The First Nations of Tasmania had existed on-country for some 40,000 years. In 1836, just three decades after the British colony was established, a twenty-six year-old Charles Darwin visited. The native population had vanished with horrible speed, leaving behind the shadow of a monumental question: what were the implications of applying notions of natural selection to the human animal? In episode one of the Black Line, Christopher Bardsley examines an international crisis of conscience, as the same empire that banned and prosecuted slavery the world over was forced to come to terms with an appalling cultural genocide they could not deny responsibility for. 

On Christmas day, 1978, Phnom Penh fell to the people's army of Vietnam. Over the preceding weeks, the Khmer Rouge had crumbled in the face of a far superior force, and their leadership had melted away into the jungles of eastern Cambodia. Slowly, the Vietnamese military settled into the unfamiliar role of foreign occupiers. They would be compelled to remain in the country for over a decade, fighting an exhausting war of counterinsurgency against their one-time socialist allies. In these years, Vietnam would also be subjected to a cynical campaign of isolation, dishonestly, and disinformation from the international community. In episode 2 of Vietnam's Vietnam, Christopher Bardsley examines the end-game, and shines a light on the abortive efforts of the west and China as they tried and failed to clean up their Cambodian mess.  

On the 30th of April, 1975, the world's eyes were fixed on Saigon. After three decades of bitter civil war, Vietnam's struggle for independence finally seemed to be coming to an end. Peace, however, would remain elusive. Over the next fifteen years, the country would be compelled to dislodge the Khmer Rouge regime from Cambodia, bringing to an end one of the worst genocides in modern history. In episode one of this two-part series, Christopher Bardsley sifts through the convoluted causes of this poorly understood war, and uncovers the story of those who were forced to intervene. 

Shortly after gaining national independence, Lebanon descended into a hellish kaleidoscope of sectarian violence. Decades later, the reasons for this conflict remain poorly understood and largely unresolved. In the first episode of Historical Marginalia, Christopher Bardsley stitches together a tragic timeline of hatred, chaos, and misguided interventions. 

Norfolk Island, according to Captain James Cook, had everything a settlement could possibly need. In 1788, shortly after the first fleet arrived in New South Wales, an abortive attempt was made to establish a strategic outpost on this isolated speck in the Pacific void. Over the next four decades, Norfolk became a byword for brutality, impunity, and the worst excesses of the British empire. It was also the setting for bold experiments in reform and progress, and serves as a most suitable microcosm of an empire struggling to come to grips with the true nature of colonialism. In this episode, the efforts and legacy of the Island’s first three governors are examined in detail, and a surprisingly nuanced story of leadership under despairing circumstances emerges.