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New Providence: That Time Pirates Had A Government
The so-called Golden Age of Piracy was a time of lawless, terrifying, at-times amazing and objectively ridiculous history. In today's episode, Ben, N…
2 years, 11 months ago
Tons of People Married Their First Cousins
What do Albert Einstein, Jesse James and Saddam Hussein have in common? Like many notable figures throughout history, these men ended up marrying the…
2 years, 11 months ago
Lost Media, Part 2: The Magnificent Ambersons
True story: Orson Welles has a film no one will ever see. In the second part of this continuing series, the guys explore "The Magnificent Ambersons,"…
2 years, 11 months ago
The Ridiculous History of "Snake Oil"
Nowadays, "snake oil" usually means a fake medicine or treatment that claims -- with no evidence -- to cure any number of medical conditions. But whe…
2 years, 11 months ago
Badass of the Week, Part 2: Rise of the Kung Fu Werewolf
Everyone can agree the story of T'ai Djin is amazing -- he was born afflicted with a rare genetic condition that made him look like a werewolf, was a…
3 years ago
Badass of the Week, Part 1: An Origin Story
What makes an historical figure larger than life? Since 2004, author and historian Ben Thompson has been writing about the most badass people in hist…
3 years ago
That Time Abe Lincoln Trolled His Way Into a Real-life Duel
In 1842, Abraham Lincoln wrote an article clowning a guy named James Shields. Although the article was satirical, and attributed to a made-up author,…
3 years ago
The Creation of (and Backlash Against) Father's Day
With another Father's Day in the books, Ben, Noel and Max hit the new studio for the first time, exploring the history of this paternal partner to th…
3 years ago
Colorado's Ridiculous, Disturbingly Corrupt 1904 Election, Part Two: Everyone Resigns
What happens when both candidates in a gubernatorial election are cartoonishly corrupt? That's the question Colorado wrestled with back in 1904 -- in…
3 years ago
Colorado's Ridiculous, Disturbingly Corrupt 1904 Election, Part One: Let's Jump Off The Train
Elections are somewhere between sports and religions for the United States. It seems that, each and every time, people have problems with the officia…
3 years ago