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French Waiters Once Had to Strike for Their Right to Wear Mustaches
If you're going for controversial facial hair, there's not much that can top the hirsute hot take known as the mustache. While most people can generally do whatever they want with their facial today,…
Published on 6 years ago
The Honey Trap: Sex in Espionage Throughout History
Sure, love at first sight may be a real thing -- but, occasionally, there's an ulterior motive involved. Join the guys as they explore the bizarre practice known as the Honey Trap, and why spies thro…
Published on 6 years ago
The Weird, Weird History of Shipping: Part 2
How far did the components of your phone travel to land in the palm of your hand? Nowadays, even the most mundane items can come from half a world away. This wasn't always the case -- join the guys a…
Published on 6 years ago
The Weird, Weird History of Shipping: Part 1
How far did the components of your phone travel to land in the palm of your hand? Nowadays, even the most mundane items can come from half a world away. This wasn't always the case -- join the guys a…
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago
Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Who Called Out the Hypocrisy of Slavery, Part 2
As Benjamin Lay continued his one-man protest against the hypocrisy of slavery in the Quaker community, he inspired some folks and frustrated others (primarily the elders of his community) with his i…
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago
Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Who Called Out the Hypocrisy of Slavery, Part 1
Nowadays, people often look back on U.S. Quakers as staunch abolitionists, but this wasn't always the case. In fact, when the Quakers first arrived on the continent they, like many other colonists, o…
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago
How Bertha Heyman Conned Her Way Into Show Business
Bertha Heyman was a notorious con artist with a robust rap sheet and a penchant for bilking well-to-do, otherwise shrewd men. Listen in to learn how Bertha's life of crime led her, oddly enough, into…
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago
That Time Germany Got Obsessed With Polar Bear Photos
When French photo collector Jean-Marie Donat stumbled upon his first vintage picture of a German dressed as a polar bear, he initially thought it was just an odd historical anomaly -- at least, that …
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago
Rose Mackenberg: Houdini's Ghostbuster
While the papers of the time relegated Rose Mackenberg to a sidekick role as the "girl detective" working with famed skeptic and escape artist Harry Houdini, this spiritualist-turned-spook-spy spent …
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago
Science and Spiritualism: Why were ghost stories so popular in the 1800s?
Nowadays western historians tend to regard the scientific progress of the 19th century as a linear, indelible line from one breakthrough to the next. Yet these astonishing innovations in science occu…
Published on 6 years, 1 month ago