In this episode of History Lab Live, we bring you a conversation about the joys and challenges of translating Australian history to television.

Writer and academic Julianne Schultz joins director Benjamin Jones and producer Darren Dale to discuss the process of adapting her book, The Idea of Australia, into a four‑part documentary series for SBS. Their exchange highlights the creative decisions, editorial tensions and narrative strategies that are all part of turning big, sometimes challenging historical ideas into entertaining and informative television.

Recorded live at Gleebooks and hosted by the ABC’s Cassie McCullough, the discussion explores:

1. how the team mined Australia’s vast screen archive to build a visual language for the series
2. the responsibility of telling national stories that deal with both pride and pain
3. the challenge of engaging the TikTok generation while doing justice to complex histories
4. how they used the medium to explore the contradictions at the heart of Australia's history and self-mythology
5. the translation process from page to screen: what is lost, what is gained, and what surprised them

If you haven’t watched the series yet, all four episodes — hosted by actor Rachel Griffiths — are still available on SBS On Demand.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with our friends at Gleebooks. Head to the Gleebooks events page to discover more great history events featuring some of Australia’s best and best known authors.

Credits

This episode was introduced by Tamson Pietsch, and mixed by Siobhan Moylan.

History Lab is an Impact Studios podcast. Its executive producer is Sarah Gilbert.

History Lab Live presents the 2025 David Scott Mitchell Oration, delivered by Kim Williams at the State Library of New South Wales.

A passionate advocate for the arts, media, and public institutions, Williams—currently Chair of the ABC—offers a sweeping and deeply personal reflection on the role of libraries and memory institutions in preserving truth, fostering democracy, and inspiring creativity.

The episode is brought to you in partnership with the State Library of New South Wales. Williams delivered his oration at the Library, on Gadigal land, on 25 June, 2025.

Kim Williams AM has had a long involvement in the arts, entertainment and media industries here and overseas and has held various leadership positions since the late 1970s, including as Chief Executive at News Corp Australia, Foxtel, Fox Studios Australia, the Australian Film Commission, Southern Star Entertainment and Music Viva Australia.

History Lab is an Impact Studios podcast, made in collaboration with the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS.

Caribbean Convicts weaves together the story of the Caribbean men who arrived in Sydney onboard the convict ship the Moffatt on August 30, 1836. Most had been enslaved, including William Buchanan, a Jamaican man transported for participating in the Christmas Day slave uprising in Jamaica in 1831-32.

Join historical novelist Sienna Brown as she explores the diverse fates of Buchanan and the other men who arrived that day. As they fanned out across the country, some became bushrangers, others stalwarts of the community, but they all worked hard to make a new home for themselves.

Voices

Cassandra Pybus is a FAHA Fellow and specialises in historical narratives about people who have been marginalised, forgotten or written out of history. An award-winning author she has published 13 books including Black Founders: The Unknown Story of Australia’s First Black Settlers and the bestselling biography, Truganini. She has held research professorships at the University of Sydney, Georgetown University in Washington DC, the University of Texas and King’s College London.

Elizabeth Wiedemann is a local historian in Inverell, NSW.

Marg Young is a relative through marriage of Dick Holt, Richard Holt’s Son who is featured in the program.

Felix Cross is a composer, director and producer whose work has been performed nationally and internationally. From 1996 to 2015, he was the Artistic Director of Nitro/Black Theatre Co-op in England, developing and producing new musical-theatre from a black British perspective. He also worked as a composer for a number of major theatre companies in England. In 2012, he was awarded an MBE for services to Musical Theatre. In 2013 he moved with his family to Australia, working as a freelance director and composer. In 2025, he’s living back in London, while studying for a PhD at Western Sydney University.

Michael St George is one of the most unique performance artists to have emerged from Jamaica. Of Maroon heritage, he’s a poet/singer/songwriter who has worked with national and international artists and dedicates his work to equity, justice and universal love. St George uses poetry and music to dismantle borders, celebrate the power of diversity and self-elevation. The Ontario Federation of Labour presented St. George with the Art and Culture Award for outstanding contribution to his field.

Archival documents read by Scott Cumming and Christian Price

Credits

This series was produced on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and Burramatagal people of the Dharug nation.

Narrator, writer, and producer: Sienna Brown

Sound recordist, writer, and producer: Ben Etherington

Supervising producer: Jane Curtis, UTS Impact Studios

Executive producer: Sarah Gilbert, UTS Impact Studios

Sound designer and engineer: John Jacobs

An earlier version of this episode was made for the ABC Radio National's