Verbatim charts the history of the 20th century through the oral histories and memories of Australians. Producers from Radio National's Social History and Features team present a range of archival and contemporary recorded interviews which illuminate the shifts and changes in Australian society over time. Verbatim features the life stories of ordinary Australians and of people in the public eye. The program offers a journey into history through memory and experience.
The children's advocate and former magistrate Barbara Holborow is in her early 70s, and has been diabetic since she was 12 years of age. In this interview, Barbara recalls her childhood and the diagnosis of her disease -- the years when she had to take her insulin injections using huge old 'horse' needles, and coming to terms with the lifelong disease which has helped shape her indomitable fighting spirit.
...MOREBill Bunbury recently talked in Wyndham, in the far north of Western Australia, to Indigenous leader Reg Birch about his Kimberley childhood and his adult life and work in Indigenous politics; a life he´s written about in Yella Fella Dreaming, published by Magabala Books, Broome.
...MORENinety-six-year-old Rose Adams has spent all of her long life in the tiny community of Cockle Creek, on the edge of Tasmania's rugged South West region. In this interview she talks about a way of life in the years before modern amenities like electricity were available, her love of the bush, and her skill in crayfishing and seafaring in her Huon pine boat the Western Star.
...MOREMelbourne is a city which takes cafés and coffee drinking seriously. One of the oldest and most popular cafés is Pellegrini's, which claims to have been the first establishment to serve espresso coffee in the proper way. For the last thirty years, owner Sisto Malaspina has been upholding the Pellegrini's tradition, and keeping its loyal customers happy. Sisto left his small home town in Northern Italy in 1964, and landed in Australia. After working in a tyre factory (which reminded him of pasta), he moved into the hospitality trade, and took over Pellegrini's café in 1974. For many decades and many generations of Melburnians, Pellegrini's has offered 'a little bit of Italy', and continues to be a much-loved institution. In this program, we go behind the espresso machine at Pellegrini's, with Sisto, for some caffeine-fuelled cultural history.
...MORECopyright info: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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