If These Trees Could Talk
With a deep-rooted passion for the forest, Shannon emotionally and hilariously guides listeners on a captivating exploration of the past, uncovering the forgotten narratives and hidden treasures buried beneath the earth’s surface. Shannon ventures into the realms of adventure, history, crime and unexplained phenomena. She pays homage to the wisdom of the land and its original custodians, honoring their deep connection to the earth and the timeless stories etched into its soil. Listen closely, for amidst the rustling leaves and whispering winds, the secrets of the past are waiting to be revealed. Welcome to ”If These Trees Could Talk.”
Episodes
Sunday Aug 03, 2025
More than Alone - with Eva Angophora
Sunday Aug 03, 2025
Sunday Aug 03, 2025
What does it really take to live close to the land, to find strength in stillness, and resilience in simplicity?
In this episode, we are joined by Eva Angophora — a rewilding facilitator, ancestorial skills practitioner, and deep believer in nature as teacher. Eva feels most at home outdoors, immersed in the rhythms of the wild: foraging, building, tanning hides, and guiding others back to connection with the natural world.
You might recognise her from Alone Australia Season 3, where she moved through what most of us would see as one of life's toughest challenges with a quiet, grounded power that caught the attention of viewers across the country.
We talk about what it really takes to survive, not just in the wild, but in ourselves. About the lessons nature offers us, if we’re willing to slow down and listen and how solitude can strip us back to who we really are.
This is a conversation about healing, self-reliance, and the kind of softness that’s often mistaken for weakness, but might just be our greatest human strength.
Sunday Jul 20, 2025
Stealing Freedom - Escape from Sarah Island
Sunday Jul 20, 2025
Sunday Jul 20, 2025
Hidden deep in Tasmania’s remote west coast, Sarah Island was once one of the most feared penal settlements in the Australian colonies. Surrounded by dense wilderness and raging seas, it was a place of secondary punishment — a last stop for the resisters who refused to fall in line. In this episode, we are joined by Kiah Davey from the Round Earth Company to take a closer look at the history of Sarah Island and the realities of daily convict life there.
Kiah and the team at The Round Earth Company, bring the island’s stories to life through guided tours and engaging site-specific theatre. Together we explore the history, the hardship, and the humanity of those who lived and laboured there. From shipbuilding and isolation to punishment and resistance, we unpack what made this place so notorious and what makes it so incredibly special.
Sunday Jul 06, 2025
What The River Taught Us
Sunday Jul 06, 2025
Sunday Jul 06, 2025
During our recent trip to Tasmania, we had a surprising highlight. Our hike to The Confluence — the meeting place of two rivers — and what we found was confronting. The Queen River, once flowing clear through the Tasmanian wilderness, is now known as Australia’s most polluted waterway.
Decades of mining in Queenstown left more than a scar on the land — they poisoned the water, stripped the hills bare, and rewrote the natural order. In this episode, we explore the legacy of mining, the price of progress, and a personal reflection on what standing in that space stirred.
Sunday Jun 22, 2025
The Mystery of the Min Min Lights
Sunday Jun 22, 2025
Sunday Jun 22, 2025
In the vast, unforgiving landscape of outback Australia, strange lights have been appearing for over a century, hovering, following, and vanishing without a trace.
In this episode, we head deep into the red desert to explore the legend of the Min Min lights.
Sunday Jun 08, 2025
Remembering the Myall Creek Massacre
Sunday Jun 08, 2025
Sunday Jun 08, 2025
In this episode we step into the truth of our History, tracing the events of June 1838, when 28 unarmed Wirrayaraay people were brutally murdered at Myall Creek Station. We explore what happened, how it happened, and the long shadow it cast over the nation, one that still lingers today.
This episode was recorded during Reconciliation Week. It is in our act of remembering, reckoning and honoring truth-telling, that we bring you this episode and the personal reflection that accompanies it.
Trigger Warning: Some content may be distressing. Please listen with care. This episode contains the names and experiences of Aboriginal people who have passed.
Sunday May 25, 2025
Tomago House
Sunday May 25, 2025
Sunday May 25, 2025
In this episode, we join Anne and Renata from Newcastle Ghost Tours, legends of the Aussie paranormal scene, for an after-dark investigation of Tomago House.
Nestled deep in the wetlands, this grand colonial homestead has seen nearly two centuries of ambition, heartbreak, resilience. Built by barrister and reformer Richard Windeyer, and kept alive by the unbreakable will of his wife Maria, Tomago House is more than a relic of the past. It’s a place where stories linger and, if you listen closely, where whispers of its former residents can still be heard through the silence.
Sunday May 11, 2025
Patonga and the The Rack Man Mystery
Sunday May 11, 2025
Sunday May 11, 2025
Join us as we explore the natural beauty and charm of Patonga and then dive into the darker waters of its history. Because not far from this picture-perfect shoreline, its waters once gave up a secret it had been holding onto for years: a man strapped to a steel crucifix, known only as Rack Man. In this episode, we unravel the eerie mystery that ties this unsolved murder to the river’s depths, and to the tranquil little town we thought we knew.
Sunday Apr 27, 2025
A Woman's Body is not a Lesson
Sunday Apr 27, 2025
Sunday Apr 27, 2025
In every corner of history, desperation has driven women into impossible choices.
From the lonely banks of the Paterson River to the locked wards of the Newcastle Industrial School. From whispered agreements on Oakhampton Road to courtroom trials designed to shame. We trace the hidden stories of women like Ada Murray and Mary Ann Hughes.
We look back, not because history is a lesson, but because it is a mirror.
Sunday Apr 13, 2025
Travel Diary - Lord Howe Island
Sunday Apr 13, 2025
Sunday Apr 13, 2025
A UNESCO World Heritage listed wonder where dramatic mountains meet turquoise lagoons, and time seems to slow down. Just 11 kilometres long and home to only a few hundred lucky residents, Lord Howe feels like stepping into another world, rich with rare wildlife, untouched beaches, and incredible coral reefs.
I share our adventures, including our brush with fame on the tarmac as well as our discovery of the Catalina A24-381 flying boat wreck — a haunting piece of history linked to Rathmines, not far from my own backyard.
It’s a place of natural wonders, and a reminder of just how extraordinary our corner of the world can be.
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
The Bubonic Plague Hits Sydney
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
In this episode, we uncover the forgotten stories of the first plague victims, the struggles of Sydney’s working poor, and the city’s sluggish response to a looming health crisis. As we look back, we ask: what has really changed? From 1900 to 2019, from the Black Death to COVID—have we learned from history, or are we doomed to repeat it?







