That Time Alexander Hamilton's Great-Grandson Was Front-Page News for Years
The whole thing began for Bill Shaffer with a fountain. Granted, the fountain is one of the few remaining examples of its kind in Manhattan and was designed by the team behind Grand Central Station. But who knew that reading a plaque one night would lead to the discovery of a half-forgotten scandal involving Alexander Hamilton's great-grandson, a sex worker, a murder, and two years of lurid headlines? That's the story that Shaffer told in his recent book The Scandalous Hamiltons: A Gilded Age Grifter, a Founding Father's Disgraced Descendant, and a Trial at the Dawn of Tabloid Journalism. He joins Mark to discuss the writing process, the "Wait, how has no one told this story yet?" reaction throughout his research, and why his bombshell discovery remains shrouded in mystery. Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Scandalous-Hamiltons-Disgraced-Descendant-Journalism-ebook/dp/B09KP29JG9/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=scandalous+hamiltons&qid=1661538789&sr=8-1 Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music
30 Aug 202222min
That Time They Called the Cavalry on WWI Vets
The American veterans of the Great War just wanted that bonus the United States had promised them a little bit early. Guaranteed to pay out in 1945, a little thing called the Great Depression had them all impatient to cash it in 12 years early—so the Bonus Army traveled to Washington, D.C., to make their case. Herbert Hoover had quite enough of Hoovervilles, however, and somewhere along the way, Douglas MacArthur swooped in with the U.S. Cavalry and a tank or four to clear out the marchers' campsite. The U.S. was unprepared to care for its veterans? How shocking! Kasey walks Mark through this underreported slice of American history that may have inadvertently helped lead to Roosevelt's victory (although he also vetoed the bill lol). Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music
23 Aug 202239min
That Time Zsa Zsa Gabor Slapped a Cop
It was the slap heard around the world. No, not the Oscars 2022. We're talking Los Angeles 1989 when Zsa Zsa Gabor was pulled over for expired plates and ended up embroiled in a three-week trial that made Depp v Heard look boring. How did the Hungarian personality wind up in an El Segundo jail doing clerical work? Why was the nation so transfixed by the story of a woman slapping a police officer? And why didn't we ever get the Zsa Zsa memoir written from her dog's point of view? Mark asks all of these questions and only answers a few of them in this week's episode. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music
19 Aug 202228min
That Time Designing Women Invented Drama
Designing Women was hardly the first show to feature clashes between performers and producers (go read about All in the Family some time). But the very public war between creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and breakout star Delta Burke included Emmy nominations, fat shaming, and a secret Barbara Walters special that no one involved with Designing Women knew Delta had filmed until it aired. Dixie Carter got dragged into the fray along the way, while Annie Potts and Jean Smart wisely stayed out of it. Join us as Mark walks Kasey through the history of Designing Women, why Nacogdoches is a key part of his favorite joke, and what Dixie Carter had to say in a TV Guide cover story meant to do damage control. And yes, Mark bought a copy on eBay just for this episode. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music
16 Aug 202240min
That Time Martha Mitchell Opened Her Mouth
We're living in a golden age of Martha Mitchell content, and we couldn't be more delighted. Fresh off the success of Starz's limited series Gaslit, Kasey walks Mark through the life and scandals of our favorite Watergate whistleblower, who was discredited as a drunken grotesque by the Nixon administration as she tried to tell everyone who would listen that Nixon and CREEP were involved in the Watergate break-in. From her appearance on Laugh-In (where Lily Tomlin shunned her) to her imprisonment in a California hotel room by bodyguards to the chrysanthemum arrangement anonymously sent to her funeral that proclaimed "Martha Was Right," here is the wild, unlikely story of an Arkansas woman who spoke up, spoke out, and then slipped into semi-obscurity for decades. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music
9 Aug 202237min
That Time We Took a Sümmer Holiday
Not to fear—neither Kasey nor Mark have encountered a career-ruining scandal or a stint in the pokey. (Yet. Everything is always a yet.) What they are doing is taking sümmer off from researching and recording! So, as Judy Garland told her audience at Carnegie Hall, "You can have an intermission. And you can smoke or drink or whatever you do at intermission, and I can't wait to see you again because you're divine." We can't wait to be back in your ears this August! Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music
12 Juli 20221min
That Time John G. Schmitz Begat a Sex Scandal and a Surprisingly Scandalous Child
Political sex scandals are a dime a dozen—although certainly, uber-conservative John G. Schmitz's sex scandal (involving a secret second family) is one of the more tawdry ones. So conservative that even the John Birch Society told him, "Nah, dude, you're too intense," Schmitz's wife was known as the "West Coast Phyllis Schlafly." Their political careers were effectively ended when his secret family was revealed—but that's not the end of the story! Tune in as Kasey walks Mark through what happened and the shocking twist that sees one of the most scandalous tabloid stories of the '90s make a surprise appearance. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUI6fTwkYm8UEv4sLaC9ytw
21 Juni 202221min
That Time Helen Keller Was Accused of Plagiarism
Over the last decade, Helen Keller went from a saint to a hoax—which means the real woman has long been lost under the hagiography and now the TikTok deniers. Among other things: Helen Keller was a devoted socialist who starred in a silent movie about her life and had her eyes replaced with glass ones. But the most telling scandal involving Helen and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, is one that happened when she was 12 years old and newly famous. The story spiraled quickly out of control, becoming national news and resulting in Helen facing a hostile tribunal and eventually succumbing to a nervous breakdown and vowing never again to write fiction. What happened? Why was a 12-year-old subjected to this kind of treatment? And what did Mark Twain have to say about all this? Mark walks us through "The Frost King" debacle. Logo: Jessica Balaschak Music: Caveman of Los Angeles by Party Store Music YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUI6fTwkYm8UEv4sLaC9ytw
14 Juni 202223min
