“It’s in the title, isn’t it?” Steph said to 10 play, laughing, “it’s Stuff Everyone Should Know About Australia!
“It’s a fun little way to talk about history in terms of little moments and things we forget about,” she said.
The comedian, actor, writer and all-around entertainer added that the series acts as a way of touching on lesser-known stories or topics to give more of an insight into what life was like for Aboriginal people before colonisation, or approaches a topic you may never have considered before.
“It just goes a bit beyond the surface and looks at the stories behind history,” Steph added.
In 2022, Stuff Everyone Should Know About Australia episodes focus on Barangaroo: The Woman Behind The Place, Ancient Canberra, and More Than Dots, a deeper look at dot painting. While she was filming episodes, Steph admitted that the series had a huge impact on her.
“I think that’s what history does, and that’s why it matters when we have a history that comes from marginalised perspectives. I’ve always thought, the thing with stories and storytelling is that at the core of everything everybody’s the same.
“We can all relate to each other, we can all relate to wanting to stand up for yourself or having principles you’re fighting for, or a need to express yourself in art. We can all relate to that, and so the fun part is finding the difference and how we relate to that.
“That’s what makes history exciting, the nuance of what that looks like for different people.”
While Stuff Everyone Should Know celebrates the rich history and culture of Australia's First Nations people, Steph’s hilarious natural wit and humour pours through, allowing her to also have a bit of fun while diving into each topic.
“People can be very defensive about what they say, think and hear,” Steph explained. “When you get to add a bit of lightness to it there’s an ability to have just a little moment away from seriousness.
“What I’ve always thought about comedy, and humour in general, is that it actually forces you to change perspective,” she continued.
“Once you find a light side of something you’re no longer looking into the darkness. You have to shift perspective and ask somebody else to shift theirs and see things in a much more whole way… finding that allows it to feel a bit more human.”
During the filming around Barangaroo in Sydney, Steph said the producer and director had spoken to a historian that had told them the language word for when sunlight bounces off the water.
“I had never really taken in how special, it’s actually really complex when you look at it,” she said. “There are lines, shapes, and it’s almost sparkly and glittery.
“There’s a line in the episode like, when you’re at the harbour next time, just remember so long ago there was a group of women that would be out here laughing, singing, catching fish… just seeing a place look like a tourist place actually for what it is — a community gathering and meeting place, it’s really special.”
Season 3 of Stuff Everyone Should Know About Australia is coming to 10 play NAIDOC Week, Sunday July 3, 2022