Weird Courtship Rituals, Part One
Would you whisper sweet nothings to your sweeheart through a six-foot tube with your Puritan grandmother in the room? Would you force feed your children to make them more attractive for a potential gr...
20 Jul 20211h
A Brief History of Underwear
Underwear! Whether we're talking boxers, briefs, loincloths, brassieres or even lingerie, undergarments have a storied history in cultures across the planet. It's a tale touching on everything from sh...
15 Jul 20211h 2min
One Guy Was Certain Telepathic Snails Would Replace Telegraphs
Since before the dawn of recorded history, human beings have been obsessed with talking to each other. This primal impulse inspired French occultist Jacques-Toussaint Benoît to propose a new, global c...
13 Jul 202130min
The Duke of Portland Hated People and Loved Tunnels
We've all had those days where we just need a little solitude, a quiet place away from the clamor and chatter of other people. However, William John Cavensidh-Scott-Bentinck, the 5th Duke of Portland,...
8 Jul 202143min
Where do Lemonade Stands Come From?
Today, most Americans think of lemonade stands with nostalgia. In decades past, this could be an enterprising kid's first brush with the world of business as they set out to make a fortune, one cup at...
7 Jul 202141min
Painless Parker and the Dental Circus
Edgar Parker, later better known as "Painless Parker," wasn't your ordinary dentist. When his first practice was struggling in 1892, he began to think outside of the figurative box, combining dentistr...
1 Jul 202148min
The Rise and Fall of Curative Plane Flights
In the early 1920s, the still-new technology of powered aircraft amazed folks across the planet. People weren't quite sure what this technology could do, so when a plane flight appeared to restore Hen...
29 Jun 202146min
That Time People Paid Rent With Eels
Nowadays, most people pay rent with the currency of their given nation — but for a time in England, your rent might have been paid with eels (yes, literal eels). In today’s episode, Ben, Max and retur...
28 Jun 202148min
