077-The Sourdough Expedition
In 1910, four Alaskan gold miners set out to climb Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, to win a two-cent bar bet. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the su...
12 Okt 201533min
076-Get Out of Jail Free
During World War II, the British Secret Service found a surprising way to help Allies in Nazi prisoner-of-war camps: They used doctored Monopoly sets to smuggle in maps, files, compasses, and real mon...
5 Okt 201530min
075-The Sea Devil
Felix von Luckner was a romantic hero of World War I, a dashing nobleman who commanded one of the last sailing ships to fight in war. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll descri...
28 Sep 201535min
074-Charley Parkhurst's Secret
"One-Eyed Charley" Parkhurst drove a stagecoach throughout California during the height of the Gold Rush, rising to the top of a difficult, dangerous, and highly competitive profession at its historic...
21 Sep 201534min
073-The Tichborne Claimant
In 1854, English aristocrat Roger Tichborne disappeared at sea. Twelve years later, a butcher from Wagga Wagga, Australia, claimed he was the long-lost heir. In this week's episode of the Futility Clo...
14 Sep 201534min
072-The Strange Misadventures of Famous Corpses
What do René Descartes, Joseph Haydn, and Oliver Cromwell have in common? All three lost their heads after death. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll run down a list of notabl...
7 Sep 201535min
071-Godless in Missouri
In 1880, freethinking attorney George Walser tried a new experiment in the American heartland -- a community dedicated against Christianity, "the only town of its size in the world without a priest, p...
31 Aug 201533min
070-Sunk by a Whale
In 1820, the Nantucket whaleship Essex was attacked and sunk by an 85-foot sperm whale in the South Pacific, a thousand miles from land. In this episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the s...
24 Aug 201533min
