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Absorbing and emotionally gripping, this new series from multi award-winning journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna is a stunning investigation into the untold story of the 1979 Ghost Train Fire at Sydney’s iconic Luna Park. On a winter’s night over 40 years ago a deadly fire tore through the Ghost Train ride at Sydney’s Luna Park in 1979, killing seven people – six of them children. After 42 years, and despite multiple inquiries, no one has ever been held accountable for the blaze.

At rare intervals, great floods fill the desert basin of Lake Eyre in Central Australia, and for a while, wildlife teems along the shore. But the miracle is short-lived. In the fierce summer heat, the lake shrinks, the water turns to brine and the fish die. Birds such as pelicans then face a vast flight across the desert to the southern coast, and many die along the way.

When Alex Miller's mother died she left him her fragmentary journal from the 1920s. Inspired by her exotic tales as a young woman living in Paris and this entree into her emotional life, Miller has written Conditions of Faith. With university behind her, Emily Stanton finds herself on the threshold of life. Introduced to a Scottish engineer, the exoticism of his life in Paris beckons, and she leaves her family home in twenties Melbourne to become his wife.

When the first convoys of the ANZAC Expeditionary Forces sailed from Albany’s majestic King George Sound in November and December 1914, they carried with them hundreds of horses. Many had been loaded in ports elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand. Some came from unexpected places, including Juna Downs, a vast pastoral station in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region.

Heard of the two dimwits who try to blow up a bothersome croc but only succeed in destroying their 4WD? Or the drunken fishermen who fell off his boat and three hours later knocked on the hull of a Russian trawler? Or of marlin with beaks like baseball bats and eyes the size of bread and butter plates? Marvel at fishing cheats who've devised outrageous schemes and ruses to win fishing competitions, and a huge shark that vomited up a human arm.

All I See is Mud is the story of Stan Dunkley, a soldier in World War I and the grandfather of author Andrew Dunkley. Originally presented on ABC Radio in Australia, this is a deeply intimate re-telling of an ordinary soldier and the terrible conditions he endured in the trenches along the front lines of the battlefield. For almost three years, Stan Dunkley fought, and survived, and here his story is preserved as a reminder of the sacrifices made during the darkest times in human history.

This book features laugh-out-loud highlights from series 1 & 2 of Sammy J’s weekly ABC political sketches. Join Sammy as he tackles the big issues of the day, wrestles them to the ground, then submits them to a variety of yoga moves, sporting analogies and craft activities.

In this sixth collection of Big Words, Small Stories, meet Cris and his anthropomorphic sidekick Crat and join them on ten adventures that introduce them to some delightful new words.

Join Poppy and her anthropomorphic sidekick Chaz on nine adventures that introduce them to some delightful new words – from gargantuan pizzas, to spectacular meteor showers, to astounding circus acts!

Acclaimed Australian actor and theatre director John Bell, AO, OBE, will set the stage for William Shakespeare's lessons on life and leadership in the 21st century in this years' ABC Boyer Lectures. Bell's four lectures, which mark the 63rd year of the ABC Boyer Lectures, will explore how Shakespeare remains essential reading in the 21st century, including his role in setting the stage for strong, smart and compassionate women. Bell will also draw on his personal experiences to reflect on what Shakespeare might teach us about how to live a 'good life'.

Let Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski draw you deeper into the human experience with the fifth volume of A Collection of Conversations. Conversations draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may or may not, have heard about - someone who has seen and done amazing things.

Discover the resilient and inspiring people who live outside the big Australian cities - indeed off the beaten track altogether. Defined by their strength and humility, these are characters whose grit and good humour will uplift and inspire. Meet strong women like Joan Sinclair, still riding horses in her 80s; Heather Jones from the Pilbara Heavy Haulage Girls; and Diane Reeves, a transgender former dairy farmer, shearer and truck driver....

Each year since 1959, the ABC has sparked national discussion about critical ideas with the Boyer Lectures. In 2017 world-leading technologist and anthropologist Professor Bell continues this proud tradition by interrogating what it means to be human, and Australian, in a digital world.

I am delighted to be presenting the 2014 Boyer Lectures and to have the opportunity to contribute to the national discussion about science through such an influential and historically significant platform. I hope to raise awareness of great scientific achievements, and of the vital importance of science to the future health and prosperity of Australia.

Alcohol, usually beer, is an integral part of Australian culture. Australian writers from Henry Lawson onwards praise, blame and generally celebrate the demon drink. It can develop or ruin friendships, create farcical situations, breed or shatter illusions. Broadcaster and writer Jim Haynes has collected short stories and verse from well-known Australians that place that pint of beer at the centre of things.

Like the best sort of conversation, the Boyer Lectures have taken Australians down countless paths - enthralling, challenging, unworn paths. My hope is to open yet another pathway; one that speaks to the importance of human rights in building neighbourhood, community and citizenship.

On the night of July 30, 1997 a landslide shattered the tranquility of Thredbo Village, sweeping away two ski lodges and burying 19 people beneath tonnes of concrete and mud. In the days that followed, the world mourned as rescuers dragged body after body from the rubble. But out of tragedy sprang an amazing story of survival. Stuart Diver, whose young wife Sally died beside him in the first moments of the slide, had clung to life buried beneath a concrete slab for 65 freezing hours.This is Stuart Diver’s story.

Australia claims about 42 percent of the land mass of Antarctica Continent - largely based on the exploration voyages led by Sir Douglas Mawson in the first half of this century. Yet by 1953 we had no permanent bases on the Antarctic continent. Australians in Antarctica reviews Australia's postwar push south, with the establishment of permanent stations on the sub-Antarctic islands of Heard and Masquarie in 1948, and the first settlement on the Antarctic mainland - Mawson Station - achieved by 1954.

When W. E. H. Stanner delivered the Boyer Lectures in 1968, "After The Dreaming: Black And White Australians - An Anthropologist's View", he gave credence, perhaps inadvertently, to the widely held assumption at that time that Aboriginal life was incommensurate with modern economic life. Today, the expectation is quite the reverse.

When Jessie found a secret door in her grandmother's garden, she was amazed to find it led to the magical world of the Realm. She's had plenty of adventures since that day, but there's always more excitement!