Ben Pobjie: The Humour in History

Session Info:

The history of Australia is a fascinating subject, and an important one for all Australians to engage with. But often history is seen as a dry and unexciting area, and Australian history is frequently considered the most boring history of all.

Here I speak about how history is not as dusty as we often think, about how the personalities and stories of Australian history are a lot funnier than they’re often painted – historical figures are just as stupid and incompetent and ridiculous as famous people of today. By showing the humour of history, we find a “way in” to the subject and it becomes more interesting to us all – we start by laughing, but it spurs us to learn more.

Topics

First contact, and the trials and tribulations of the first settlement
Governor Bligh, and how personality flaws simultaneously help people reach the top, and bring them down
The incompetence of the age of exploration, and how the distinguishing features of the “great explorers” tended to be their enthusiasm, not their suitability for the job
How mistakes shape history just as much as successes
Breaker Morant, the Anzacs, and military myth-making

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Ben Pobjie: The Humour in History

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