We're back with the further adventures of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, the famously cursed and huge diamond of the Mughal empire as it makes it's way from it's homeland to the hands of Queen Victoria. It's a journey that has thrills, chills, spills and terrible deaths from diease and violence, as the diamond works it's dark magic. Then, do you ever wond…

Just the core team today as we jump into the history of piggy banks and the New England vampire scare! First, learn how piggy banks came to be, from a type of clay alled Pygge that was used to make money jars, to the pacific islands and boar-shaped pottery, to the innovation of the rubber plug. The piggy bank ranges far and wide! Then, learn about …

John Serpico joins us to talk about the insane history of the papal interregnum. Now we know that talking about the period between the death of one pope and the election of the next sounds boring, but it was hog wild. When the old pope died, all the prisoners in vatican city were released, and the government was non-existent until a new pope was el…

Special guest Garth Goldwater joins us this week to talk about the Goat Man. Who was the goat man you ask? A shadowy figure in the night, dressed in a costume designed to strike terror into the hearts of criminals? A horrifying half-man half-ungulate abomination? A man who drove an iron cart pulled by goats, preaching about goat power for almost a …

Today we're talking about the Year Without a Summer and the disaster that was 1904 Olympic Games.The year was 1816. A series of volcanic eruptions had spewed dust into the atmosphere, lowering GLOBAL temperatures and leaving a blood-red fog in the sky. Crops failed, people died, and... Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein?!? Sure it was a disaster, but t…

Happy new year all! We return with two tales of weird history - first, Max reveals his research into the pipe smoking culture of Victorian England, with stops along the way to revel in the crazy things that we've done with and to tobacco over the ages. From Reeking Gallants to city-sized snuff factories, prepare to get weird. Then, Noel takes us th…

We're taking xmas off! We hope that you're having a wonderful holiday and that we can help you distract yourself from your families with the re-cast of one of our favorite episodes. We'll be back with new stuff in 2020, see you then! This episode features guest host David Fouhy subbing in for Noel.We dive into Saturnalia: a Roman festival of rebirt…

Choo Choo! All aboard the Jackie express to the history of the Transcontinental Railroad! Learn abou tthe train barons and their shitty tricks to bilk as much money as they could from connecting up America! Marvel at how poorly they treated their workers! Laugh as they eventually eat (a little) shit when the time comes to join up both side of this …

When we recorded this episode Max and Jackie were full of flu, so we handed the reins off to Noel to get deep in the weeds on the history of the film "Apocalypse Now!" Tune in to listen to the doomed history of this classic film, interspersed with incredibly loopy, feverish tangents from the rest of us. It's a hell of a story, filled with stunt cor…

We're back, with special guest Rob Mulligan!First, Rob takes us through the Revolution Summer of DC hardcore Punk music, and all the punk rockers that made it happen. Learn who started the straightedge movement, and why? Just why is it called moshing? And just how much do punks hate Ronald Reagan (a lot). These questions and many more, including so…

It’s just Max and Noel today, since Jackie is off at an improv festival in Vermont, so brace yourself for a whole bunch of historical shitposting. First, Noel gets into how the Dutch defended themselves against the Spanish invasion at the beginning of the 80 years war, by employing their one natural hazard – being … Continue reading "51 – Dutch Def…

It’s a Max-free episode today so join Jackie and Noel for the stories of Marie-Antione Careme, the world’s first celebrity chef who built towering palaces of pastry during the Napoleonic Era, wrote a bestselling cookbook that came in second only to THE BIBLE, and did we mention he was Napoleon’s personal chef? Then, Noel dives … Continue reading "E…

So this episode’s normally scheduled recording fell on the 4th of July, and since we were all attending the same bbq, we decided to interview our history nerd friends there about whatever story about America they wanted to share. What we failed to take into account was that everyone had been drinking. What we ended … Continue reading "Fourth of Jul…

Today our friend Micheal E fills in for Noel as they bring us the tale of Hussaria, the nation-state that controlled European roads, and it’s great debate about what should be it’s official state religion. Hussaria was caught between larger powers trying to invade, and it sought help through the system of religious alliance available … Continue rea…

This week we’re diving into the life of fht eone and only Florence Nightingale, before we hold our noses for the Great Cheese War of 1936. You’ve probably heard of Florence Nightingale, “The Lad of the Lamp” who brough succor to soldiers in the Crimean war, but what does that mean, really? Does it mean … Continue reading "48- Nightingale, Cheese Wa…

Today we bring you the story of how Ranjit Singh, the maharajah of the punjab, took the Koh-i-Noor diamond from Shah Shuja, the deposed King of Afghanistan – a story of treachery, intrigue and food fights. Then it’s time for the story of the great Seattle regrading project, that took a city of seven hills … Continue reading "47 – Ranjit Singh & the…

Today’s episode has our first LISTENER SUBMITTED STORY! Sent in by Brother Trebius on twitter, tune in for the tale of Ada Blackjack, the lone survivor of a doomed arctic expedition. Ada, a seamstress who joined the expedition so that she would have money to pay for her son’s tuberculosis treatment, was untrained in survival … Continue reading "46 …

