The Dead Can't Sue
Serious academics Alecia Simmonds and Leigh Boucher gossip about dead figures from Australian history, uncovering juicy stories about rebels, divas, convicts, heroes, and scoundrels. Each week they bring unfiltered takes and dinner-party-worthy conversations about the nation's past.
Episodes
Harold Holt: The tragic demise of a people-pleasing PM (part 2)
Yes, the undercurrent tragically killed our 17th Prime Minister, but were his days in office already numbered? Leigh argues that Holt was sinking (politically) before he died. So how did the man whose brief tenure as PM included the 1967 Referendum and the start of dismantling the White Australia Policy lose his audience? We tell you how we think it all went down and give you th
Harold Holt: How a kid called 'Puss' conquered Canberra (part 1)
It's fair to say for a lot of Australians, Harold Holt has become more of a meme than a man, let alone Australia's 17th Prime Minister.Yes, he drowned in mysterious circumstances and it's weird there's a pool named after him, but Leigh is more fixated on the less well-known quirks of our dear Harry.For example, did his pretty privilege charm Canberra? Where did his high school ni
William Buckley: How an escaped convict spent 30 years with an Indigenous group
Perhaps you're familiar with the phrase "Buckley's chance!". Well, it's thought that it originates from William Buckley, a man who defied all odds to escape his fate as a convict. Buckley was a brickie from Northern England who ends up being adopted by the Wathaurong people in 1800s Victoria. Leigh investigates the legend of Buckley’s survival, what the Wathaurong had to gain fr
Chopper: The Christmas card that changed his life (part 2)
Chopper loses his ears but gains an unexpectedly popular literary career, after becoming (sort of) pen pals with crime writer John Silvester.This week, we finish the Chopper tale, figuring out how Chopper managed to reinvent himself from hardened crim to comedian, artist, rapper and… children's book author.Warning: This episode discusses intimate partner violence, racism, transph
Chopper: The making of (part 1)
Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read (1954-2013) was a notorious Melbourne underworld figure who admitted to murdering four people, right before he died. But as Alecia and Leigh soon discover, he was also a massive liar. Alecia and Leigh wade through the lies to try to understand how does one become Chopper? How does he get that nickname and that reputation? Featuring failure and medioc
Tilly Devine: 'The Worst Woman in Sydney'
Tilly Devine (1900-1970) was a founding mother of Sydney's underbelly, and, as NSW police commissioner Norman Allan simply said: "She was a villain, but who am I to judge her?"Luckily Leigh and Alecia love to judge.Beyond the rivals, razor blades and racketeering, they ask: Was Tilly the original girl (mob) boss? Why did she shoot her fiancé a few months before their wedding? (Ye
Matthew Flinders: The death of a cat daddy (part 2)
Alecia and Leigh sail into the muddy waters of naval history, exploring the key role Indigenous explorer Bungaree played in Matthew Flinders circumnavigation of Australia. Oh, and Flinders's undying love for his cat, Trim.
Matthew Flinders: Erotic letter writer (part 1)
Matthew Flinders (1774-1814) is best known as the first white guy to circumnavigate (and name!) Australia. But could he perhaps also have been circumnavigating the towering physique of ship surgeon George Bass?Alecia and Leigh do a literal reading of a seemingly steamy letter, written by Flinders to Bass in 1800, and a (potentially) queer reading of the relationship between these
INTRODUCING — The Dead Can't Sue
Alecia Simmonds and Leigh Boucher are historians, which means they are uniquely qualified to gossip about the dead.They're asking big, nosy questions about the lives of the people who shaped or misshaped Australia, like … Who really chopped off Chopper's ears? Why did they name a swimming pool after the Prime Minister who drowned? And, did our very own Dame Nellie Melba have a me
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