famous viral video? This episode unravels the story of a prison playwright and his muse which led Jack to utter those now infamous words “This is democracy manifest.”
3 May 2026
01 | A succulent chinese meal
Who is the man behind Australia's most iconic internet meme, who famously said “What is the charge? Eating a meal, a succulent Chinese meal? Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest"?

About ABC Rewind

ABC Rewind is a English history podcast from ABC Australia. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: ABC Australia
Language: English
Category: History
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 29 min
Latest episode: 8 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1337405260

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