Annabel Crabb — who personally struggles to declutter, just ask her husband — visits Australia's oldest library and immediately feels better about her own habits. Above ground, this place is all books. But below? There are letters, maps, old restaurant menus, military antiques, coin collections, stamps, walking sticks, an upsetting amount of HUMAN HAIR and — most importantly — some incredible stories that capture our history in unique ways.
Join Annabel as she dives into the secret stacks and collections of Australia's oldest library, State Library of NSW, uncovering strange, forgotten and fascinating National treasures. Episode 1 of the podcast will be available from 22 April 2026, tap 'favourite' or 'follow' now to add it to your podcast playlist on the ABC listen app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
Nestled alongside the Library's famous treasures — their First Fleet journals, Shakespeare folios, mementos of writers from Henry Lawson to Charlotte Wood – are millions of seemingly simple objects. Old menus, bus timetables, Valentine's Day cards… capturing an era, and the lives of some truly fabulous nobodies. Annabel Crabb explores the lives of the lesser-known people that curators have chosen to preserve.
This episode's speakers:
Margot Riley – Curator
Maggie Patton — Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation
Damien Webb — Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch
Richard Neville — Mitchell Librarian
This episode's treasures from the SLNSW collection:
Fruit stickers collected between 26 April 2008 — 1 August 2009 in the Sydney suburb of Mona Vale
Mrs G. B. Moore family notebook regarding the construction of their house in the Kogarah area of Sydney, 1913
Snuggle Bunny Frank and Princess Dorothy Valentine's Day cards are housed within the Library's Greeting Card collection as part of the overall Ephemera Collection
Special thanks to Dr Caroline Butler-Bowden and everyone at the State Library of NSW who gave their time and shared their stories.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history, including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
To add the History Or Hoarding? podcast to your playlist, just tap 'favourite' or 'follow' on your app and you'll never miss an episode.
2 Jun 2026
Vinegar syndrome
Something is rotting, deep in the stacks of Australia's oldest library. It's microfilm. Annabel Crabb dives into the unsettling world of historical preservation in the age of digital storage, asking: Does data live forever in the cloud? How can I protect my photos? Are my emails secure? Could the hoarding of historical items be the correct solution after all? Why can't we just print it all out?
This episode's speakers:
Maggie Patton — Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation
Matthew Burgess - Lead Digital Archivist
The photo for this episode is courtesy of State Library of NSW.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
To add the History Or Hoarding? podcast to your playlist, just tap 'favourite' or 'follow' on your app and you'll never miss an episode.
26 May 2026
The unfortunate incident
Every hoarder's nightmare… SMASHING an irreplaceable, precious antique. Annabel Crabb pieces together the tale of prospector Bernhardt Holtermann.
Gold Rush mogul. Early photography enthusiast. He found Australia's largest reef gold nugget (153kg!) and produced the world's biggest wet plate glass negative. Then something very bad happened.
This episode's speakers:
Margot Riley - Curator
Louise Anemaat — Executive Director, Library and Information Services and Dixson Librarian
The photo for this episode is courtesy of State Library of NSW.
Search for the Holtermann Collection in the SLNSW online catalogue.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
To add the History Or Hoarding? podcast to your playlist, just tap 'favourite' or 'follow' on your app and you'll never miss an episode.
19 May 2026
The giggle twins
Violating the "quiet" rule. The extraordinary, hilarious, heart-warming story of two young Indigenous trainee library curators who started on the same day at the Library 35 years ago, and became best friends, found hidden stories on everything from the First Fleet to the Freedom Ride and as Annabel Crabb learns, revolutionised the State Library of NSW collections forever.
This episode's speakers:
Melissa Jackson - Librarian, Indigenous Engagement Branch
Ronald Briggs - Senior Librarian, Indigenous Collections
The photo for this episode is courtesy of photographer Daniel Boud.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history, including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
12 May 2026
The strong room
Long before the Internet introduced us to twinks and furries, the Victorian era had explored 'scandalous' gay porn via explicit love letters between men. The Library locked such filth away, lest it corrupt the people, yet curiously, simultaneously chose to preserve it. Annabel Crabb finds an erotic literary treasure, penned by Oscar Wilde's most famous and tumultuous lover, that was lost in the vaults for a century.
