500 Open Tabs

This week we learn how in 1816, the catastrophic eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia shifted the world's temperature and atmosphere, causing crop failures and major food shortages. A listener email describes how male anglerfish are from Mars and female anglerfish are from Venus . Episode Tabs: MOUNT TAMBORA IN 1815: A VOLCANIC ERUPTION IN INDONESIA AND ITS AFTERMATH https://web.english.upenn.ed...

On this very special Halloween episode, we learn how nepo baby Carl Laemmle Jr. gave birth to the Universal Monster Universe and how themes of sexuality and political persecution have kept these characters beloved for more than a century. A listener email describes a horrific phenomenon in Brazil involving cockroaches. Episode Tabs: How the Classic Monsters Saved Universal Studios https://www.anto...

This week we are joined by no guest at all, just the normal, regular co-host named Kaveh who adds his medical expertise to Hannah’s tab about the Black Angels, the 300 black nurses who made history by helping administer the cure to Tuberculosis at Staten Island’s Sea View Hospital. Episode Tabs: Taking Care: The Black Angels of Sea View Hospital https://www.statenislandmuseum.org/exhibitions/takin...

This week we learn dedicate the entire episode to all the emails that listeners have sent in including a live reading of a pig butchering text exchange, bile cow liver antibiotics, and an extended discussion about which animals have actual bones in their boners. Listener Tabs: Stellar’s Sea Cow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller%27s_sea_cow Hatchet Granny https://slate.com/news-and-politics/20...

This week we learn how a corpse fluids seeping into NYC drinking water led to the creation of one of America’s first rural cemeteries. A listener email explains how the euthanizing of a squirrel became a MAGA wedge issue against the Democrats. Episode Tabs: Green-Wood Cemetery: A Victorian-Era Icon https://www.history.com/articles/green-wood-cemetery-a-victorian-era-icon-turns-175 Listener Tabs: P...

This week we learn how a brawl between a Canadian firefighting fraternal organization connected to the Orange Order and visiting American circus clowns led to the complete restructuring of the entire Toronto police force. A listener email explains how a gothic fortress was constructed in the Czech Republic to protect locals from a bottomless pit. Episode Tabs: How a Fight With Clowns Led to the Bi...

This week we learn how Shi Yang formed the Red Flag Fleet by uniting thousands of pirates and wreaked havoc over the South China Sea. A listener voice memo describes the most insane KFC comic of all time.  Episode Tabs: How Chinese pirate queen Ching Shih ruled the South China Sea, then sailed into the sunset https://amp.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3360971/how-chinese-pirate-qu...

This week we learn about ancient salt deposits at the bottom of the ocean lead to the insane phenomenon of what scientists refer to as "Hot Tubs of Despair." A listener email explains how the Church used to try their best to prove the existence of dragons.  Episode Tabs: Explore the ‘Hot Tub of Despair,’ an underwater lake that kills almost everything inside https://www.latimes.com/science/sc...

This week we learn about the horrific once mythical cryptid of dozens of rats with their tales tied together that turned out to actually be real. A listener email explains how Soviet era bootleggers called the Roentgenizdat used discarded x-rays to share music.  Episode Tabs: What Are Rat Kings, The ‘Super-Rodents’ Made Of Tangled Tails? https://allthatsinteresting.com/rat-king Listener Tabs:...

This week we're joined by special guest Tawny Platis as she tells us the story of how not being able to find Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon resulted in her becoming a DVD preservationist. A listener email explains their journey in trying to sew the perfect Sarah Masquerade gown from Labyrinth. Episode Tabs: Sony to Delete Movies Owned by PlayStation Users, List Includes More Than 550 Digital Titles...

This week we learn how an astrologist from San Francisco embedded herself into the Reagan administration and became an unofficial advisor that dictated the times of the president's press conferences and whether or not it was safe to land Air Force One. A listener email explains how a town in Honduras celebrates raining fish. Episode Tabs: Joan Quigley, Ronald Reagan’s Guide to the Stars https://ww...

This week we're joined by special guest Dr. Kaveh Hoda of the House of Pod as he regales us with the story of how a professor of pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine managed to keep his 3 simultaneous wives a secret from one another. A listener email explains the time that GM tried to get in on the Road Runner's action with the ultimate fandommobile. Episode Tabs: Doctor Led Th...

