The Grim Christmas Folklore of Johnny Ace, with Jake Brennan
While the career of rhythm-and-blues vocalist Johnny Ace was short, he left a huge mark on the music world. Up until Christmas Day of 1954, Ace seemed set to reach genuine crossover success in pop mus...
16 Dec 202541min
CLASSIC: How the Monopoly Board Game Became a World War II Escape Kit
Ben, Noel and Max return with this week's Classic episode! Monopoly is a pretty divisive game, and people tend to either love it or hate it. However, for hundreds of Allied POWs captured during World ...
13 Dec 202529min
The Deliciously Ridiculous History of Fruitcakes
Let's be honest. If you live in the United States, you probably think fruitcake is ridiculous. It's like the MRE of Christmas, passed around from one family to the next. But what makes it so resilient...
11 Dec 202539min
That Time the US Government Brainwashed America into DIY Bomb Shelters
Picture this: it's just after World War II -- the world knows nuclear weapons can end civilization. So, how can a government help the public feel safe? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into ...
9 Dec 202539min
CLASSIC: Idiomatic For The People, Part I
Language is beautiful and, in many cases, continually evolving. As a result, we end up with hundreds of strange idioms and figures of speech that we use on a daily basis, with little to no understandi...
6 Dec 20251h 4min
Spontaneous Human Combustion: A Bizarre Controversy
Can people really just, for no discernable reason, catch on fire? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the centuries old folklore and investigations of a phenomenon known as "spontaneous huma...
4 Dec 202531min
IP, Part Three: A Copyright for Everyone!
As Ben, Noel and Max close out another year of Ridiculous History, they return to the patently baffling world of intellectual property. In part three of this series, the guys finally tackle one of the...
2 Dec 202539min
CLASSIC: Was there a real-life Rapunzel?
Most people in the West are familiar with the old Rapunzel fairy tale -- a beautiful princess is confined to a tower until a prince, captivated by her beauty, uses her hair as a ladder and comes to he...
29 Nov 202528min
