Meet the History Lab team

History Lab is made by a crack team of audio producers and sound magicians. They’ve tracked down the traces of the past, not only in archives and museums, but by talking to colourful characters and travelling to places near and far.

And then they’ve put in hours of interviewing and editing so that the thrill of historical discovery now has a sound. Sometimes you’ll even hear their voices.

Tamson Pietsch

Host and Managing Director

Tamson Pietsch is Director of the Australian Centre for Public History at UTS. She is interested in ideas and how they get made – both in the past and today. Tamson believes that thinking about where we’ve come from and where we want to go really matters – both for individuals and for society – and she is passionate about doing history with public audiences. You can read some of her writing about the history and politics of knowledge on her blog at https://capandgown.wordpress.com

Emma Lancaster

Executive Producer

Emma Lancaster is an award-winning digital storyteller that believes in the power of audio to inform, move and engage individuals and communities.

She undertook news and current affairs reporting before finding a home in the long form audio narrative space at Radio National and the ABC Audio Studios.

During her audio career she has worked as a researcher, audio producer and Executive Producer. Emma has worked on a number of innovative projects including the ABC podcasts Trace (Innovation Walkley 2017), Blood on the Tracks (Coverage of Indigenous Affairs Walkley 2018) and Snowball, as well as 2SER’s first podcast Just Words (Silver for Best Legal Reporting and Bronze for Best Writing at the New York Radio Festival Award, 2018). She is the current Executive Producer of History Lab (Silver for Best History documentary at the New York Radio Festival Awards 2019 and Excellence in Creative Audio at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia Awards 2019).

Emma is leading Impact Studios, a new audio initiative by UTS.

Olivia Rosenman

Senior Producer

Olivia Rosenman is an audio producer and journalist who daydreams about sound, stories and technology. She has worked with Google’s Creative Lab on a range of audio content and makes podcasts and radio programs for broadcasters and clients including ABC, SBS, Newscorp, Monocle, Bauer Media, Sydney Festival, and the Digital Writers’ Festival. In 2019 she co-produced Brain on Nature, a documentary series about the importance of nature to the human brain. Olivia’s background in journalism, she has reported for the South China Morning Post and Storyful News Agency in Hong Kong and her freelance writing has appeared in DestinAsian Magazine, China Media Project and The Telegraph (UK). As a founding member of Hong Kong Stories, Olivia ran workshops and produced monthly storytelling nights.

Zoe Ferguson

Producer

Zoe Ferguson is a freelance audio producer, ABC journalist and lecturer in podcasting at The University of Sydney.

While working in news and current affairs at ABC’s Radio National Breakfast and Drive programs for the last three years, Zoe has always made time to produce audio features for a range of platforms. From founding Belvoir’s backstage theatre podcast, to producing podcasts for the BBC World Service, Monocle and RN feature programs such as Earshot; audio storytelling is a priority in her work.

Sarah Mashman

SUPERVISING PRODUCER

Sarah Mashman is a multi disciplinary audio maker and storyteller.

After spending seven years in the relative wilderness of Tasmania working in ABC Local radio, she relocated to the coast to produce Radio National’s cosmic Vertigo and Sum of All Parts podcasts.

Sarah’s most recently led the development and production of a branded narrative podcast for SBS, The Few Who Do which looks at incredible Australians creating change. She continues to create features for the ABC RN Earshot and History Listen programs and is a supervising producer on FBi Radio’s All the Best podcast.

Julia Carr-Catzel

Producer

For the past two years, Julia has worked at community radio station 2SER’s live radio and current affairs programs, from daily news to long form radio packages.

In 2018, she was awarded 2SER’s ‘Excellence in Magazine Presenting’ for her work hosting magazine shows like Breakfast.

She is currently the Executive Producer of Think: Sustainability podcast, as part of the Think series at 2SER.

At SBS, Julia works as a radio journalist, producing world news bulletins and radio packages broadcast from 68 language groups.

Allison Chan

Producer

Allison Chan is a podcast producer and editor, based in Sydney. She was previously the Executive Producer of All The Best, FBi Radio’s flagship storytelling and training program.

Her works have been featured on ABC RN’s Encounter, Earshot, Life Matters and RN Breakfast programs. She was also a producer and editor at Ghost Island Media, a podcast production company based in Taipei, Taiwan.

Allison also teaches podcasting at Western Sydney University, and is passionate about training and mentoring the pod-curious.

History Lab Alumni

Tom Allinson

Producer (Season 1), Executive Producer (Season 2)

Tom is a radio producer and videographer living under the flight path in Sydney. Before producing History Lab he worked in news and current affairs for 2SER in Sydney, BIRN in the Balkans and Al Akhbar and Al Etejah in Beirut. In past lives he has cooked dinner for Bob Hawke, built a sauna in a cinema and taught conditionals to Brazilians. Tom has a degree in History and Arabic from Sydney University.

Ninah Kopel

Producer (Season 1 & 2)

Ninah learned to love radio in the studios of 2ser where she first came into contact with passionate podcast listeners who filled up her phone with stories and ideas. From then on her daily commute was full of incredible sound, from the funny to the mesmerising, and she knew she wanted to create that same experience for others. She was a producer for 2ser’s first investigative podcast, Just Words, as well as national current affair program The Wire and 2ser’s Think programmes. After a year taking in the rapid rhythms of Buenos Aires, and learning some new tricks of the trade with award-winning sound artist Diego Cannizzaro, Ninah is back in Sydney. She is the current Executive Producer of Fourth Estate and is excited to be part of the team making History Lab.

Joe Koning

Sound Design

Joe is an audio producer, writer, sound-maker, and musician. He has produced radio features for ABC Radio National, FBi Radio, and 2SER, and recently produced the episode ‘Love In The Time Of Communism’ for RN’s ‘This Is About’. He can now be found producing local radio at ABC Radio Sydney, crafting a radio-feature about a very special bird, or drifting through the halls of 2SER, where his musical themes pervade many a radio-show. He is also a freelance writer with an interest in Creative Non-Fiction, whose work has been featured in Island Magazine. He once tricked the University of Sydney into giving him a Masters of Arts in Journalism.

Jason L’Ecuyer

Digital Producer (Season 1), Audio Producer (Season 2)

Jason is an audio producer, journalist and town planning enthusiast. He has produced podcasts and audio content for Fairfax Media, ABC Radio National, the Planning Institute of Australia, FBi Radio and 2ser. He is the Executive Producer of Think: Business Futures, where he first became interested in reporting on money. Originally from Virginia in the US, Jason draws influences from Appalachian storytelling and previous lives in town planning, community development and bush firefighting.

Miles Martignoni

Supervising Producer and Sound Engineer (Season 1)

Miles works at Guardian Australia as their podcast producer where he Executive Produced their #1 charting series The Reckoning with David Marr. He’s the Senior Podcast Producer at 2SER 107.3 and in the past has worked for ABC Local Radio and created programs for Radio National. Miles has taught audio production and journalism at AFTRs as well as Macquarie, Sydney and Wollongong Universities. His production company Heaps Good Media has created podcasts for City of Sydney, the WWF, Fairfax, the NRL, The Cancer Council, Sydney Festival and The Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.