This episode's speakers:
Margot Riley — Curator
Maggie Patton — Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation
Richard Neville — Mitchell Librarian
Damien Webb — Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch
Search for Letter to Maurice Schwabe from Lord Alfred Douglas 1893 in the SLNSW collection.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history, including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
To add the History Or Hoarding? podcast to your playlist, just tap 'favourite' or 'follow' on your app and you'll never miss an episode.
5 May 2026
Australia’s greatest coin heist
A charming restaurateur, ballroom dancer, coin collector and porn aficionado. A closely-guarded trove of colonial gold coins in the William Dixson collection. A daring heist! Annabel Crabb dives into the obsessive world of numismatics and finds the history of Australian currency is full of crooks.
This episode's speakers:
Jim Noble - Numismatist
Julia O'Shea - ABC Researcher
Oral History Librarian Rosie Block interviews librarian Joy Storie, 2005
What happened to the coins?
The 23 coins and dies allegedly stolen by David Gee were discovered in 1982 by a caretaker cleaning out a storeroom at an apartment block where Gee had lived.
They were returned to the Library in December 1982 under armed escort.
A detailed listing of the Sir William Dixson numismatic collection is available in the SLNSW online catalogue.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history, including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
To add the History Or Hoarding? podcast to your playlist, just tap 'favourite' or 'follow' on your app and you'll never miss an episode.
28 Apr 2026
A very drunk history
The grim history behind the NSW State Library's doors. Opened in 1826, exclusively to the rich white men who could pass a secret "blackballing" test, the doors were redesigned during World War II to depict Indigenous people. But their origin story is wild, as Annabel Crabb discovers.
This episode's speakers:
Damien Webb — Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch
Richard Neville — Mitchell Librarian
You can see the bronze doors at the Mitchell Library on Shakespeare Place in Sydney, or by searching for SLNSW portico doors.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history, including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts.
To add the History Or Hoarding? podcast to your playlist, just tap 'favourite' or 'follow' on your app and you'll never miss an episode.
21 Apr 2026
I found a hair in my library
Plagued by the question "Am I a hoarder?" journalist Annabel Crabb visits Australia's oldest library and learns that her own issues with 'collecting' historical items are MINOR. The State Library of NSW is known for books, but its underground vaults are teeming with oddities: Bits of Henry Lawson. Military antiques. HUMAN HAIR!
This episode's speakers:
Maggie Patton - Head of Collection Acquisition & Curation
Louise Anemaat - Executive Director, Library and Information Services and Dixson Librarian
Richard Neville - Mitchell Librarian
Damien Webb - Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch
Search for this episode's treasures in the SLNSW collection:
Mary Shelley Lock of hair 1851
Portraits of John and Harriet Blaxland attached to ropes of plaited hair - 1880s
Sir Charles FitzRoy c 1855 - Henry Robinson Smith
Bicorn, or cocked hat, belonging to Matthew Flinders ca. 1800
A Young Mount Pitt bird - Sydney Bird Painter 1792
An Aboriginal Man 1810-1821? - Unknown
To hear the rest of the History Or Hoarding? podcast series, or for more of the best history podcasts covering Australian history, global history including war, politics, literature and some of the most interesting people, moments and turning points in history, go to ABC listen Australia's history tab or the ABC Australia channel or wherever you get your podcasts. To add the History Or Hoarding? podcast to your playlist, just tap 'favourite' or 'follow' on your app and you'll never miss an episode.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O’Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O’Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
7 Apr 2026
INTRODUCING History Or Hoarding? With Annabel Crabb
Annabel Crabb — who personally struggles to declutter, just ask Annabel's husband — visits Australia's oldest library and immediately feels better about her own habits. Above ground, this place is all books. But below? There are letters, maps, old restaurant menus, military antiques, coin collections, stamps, walking sticks, an upsetting amount of HUMAN HAIR, and — most importantly — some incredible stories that capture our history in unique ways.
Join Annabel as she dives into the secret stacks and collections of Australia's oldest library, State Library of NSW, uncovering strange, forgotten and fascinating National treasures. Episode 1 of the podcast will be available from 22 April 2026, tap 'favourite' or 'follow' now to add it to your podcast playlist on the ABC listen app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Annabel Crabb
Researcher: Julia O'Shea
Audio Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan
Supervising Producer: Rachael Cusick
Executive Producers: Eric George and Carmel Rooney
Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
Reach and audience
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Apple Podcasts (US)
4.7 / 5
17 ratings
Contact History Or Hoarding? With Annabel Crabb
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