NewcastleCast

We go inside the history of Rising Tide and their mission to stop coal exports from the Port of Newcastle.

2023 really has been the year of the Matildas. 

Fast rail almost feels like Australian myth or folklore at this point. For nearly 40 years, successive governments have promised a stretch of high speed rail that would make travelling up and down the east coast very quick and very easy.

Did you know that Hexham was once rumoured to be where a bunyip was spotted?

For teenage parents in regional NSW, it can be difficult to finish their schooling while caring for their children.

But at the Young Parents College in Newcastle, students are getting the opportunity to get an education while navigating motherhood.

This week, Laurise Dickson takes you inside one of the few schools in Australia that is structured to support teenage parents. 

Dementia is one of the most prevalent conditions associated with ageing and it affects not only those living with it but also the families who care for them.

How a group of refugee women are gaining confidence and skills in the construction field.

Could you go without your phone for 6 hours a day? From this week, that's the reality for NSW high school students.

Did you know that the first Arnott's biscuits were made on the banks of the Hunter River?

What is Australia's tallest house doing in the middle of the bush in rural NSW? 

Calling all Novocastrians! Laurise Dickson and the ABC Newcastle team are back in your podcast feeds with a brand new season of NewcastleCast.

Young people encounter grief in moments of loss, such as when they lose a parent or grandparent. But how do young people cope when a partner unexpectedly passes away?

This week, Laurise Dickson reflects on what Liddell has meant to the Upper Hunter communities who have grown up in the shadow of the smokestacks and speaks with former workers about their time on site. 

Tiny homes are often pitched as a low-footprint, cost-effective housing solution. But as rents spike across Newcastle-Hunter, are they a realistic option?

In the 1950s when homosexuality was criminalised, queer people were trying their best to live their authentic lives. Yellow socks were part of a secret gay code that helped the queer community to evade policing.  

Did you know there's a tunnel under Newcastle? 

The cost of living crisis is forcing renters to make incredibly tough decisions.

It’s 22 years to the day since Newcastle woman Maria hit rock bottom and stopped playing pokies for good, but she says local clubs and lawmakers need to break their own addictions to gambling revenue.

It's a journey that took hundreds of years and thousands of kilometres.

Back in the 1950s, Pommy Town was the place to be. That was the nickname for Belmont North in Newcastle where 50 Nissan huts housed British migrants. Now, 70 years later, more than half of that temporary accommodation has been knocked down. A few people reckon there's a place for this history alongside modern housing.

Laurise Dickson hits the streets with Darlene Cameron who grew up in a tin can home on Somerset St and speaks with Susan Sedgwick, who helped renovate one of the houses.