Hello and welcome to the podcast. Join us as we delve into the late 1800s fad for mediums, seances and contacting the dead; all part of the bizarre social movement known as Spiritualism. Its members encompassed respectable middle-class gentlemen and women, outright fraudsters & crooks, an Australian Prime Minister, and possibly even Queen Victoria!

Season 1

Episode One: Affairs of the Dead

Back in the days when you could get lost walking from the diggings to the hospital, healthcare in Ballarat was a risky business. From self-taught acupuncturists who lost their needles in their patients to dodgy doctors who used batteries to treat snake bite, we uncover the rough world of medicine in the goldfields.

Season One

Episode Three: Quacks, Opiates & Fake Cures

In this our fourth episode, we're looking into David's speciality - ghost hoaxing in Australia. Ghost hoaxing or 'playing the ghost' was an oddly popular 1800s prank for dressing up as a ghost and terrifying strangers. All inspired by a series of cases in England, the inventive minds of Australian colonists brought strange twists to this bizarre hobby/crime. Join us as we pull back the superstition and find out what inspired the ghost hoaxers of the Goldfields, and hear first hand accounts from their victims and court trials.

Episode Four: Ghost Hoaxing in the Goldfields

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Join us as we uncover the strange, little known and down-right bizarre history of the wild days of early Ballarat. A city that almost overnight became an international household name during the crazy days of the Australian gold rush, attracting a unique cast of fortune-seekers, charlatans, and crooks. All brought to life from first hand material by our talented voice actors. Find out more at www.talesfromratcity.com

Tales From Rat City