Professor Buzzkill History Podcast

Did President Harry Truman coin the phrase, "The Buck Stops Here"? Did he use the quote as a way to define his Presidency? And what does the phrase "I'm from Missouri" have to do with it? It's all mor...

1 Mai 20175min

What were "medieval indulgences"? Were they a way for rich people to buy their way into heaven, and help corrupt priests to line their own pockets at the same time? "Indulgences" aren't mentioned in t...

26 Apr 201746min

Most people believe they know what Adolf Hitler's plans for a post-war world would be -- German domination. After all, didn't he say, "Today Germany, Tomorrow the World"? Well, Hitler certainly expres...

24 Apr 20174min

What do the letters “S.O.S.” actually stand for? “Save Our Ship”? “Save Our Souls”? And why were those three letters chosen? The Professor explains this famous quote, and also the myth that it was fir...

10 Apr 20173min

The phrase and sentiment, "A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song," is one of the best-known expressions of the intrinsic nature of art and beauty. It has been qu...

3 Apr 20175min

Was the Nazi high command, including Hitler, soaked in hard drug use? Over the course of the war, Hitler became increasingly dependent on injections of a cocktail of drug (including a form of heroin) ...

29 Mar 20171h 4min

In times of political turmoil and rhetorical strife, commentators sometimes wheel out this old "quote" by the French philosopher and Enlightenment writer, Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but ...

27 Mar 20173min

The number of different images and different sayings or phrases printed on t-shirts exploded in the early 70s. And one of the most striking was the t-shirt from the women’s rights movement which said,...

13 Mar 20174min