The Cobra Effect, Part 2: Four Pests and a Disastrous Success
The Cobra Effect - a particularly extreme form of unintended consequences - isn't limited to India and Vietnam. In China, the technically successful Four Pests eradication campaign led to tremendous e...
10 Mar 202241min
The Cobra Effect, Part 1: Snakes, Rats, and Unintended Consequences
Back in the days of the British Raj, colonial leaders had a problem: Delhi was overrun with snakes. And not just any snakes -- cobras. These dangerous death noodles slithered through every nook and cr...
8 Mar 202241min
British Suffragettes Knew Jūjitsu
As activists in the UK fought for the right to vote (and divorce, and inherit land), they ran into increasingly brutal actions on the part of police -- they were beaten, arrested, imprisoned, and even...
4 Mar 202252min
A Tale of Two Hansons: Busting Myths About the 'First' US President
It's no secret that people in the US often tend to mythologize the Founding Fathers -- so it shouldn't come as a surprise that people also, often, claim George Washington wasn't actually the first US ...
2 Mar 202239min
Did Soldiers in World War I Really Team Up to Fight Wolves?
World War I was a bloody, terrifying conflict for everyone involved -- and not just humans. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max accidentally run into deep emotions, going one hundred percent Team Wo...
25 Feb 202243min
Slum Tourists: When Wealthy People Toured Chinatown ‘For Fun’
It’s true — back in the day, wealthy residents of cities from London to Chicago would pay for tours of disadvantaged communities, the same way that you might take your friends to a zoo today. The comm...
23 Feb 202244min
That Time Victorians Treated Seaweed like Pokemon
Europe's Victorian Era was, in many ways, a study in contradiction. While society in general championed independent scientific research, institutions of the day rejected women as members. Seaweed coll...
18 Feb 202251min
Valentine's Day Is So Much Weirder Than We Thought
Valentine's Day is a pretty normal holiday in the US and several other countries, and other parts of the world have similar holidays, focused on appreciating our loved ones. But as Ben, Noel and Max l...
15 Feb 20221h 16min
