CLASSIC: Weird People Who Built Weird Things
Simeon Ellerton spent years building a house out of stones he found and carried home, one by one. Rejected by his one true love, Edward Leeskalnin spent decades erecting a bizarre monument for her, bu...
13 Aug 202436min
CLASSIC: What was the West Point Eggnog Riot?
Today the United States Military Academy at West Point is known as one the country's top-notch training institutions, but back in 1826 it was home to a night of pure egg-nog-fueled pandemonium. Join B...
10 Aug 202443min
The Noble -- and Kind of Ridiculous -- History of Butlers
Are you a millionaire, billionaire or aristocrat too busy to manage the day-to-day affairs of palatial estate? If so, you may have already secured the last word in personal service: the butler. In tod...
8 Aug 202437min
CLASSIC: Lyndon Johnson Chatted on the Phone More than a Teenager
The 36th President of the United States is often recalled as a complex, flawed individual responsible for profoundly important legislation. However, he was also a notorious telephone fanatic, installi...
6 Aug 202428min
The Founding of the Smithsonian, Part Two: James Gives America a Fortune -- and a Mission
There's no way around it: James Smithson had a tough life. Yet his unhappiness may, in an indirect way, be the prime reason the Smithsonian Institute exists today. In part two of this special two-part...
1 Aug 202432min
The Founding of the Smithsonian, Part One: The Remains of the James
The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum, education, and research complex -- but how did it get here? Join Ben, Noel and Max as they welcome Lizzie Peabody, host of Sidedoor, the Smit...
30 Juli 202430min
CLASSIC: Arsenic: The Assassin's Dream Weapon
For centuries people from all walks of life sought to eliminate friends, strangers and enemies using the devious, subtle poison known as arsenic. Arsenic poisoning became such a well-known method of m...
27 Juli 202438min
The Orphan Train: That Time the US Auctioned Children Via Rail
New York was a pretty terrible place in the late 1800s. The population was riddled with disease, crime, and terror -- things were especially bad for the virtual army of street urchins. In today's epis...
25 Juli 202443min
