Ben Pobjie Ben Pobjie i(A139062 works by)
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon 100 Tales from Australia's Most Haunted Places Ben Pobjie , Mulgrave : Affirm Press , 2024 28223461 2024 selected work prose

'In 100 Tales from Australia's Most Haunted Places, Ben Pobjie communes with the spirit world to reveal Australia's most spooky stories.

'From the ghostly black horse of Sutton Forest to the butcher of Adelaide Street, a haunted Brisbane lift to the chilling experiments carried out by Doctor Blood of the North Kapunda Hotel, Australia abounds in spooky stories that are all unnervingly based in fact and tied to real places you can visit or avoid. In 100 Tales from Australia's Most Haunted Places, comedy writer and general scaredy-cat Ben Pobjie communes with the spirit world to send a shiver down your spine. A book best read with the light left on.' (Publication summary)

1 y separately published work icon 100 Weirdest Tales from Across Australia Ben Pobjie , South Melbourne : Affirm Press , 2023 27653910 2023 selected work prose

'Tales of the strange, unnerving and downright bizarre from one of the weirdest places on Earth

'Fish falling out of the sky, joggers relieving themselves on your doorstep, mysterious monsters constantly springing from the shadows, spooky lights and ill-conceived toast spreads: these are just some of the things you can expect on any given day in our surreal southern land.

'In 100 Weirdest Tales from Across Australia, comedy writer and accredited weirdness expert Ben Pobjie delves deep into Australia's past and present to serve up the weirdest stories of all, which will leave you smacking your gob with one hand while scratching your head with the other.' (Publication summary)


 
1 y separately published work icon Second Best Second Best : The Amazing Histories of the Greatest Runners-Up Ben Pobjie , Mulgrave : Affirm Press , 2020 19521985 2020 multi chapter work biography prose

'History is always written by the winners and about the winners. But what about the poor souls lurking in the shadows of history, the ones who were just as remarkable but perhaps didn't stick their chests out as they crossed the line?

'In SECOND BEST, Australia's foremost historian and comedian Ben Pobjie celebrates the nobility and altogether more fascinating stories of the silver-medal getters. What drove them on their incredible feats, why did they just miss out, and how did they cope with the oblivion of finishing second?

'From the Second Fleet, the second man on the moon and Australia's second prime minister whose name we consistently forget, SECOND BEST shines a light on those plucky men and women who, through no fault of their own - or at least only a little bit of fault of their own - didn't quite get there before everyone else, but did get there before almost everyone else.' (Publication summary)

1 y separately published work icon Mad Dogs and Thunderbolts Mad Dogs and Thunderbolts : The Colourful and Captivating Histories of Australia's Other Bushrangers Ben Pobjie , South Melbourne : Affirm Press , 2019 16841400 2019 selected work biography

'Ned Kelly’s tin helmet looms large over Australia’s bushranging past, but what about all the unsung outlaws of the Australian bush? What about Black Caesar, who escaped his tyrannous British overlords four times and indeed invented the great Australian tradition of bushranging? Or Mad Dog Morgan who set out to write his name in blood on history’s ledger, the dynamic Captain Thunderbolt and his loyal wife Mary Ann Bugg, bushranging’s greatest queen, and Matthew Brady, the gentleman bushranger, who showed us all the cilivised side of armed robbery?

'In Mad Dogs and Thunderbolts Ben Pobjie celebrates the derring-do and revolutionary passion of all the wild colonial boys and girls who raided our towns and stole our hearts, all while wearing sensible headgear.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 y separately published work icon Aussie Aussie Aussie Ben Pobjie , Melbourne : Affirm Press , 2017 13455325 2017 selected work biography humour

'If you think you know all about Australia’s heroes (and villains), think again. In Aussie Aussie Aussie, Ben Pobjie burrows beneath the mythology to provide an intimate look at the Australians who helped make our nation great – as well as the ones who stopped us from being as great as we could have been but who have ended up with their own Wikipedia pages anyway.

'Meet pioneers such as Charles Kingsford Smith, whose groundbreaking efforts moved the country forward; artists and entertainers such as Joan Sutherland, who shaped our national cultural identity; captains of industry such as Rupert Murdoch, who inspired Australia’s love affair with people who amass phenomenal quantities of personal wealth; and humanitarians such as Mary MacKillop, who found fame by dedicating their lives to others and guilt-tripping the rest of us.

