Winter Olympic Series Episode I - Chamonix 1924

The first of our ten part Winter Olympic Series starts where it all began - in the shadow of Mont Blanc, where the French, Swiss and Italian borders meet, in Chamonix, 1924. These weren't called the Winter Olympics at the time - the French Olympic committee organised the "International Winter Sports Week" and the IOC co-opted it as the first Winter Games a year later.

The series will take us through heroes and villains, heartbreak and redemption, madness and miracles over the course of this and nine more episodes in the run up to the opening ceremony on February 6th. So listen in and learn the story of the greatest show on snow and ice, the Winter Olympics.

Season 2, Episode 2: The Australian Open

They call it the Happy Slam, and there's probably nowhere in the world of sport where so many people could turn up and still maintain that well earned moniker than Melbourne. That almost unparalleled sporting city is now the permanent host of the once nomadic Australian Open, played in grand arenas named for legends of the sport in front of more spectators than anywhere else tennis goes.

We delve into the origins, venue and legendary (and in one case, controversial) players like Rod Laver, Margaret Court, Arthur Ashe, Monica Seles and more. There's even the standard diversion on the material make-up playing surface, because that's the level of excruciating detail we promise you at the Almanac.

It's a new season of tennis in 2026, in one of our favourite sporting settings with history and stories aplenty, so we're hoping to serve you up a treat to get you in the mood for the new year's action.

Season 2, Episode 1: The NFL Playoffs

Jack and Ben kick off 2026 with a preview and history of of the road to the Super Bowl, the NFL Playoffs. Fourteen teams, twelve matches across two conferences with the two conference champions meeting in Santa Clara next month - this is do or die football.

For anyone who watches the Super Bowl every year and wants to know how the teams get there, we have an explanation of that. For anyone who wants to hear some stories of frostbite and blocks or pure unadulterated miracles, we've got them too. And for anyone who wants to know who's who this year, what each teams strengths and weaknesses are, and who are the favourites and who are the Carolina Panthers, guess what? We've got that too.

This year's NFL has turned expectations on its head. The postseason starts with no Chiefs and no Ravens, the Patriots and Broncos as high seeds, the Houston Texans looking like they could make a Super Bowl and the Bills without Mahomes in their way, and that's just the AFC. This is much watch sport, and we've got everything you needs to understand why on this week's Almanac.

Good links from this episode:

The Snow Bowl winning touchdown - https://youtu.be/EX9ycGT6lLM?si=eJghESvZt2uOHesn

Matt Stafford mic'd up touchdown pass with a separated shoulder - https://youtube.com/shorts/hS9JIw9ywC8?si=6cx1TGiq84XpiQZJ

The Music City Miracle - https://youtu.be/FCJFmL4oxPE?si=xOPYGzPzIjbOn_Lp