62: Pretendians and Rube Waddell
This week we deep dive into the strange phenomenon of people who falsely claim to be descended from Native American or First Nation ancestors and the absolutely unhinged on and off field antics of Bas...
26 Mar 20251h 20min
61: Legend of Siavash and State of Jefferson
It's Nowruz again so this week we deep dive into how the legend of Siavash may have influenced Persians to jump over fire on Red Wednesday and how a proposed U.S. state would span the southern Oregon ...
19 Mar 20251h 34min
60: Supermarket Sweep, Beetle Beer Bottle Sex, and Fake Filipino Vampires of the CIA
This week we're joined by special guest J. L. Westover as we deep dive into the mechanics of a capitalist gameshow of yesteryear, how Australian jewel beetles mistakenly bang discarded beer bottles, a...
12 Mar 20251h 32min
59: Stone of Destiny Heist pt. 2 and Richard Parkers at Sea
This week we conclude the Stone of Destiny heist and deep dive into the various stories of ship boys named Richard Parker who were eaten at sea. A listener email tells us about the time the UK Royal A...
5 Mar 20251h 35min
58: Konami Code Origins and Stone of Destiny Heist pt. 1
This week we deep dive into how a shortcut meant to save time while programming spawned a love affair with cheat codes and how a group of college students decided to steal an ancient symbol of Scottis...
26 Feb 20251h 13min
57: Diary of The Shah and More Spite Houses
This week we deep dive into Naser al-Din Shah Qajar's published diary of his 1873 European tour and learn about bigger and better houses of spite. A listener email reveals how a sexy Abe Lincoln statu...
19 Feb 20251h 21min
56: Crocker Spite House and John Orr
This week we deep dive into how Billionaire James Crocker built a fence around a German immigrant's home in San Francisco and how legendary arson investigator John Orr's passion project doubled as a c...
12 Feb 20251h 24min
55: Big Jim O’Leary and Mark Twain vs USPS
This week we learn how the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 gave birth to the city's most honest gambler and how Mark Twain's feud with the United States Postal Service lasted a lifetime. A listener email t...
5 Feb 20251h 26min
