The Venetian Doge Condemned in Memory
Along the walls of the Chamber of the Great Council in the Doge's Palace in Venice, there are portraits—one after another—of the Republic's doges. Each man has his likeness, and a description of some ...
6 Feb 202439min
Introducing: Very Special Episodes
On Very Special Episodes, we tell one incredible story each week. Stranger-than-fiction tales about normal people in extraordinary situations. Stories that make you say, “this should be a movie.” Foll...
1 Feb 20242min
Pompey and the Prince
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau is best known for something that he accomplished as an infant -- traveling with his mother, Sacagawea, and Lewis and Clark with the Corps of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean. B...
30 Jan 202433min
The Contradictions and Controversies of Marc de Montifaud
In the late 19th century, French writer Marc de Montifaud was sentenced to prison for indecency in his work. But rather than being sent to the rather cushy location for literary criminals, he was sent...
23 Jan 202439min
John Dee's Language of the Angels
Alchemist, magician, astronomer, astrologer - John Dee served as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, interpreting the stars for her. And when a comet crossed the sky, he told her that it portended the bi...
16 Jan 202429min
"Eat Him If You Like"
CW: Gore, cannibalism. The village of Hautefaye was a sleepy town in France best known for a local fair. But in the summer of 1870, gripped by paranoia and political anger, the villagers turned on a ...
9 Jan 202435min
How Pope Joan Became the High Priestess
According to legend, around 1100, a woman disguised herself as a man and was unanimously elected Pope. The ruse lasted until she gave birth while riding her horse through the streets of Rome. The stor...
2 Jan 202446min
William the Conqueror, Christmas King
William the Conqueror is considered the first King of England. But the road to his victory at the Battle of Hastings was strange and challenging, and it would take more than a coronation to get Englan...
26 Des 202330min
