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John Safran brings wacky Jewish history to Australian screens

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Published: 18 July 2023

Last updated: 5 March 2024

A TV series starting tomorrow explores the place of Jewish, Kiwi and Chinese stories in Australian history.

Professional provocateur John Safran, stand-up comedian Cal Wilson and kitchen maestro Adam Liaw will explore how people of Jewish, Kiwi, and Chinese descent, like themselves, fit into Australia’s national narrative in an SBS television series beginning tomorrow.

In Who the Bloody Hell Are We?,  Safran tells Jewish stories including the plan to establish a Jewish state in the Kimberley and Esther Abrahams, the convict who became the colony of NSW’s first lady.

“This series not only covers history but makes it. For the first time on Australian soil, a holy Jewish mud creature known as a golem is created, using that very soil, and brought to life through Kabbalah prayer. All captured on film!” Safran said.

Safran’s Jewish stories join those of two other major migrant groups. Cal Wilson draws on her Kiwi heritage to tell stories such as the Māori athletes who saved Australian rugby league from bankruptcy. Adam Liaw’s finds tales of Chinese Australia including the celebrated Chinese Australian Gallipoli sniper who learnt his trade as an Outback roo-shooter in Queensland.

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New SBS series asks,'Who The Bloody Hell Are We?' (SBS)

RELATED STORY

Three things with John Safran: ‘These shelves hold several guides to Jewish exorcism’ (Guardian)
Safran is one of the co-hosts of the new SBS three-part series Who the Bloody Hell Are We? which unearths the multicultural roots of modern Australia. Because this is John Safran, his episode sees him “bring a holy Jewish mud creature known as a golem to life through Kabbalah prayer”.

Photo: John Safran, Cal Wilson and Adam Liaw, hosts of 'Who the Bloody Hell Are We?' (SBS)

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