The Weird History Podcast podcast

The Weird History Podcast

No Description

No Description

 

#254

237 A Danger Shared with Bill Lascher

[A Danger Shared: A Journalist’s Glimpses of a Continent at War] (https://www.blacksmithbooks.com/books/a-danger-shared-a-journalists-glimpses-of-a-continent-at-war/) is the latest book from Portland journalist and author Bill Lascher. Bill joined us to talk about WWII in Asia through the eyes of journalist Melville Jacoby, his own connection with Jacoby, and what he learned from going through an archive of images that included Macau, the Philippines, Vietnam, and beyond. Jacoby’s coverage included scenes of everyday life as battle raged on, up-close images of conflict, and the human faces behind a world at war. ... Read more

26 Mar 2024

36 MINS

36:46

26 Mar 2024


#253

236 Piracy in the South China Sea with Rita Chang-Eppig

By all reasonable metrics Shek Yeung, who raided the South China Sea in the early 1800s, is one of the most successful pirates of all time. In her new novel [Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea] (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/deep-as-the-sky-red-as-the-sea-9781639730384/) author Rita Chang-Eppig tells a fictionalized version of the pirate queen’s life, her rise to power, and her relationship with powers both temporal and spiritual. ... Read more

12 May 2023

29 MINS

29:31

12 May 2023


#252

235 Shakespeare Versus Hedgehogs

William Shakespeare seems to have hated hedgehogs. We don’t quite know why, but it could have something to do with how the tiny animal is depicted by the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder. Special Thanks to Jamie Jeffers of [The British History Podcas] (https://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com/) t and Miles Stokes of [Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men] (https://www.xplainthexmen.com/) for providing voicework for this episode. ... Read more

01 Mar 2023

15 MINS

15:48

01 Mar 2023


#251

234 Lupercalia

Before Valentine’s Day, ancient Romans celebrated a festival of fertility in the shadow of the Palatine Hill. Lupercalia was a popular holiday that featured blood, goat sacrifice, and getting whipped by naked guys. ... Read more

13 Feb 2023

14 MINS

14:20

13 Feb 2023


#250

233 The Golden Fortress with Bill Lascher

During the Dust Bowl city officials in Los Angeles, fueled by anti-communist paranoia and xenophobia, were determined to keep migrants out of California. To that end, they dispatched the LAPD to remote border crossing points far outside the city in order to keep out anyone who looked like they were fleeing blight or didn’t have work. Author Bill Lascher spoke with us about his new book [The Golden Fortress] (https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/golden-fortress--the-products-9781641606042.php) , which outlines how in 1936 LA law enforcement went to the far reaches of the Golden State to keep California closed. ... Read more

09 Oct 2022

37 MINS

37:28

09 Oct 2022


#249

232 Navigating the Asian Maritime World with Eric Tagliacozzo

Eric Tagliacozzo is a professor of history at Cornell University, and his new book [In Asian Waters: Oceanic Worlds From Yemen to Yokohama] (https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691146829/in-asian-waters) outlines five centuries of maritime history in the Asian world. In this wide-ranging interview, we discussed how China created trade routes that stretched all the way to Africa’s Swahili coast, the ocean-going history of Vietnam, and the role of consumer goods, piracy, slavery, and religion in the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, Pacific, and beyond. ... Read more

11 Jul 2022

42 MINS

42:58

11 Jul 2022


#248

231 The History of Archaeology with Ann R. Williams

Archaeology has changed considerably over the past century. In this episode, we spoke with Ann R. Williams of National Geographic about the new book Lost Cities Ancient Tombs, significant discoveries from the past century, and what it means to dig up the past. ... Read more

23 Jan 2022

55 MINS

55:18

23 Jan 2022


#247

230 The Adventures of Mussolini’s Corpse

After his death in 1945, Mussolini’s corpse was autopsied and thrown into a pauper’s grave. But, that was just the beginning of the cadaver’s posthumous career. Eventually the body was stolen by neofascists, hidden away for over a decade, and used as a political bargaining chip in postwar Italy. ... Read more

08 Nov 2021

11 MINS

11:47

08 Nov 2021


#246

229 Douglas Wolk on All of the Marvels

The Marvel Universe is massive. Marvel comics go back well over half a century, and span thousands upon thousands of pages. Reading all of them would be a Herculean undertaking. And one man, Douglas Wolk, did exactly that, and wrote a book about it. We talked his new release [All of the Marvels] (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549063/all-of-the-marvels-by-douglas-wolk/) , and about how one of the most well-known fictional universes in the world has dealt with real-world history, like war, civil rights, crime, AIDS, Watergate, and more. ... Read more

12 Oct 2021

59 MINS

59:03

12 Oct 2021


#245

228 The Mustache Strike

In 1907 French waiters went on strike, and won the right to wear facial hair. ... Read more

06 Sep 2021

17 MINS

17:31

06 Sep 2021


#244

227 The Rasputin Disclaimer

Nearly every English-language movie has a disclaimer in the credits that says something like “This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.” Obviously this isn’t true. Historical epics, biopics, and other movies are clearly based on real people. Why does this disclaimer pretend otherwise? The answer, it turns out, has a lot to do with Rasputin. ... Read more

11 Aug 2021

22 MINS

22:29

11 Aug 2021


#243

August 2021 Announcement

No Description ... Read more

02 Aug 2021

02 MINS

02:38

02 Aug 2021


#242

226 Sara and Jack Gorman on Denying to the Grave

Covid-19 has killed and sickened hundreds of thousands of people, and transformed our economy, how we work, and how we relate to each other. Even in the midst of this world-historic crisis, though, people deny it. Conspiracy theorists and naysayers claim covid is a hoax, and others refuse to get vaccinated for a variety of pseudoscientific reasons. This denialism isn’t new. During past crisis, such as the AIDS pandemic, plenty of conspiracy theorists claimed that it wasn’t real, or that HIV didn’t cause AIDS, and vaccine denialism has a long, horrible pedigree. Sara and Jack Gorman are the authors of Denying to the Grave, which gets into why unscientific ideas get so popular, and how we can more effectively engage with people who don’t engage with facts or evidence, even when it’s all around them. ... Read more

15 Jul 2021

32 MINS

32:02

15 Jul 2021


#241

225 Los San Patricios

The Mexican-American War was not fought for good reasons. The war was one of imperial and expansionist ambition and territorial expansion, and even in the 1840s many Americans at the time knew they were on the wrong side of history. Among the Americans who knew that the U.S. probably shouldn’t wage a war of aggression on its neighbor were a battalion of mostly Irish immigrants who became known as Saint Patrick’s Battalion. They defected from the American to Mexican side of the conflict, battled against the American invaders, and are now remembered as heroes in both Mexico and Ireland. ... Read more

17 Mar 2021

19 MINS

19:57

17 Mar 2021