In A Different League | Michael Cheika
Monday 10 October 8:00 PM
Introduced by senior ABC sport reporter Tracey Holmes
When Michael Cheika quit as Wallabies coach following the team’s poor performance at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, many Australian fans were happy to see the back of him. But three years on, he’s never been in greater demand.
As head coach of Argentina’s national rugby side, Cheika recently clocked up wins against Australia and New Zealand, but it’s his other national coaching job that is raising eyebrows. This week, he takes lowly ranked Lebanon to the Rugby League World Cup in Britain.
In a revealing Australian Story, Michael Cheika looks back over an eventful life and often controversial career. He addresses the criticism that was levelled at him in the wake of the 2019 World Cup and explains why he switched codes to honour his Lebanese heritage and why he still feels like an outsider.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1577880253258604544?s=20&t=LGTSkj__6olwZJ0Yd2TeQw
Getting Heavy’
Monday 17 October 8:00 PM
Introduced by music journalist Emmy Mack
How five surfers from Byron Bay, in one of the biggest heavy metal bands in the world, turned to therapy to confront their past, save their career and rebuild their friendship.
https://twitter.com/parkwayofficial/status/1580492821085184001?s=20&t=LP8y75UHMP4fxMHwNx_XBw
A World of Their Own | The Seekers
Monday 24 October 8:00PM
Introduced by Athol Guy of The Seekers
In the 1960s Australian band The Seekers took the world by storm when their first three releases went to the top of the UK charts, knocking the Beatles out of the number one spot along the way.
Lead singer Judith Durham was the heartbeat of their unique sound, a blend of harmonising voices that saw them become the first Australian band to score a number one hit in the US with the iconic “Georgy Girl”.
In 2019, all four band members – Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger – spoke for the first time to Australian Story about fame and fallout.
Now, following Judith’s death this year, her bandmates and her sister speak about her enduring musical legacy and personal resilience.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1583208485587943425?s=20&t=CsCQeZQK2ZzMd24vY7bt3g
2 Likes
Losing Faith | Citipointe controversy
Monday 31 October 8:00 PM
Introduced by Radio National’s Geraldine Doogue
Earlier this year a group of Brisbane students lit a political firestorm when they pushed back against their former school over a controversial enrolment contract.
Citipointe Christian College asked parents to agree that homosexuality was a sin and stipulated that students enrol under their birth gender.
The reaction to the story was explosive and the contract was quickly withdrawn.
But the shockwaves were felt in Canberra as politicians took to the floor of parliament to argue over religious freedom laws.
So whose rights should prevail? Australian Story has been talking to both sides in this ongoing debate and to the students caught in the crossfire.
https://twitter.com/MeganMackander/status/1585530929325305857
EDIT 31/10
A Star is Torn | Tim Minchin
Monday 7 November 8:00 PM
Introduced by actor Toby Schmitz
Musician and performer Tim Minchin spent his 30s struggling to break through, supported by his wife Sarah.
When fame finally struck in 2005 he went from playing tiny clubs to huge arenas and the subsequent success of Matilda: The Musical established him as an internationally renowned composer.
When Tim moved to LA, his career looked set to continue its remarkable trajectory but then came a series of setbacks. Returning with his family to live in Australia, Tim Minchin found himself at a crossroads.
In a candid Australian Story, Tim Minchin and wife Sarah reflect on the lessons they’ve learnt and how they dealt with the challenges Tim’s extraordinary fame presented to their relationship.
Airs Monday November 7, 8:00pm, on ABCTV, iview and Youtube.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1588038762805620736?s=20&t=UlzgR_33z7Uou1XEDY2v8A
Life of Poh | Poh Ling Yeow
Monday 14 November 8:00 PM
Introduced by Gary Mehigan, former MasterChef judge
Poh Ling Yeow burst onto screens in the first series of MasterChef Australia in 2009, her energy and daring quickly making her an audience favourite.
Her popularity rested on her resilience and ability to bounce back from disaster. And bouncing back is something she’s done all her life, with her rise to fame anything but conventional.
By the time Poh auditioned for MasterChef at the age of 35, she was a flourishing artist who had left her family’s Mormon religion and survived a painful divorce.
