No One Saw It Coming

In the late 1500s a man sails across the North Sea. He’s battered by wind and wave. The sea seems angry, almost furious at him. He thinks it must be more than just a bad storm. It must be supernatural. 
This man is James VI, the King of Scotland and son of Queen Mary of Scots. The tempest instils in him a paranoia and hatred that sparks one of the earliest witch trials in British history. 
Author Kate Forsyth (The Changeling) sits down with Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) and tells him how the epic tale of the Scottish witch hunts began with a coerced queen’s signature that set into motion a reign of terror that continued for over a century and still reaches into our lives today.
Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au

Getting a letter these days is pretty special, especially when it’s from an 11-year-old listener. Ellie wrote us a letter asking about the nursery rhyme Ring a Ring o' Roses, wondering if it really is about the plague. 
Amelia Huw Morgan, Senior lecturer in illustration in Cardiff School of Art and Design, sits down with Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) to explain the deeper story behind the nursery rhyme, how it came to be connected to the plague and the woman who made the nursery rhyme popular with children and families for generations. 
Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.
Get in touch:
Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au

D-Day was the biggest land and water invasion in history and would go on to be a huge turning point in WWII. And it all depended on a plant.
Specifically a leaf from a tree that grows on the east coast of Australia, that would treat seasick soldiers and allow them to fight.
Dr Chris Kavelin joins Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) to tell the incredible, and little known, story of how Indigenous Australian knowledge would shape WWII and make sure D-Day actually happened. 
Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.
Get in touch:
Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au

In a Dublin supermarket in 1984, a young woman makes a split-second decision. 
She refuses to sell two grapefruits. Her job is on the line, and there’s a recession raging across the country. But she’s doing it for the human rights of people thousands of kilometres away, that she’s never even met. 
Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole) is joined by Mary Manning to hear the story of how a union strike took her on a wild and unforgettable adventure, where she ended up meeting world icons and changing the law. 
Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au

*CONTENT WARNING* This episode explores mature themes such as sex and masturbation.
When the wooden object was unearthed, the archaeologists were stumped. What was this thing? It looked like a club and was found among bits of cloth so they thought it was a darning tool.
But it was another kind of tool. One that would raise eyebrows and cause some people to blush.
Sex historian Dr Kate Lister (Flick: The Story of Female Pleasure) charts the history of female pleasure with Marc Fennell (Stuff The British Stole), unearthing sex toys from archaeological digs to nunneries.
Binge all the episodes of No One Saw It Coming now on ABC listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.
Get in touch:
Got a story for us? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at noonesawitcoming@abc.net.au