HIP TALKS 2022: signature series

Join us to hear outstanding podcast producers discuss their work, industry leaders talk on new directions in podcasting markets and podcast studies experts explore conceptual developments in the field.

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PHOTO: Patrick Abboud (R) interviews queer historian Garry Wotherspoon for The Greatest Menace

Inaugural HIP TALK: 17 March 17.30-19.00 AEST.

THE MAKING OF THE GREATEST MENACE

with Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich

Eight-part narrative podcast, released 15 Feb 2022, Audible Australia.

This three-year podcast journey started when journalist Patrick Abboud investigated a rumour that Australia was home to the world’s only ‘gay prison’. A prison which specifically incarcerated gay men.  Along the way, he became entangled in a police cover-up, a case of wrongful conviction and a human experiment that didn’t go to plan. At the centre of it all was a covert government operation to eradicate what the head of police called “the greatest menace to society”: homosexuality. This public drive to “cure” homosexuality is counterpointed by Patrick’s at times painful quest to be accepted as a gay man by his Middle Eastern family. Though The Greatest Menace goes to dark and sometimes horrifying places, it is suffused with heart and humour, as Patrick unpicks the remarkable stories of victim-survivors.

This series was researched, written and produced by Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich. With a background in television documentary, this is their first long-form narrative podcast series. Patrick and Simon will join Siobhan McHugh LIVE on campus for our first HIP Talk.  

Bookings:

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-making-of-the-greatest-menace-tickets-288950457597

Note: Zoom link will be provided for registered online participants. REGISTER at https://hippodcasts.org/contact/

A NOTE from Patrick Abboud and Simon Cunich on their PROCESS:

This project was first imagined as a documentary film but we soon realized that the story would be better told through audio. This gave us opportunities to go deeper into the many tentacles of the story and intertwine the investigation with a personal narrative. The podcast medium also allowed us to sonically immerse the listener in the time and place of the events using sound design, archival audio and dramatizations of historical documents. We were conscious this was an extraordinary story that had never been told so we wanted the quality of production to do it justice and maximize its impact and reach.

The biggest challenge was taking a complex narrative that didn’t have a simple ‘whodunnit’ premise and crafting it into something that would keep the listener hooked. We had to constantly work and rework scripts to crystallize the dramatic questions, build the stakes, and get the right balance of colour, detail and suspense while pushing the conventions of true crime investigation. We benefited greatly from the input of veteran podcast maker Siobhan McHugh who we engaged as a consulting producer and from the expertise of sound designers at Unison Sound who brought their cinematic immersive sensibilities to the project. The podcast was three years in the making: a reflection of our rigorous research and commitment to telling the story in the most compelling way we could. See The Greatest Menace website for press, audience response and more.