Professor Buzzkill History Podcast

Almost nothing about Sir Walter Raleigh is true, or at the very least it’s all been highly exaggerated. He didn’t lay his cloak down for Queen Elizabeth, and he didn’t introduce potatoes and tobacco t...

17 Sep 20152min

The Buzzkill has landed! Right in the heart of London, in Parliament Square. We interview Dr. Caroline Shenton, from the Parliamentary Archives, about myths surrounding the Houses of Parliament. We br...

15 Sep 201542min

Did the Roman emperor Nero really fiddle while his glorious city of Rome burned? Politicians may often be bad guys, Buzzkillers, but there’s no good evidence for this level of mania in old Nero. It’s ...

10 Sep 20152min

One of the most most popular history exercises in elementary schools these days is to have students learn about Quilt Codes and the Underground Railroad and make some designs themselves. Students are ...

3 Sep 20154min

Find any fraternity member who’s also a freshman history major. Get him drunk, and he’ll start reeling off myths like crazy. One of them will probably be that Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia (1...

27 Aug 20151min

Inside Churchill’s Brain The Literary Churchill, Buzzkillers! We finally get to hear what was going on inside the old bulldog’s head. Prof Jonathan Rose schools us on how Churchill’s reading, writin...

25 Aug 201534min

You’ve probably always seen Napoleon depicted as a shorty. And you may have heard that his ambition was driven by a classic “short man’s complex.” Alas, it’s not true. At least not by his measured hei...

20 Aug 20151min

Here's an encore presentation of Episode 9 - Rosa Parks. Meek and mild Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 1950s Alabama because she was just tired after a long day at work. ...

18 Aug 201534min