Serious academics. Dead subjects. A bit of gossip. Is it appropriate for historians to gossip about the dead? Associate Professors Alecia Simmonds and Leigh Boucher aren't afraid to find out. In The Dead Can't Sue, they poke around in the entrails of Australian history, dishing up the best dirt and juiciest scoops on our nation's dead. Each week, you'll join us for the best dinner party conversations you've ever overheard, as Alecia and Leigh bring you their unfiltered takes. There'll be big names you'll get to know in new ways, as well as names you've never heard of, with jaw-dropping stories. Rebels, divas, convicts, heroes, scoundrels and everything in between.

Latest episodes

Joh Bjelke-Petersen: The ‘hillbilly dictator’ goes down (part 2)

October 5, 2026 · 43 min

HELP! We are doing a listener survey and we want to hear from you. It's your turn to tell us what you really think - click here and complete the short survey. Sharpen your knives and joins us as we dissect the recipe for Joh…
Joh Bjelke-Petersen: The 40-year-old virgin enters politics (part 1)

September 28, 2026 · 39 min

Queensland's longest-serving premier is basically the bogeyman of Australian politics, a police-loving proto-Trump 'hillbilly dictator' the Sunshine State is still recovering from. This week we retrace Joh’s rise from fail son to peanut…
Faith Bandler: Exposing CSR & Australia’s slave trade, aka 'Blackbirding' (part 2)

September 21, 2026 · 39 min

Referendum won, tick. Next up, Faith has a new fight on her hands: one that includes exposing the sugar giants who profited from her father’s abduction and unpaid labour. Watch out. But first, she must return to the island paradise where…
Faith Bandler: The ‘gentle’ activist with an ASIO file who changed the constitution (part 1)

September 14, 2026 · 42 min

Faith Bandler was the daughter of a slave, who became the face of the 1967 referendum and a celebrity in the process. And she did it all while keeping house and raising kids. Few know her name now, yet Alecia argues that Faith is just as…
Nellie Melba: How a facelift downed our diva (part 2)

September 7, 2026 · 40 min

To rise to stardom, our OG diva needed a rebrand, so she trades her given name - Helen (not exactly giving superstar, no offence to all the Helens) - and takes on Nellie Melba. In the second part of her story, Nellie becomes the Kylie…
Nellie Melba: How the prima donna dodged her sh*tty husband to find fame and fortune (part 1)

August 31, 2026 · 37 min

Opera star Dame Nellie Melba is the face of our $100 note, and the inspiration for the famous Peach Melba dessert. In short she’s an icon – one of Australia’s original divas. But how did she go from young Melbourne tomboy to domestic abuse…
Miles Franklin: Our feminist hero flirts with fascism (part 2)

August 24, 2026 · 44 min

While the blokes were off on the frontlines of WWI, Miles Franklin used writing as her weapon for changing the world. But was our much-loved matriarch of Australian literature a tad fascist? In the second part of Miles Franklin's story…
Miles Franklin: The flirty bush girl behind My Brilliant Career (part 1)

August 17, 2026 · 41 min

Miles Franklin’s name is inseparable from Australian literature. She’s a late 1800s bush girl who told a bold story of marriage rejection (My Brilliant Career) that went global. And it continues to captivate audiences today (see: the new…