'Aussie Aussie Aussie is the book for any proud Australian seeking to learn more about the national heroes that make our own pathetic lives seem so insignificant.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

1 The Five Funniest Moments in Australian History Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , August 2016;

— Review of Error Australis : The Reality Recap of Australian History Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work prose

'History, let's be blunt, is hilarious.'

'It's hilarious for the same reason life itself is hilarious: it's filled with weirdos and idiots screwing everything up in the worst ways possible.'

'But the beauty of history as a comedic resource is that it all happened ages ago, so you don't have to pretend to feel sorry for the people it happened to.'

1 Australians All Let Us Lampoon Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work essay
— Appears in: Good Reading , June 2016; (p. 48-49)
'Australian history has traditionally been taught as a dreary catalogue of dull facts, devoid of the rivers of blood and the heroic antics of shameless selfpromoters that feature so prominently in the chronicles of other countries. But as journalist Ben Pobjie shows in Error Australis: The reality recap of Australian history, our history is full of fascinating, funny and absurd incidents.'
1 What's Wrong With ... Wentworth Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 30 June 2016; (p. 2)

— Review of Wentworth Emma J. Steele , Lally Katz , Pete McTighe , Giula Sandler , Timothy Hobart , John Ridley , Marcia Gardner , Max Conroy , Kim Wilson , 2013 series - publisher film/TV
1 4 y separately published work icon Error Australis : The Reality Recap of Australian History Ben Pobjie , Melbourne : Affirm Press , 2016 9650676 2016 single work prose humour

'We’re engrossed with reality TV these days, yet we so often neglect the greatest reality of all: the reality of our nation and how it came to be. In Error Australis, TV columnist, comedian and history buff Ben Pobjie recaps the history of Australia from its humble beginnings as a small patch of rapidly cooling rock to its modern-day status as one of the major powers of the sub-Asian super-Antarctic next-to-Africa region. As thrilling as it is to see Delta Goodrem’s chair turn around, there’s an argument that World War Two was even more exciting and, like any good recapper, Pobjie provides an immediate, visceral sense of what it was like to be there in the moment at our nation’s defining events.

'It is only by looking at where we have been that we can understand who we are, what we stand for and why nothing seems to work. Error Australis is a scholarly and hilarious account of a young nation that has spent many years seeking its place in the world, and almost as many years not liking what it has found. (Publication summary)

1 What's Wrong With ... Secret City Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6 June 2016; (p. 2)

— Review of Secret City Belinda Chayko , Matt Cameron , Elise McCredie , Angela Betzien , 2016 series - publisher film/TV
1 What's Wrong With ... Undeserving Logie Winners Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 12 May 2016; (p. 2) The Sydney Morning Herald , 16 May 2016; (p. 2)
1 Familiar Faces Pop in to Ramsay Street Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 1 April 2016; (p. 30) The Sydney Morning Herald , 1 April 2016; (p. 30)

— Review of Neighbours John Hanlon , Reg Watson , Jeff Truman , Ray Kolle , Katrina Foster , John Upton , Anthony Morris , Philippa Burne , Sarah Mayberry , Ian Coughlan , Helen MacWhirter , Elizabeth Packett , Judith Colquhoun , Jenny Lewis , Lois Booton , Lyn Ogilvy , Emma J. Steele , Peter Dick , David Allen , Scott Taylor , Betty Quin , Louise Le Nay , Jason Herbison , Roger Moulton , Marieke Hardy , David Hannam , Ysabelle Dean , Don Battye , Linda Stainton , Sarah Dollard , Wayne Doyle , Hugh Stuckey , Stuart Page , Christopher Gist , Christine McCourt , Martin McKenna , Barbara Angell , Jason Daniel , Margaret Wilson , Sam Meikle , Chris McTrustry , Ginny Lowndes , Alan Hopgood , Chris Corbett , Ray Harding , Sally Webb , David Phillips , Jon Stephens , Piers Hobson , Kit Oldfield , Drew Proffitt , Jane Allen , Eloise Healey , Rick Maier , Gavin Strawhan , Cath Roden , Victoria Osbourne , Jo Watson , Craig Wilkins , Bert Deling , Fiona Wood , Bill Searle , Christine Schofield , Kate Langbroek , Boaz Stark , Christine Madafferi , Michael Joshua , Alix Beane , Rick Held , Roger Dunn , Jo Horsburgh , Susan Bower , Glenda Hambly , Adam Bowen , Clare Mendes , Sue Hore , Lesley Lewis , Chris Phillips , Greg Stevens , Luke Devenish , Kelly Lefever , Mia Tolhurst , Greg Millin , David Worthington , Malcolm Frawley , Serge Lazareff , Deborah Sheldon , Samuel Genocchio , Patrick Edgeworth , Elizabeth Huntley , Graham Hartley , Judy Nunn , Nicholas Langton , Philip Ryall , Timothy Daly , Steve J. Spears , Michaeley O'Brien , Fiona Kelly , Steven Vidler , Hamilton Budd , Chelsea Cassio , John Smythe , Maureen Ann Moran , Kier Shorey , Shaun Charles , Chris Milne , Mark Shirrefs , Graeme Farmer , Sabour Bradley , Chris Hawkshaw , David O'Brien , Don Linke , Sheila Sibley , Coral Drouyn , Tony Cavanaugh , Patrea Smallacombe , Melanie Sano , 1985 series - publisher film/TV

