Past Programs
Books - Biography - 2008
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Anna and the King Read Transcript
17/08/2008
Anna, the 19th century governess to the King of Siam's harem, was famously depicted in the Broadway musical and Hollywood film, The King and I. But that story was tame by comparison to the real life of Anna Leonowens, who invented her past and then went on to become a world renowned lecturer, Sanskritist, and social reformer living in Australia, the US and Canada.
Galileo Read Transcript
11/05/2008
In 1632 the greatest scientist of his time, Galileo Galilei, was forced by the Roman Catholic church to recant his doctrine that the Earth revolved around the Sun. But according to Galileo's biographer, Michael White, there was much more at stake than astronomical theories.
The Gods of Freud Read Transcript
24/02/2008
The founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, was accused of by his detractors of developing a 'Jewish science'. In fact he was far more influenced by the Greco-Roman and Egyptian gods and goddesses that made up his considerable antiquities collection.
Daisy Bates, the Great White Queen of the Never-Never Lands Read Transcript
03/02/2008
She was famous in her time as the white woman who lived among the Aborigines, recording their customs, feeding them simple food, and befriending the people she also accused of cannibalism and laziness. But Daisy Bates (1859-1951) was a bundle of contradictions, starting from her religious origins and her anti-Catholic sentiments. Professor in History at Murdoch University, Bob Reece, is her biographer.
