Pablo Fanque's Fair
The Victorian age offered few opportunities for Black-Britons, making Pablo Fanque's circus all the more impressive. Born William Darby, he was a talented equestrian performer, acrobat and show-runner...
20 Feb 201338min
Okichi, the Tragic Geisha
Okichi's story is filled with embellishment and hazy details. Sent to serve Townsend Harris, the first U.S. Consul to Japan, she was shunned after Harris left. Yet Okichi is now honored with an annual...
18 Feb 201333min
Walter Potter's Wild and Wonderful Taxidermy
By the time he was 19, Potter had preserved and mounted 98 birds. In 1880, his work had grown to a point where it had to be moved to a building, which became his museum. Potter's museum collection con...
13 Feb 201340min
The Fantastic Fitzgeralds
A week after releasing his debut novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald married Southern Belle Zelda Sayre. But Fitzgerald's drinking and Zelda's mental state led to fights, debt and writers' block. Join Sarah an...
11 Feb 201354min
Nikola Tesla and the War of Currents Revisited: Part 2
By 1887, Nikola Tesla secured seven patents for components of his alternating current system. In 1888, George Westinghouse offered to hire Tesla to develop the AC system, and that's when the Current W...
6 Feb 201327min
Nikola Tesla and the War of Currents Revisited: Part 1
In 1857 Nikola Tesla began work on direct current motor issues. In 1884, he approached Thomas Edison with ideas about alternating current, but Edison championed direct current. Their disagreement led ...
4 Feb 201316min
The Booth Conspiracy
Most people know the story of President Lincoln's assassination, but what happened afterward? In this podcast, we cover John Wilkes Booth's escape, his co-conspirators' attacks against other officials...
30 Jan 201327min
Who is D.B. Cooper?
In 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305. He received a ransom of $200,000 -- and then jumped out in midair. Over the years, the FBI has searched for Coo...
28 Jan 201318min