'Neighbours (Eleven, 6.30pm) is really wheeling out the big guns with its guest stars these days...' (Ben Podjie).

1 Law of Averages Keeps Legal Drama Flat Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 24 March 2016; (p. 37) The Age , 24 March 2016; (p. 36)

— Review of Janet King Greg Haddrick , Jane Allen , Kris Mrksa , Shaun Grant , 2014 series - publisher film/TV

'Janet King (ABC1, 8.30pm) is back! That's ... good? I guess so, if you're a diehard Janet King fan, but I'm not sure if there are any of those. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure there are no diehard Janet King haters either, so you may call that a win for the show, which is a shiny, good-looking, well-cast legal drama entering its second season that still seems oddly short of compelling reasons to watch it...' (Ben Pobjie).

1 Gibney on the Run in Odd-couple Way Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23 February 2016; (p. 34) The Age , 23 February 2016; (p. 31)

— Review of Wanted Kirsty Fisher , Timothy Hobart , John Ridley , 2016 series - publisher film/TV
1 Digging Deep to Find the Seeds of a Champion Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 22 February 2016; (p. 31)

— Review of True Grit 2016 single work film/TV
1 Originality Is the New Black in Comedy Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17 February 2016; (p. 35) The Age , 17 February 2016; (p. 43)

— Review of Black Comedy Steven Oliver , Elizabeth Wymarra , Bjorn Stewart , Nakkiah Lui , Jon Bell , 2014 series - publisher film/TV
1 Weary Detective Shows Plenty of Class Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11 February 2016; (p. 34)

— Review of Jack Irish Andrew Anastasios , Matt Cameron , Andrew Knight , Elise McCredie , 2016 series - publisher film/TV
1 Here Comes Our Own Ho-hum Sitcom Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 9 February 2016; (p. 36) The Age , 9 February 2016; (p. 33)

— Review of Here Come the Habibs! Gary Eck , Phil Lloyd , Sam Meikle , Trent Roberts , Steve Walsh , Charlie Garber , 2016 series - publisher film/TV
1 No-fuss Return of a Charming Whodunnit Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 5 February 2016; (p. 32)

— Review of The Doctor Blake Mysteries Tim Pye , Jane Allen , Chris Corbett , Stuart Page , Chelsea Cassio , Pete McTighe , Marcia Gardner , Michael Miller , Roger Monk , Jeff Truman , Paul Oliver , Sarah Lambert , David Hannam , Vicki Madden , Paul Jenner , Eloise Healey , 2013 series - publisher film/TV
1 Mystery Unravels for Ramsay St Star Ben Pobjie , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 5 February 2016; (p. 39)

— Review of The Doctor Blake Mysteries Tim Pye , Jane Allen , Chris Corbett , Stuart Page , Chelsea Cassio , Pete McTighe , Marcia Gardner , Michael Miller , Roger Monk , Jeff Truman , Paul Oliver , Sarah Lambert , David Hannam , Vicki Madden , Paul Jenner , Eloise Healey , 2013 series - publisher film/TV
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