Oddball History

This week on a very special Oddball History Podcast, we shamelessly attempt to capitalize on the popularity of the World Cup with our very own soccer episode, featuring the wildest stories in the history of the beautiful game--from the 1915 British Football Match Fixing Scandal to the 1966 World Cup being saved by a collie mix named Pickles to the altogether insane tale of Carlos Kaiser, the Brazi...

The popes have gone wild this week on a highly spiritual Oddball History Podcast, from Sergius III having his two immediate predecessors strangled, to Benedict IX more or less openly selling the papacy, to Leo X and his beloved pet elephant Hanno rampaging through the streets of Rome as a goof. PLUS: Witches, pigeon squatters and Love Island!

Bird, bird, bird, bird is the word this week on a very special Oddball History Podcast, as Scott learns all about the most legendary birds in history, including the heroic war pigeons of World Wars 1 & 2, Thomas Jefferson's pet mockingbird Dick, Charles Dickens's bitey pet raven Grip, and Jimmy, the top billed bird star of the Golden Age of Hollywood. ALSO: Legendary bird guy John James Audubon pu...

This week on a very special Oddball History Podcast it's the Cavalcade of Rich Weirdos--three exceedingly wealthy and almost unbelievably weird men straight from the pages of history, from the barely literate American Revolution-era investment wizard Timothy Dexter to the early 18th century British playboy with a penchant for crashing carriages for fun, Mad Jack Mytton, to the always colorful Howa...

This week on a very special Oddball History, it's the Year of Five Emperors, a wild, bloody, chaotic time even by the standards of the Roman Empire--from Commodus being strangled by his personal trainer on New Year's Eve 192, setting the whole sordid saga in motion, to the great and brutal general Septimius Severus emerging from the pack of would-be emperors as the last emperor standing. PLUS: Fun...

This week on a very special Oddball History we're lowering ourselves down into the sewer to learn all about the Great Hanoi Rat Massacre, a grisly and all too true comedy of errors set in 1902 French Indochina, as well as Mao's tragically misguided (but super popular) war on sparrows and the species of toad brought to Australia as a pest control measure in the 1930s, which has been spreading acros...

What's beef? Beef is when you hate someone so much for so long that your hate goes down as a matter of public record, as we learn this week on a very special Oddball History Podcast. From Hollywood icon Joan Crawford claiming her "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane" co-star Bette Davis smelled to Roald Amundsen's "Haha f--k you" letter to fellow polar explorer Robert F. Scott to Queen Elizabeth I gri...

This week on a very special Oddball History we're going back to the well of weird history that is the Turn of the 20th Century, to a time when Martians were real (or seemed to be anyway). PLUS: Top Comments is back, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives CONTROVERSY, and upwards of two Simpsons references!

This week on a very special Oddball History, Jimmy has retired from history podcasting, leaving Scott to ramble about hippopotamuses--specifically the brief period in 1910 when Congress considered importing hippos to solve a meat shortage. 

Come on in, the water's warm. Part 2 of the Oddball History Holiday Classic Chapters: (00:00) Intro (00:57) The Last Castrato (09:20) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (15:31) Scott Goes Ghost Hunting (23:19) Margaret Howe Does Hand Stuff with Dolphins (31:12) Tusko: The Elephant That Took Too Much Acid (41:24) Robert Cornish - Boy Genius (50:40) Gladiator Blood and Encino Man (54:35) John C. Woods...

Check out our favorite segments from the past 2 years. Happy Holidays to you and yours. Chapters: (00:00) Intro (01:58) Jacques Ferron and the RIghteous Donkey (08:46) Ken Allen the escAPE artist...get it? escAPE? (17:13) The First Ever Diss Track - Sumerian Dog Poem (21:41) Scott Gets Mad at Us - Texas Rangers (28:25) Gary Suitor gets cut by the Cleveland Cavaliers (34:47) A Night out with Rube W...