She says her “wild journey” has taught her much about seeing adversity as an opportunity and that she’s “good friends” with uncertainty.
Airs Monday November 14, 8pm, on ABCTV, iview and Youtube.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1590594208402149377?s=20&t=pkM28ZZRUONgF3y2wQWVfQ
1 Like
My Name is Charles’
Monday 21 November 8:00 PM
Introduced by forensic anthropologist Xanthe Mallett
After more than 70 years, one of Australia’s most enduring mysteries – the identity of the “Somerton Man” – is finally solved.
When an unidentified man was found dead on an Adelaide beach in 1948, it was the start of one of Australia’s most baffling cold cases.
Simply known as the Somerton Man, he was found without documents and the labels ripped from his clothes.
With the Cold War as a backdrop, the mystery of his death inspired rumours and theories around the world.
More than seven decades later, DNA technology and forensic genealogy have combined to finally crack the case
In this Australian Story, the Somerton Man’s relatives speak for the first time about how they became involved in the mystery and give the unidentified man a name.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1593124663080923136?s=20&t=txABuWxT6DoZ3ZlaFjTYJg
2 Likes
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1595625005848866816?s=20&t=8WOPN6Q3ZRgBSvcBTy2WLg
Popular ABC host Leigh Sales returns to your screens in 2023 to join the Australian Story team as its new presenter. For only the second time in the program’s 26-year history, Leigh will follow in the footsteps of the late Caroline Jones as anchor to tell compelling stories about real people that illuminate, entertain and inspire. Australian Story returns in 2023 on February 27.
An ABC NEWS production. Executive Producers: Caitlin Shea and Rebecca Latham.
3 Likes
Leaning In - the career of Ita Butrose
Monday 28 November 8:00 PM
As the ABC’s 90th year draws to a close, Chair Ita Buttrose reflects on a life in the media spotlight.
Keen to follow her father into journalism, Ita left school at 15 and moved from “copy girl”, to journalist, to magazine editor in quick succession. Her first major success was as founding editor of Cleo Magazine, pushing the editorial boundaries of the time. Still in her thirties, she was editing the countries highest selling magazine, the Australian Women’s Weekly.
She has juggled motherhood, difficult bosses and the highs and lows of a changing industry, whilst also being an outspoken voice for causes she believes in.
Ita Buttrose’s term as ABC Chair finishes in March 2024, and in this Australian Story, she looks back on a career that has equipped her for the role, as she juggles the complexities of one of Australia’s largest cultural institutions.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1595974788732055554?s=20&t=nwj8BzO1G5cqZnbQwsjixg
2 Likes
One giant leap
Monday 5 and 12 December 8:00 PM
ENCORE SCREENING TWO-PART SPECIAL
Introduced by writer and comedian Ben Elton
In the midst of lockdown in 2020, the world was gripped by The Last Dance, a Netflix series about the legendary Chicago Bulls team of the mid to late 1990s.
But what many don’t realise is that there was an Australian basketballer playing right alongside the iconic Michael Jordan.
Luc Longley was the first Australian to play in the NBA. He won three consecutive championships as the team’s starting centre.
Since retiring in 2001, Luc has intentionally kept a low profile but the success of The Last Dance has generated enormous interest in him, particularly given his absence from the series. Now he is ready to tell his story.
This two-part Australian Story features interviews with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson and Steve Kerr.
2 Likes
Returns Monday 27 February 8pm.
1 Like
The Transformer | Saul Griffith
Monday 27 February 8:00pm
Introduced by presenter Leigh Sales
Saul Griffith is a prolific inventor, an engineer and a successful entrepreneur.
His bold ideas on energy caught the eye of the US president and helped shape the ground-breaking climate legislation that passed there late last year.
Now he’s returned home after two decades in the US and has joined with his community near Wollongong, south of Sydney, in an ambitious project to electrify homes in his suburb and power them with renewables.
If successful, the pilot project will prove that household electrification is a potential solution to an urgent problem.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1628624620348928006?s=20
Game Changer
Monday 6 March 8:00 PM
Many parents will tell you they’re worried their children are spending too much time playing video games and are desperate about what to do.
