Revisit the biggest environmental movement Australia has ever seen: the 1982 Franklin River Blockade. This story is nuts. Missing people, death threats, savage political moves and young people flooding into Tasmania to put their bodies in front of bulldozers. Jo Lauder investigates how this movement beat the odds and came to inspire a new generation of environmental activists that have shaped Australian politics through to today.
PRESENTS - Expanse - From The Dead
While you’re waiting for another season of Dig, here’s Episode 1 of another great ABC podcast, ‘Expanse – From the Dead’.When a ship called the Blythe Star disappeared without a trace in 1973, it kicked off the largest sea and air search Australia had ever seen.
12/15/2023 • 28 minutes, 36 seconds
INTRODUCING - Science Friction: Hello AI Overlords!
2023 has been the breakout year of artificial intelligence. After decades of investment and improvement, the technology suddenly went mainstream. For many, it was as though a miraculous machine was plonked in our midst.
But AI didn't come from nowhere. And it hasn't been a smooth and simple process. It's been a story rife with drama, conflict, and disagreement.
So where did it come from? Who made it? Who controls it?
Welcome to our new Science Friction series Hello AI Overlords!
Across six fascinating episodes, we'll tell you the human stories that shaped the emergence of today's AI technology over more than half a century and where we might be heading.
First episode out Wednesday 25th October
10/24/2023 • 3 minutes, 35 seconds
PRESENTS - Believe in Magic
Unravel presents the new BBC Studios series, Believe in Magic. This series tells the story of 16-year-old Megan Bhari who set up a charity called Believe in Magic, which gained the backing of global celebrities One Direction. The charity granted wishes to seriously ill children.
But when her supporters were told that Megan herself had a brain tumour, and needed money for treatments abroad, a small group of parents doubted the claims. Further investigations led by Jamie Bartlett (The Missing Cryptoqueen) and producer Ruth Mayer uncover a disturbing story happening behind closed doors.
Search for the podcast and listen to all seven episodes now.
6/21/2023 • 3 minutes, 18 seconds
BONUS 2 | The Palawa perspective: Michael Mansell
The Franklin campaign isn't just an environmental conservation story, it's also a story about Aboriginal heritage.
Tasmanian Palawa man, activist and lawyer Michael Mansell talks to Piia Wirsu about this chapter in history, his experience growing up in a white Tasmanian society, and why he saw many of the Franklin activists as racist.
Christine Milne is a name synonymous with the Greens in Australia, and for her, like so many others, her environmental career began after she was arrested at the Franklin blockade.
In this extended interview, Christine takes us through the highs and lows of her career, and why she believes environmental activists should "just keep going".
5/30/2023 • 29 minutes, 23 seconds
06 | West Coast shockwaves; a new era for politics and protest
The Franklin river's fate all comes down to a legal challenge between state and federal powers.
In the final episode of Saving the Franklin: the moment this so-called wilderness war all came to an end.
5/7/2023 • 34 minutes, 47 seconds
05 | Threats, accusations and a Federal election
In this episode of Saving the Franklin, scenes on the West Coast get uglier and uglier, and the campaigners turn to the mainland for support as a Federal election looms.
5/7/2023 • 32 minutes, 11 seconds
04 | 'All we had was our bodies': The blockade begins
In this episode of Saving the Franklin, thousands of protesters fly into the sleepy town of Strahan to prepare for the biggest moment in the campaign: the blockade.
An army of national media descend, and the first bulldozer is taken upriver, for a shocking confrontation on the water.
5/7/2023 • 33 minutes, 44 seconds
03 | Secret cave: a game-changing rediscovery no one expected
The campaigners had painted the Franklin River as an untouched natural wonder, a place free from human interference: a wilderness.
But the rediscovery of a cave along the Franklin throws everything into question. The finding is so significant it reshapes modern understanding of human history – and it paves the way for a new strategy to save the River.
4/30/2023 • 35 minutes, 21 seconds
02 | The battle lines: 'Greenies' vs workers
The Franklin Dam proposal symbolised a lifeline to struggling communities on Tasmania's West Coast, recovering from the end of a mining era. Yet for environmentalists, it symbolised destruction and greed.
In this episode of Saving the Franklin, the battle lines are drawn between pro-dammers and environmentalists and the State Government is caught in the middle, until it's forced to act.
4/30/2023 • 39 minutes, 31 seconds
01 | A mystery in paradise, before the Franklin River fight
The fight to save the Franklin River started in a totally different part of Tasmania's wilderness: with a proposal to dam the paradise inland beach of Lake Pedder. In this episode of Saving the Franklin, a mystery disappearance and a devastating loss signal to campaigners just how far they'll have to go in the next battle.
4/30/2023 • 34 minutes, 22 seconds
INTRODUCING - Saving The Franklin
Australia's biggest-ever environmental battle was over a wild river in a remote part of Tasmania: the Franklin. Protesters flooded in from all over Australia to stop the Franklin River from being dammed for hydropower. They stood in front of bulldozers and were jailed for it. But for lots of locals, the dam represented a job opportunity at a time of economic crisis. This fight tore apart communities and captured the attention of the nation.
Today, more people are concerned about the planet than ever before…so in a fight for the environment, this season of Dig investigates: What does it take to win?