Podcast · History

History Or Hoarding? With Annabel Crabb

by ABC Australia · English · History

Annabel Crabb — who personally struggles to declutter, just ask her husband — visits Australia's oldest library and immediately feels better about her own habits. Above ground, this place is all books. But below? There are letters, maps, old restaurant menus, military antiques, coin collections, sta

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New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 26 min
Latest: 9 Jun 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

9 Jun 2026 · 24 min

Fabulous nobodies

Nestled alongside the Library's famous treasures — their First Fleet journals, Shakespeare folios, mementos of writers from Henry Lawson to Charlotte Wood – are millions of seemingly simple objects. Old menus, bus timetables, Valentine's Day cards… capturing an era, and the lives of some truly fabulous nobodies. Annabel Crabb explores the lives of the lesser-known people that curators have chosen to preserve. This episode's speakers: Margot Riley – Curator Maggie Patton — Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation Damien Webb — Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch Richard Neville —…

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Earlier episodes 8 most recent

S1 · E7 · 2 Jun 2026 · 25 min
Vinegar syndrome
Something is rotting, deep in the stacks of Australia's oldest library. It's microfilm. Annabel Crabb dives into the unsettling world of historical preservation in the age of digital storage, asking: Does data live forever in the cloud? How can I protect my photos? Are my emails secure? Could the hoarding of historical items be the correct solution after all? Why can't we just print it all out? This episode's speakers: Maggie Patton — Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation Matthew Burgess - Lead Digital Archivist The photo for this episode is courtesy of State Library of NSW. Presenter:…
S1 · E6 · 26 May 2026 · 25 min
The unfortunate incident
Every hoarder's nightmare… SMASHING an irreplaceable, precious antique. Annabel Crabb pieces together the tale of prospector Bernhardt Holtermann. Gold Rush mogul. Early photography enthusiast. He found Australia's largest reef gold nugget (153kg!) and produced the world's biggest wet plate glass negative. Then something very bad happened. This episode's speakers: Margot Riley - Curator Louise Anemaat — Executive Director, Library and Information Services and Dixson Librarian The photo for this episode is courtesy of State Library of NSW. Search for the Holtermann Collection in the SLNSW…
S1 · E5 · 19 May 2026 · 27 min
The giggle twins
Violating the "quiet" rule. The extraordinary, hilarious, heart-warming story of two young Indigenous trainee library curators who started on the same day at the Library 35 years ago, and became best friends, found hidden stories on everything from the First Fleet to the Freedom Ride and as Annabel Crabb learns, revolutionised the State Library of NSW collections forever. This episode's speakers: Melissa Jackson - Librarian, Indigenous Engagement Branch Ronald Briggs - Senior Librarian, Indigenous Collections The photo for this episode is courtesy of photographer Daniel Boud. Presenter:…
S1 · E4 · 12 May 2026 · 29 min
The strong room
Long before the Internet introduced us to twinks and furries, the Victorian era had explored 'scandalous' gay porn via explicit love letters between men. The Library locked such filth away, lest it corrupt the people, yet curiously, simultaneously chose to preserve it. Annabel Crabb finds an erotic literary treasure, penned by Oscar Wilde's most famous and tumultuous lover, that was lost in the vaults for a century. This episode's speakers: Margot Riley — Curator Maggie Patton — Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation Richard Neville — Mitchell Librarian Damien Webb — Manager of the…
S1 · E3 · 5 May 2026 · 27 min
Australia’s greatest coin heist
A charming restaurateur, ballroom dancer, coin collector and porn aficionado. A closely-guarded trove of colonial gold coins in the William Dixson collection. A daring heist! Annabel Crabb dives into the obsessive world of numismatics and finds the history of Australian currency is full of crooks. This episode's speakers: Jim Noble - Numismatist Julia O'Shea - ABC Researcher Oral History Librarian Rosie Block interviews librarian Joy Storie, 2005 What happened to the coins? The 23 coins and dies allegedly stolen by David Gee were discovered in 1982 by a caretaker cleaning out a storeroom at…
S1 · E2 · 28 Apr 2026 · 27 min
A very drunk history
The grim history behind the NSW State Library's doors. Opened in 1826, exclusively to the rich white men who could pass a secret "blackballing" test, the doors were redesigned during World War II to depict Indigenous people. But their origin story is wild, as Annabel Crabb discovers. This episode's speakers: Damien Webb — Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch Richard Neville — Mitchell Librarian You can see the bronze doors at the Mitchell Library on Shakespeare Place in Sydney, or by searching for SLNSW portico doors. Presenter: Annabel Crabb Researcher: Julia O'Shea Audio Engineer:…
S1 · E1 · 21 Apr 2026 · 26 min
I found a hair in my library
Plagued by the question "Am I a hoarder?" journalist Annabel Crabb visits Australia's oldest library and learns that her own issues with 'collecting' historical items are MINOR. The State Library of NSW is known for books, but its underground vaults are teeming with oddities: Bits of Henry Lawson. Military antiques. HUMAN HAIR! This episode's speakers: Maggie Patton - Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation Louise Anemaat - Executive Director, Library and Information Services and Dixson Librarian Richard Neville - Mitchell Librarian Damien Webb - Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch…
S1 · 7 Apr 2026 · 5 min
INTRODUCING History Or Hoarding? With Annabel Crabb
Annabel Crabb — who personally struggles to declutter, just ask Annabel's husband — visits Australia's oldest library and immediately feels better about her own habits. Above ground, this place is all books. But below? There are letters, maps, old restaurant menus, military antiques, coin collections, stamps, walking sticks, an upsetting amount of HUMAN HAIR, and — most importantly — some incredible stories that capture our history in unique ways. Join Annabel as she dives into the secret stacks and collections of Australia's oldest library, State Library of NSW, uncovering strange,…

About History Or Hoarding? With Annabel Crabb

History Or Hoarding? With Annabel Crabb 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: 26 min
Latest episode: 9 Jun 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1891515661

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