Wayne Warburton, a plumber-turned-psychologist, reckons he can help.
Together with German researchers, Dr Warburton, from Macquarie University, has devised a three-month program to help the minority of teenagers who are gaming excessively.
Australian Story has gained exclusive access to follow two teenage boys as they embark on the program, the first of its kind in Australia, and try to take control of their gaming habits and their lives. But will it work?
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1631202647389933569?s=20
Diving in Deep | Valerie Taylor
Monday 13 March 8:00 PM
Introduced by presenter Leigh Sales
Underwater explorer and trailblazing conservationist, Valerie Taylor’s life has been one big adventure.
The woman in the pink wetsuit burst onto our TV screens in the 1960s, stunning viewers with rare images of the ocean world.
Valerie’s work with sharks is legendary and her advocacy relentless. She’s swum with the most feared sharks in the world and on the rare occasions she’s been bitten, has dived right back in.
With her cinematographer husband, the late Ron Taylor, Valerie famously worked with director Steven Spielberg on the blockbuster film Jaws, capturing thrilling images of great white sharks in the wild.
This two-part special takes a deep dive into Valerie’s remarkable life, revealing precious home movies from Valerie’s childhood and behind the scenes footage from her most influential films.
20 March 8:00 PM
Continuing the story of the remarkable life of Valerie Taylor, the celebrated underwater filmmaker and shark conservationist.
By the 1970s, Valerie and her cinematographer husband, the late Ron Taylor, had an international reputation for filming with dangerous sharks and were hired by Hollywood director Steven Spielberg to film great white sharks for the blockbuster, Jaws.
Behind-the-scenes footage tells the story of how Ron captured dramatic pictures of a great white and how the film’s stuntman came close to dying.
But Jaws’ mega success was bad news for sharks and threatened to undo Valerie’s message that they weren’t the enemy.
Even after her first serious shark bite, which we see on film, Valerie stepped up her campaign to protect the grey nurse and other marine animals.
Now 87, Valerie is still fighting to protect the marine world and her work is inspiring a new generation of ocean lovers.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1633671922994270209?s=20
Making a Scene | Claudia Karvan
Monday 27 March 8:00 PM
At 50, actress and producer Claudia Karvan is at the peak of her powers.
She’s currently getting rave reviews for her first stage performance in 25 years and is working on a new season of the award-winning TV show Bump, which she co-created, co-produces and stars in.
Karvan has been in the public eye since her first movie at the age of ten.
But behind the scenes of her long and successful career, Karvan has also been managing an often chaotic family life.
A remarkably candid Karvan talks about growing up around her mother and stepfather’s King Cross nightclub and her transition from childhood actor to adult star.
She also reveals the mental health issues in her family and speaks publicly for the first time about her difficult relationship with her biological father, who died last year.
“The way I evaluate and understand my life is putting it into drama,” she explains. “We’re telling each other stories all the time about our own lives, about each other’s lives. That’s what storytelling is all about.”
In addition to Karvan, the episode features daughter Audrey Karvan-Sparks, former partner Jeremy Sparks, stepfather Arthur Karvan, friend and actor Justine Clarke and producer and collaborator John Edwards.
Today, Karvan says she’s never felt calmer or happier.
“If only I could go back in time and just talk to my 20-year-old self, “she tells Australian Story. “There was so much talk when I was younger about how the roles for women dry up after 35. It’s not been like that at all.”
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1638769295185547264
1 Like
After the Fall
Monday 3 April 8:00 PM
When the Taliban took back power in Afghanistan in 2021, a mother and son in suburban Sydney embarked on an audacious and improbable rescue.
Mahboba Rawi and her son, Sourosh Cina, were desperate to evacuate children and staff from the orphanages they founded in Afghanistan.
They were certain their association with Australia and their advocacy of women’s rights would make them a target of the Taliban.
Australian Story was on the spot to record dramatic scenes in the family’s lounge room, as the pair’s attempts to remotely engineer a high stakes rescue collapsed at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Finally, more than a year after the Taliban victory, they’ve managed to successfully transfer almost 100 children and carers to Australia.
https://twitter.com/AustralianStory/status/1641328695821619200
