How Pie in the Face Became a Comedy Classic, Part 1: Rise of the Pie
Today the old pie-in-the-face gag is a well-worn comedy trope — but how did it become so famous? In part one of this two-part series, Ben and Noel explore the surprising history of pies, cinema and co...
27 Apr 202124min
The Great Panjandrum: A Hilariously Terrible Idea
As the British military brainstormed ways to break the German-built Atlantic Wall during World War II, desperation drove them to unorthodox ideas -- one of those, the Great Panjandrum, was a literal r...
22 Apr 202128min
Dr. T. W. Stallings: One Man's Corvid-Hating Quest to Make Oklahoma Literally Eat Crow
Times were tough during the Great Depression. Economic unrest, massive migration and falling crops left many people struggling to survive -- even the simple task of finding food from one day to the ne...
20 Apr 202142min
Pineapples In Europe, Part 2: People Literally Rented Pineapples to Impress their Friends
As the pineapple craze swept through Europe's upper class, aristocrats worked tirelessly to grow their own pineapples. This was no small feat, since pineapples aren't suited to the European climate. S...
15 Apr 202152min
Pineapples In Europe, Part 1: A Weird, Cartoonishly Expensive Flex
Today, pineapples are a common (and delicious) produce item found in grocery stores and markets across the world -- but not too many centuries ago, a single pineapple could cost the equivalent of over...
14 Apr 202146min
The Mysterious Dark Day That Terrified New England
As New Englanders woke on the morning of May 19th, 1780, they realized something was... off. The sunrise looked oddly colored and dim. As the day wore on, the sky grew increasingly dark. Soon, it appe...
8 Apr 202133min
The Windham Frog Fight of 1754
As the French and Indian War escalated, the residents of Windham, Connecticut lived in constant fear of possible attacks, crop-ruining weather, disease and more. One late night in the summer of 1754, ...
6 Apr 202142min
Ancient Mesopotamian Societies Sacrificed Substitute Kings to Eclipses
Thousands of years before the current day, ancient civilizations accurately predicted both lunar and solar eclipses. They often believed these events were spiritual omens. When an eclipse came at an i...
2 Apr 202135min
