In this special live recording of Hey History! host Axel Clark asks historians Clare Wright, Anna Clark and Kiera Lindsey what historical objects can tell us about the past?

What can a piece of ochre tell us about Australia’s Deep Time History?

Can an old gold pan help us to hear the past?

And what about a pair of South Australian pink shorts?

We ask kids what objects are special to them, and play guessing games with objects - including one that's in the Guinness Book of World Records!

This episode of Hey History! was recorded on Kaurna Country for the 2025 Schools Day of Adelaide Writers Week.

Many thanks to Adelaide Festival, especially Suzanne Critchley, and Tahlia Greco.

Many thanks to the History Trust of South Australia for the use of an image of Don Dunstan's shorts, and the National Museum of Australia for kindly granting permission and usage of images from their collection including:

• The water bottle of Robert O'Hara Bourke
• A gold panning dish
• Chris the sheep

Voices

• Anna Clark is a Professor of History at the University of Technology, Sydney.
• Clare Wright is a Professor of History and Public Engagement at La Trobe University.
• Kiera Lindsey is South Australia's History Advocate and an award-winning historian.

Episode image

Photo of Hey History on stage live in front of primary school students in the Women's Pioneer Memorial Garden in Adelaide, South Australia.

Credits

• Hosted by Axel Clark.
• Produced on Gadigal Country by Anna Clark, Clare Wright and Jane Curtis.
• Executive producers are Clare Wright and Anna Clark.
• Podcast concept, design and development by Anna Clark.

Thanks to all the students whose voices you hear in this episode and their schools and teachers.

Hey History! is produced by the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS and UTS Impact Studios.

Impact Studios' executive producer is Sarah Gilbert.

How do you teach and talk about Australian history with kids?

This is a bonus episode for teachers, carers and parents featuring Professor Anna Clark and Professor Clare Wright.

Teaching and talking about history with kids can be rewarding and challenging.

From their experience studying and teaching history, Clare and Anna tackle questions like:

• How can kids in primary school work with history’s complexity?
• How can primary students consider the moral lessons of what they're learning?
• How do you encourage kids when they're interested in history but get some facts wrong?
• What’s one crucial thing to get across to kids about history?

Anna and Clare look at a concern about saying the wrong thing when talking about Australian history, and look at how to do Reconciliation while teaching or talking about history with kids?

And you'll hear why asking questions is an important part of how you talk about history, and how to use primary sources and historical objects to connect kids with the history of our country.

Voices

• Anna Clark is a Professor of History at the University of Technology, Sydney.
• Clare Wright is a Professor of History and Public Engagement at La Trobe University.

Episode image

Photo of Clare Wright (left) and Anna Clark (right) in the recording studio at University of Technology Sydney.

Music

Thannoid by Blue Dot Sessions.

Transcript

• Download How to talk with kids about Australian history transcript in Word

• Download How to talk with kids about Australian history transcript as PDF

Credits

• Hosted by Axel Clark.
• Made on Gadigal Country by Anna Clark, Clare Wright, Jane Curtis and Britta Jorgensen.
• Executive producers are Clare Wright and Anna Clark.
• Podcast concept, design and development by Anna Clark.
• Indigenous Cultural Consultant is Katrina Thorpe.
• Story editor is Kyla Slaven.
• Learning material by Nick Adeney, Victorian primary educator
• Curriculum advisors are Nicole Laauw, Department of Education NSW, and Rose Reid, Association of Independent Schools of NSW

Thanks to all the students whose voices you hear in this episode and their schools and teachers: Princes Street Primary school, Marrickville West Primary School, Westbourne Grammar School, Preshil Primary School, La Perouse Primary School, and Yirrkala Bilingual School.

Hey History! is produced by the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS and UTS Impact Studios.

Impact Studios' executive producer is Sarah Gilbert.

What were the Gold Rushes? Why did people from all over the world get ‘gold fever’?

What was life like on the Ballarat goldfields of Victoria, on Wada Wurrung Country?

With so many different groups of people, how did everyone get along?

Did First Nations people mine gold too? What was the Eureka Stockade?

How did the Gold Rushes change Australia?

Students from Preshill Primary School and Westbourne Grammar in Melbourne tell us what they know about the Gold Rushes.

Fred Cahir, Andrew Pearce, Sarah Van de Wouw and an oral history about a Chinese miner share the different experiences of goldfields life.

How to use this episode in your classroom

• Play all the way through (28 minutes) or play half the episode (14 minutes) and pause.
• We'll tell you when you've reached halfway, and recap the episode.
• Use the 4 page Learning Materials worksheet PDF with your class, and find more resources on our website.

Voices

• Professor Fred Cahir is a professor in Australian History at Federation University.
• Andrew Pearce is the Learning Program Leader at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat.
• Sarah Van de Wouw is the Education Officer at the Eureka Centre, Ballarat.
• Gabrielle Wang interviewed by Anna Zhu for the Australians with Chinese heritage oral history project, from the National Library of Australia online catalog.

Episode image

Gold panning dish. Image courtesy of the National Museum of Australia.

Music

Lady Marie, Rush to the Clearing, Borough and Jespen by Blue Dot Sessions.

Transcript

• Download Gold Fever transcript in Word

• Download Gold Fever transcript as PDF

Credits

• Hosted by Axel Clark.
• Made on Gadigal Country by Anna Clark, Clare Wright, Jane Curtis and Britta Jorgensen.
• Executive producers are Clare Wright and Anna Clark.
• Podcast concept, design and development by Anna Clark.
• Indigenous Cultural Consultant is Katrina Thorpe.
• Story editor is Kyla Slaven.
• Learning material by Nick Adeney, Victorian primary educator
• Curriculum advisors are Nicole Laauw, Department of Education NSW, and Rose Reid, Association of Independent Schools of NSW

Thanks to all the students whose voices you hear in this episode and their schools and teachers: Princes Street Primary School, Marrickville West Primary School, Westbourne Grammar School, Preshil Primary School, La Perouse Primary School, and Yirrkala Bilingual School.

Hey History! is produced by the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS and UTS Impact Studios.

Impact Studios' executive producer is Sarah Gilbert.