On today’s episode Noel is finally back! He brings us a story from his travels about how whiskey used to be cut with all sorts of stuff back before regulations got passed down. What kind of stuff you ask? How do you like tobacco, ethanol, and rat poison in your whiskey? No? But it gives … Continue reading "45- Bottled in Bond, Cabeza de Vaca"…

This episode, our friend Amancio Lopes joins us again to talk about Elizabeth Bathory! Elizabeth was a Hungarian noblewoman with a troubled past who, depending on who you believe, killed over 600 people or as few as 30. Which is still A LOT OF MURDER. Maybe she was troubled by the violence she saw in … Continue reading "ep 44 – Elizabeth Bathory, N…

Today we’re talking about legendary lawman Bass Reeves and legendary highwaywoman Katherine Ferrers. Which we swear we didn’t plan.Por Max, Jackie and Noel

Ho ho ho it’s a live show! Join us at the Democracy Center as we talk the history of the Barbershop Pole, which we guarantee involves a lot less singing than you think! Then, we dive into the Great Seattle Fire, a comedy of mishaps that burned down way more than it possibly should have.Por Max, Jackie and Noel

It’s Black History Month so today we’re talking about two black men who made their mark on history. First, we talk about Le Chevalier de Saint Georges aka Joseph Bologne, a french composer, duelist and war hero. Born the son of a slave and a nobleman, Joseph quickly made a name for himself in Parisian … Continue reading "Ep 41 – Chevalier de Saint …

We talk the Glass Delusion and about an expedition that the US almost backed to the CENTER OF THE EARTH today. The Glass Delusion was a mental illness from the 1400s-1800s where the sufferer believed themselves to be made out of glass, liable to shatter at the slightest touch. King Charles III was the firstt … Continue reading "Ep 40 – Glass Delusi…

This episode we talk about John Murray Spear, an abolitionist, pacifist, prison reformer and also the preacher who tried to build a robot jesus. What do you mean, burying the lede? The dude lived an excellent life for justice and deserves to be remembered as more than a man who created a giant automaton out … Continue reading "Ep 39 – New Motive Po…

There’s a content warning on this episode – both of the stories this week go to some very dark places. This week we talk about the mutiny of the company ship Batavia. This Dutch East India Corporation trading boat underwent a mutiny, a shipwreck, a lord of the flies situation and a daring seige all … Continue reading "Ep 38 – Batavia Mutiny, Queen …

The gang is back together! We start with the story of John Batman, co-founder of Melbourne, capturer of cannibals, and genocidal asshole. This dude may share a name with the iconic superhero, but the stuff he did was in no way heroic (except capturing a known cannibal, we’ll give him props for that). An important … Continue reading "Ep 37 – John Ba…

This episode features guest host David Fouhy subbing in for Noel. We dive into Saturnalia: a Roman festival of rebirth that if you squint at it looks an awful lot like xmas, if xmas was way cooler and involved making servants into princes for a week. There were gifts of wax, feasting, dancing and the … Continue reading "Ep 36- Saturnalia, Gregor Ma…

We go LIVE at the Cambridge YWCA. You know how nowadays we joke about there being a fashion police? Well back in the 1920s, there wasn’t so much a fashion police as there was a riot over wearing the wrong hat for the season. And it wasn’t a small one either, literally thousands of people … Continue reading "Ep 35 LIVE Straw Hat Riots, Fastest Surge…

On our first episode as part of the Make Fun Network, we’re joined by Marc Campasano, a very funny man and actual historian! He tells us all about the insanity around American voting from before voting was anonymous. People used to expect you to not only announce our vote, but to take whatever ballot a … Continue reading "ep 34 – Australian Ballot,…

Join us and guest host Bibek as we learn about some of our most recent history yet with the stories of Steve Bradbury and Margaret Knight. First, Bibek regales us with the tale of how the phrase “do a Bradbury” came to be. It involves Australian speed-skating, terrible collisions and at least one frozen sausage … Continue reading "Ep 33- Doing a Br…

Nakahama Manjiro was a fisherman who became a samurai after being shipwrecked, rescued, adopted, hired onto a whaling crew, elected as first mate, finding gold, sailing a steamship, building a whaling boat, being imprisoned, and reuniting with his mother. And his story doesn’t end there! He taught English to Japanese nobles, translated systems of n…

This week we’re talking about the U.S. Camel Corps. Back before the Civil War, several US Senators thought it would be a great idea to bring in a bunch of camels as pack animals to help settle the west. Unlike so many of our stories of importing foreign animals, it turns out that camels were a … Continue reading "Ep 31 – US Camel Corps, Mrs Satan"…

This episode we talk about two old-timey religions that you might not have heard of! First up we talk about James Strang and his Strangites. An offshoot of the Mormon church, the Strangites had some surprisingly progressive politics (for the time), and they were led by a man who seemed to have serious inferiority complex, … Continue reading "Ep 30 …

Do you know what cochineal is? Neither did most of Europe in the 1700s! But that didn’t keep them from using it to make the finest, most expensive red dyes in the world! But people needed to know, and one mand thought he knew the truth, What’s more, he figured he could win a bet … Continue reading "Ep 29 – Red Dye Bet, Animal Jobs"…

