Open Learning — Journals and Letters of Colonial Women — Voices not often heard in colonial literature were those of women. Most women's writing was in the form of letter or journal, rather than in the public arena. This program considers a number of colonial women's private writings and compares their concerns with those of published male writers. ABC Radio National, Wednesday, September 28, 11.05am.
The Wall in the Mind — Five years on, the euphoria of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dramatic reunification of Germany has waned, and for many people, gone sour. This program reports on reunification through a focus on Berlin It looks at changes in the city's physical environment since the fall of the Wall as well as taking the temperature of public opinion. ABC Radio National, Saturday, October 1, 3.30pm.
The Coming Out Show — 100 years of women's suffrage in South Australia — The show will play a documentary about the vote and indigenous women in SA; this features the voices of two women who grew up in the state where the vote was considered one way indigenous people could assert their hopes and needs into the mainstream. The women talk of the days when they needed "exemption certificates" to mix with Anglo Australians. ABC Radio National, Saturday, October 1, 5.10pm.
Soundstage — Every Traveller Carries Some Luggage — By Carlos Cerda. Alvaro is a comfortable middle-class Chilean who wins the prize in a radio phone-in competition. The prize is a journey, but not the kind he was expecting. The "luggage" required for this journey is memory — memory of the violent political events to which he turned a blind eye, memory of friends and colleagues who simply disappeared. Cerda spent 10 years exiled in Germany before returning to Chile. This play won the Best Radio Play award in West Germany in 1989. ABC Classic FM, Tuesday, October 4, 8pm.
That's History — The Liberal Party: The Early Years (1945-61) — Part one: Phoenix from the Ashes. When Prime Minister Robert Menzies was rolled by his colleagues in 1941, he looked politically dead. But by 1945 Menzies and his supporters had forged the Liberal Party from various small state-based parties. Four years later Menzies led his new party to victory over Ben Chifley's Labor Party. ABC Radio National, Friday, October 7, 7.10pm.
Remembering Elgar — This year is the 60th anniversary of the death of Edward Elgar. With the help of music, letters, newspaper interviews and the memories of people who knew him, this program explores the personal and professional life of this great composer. ABC Classic FM, Sunday, October 9, 8pm.
Open Learning — The Chinese Communist Party — Since it came to power in 1949, the Communist Party has reigned supreme. It has a membership of 45 million today. How does such a large and powerful organisation relate to other political, economic and social institutions? How does one become a member and what does that mean? ABC Radio National, Monday, October 10, 11.05am.
- Summer time and Tasmania. In Tasmania ABC Radio National and ABC Classic FM will be heard one hour later than the listed time from October 2 to 29.