The early 2000s were a different time. A better time? Depends who you ask. We'll be covering Boy Meets Boy, Kid Nation, and My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance. Chapters: (00:00) Intro (02:20) Top Comments (08:32) Boy Meets Boy (Bravo 2003) (16:06) Kid Nation (CBS 2007) (28:42) My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance (Fox 2004) (35:35) Podcastin'

The HMS Wager did everything wrong. Here is the story of the shipwreck, mutiny, and return home to merry old England.    Chapters  (00:00) Intro (08:40) Top Comments (21:55) The HMS Wager (45:49) Podcastin'

We'll cover Gregor MacGregor, George C. Parker, and Natwarlal. Also butts and stuff. Chapters (00:00) Intro (02:58) Top Comments (20:37) Gregor MacGregor Makes Up a Country (28:15) George C. Parker has a bridge to sell you (33:53) Natwarlal, India's legendary conman (39:34) Honorable Mention: Alan Conway and Stanley Kubrick (42:45) Stand Up Shows and Dumb Thoughts

The conman so nice, he sold the Eiffel Tower twice! And more such stories. Enjoy. Chapters (00:00) Intro (02:14) Top Comments (22:24) Victor Lustig: King of the Con (55:42) Show Dates and Chit Chat

Georgia Tech and Cumberland faced off in 1916. The Yellow Jackets won 222-0. This is that story.   Chapters: (00:00) Intro (05:05) Top Comments + Some Meandering (26:06) 1916 Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland Beatdown (45:58) Idle chit chat and stand up comedy dates

Two comedians/poorly researched historians dive into American folk heroes and the very real people behind the tall tales. Chapters (00:00) Intro (03:05) Top Comments (18:55) Johnny Appleseed/John Chapman (27:31) Paul Bunyan/Fabian "Joe" Fournier (38:43) John Henry/Much smaller John Henry (45:07) Comedy shows and chit chat

We check out some of history's strangest performers. Enjoy!   Chapters:  (00:00) Intro (03:25) Top Comments (21:54) Le Petomane - the French Farter (31:02) Alessandro Moreschi - The Last Castrato  (38:44) Matthias Buchinger - No hands, lotta magic (44:11) Hadji Ali - The Greatest Regurgitator (49:44) Charles Lauri Jr - The First Furry (55:15) Hot Goss and Comedy Shows

This week, we take you down memory lane of some of the strangest riots on recent history Chapters: (00:00) Intro (02:58) Top Comments (18:08) The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 (24:30) Astor Place Shakespeare Riot of 1849 (32:43) Toronto Clown vs Firefighter Riot (42:02) Honorable Mention: English Bread Riots (43:40) Hot pod! Get your hot pod!

The title really does a good job at saying what this one is about. Chapters (00:00) Intro (04:34) Top Comments (13:43) Bernarr MacFadden (47:25) Straight Up Podcast Chat - Also come see us live.

Smedley Butler - author of "War is a Racket" - did a whole lot of war himself.   Chapters:  (00:00) Intro (06:05) Top Comments  (12:15) Smedley Butler, the history part of the podcast (49:29) Podcastin'

John R. Brinkley was an all-time quack doctor, famous for transplanting goat testicles into humans to cure pretty much anything...he also was a pioneer in country music, it's a long story.   Chapters (00:00) Intro (05:31) Top Comments (17:00) John R. Brinkley (49:40) Chittin' and Chattin'

This one is about whales. The title really says what you need to know. Chapters (00:00) Intro (02:30) Top Comments (15:08) Whales! Whales! Whales! (17:30) Porphyrios - An Old Fashioned Sea Monster (22:30) Old Tom the Helpful Orca (28:15) The Original Shamu (31:05) Orca Serial Killers, Port and Starboard (36:02) The Exploding Whale of Oregon (48:00) Chittin' and Chattin'

Rube Waddell, one of the craziest figures in baseball history. Chapters: (00:00) Intro (05:41) Top Comments (18:43) Rube Waddell (01:03:23) Comedy Shows and Idle Chit Chat

This week we dive into the streetgangs of yesteryear. There's goofy french fighting, the real gangs of new york, and everyone has a silly name. Enjoy. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 03:04 Top Comments 12:55 Streetgangs of Yesteryear 14:09 Les Apaches: French street subculture 24:52 The Dead Rabbits Riot of 1857: The Real Gangs of New York 34:42 The Gopher Gang and other such silly names 39:56 40 Elephants:...