Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
Day Drinkers (Sort of) Helped Stop Cholera in London
Dr. Jon Snow -- no relation to the guy from A Song of Ice and Fire -- was in a pickle. Cholera was ravaging London, particularly in the Soho area, an…
4 years ago
The Much-Maligned Reign of Swedish Queen Maria Eleonora
We often assume wealth can solve everything, but unfortunately that's not the case -- and there are few better examples of this than the life of Mari…
4 years ago
Weird Ways People Used to Communicate, Part II: Smoke Signals and Bottled Messages
People these days are, for better or worse, increasingly accustomed to living in an area of constant communication. But how did people communicate ov…
4 years ago
Weird Ways People Used to Communicate, Part I: Only a Pigeon Away
People these days are, for better or worse, increasingly accustomed to living in an area of constant communication. But how did people communicate ov…
4 years ago
That Time A Dead Guy Won an Olympic Medal
In his heyday, the story goes, Arrhichion of Phigalia was a renowned pankration champion, a brutal sport of the ancient Olympics. But he was getting …
4 years ago
Julia Barnett Rice Waged an Elitist War on Noise
If you, like the majority of humans alive today, live in a city, you're more than familiar with noise -- sirens, construction, traffic and more. In t…
4 years ago
Ridiculous History Presents: A History of "Adult" Toys, Part 2
While it's a taboo subject in the modern day, it turns out people have been improvising ways to pleasure themselves since, well, the dawn of history.…
4 years ago
Ridiculous History Presents: A History of "Adult" Toys, Part 1
While it's a taboo subject in the modern day, it turns out people have been improvising ways to pleasure themselves since, well, the dawn of history.…
4 years ago
The Cobra Effect, Part 2: Four Pests and a Disastrous Success
The Cobra Effect - a particularly extreme form of unintended consequences - isn't limited to India and Vietnam. In China, the technically successful …
4 years ago
The Cobra Effect, Part 1: Snakes, Rats, and Unintended Consequences
Back in the days of the British Raj, colonial leaders had a problem: Delhi was overrun with snakes. And not just any snakes -- cobras. These dangerou…
4 years, 1 month ago