This week we dive into the Luddite uprising of the early 19th century and their subsequent mischaracterization as being anti-tech instead of anti-exploitation. A listener email explains the story of Elmer McCurdy, the mummified bandit who could. Episode Tabs: What the Luddites Really Fought Against https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/ Listener Tabs...

This week we answer all your burning questions like what rabbit holes we try to avoid, what unused tabs we still have open, and what the hell actually constitutes as anime. Email your closed tab submissions to:  500opentabs@gmail.com Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs 500 Open Tabs Wiki:  https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki 500 Open Road...

This week we conclude the Coney Island summer series with the story of how 3 rival entrepreneurs pushed each other to the limit in a battle for the public's attention and how, in true Coney Island fashion, it culminated in a gigantic fire. A listener email explains why you always feel the need to "crunch out a butt steak" as soon as you walk into a bookstore. Episode Tabs: Coney Island Was Once Fu...

This week we continue the Coney Island summer series as we learn about the gigantic Elephant shaped building that quickly devolved from hotel to brothel and then promptly caught fire. A listener email shares with us the absurd story of British nurse Violet Jessop. Episode Tabs: THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD https://www.sideshowworld.com/81-SSPAlbumcover/Elephantine/Colossus.html Listener Tabs: St...

This week we learn how a non-doctor doctor named Martin Couney leveraged the crowds at Coney Island's fascination with freak shows into giving birth to the modern NICU. A listener voicemail combines everyone's love of cats with planes. Episode Tabs: Preemies on Parade: How a Fake Doctor's Coney Island Incubator Shows Ended Up Saving Thousands of Lives https://www.mentalfloss.com/science/medicine/m...

The ancient tournament of Kumitab returns as we pit some of our craziest subjects against one another including Colonel Sanders, Kaveh the Blacksmith, and the Magic Eye turtle wearing a bowler hat. Email your closed tab submissions to:  500opentabs@gmail.com Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs 500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide):  https://maps.app.goo....

This week we slide tackle into learning about the infamously bloody 1962 World Cup match between Chile and Italy that was preceded by new goal rules, a warring international press, and the largest earthquake ever recorded. A listener email gives the Ballroom scene a Jellicle twist. Episode Tabs: World Cup stunning moments: The Battle of Santiago https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/0...

This week we are joined by special guest co-host Alyssa Cooper as she walks us through the insane Beanie Baby craze of the late 90s. A listener email explains the Mr. Trashwheel phenomenon that has taken over Baltimore. Episode Tabs: How Playground Rumors and Artificial Scarcity Created the Billion-Dollar Beanie Baby Mania https://www.mentalfloss.com/fun/toys/how-playground-rumors-and-artificial-s...

This week we are joined by special guest co-host Josie Azzam as she tells us about when Russian rich kids called the Narodniks tried and failed horribly to convince the newly freed Serfs to join them in overthrowing the Czar. A listener email reveals the Swedish origins of an iconic Muppets tune. Episode Tabs: Going to the People https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_to_the_People Listener Tabs: Swe...

This week we conclude the insane life story of KFC founder Harland Sanders as he fries chicken for Oppenheimer and publicly beefs (chickens?) with his corporate overlords. A listener email explains the Seinfeldian origins of the Canadian Toonie coin. Episode Tabs: Colonels of Truth https://www.damninteresting.com/colonels-of-truth/ Listener Tabs: A Tale of Two Designs: How Canada’s 1-dollar Coin B...

This week we learn about the insane life of KFC founder Harland Sanders as he is put in charge of his younger siblings from the age of 5 and later worked the railroads where he developed a reputation for constantly getting into fistfights. A listener email tells of about that time in 1876 when chunks of red meat rained from the sky in Kentucky. Episode Tabs: Colonels of Truth https://www.damninter...

This week we learn about the history of courtroom sketching and how the Lindbergh kidnapping helped get cameras banned from courtrooms altogether. A listener voice memo ponders how all airline safety brochures ended up looking the same. Episode Tabs: Why Do We Still Need Courtroom Artists? https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-courtroom-artists Listener Tabs: Airline Safety Cards https://w...

This week we're joined by cohost of Nerd of Mouth/ producer of LPNtv Holden McNeely as he tells us about the horrors of an entire island off the coast of Brazil populated by extremely poisonous snakes that jump from trees as well as his soft pitch for a movie where looksmaxxing influencers are trapped on said island. A listener emails tells us about a very offensively named shop in India. Episode...