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History Lab
The series
At History Lab we’ve got some good stories to tell
But we are interested in much more than just the story. Instead of an academic or other expert telling you what to think, History Lab wants to draw you in to the investigative process. It wants you to come along with us as we try to make sense of the traces the past leaves in the present. You’ll find that this can sometimes be confusing and frustrating: records are patchy, evidence is destroyed and a lot of the time people disagree about what happened and what it means.
But more often than not, trying to make sense of the traces of the past is also pretty exciting. Things are not always what they seem. Aren’t we always in the process of finding that out? Come and join us, as together we try and make sense of the big and little questions all around us.
Podcast playlist
EPISODE 3
When the Titanic sank in the desert
In the middle of a mining town in outback Australia, over 400 kilometres from the closest ocean, stands a monument dedicated to the memory of the Titanic.
On the surface the story of Broken Hill’s Titanic Memorial can be seen as a simple tale of memory and humanity, one community expressing their sympathy for another.
But on closer inspection, the politics of memory starts to unravel and raises questions about the power of remembering and why we do it in the first place.
EPISODE 2
Damages for a broken heart
Quietly buried away in Western Sydney’s state archives is a secret history of love.
Lists of lingerie, love letters and lockets of hair, are stapled to writs from over 200 years ago.
In the 19th century a broken engagement could damn a woman for life. But scorned women had an unexpected way to get square.
A now somewhat forgotten law known as ‘breach of promise to marry’ saw women awarded massive damages after being left jilted at the altar.
But why would the courts be interested in the failed love lives of working class people? And what does a convict’s daughter, a barrister and a former Prime Minister have to do with it?
In this episode of History Lab we sift through the historical remains to discover litigious lovers, colonial love triangles and the emergence of medicalised heartbreak on a quest to understand the history of love.
EPISODE 1
Lindy Chamberlain and the afterlife of evidence
What happens to evidence after a criminal trial?
Tamson goes looking for answers and finds them in the shadow of one of the worst miscarriages of justice in Australian history – the Chamberlain trials
Producer: Olivia Rosenman
Collaborating historian: Katherine Biber
Host: Tamson Pietsch
Executive Producer: Emma Lancaster
EPISODE 0
Episode Zero – Where the past isn’t past
This season on History Lab we are exploring the gaps between us and the past
Join us.
EPISODE 5
Fishing for answers
Sydney’s iconic Opera House plays host to musicians and dancers, actors and singers. But beneath the notes of their voices, another song echoes across the city’s waters.
Indigenous Eora fisherwomen passed down their knowledge through their songs while paddling their canoes, a cooking fire at one end and their kids on their shoulders.
Anna Clark and Tamson go looking for the fisherwomen’s world, and discover that, if you listen closely, the past of Sydney Harbour still sings.
EPISODE 4
Bonus episode | The making of History Lab |
What does it take to make History Lab?
This bonus interlude episode lifts the curtain on all that goes into making history for your ears!
Executive Producer Emma Lancaster steps out from behind the headphones and asks you to listen hard as she and host Tamson Pietsch discover that in the gap between historians and journalists, great things can happen.
The History Lab final episode for Season One ‘Fishing for Answers’ will be available 25 July 2018.
To find out more about the History Lab pitching process head to https://historylab.net/pitch/
season 1
History Lab Season 1 takes you inside the messy, fascinating world of historical investigation. From lost records to conflicting evidence, each episode explores what it really means to uncover the truth about the past. This season investigates moments where official stories fall short—and where the gaps in the archive invite us to ask new questions.
We journey through courtroom dramas, family archives, and cultural memory, revealing the challenges historians face when the evidence doesn’t speak clearly. It’s not about neat answers—it’s about embracing uncertainty, complexity, and the thrill of discovery.