We’re back! Have you ever looked at a match and been like “wow! I bet there’s a long road that this went down to be so useful!” OF COURSE YOU HAVE. Well now you can learn! From ancient Chinese fire sticks to matchgirl strikes over phossy jaw, we have it all! Plus, just so many … Continue reading "Ep 28 – Matches, Typhoid Mary"…

This episode we talk about Charles Hatfield, the famous American rainmaker at large, known for climbing up a ladder to burn chemicals so as to ANGER THE SKY enough to make it rain. That’s my interpretation and I’m sticking to it. We find out about his life, his work, his policies and the times that … Continue reading "Ep 27 – Moisture Accelerator, …

It’s another Max and Kate mini-episode! Do you know the farthest north the Confederacy attacked? Go on, guess. Did you guess Vermont? Coming over the border from Canada? To rob banks? While drunk? You did? Dang, that’s a heck of a guess. Well, I guess there’s no point now in telling you about how they … Continue reading "25- Civil War Bank Robbery,…

Guest host Chloe Zwaicher joins us to talk about the Dancing Plague of 1518. But first, we learn spooky secrets about the first subway, built by Alfred Eli Beech that had to be kept from the nefarious Boss Tweed. Finally, Noel tells us all about Charles Domery, the hungriest man in history. You might be … Continue reading "24 – Secret Subway, Danci…

It’s our first live show! At the democracy center, live in front of 50 strangers, we talk about the weird, smelly origins of Lapsang Souchong and about how the North American European Starling were imported to the states and immediately got out of hand. A million thanks to Improv History and the Democracry Center for … Continue reading "LIVE! Tea B…

This week Noel is on vacation so our friend Hsui joins us to talk about the Opium Wars, one of the many terrible things that Britain did to China. Also this episode, a 300-year scam on the possible descendents of Francis Drake, and a cool historical appliance that is also a dog! Francis Drake Scam … Continue reading "Ep 23 Francis Drake Scam, Opium…

This week we take a trip back to the 1800s for a tale of the escape of former slave Lewis Williams with what I would call “scooby-doo techniques.” Then it’s into the history and practice of building triumphal arcs out of bread in a small Italian town. Finally, we check out the Hunter-Dunbar expedition through … Continue reading "Ep 22 – Escape Swit…

This week: We learn about the aquatic escapades of some of America’s presidents, tell the tale of Mary Anning, self-taught seashore fossil hunter, and find out about how you can make violins from the floorboards of old buildings with Sam Stochek, violin-maker extraordinaire! Sorry for the delay, tea and computers do not mix.…

This week, we talk about Simeon Stylites, the 5th century monk who lived on top of a pillar, about the United States’ weird forays into entomological warfare with hundreds of thousands of mosquitoes and fleas dropped via airplane, and about Carrie A Nation, the infamous prohibitionist who would smash up bars with a hatchet. Talking … Continue readi…

We talk about Bo Nash, the fashionable “king” of the city of Bath in the 1800s, and his terrible gambling problems. Then, we get into the Inlands Customs Line of India and the 1200+ mile long hedge that was grown to protect it. Finally, we get into the Surrender of Guam, and how the comedy … Continue reading "Ep 19 – King of Bath, Great Hedge of In…

In this episode, we talk about the apocryphal sausage duel of Otto Von Bismark, the incredibly violent precursor to soccer known as the Florentine Kick-Game, and about the Flying Santas that brought Christmas to children who live in lighthouses. This week’s what if they met: Santa Blood Sport Sausage Duel at 2:07 Florentine Kick-Game – … Continue r…

Happy new year! For our first episode of 2018 we’re covering Medieval Spice Diets – how they balanced humors by spicing food in certain ways, and then it’s onto Operation Mincemeat – a British operation from WWII that fed false info to the Germans in a decidedly unscrupulous way.Por Max, Jackie and Noel

This week, we talk about how the US Government poisoned alcohol during prohibition to discourage drinking, about how a unit of actors and set designers called the Ghost Army pulled the wool over the Nazis eyes in WWII, and about how the Golden Horde of the Mongols used plague-ridden corpses to beseige the city of … Continue reading "Ep 16- Prohibit…

Welcome back! This is part 2 of episode 15, featuring special Guest Matthew Lewis of the Heretical Historians talking about the crazier parts of the Bolshevik Revolution and Max talking about the incredibly sad Children’s Crusades.Por Max, Jackie and Noel

We had to split this week’s episode into two parts to get it up. This is part one, where we introduce ourselves and talk about Lady Ching Shih, one of history’s most successful pirates. Joining us this week is Matt Lewis from Heretical Historians, who will be talking about the Bolshevik Revolution after the break.…

In this episode, we talk about the practice of putting animals on trial in the Middle Ages, how Holland came to need dikes and sluices to keep from flooding, and how chewing gum came to the United States (hint: our old pal Santa Ana is involved). Plus, we debut a new segment on historical clothing! … Continue reading "ep 14 – Animal Trials, Sinking…