The Roo Dog

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.

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?

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.”

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"?

In this extra episode Sisonke Msimang tells stories of First Nations Australians, Rugby and the fight to end Apartheid.When Aboriginal Rugby player Lloyd McDermott refused to declare himself an honorary white for the Wallabies tour of South Africa in 1963 he began a tradition of First Nations Australians using the sport to get under the skin of the country’s regime. But when Glen Ella from the famous Aboriginal Rugby Union playing family joined a Rebel Rugby 7s tour of South Africa in 1985 he broke the sports boycott and almost tore his  family apart.Then Rugby brought the nation of South Africa together in a magic moment of reconciliation when Nelson Mandela wore the Springboks guernsey at the World Cup. 

After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela is free and the anti-apartheid movement is full of hope. But as apartheid legislation is repealed and South Africa starts transitioning to democracy, not everyone is happy. Right-wing Afrikaner groups take to the streets with guns and the Zulu Inkatha Freedom Party inflicts terrible violence within the black community. There are mass killings and peace talks that keep falling apart; will the country make it across the finish line to free and fair elections? There's an entire system to dismantle and wounds to heal. There’s so much work to be done. What will the new South Africa look like?

The 1980s see South Africa spin out of control as defiance to apartheid and the regime’s crackdown builds. A cultural boycott of South Africa sees international musicians refuse to play there until Paul Simon controversially records his album Graceland with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The world finally gets to hear the vibrant sounds of Zulu music but at what cost to the anti-apartheid movement?

It's 1984, and in Dublin, Ireland, 21 year old shop assistant Mary Manning refuses to sell a South African grapefruit. Her action draws world attention to the campaign to hit Apartheid where it hurts, by crippling the South African economy. At the same time a young Australian seaman starts a global ban on shipping oil to South Africa.How South Africans won their freedom from the racist Apartheid regime, and the Australians who helped them fight for it. 

How South Africa won their freedom from the racist Apartheid regime and the Australians who helped them fight for it.A new leader emerges in South Africa, a young man with radical ideas. Steve Biko’s ‘black consciousness’ movement inspires a generation.  His murder at the hands of authorities is a moment of reckoning. When the children of Soweto township are forced to study in Afrikaans, the language of their oppressor, they rebel and set the country on fire with their resistance. Hundreds of them are killed by the regime. Steve Biko’s murder in a prison cell sparks a wave of militant activism, as the government doubles down with more violent raids and arrests. And an Australian diplomat gets swept up in the conflict. 

By the 1970s the anti-apartheid movement is growing around the world as protesters find ways to hit the South African government where it hurts most. In Australia, the action takes place in a very public way, by heading onto the sports field.Seven former Wallabies rugby players refuse to compete against the South African Springboks when they tour Australia. As mass protests divide the country, Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen declares a state of emergency in Queensland. First Nations activists join the fight, and even Aussie cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman gets caught up in the action.