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The Dead Can't Sue

INTRODUCING — The Dead Can't Sue

6/16/20262 min

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 mean streak?

While each person's history is unique, the one thing they have in common is that they are dead, so conveniently, they can't sue.

Episodes dropping weekly from Tuesday, 30 June on ABC listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

  • Hosted by Alecia Simmonds and Leigh Boucher
  • Supervising Producer: Hannah Reich
  • Development Producer: Beverley Wang
  • Executive Producers: Clare Rawlinson and Eric George
  • Head of ABC Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Alecia Simmonds· Host0:00

    Why did colonial explorer Matthew Flinders write such saucy letters to his best friend George Bass?

  2. Leigh Boucher· Host0:08

    Who really chopped off choppers' ears?

  3. Alecia Simmonds· Host0:11

    And why did they name a swimming pool after an Australian Prime Minister who drowned?

  4. Leigh Boucher· Host0:18

    I mean, why didn't they just use Harry Holt's high school nickname? Puss.

  5. Alecia Simmonds· Host0:22

    Hello, Lee Boucher.

  6. Leigh Boucher· Host0:26

    And hello, Alicia Simmons.

  7. Alecia Simmonds· Host0:28

    So, you and I are historians, and that means we've spent years digging into the lives of people who've changed history, for better or for worse.

  8. Leigh Boucher· Host0:37

    And I believe that makes us supremely qualified to gossip about them, asking big, sometimes nosy questions about their lives and how we remember them.

  9. Alecia Simmonds· Host0:46

    On our podcast each week, we're going back over Australia's most notable and notorious characters one by one and giving you our unfiltered takes.

  10. Leigh Boucher· Host0:58

    And the best part is they're all dead.

  11. Alecia Simmonds· Host1:00

    Hooray.

  12. Leigh Boucher· Host1:01

    So we can tell you exactly what we think without offending them.

  13. Alecia Simmonds· Host1:05

    And without them suing us.

  14. Leigh Boucher· Host1:06

    That's why we're calling this podcast The Dead Can't Sue.

  15. Alecia Simmonds· Host1:10

    Episodes are dropping weekly from June 30th, so follow The Dead Can't Sue on ABC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts.

  16. Leigh Boucher· Host1:19

    The Dead Can't Sue. Serious academics, dead subjects, a bit of gossip.

  17. Alecia Simmonds· Host1:25

    Bye.

  18. Leigh Boucher· Host1:26

    Bye. We'll see you soon.

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