History Honeys

Hello Honey Bunches! We've launched a brand new show that we think you'll enjoy. And here is its first episode. seaQuest DSV ran for 57 episodes over 3 seasons and serves as a window into TV production of the era, scientific discovery, and the way events and perspective influence each other. We're bringing a very History Honeys way of looking at things into this show. So join us wherever you get y...

In this episode, Alaina resurrects one of her old series: looking at the live-action feature films of the Walt Disney studio. Following the deaths of the studio's founding brothers, and the beginning of a long period of rocky financials, Disney's film output was, well, boring and bad. We look over their movies from 1970-1975 to point out the few bright spots, place people and trends into their con...

In less than two weeks, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway will reach a global streaming audience. A brand-new adaptation of a 30 year old novel from a 40 year old franchise with a reputation for dense lore can be an intimidating, so we're here to get through what you'll probably want to know before watching. No promises though.

Happy anniversary! To celebrate a year of trapped travel, we're covering a place we've both been in the before times, and fulfilling one of our top listener requests to boot. Medieval Times Dinner Tournament is famous for its pick-and-choose approach to historical "accuracy", and that one Jim Carrey movie. Let's see what experience we can share from its website, and what insights we glean from the...

Comic readers across America were promised that for only $5 they could learn the ultimate fighting system, and the art of the death touch. That promise was made by Count Dante, one of the most colorful and controversial figures in martial arts history. Born John Keehan, Dante's life seems out of place in the real world, never mind his fabricated boasts. Links! The Life and Death of the Deadliest M...

Happy Valencrimes Day! This year's topic observes the strictest traditions, so we're talking about a series of murders in 1800s Chicago. Thomas Neill Cream used his medical practice and willingness to help those in need to prey on the desperate and disadvantaged. But his true targets may not have been the people he poisoned, but the ones he attempted to blackmail by accusing them of the murders. ...

The assassination of Rasputin catapulted his unusual life into legend. So we're looking at the man that wrote the legend: his killer, Prince Felix Yusupov. A young wealthy man with no apparent interest in affairs of state, what pushed him to lead the conspiracy of assassins? And how much faith can be put in the story as he told it? The picture becomes clearer if you look at who else may have been...

In 1982, seven people in the greater Chicago area died from taking Tylenol capsules that had been filled with cyanide. No clear evidence was found pointing to a culprit, and no motive has been determined. What remains is a story of consumer safety, and how law enforcement acts when they have no leads. Links! How the Tylenol Murders changed the Way We Consume Medication A Bitter Pill Please help ou...

Welcome to 2021! We bring in the year with the 900th anniversary of a shipwreck that threw England into chaos, and the 200th anniversary of a piece of culinary folk history. The White Ship sank, and people of every social station drowned the same. Tomatoes came to New Jersey through the same unexciting means as any crop, but a striking story will kep alive regardless. Links! The White Ship disaste...

We close 2020 with one last episode on Fordlandia, a failed experiment in both rubber production and social control.   Links! Fordlandia collection from the Henry ford museum The Guardain's Fordlandia story from the Lost Cities project Michael Palin exploring the remaining structures Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about Hist...

Welcome back, dear ghoulish listeners, as we celebrate the season with tales of three reported haunts in detroit, Michigan. First, is a massive and active building whose tragic architect still walks the halls. Next is an abandoned hotel, former home to a serial poisoner. Last is now a vacant lot, but was once the headquarters of an occult prophet who died at the hands of an unknown axe murderer. L...

On this episode Grant takes us back 100 years to a fatal robbery at a shoe factory, and the legacy of the men who had the crime pinned on them. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti came to America searching for prosperity, and found the brutality of exploitation and prejudice. The greatest weight of which fell on them when they were executed by a justice system bent on quashing an ideology, rather...

It's vacation season, and the open road beckons. Rather than give in to that siren song, Alaina is teaching us about several sites meant to separate travelers from their walking around money. It's time for some roadside attractions!   Links! https://lucytheelephant.org/visiting/ The Elephantine Colossus going up , and coming down https://www.rotaryjailmuseum.org/ https://www.thehistoricalsociety.o...

In this episode Grant teaches us about the Benin Bronzes, thousands of exquisite pieces of art that are not made of bronze, and not in Benin. And to talk about this specific crime of colonialism, we have to talk about the empire it came from, and the shifting dynamic between Europe and the world as capitalism and white supremacy developed side-by-side.   Links! Imperial Looting and the Case of Ben...

We have returned! After a brief hiatus, History Honeys is back. This week, Alaina is teaching us about the history of deaf education, and the development of contemporary sign languages. How are sign languages linguistically dynamic and unique? Why are divisions in US deaf culture generational? How are contentious claims laundered as the default, even at the cost of future harm? Links! National Ass...

Happy milestone day! It's been four years and we made it to three digits. To celebrate, Grant went back over every previous topic to find one more fact we didn't include last time. Thanks for joining us for this very special occasion! Links! SEX ARCHIE Flash in the Pan episode 44: Time Lord Tickle Fights Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what...

Sudden changes in society are reflected in the daily lives of people. This week, Alaina demonstrates that with a selection of stories about the things people wore in the US and UK during the Second World War. Rationing, shifting wworkplace demographics, and new materials all had an immediate effect on what people wore. And, looking at what people wore can reveal stories of bigotry. Links! Luminous...

In the 1980s America's health infrastructure failed to adequately respond to an epidemic, which showed in greater contrast failures across society. This week, Grant is teaching us about one group's commitment to correct that failure through civil disobedience. By prioritizing disruption over image, and relentlessly claiming the moral high ground, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power drastically improve...

Two months ago was a different time. That's when we put out a bonus episode about the fun we were planning to have in a Disney World vacation. In this episode, we're looking back at the reality we experienced. We talk about the many highs, the few lows, and the constant battle against exhaustion. Time will tell when, and even if, the parks can be experienced again the way they were. But for now, p...

Ninety years ago today, the code of standards known as the Hays Code was put into effect, shaping the form and content off all mainstream film for decades to come. In this episode, Alaina teaches us where it came from, what purpose it served, and how it fell out of use. Is self-regulation a matter of morality or profit? Does power lie in the rules or their enforcer? Did people in the 1940s actuall...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Grant is celebrating by looking back at sainthood itself. The western church has been honoring holy figures since its earliest days, a practice that developed into a relatively new bureaucratic system.  Links! The Complete Roman Martyrology in English Acta Sanctorum, full digital database Congregation for the Causes of Saints Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Sen...

From it's foundation, this is a show about the two of us sharing things we find interesting with you and with each other. In that spirit, Alaina is spending this episode talking about two things we all get our hands on without giving a second thought. Facial tissue is the end result of a new material developed for the war effort, and shopping carts are the result of innovation in the way we source...

Happy Valencrimes Day! This year Grant wants to talk about a fraud perpetrated on a global scale, which in turn led to corruption, war crimes, and generally made everyone's life worse over the lat 17 years: the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For more than a year, the Bush administration pushed the most extreme interpretation of raw intelligence, without regard for its accuracy or reliability,...

As we said last episode, we are not home to put out our usual content, but we did have something to share. When this episode drops we will be enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of EPCOT. This bonus episode follows the process of planning a Walt Disney World vacation, the reasons we had for making the choices we did, and a few pieces of advice you might find useful, or at least entertaining. W...

In 1908, Anne Shirley was introduced to the world, and became one of the most popular figures in all-ages literature. Anne was the creation of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote 20 novels in a prolific writing career. In this episode, Alaina teaches us about Montgomery's life, perspective, and tragedies; and also the impact of her stories and their many adaptations.  Links! KindredSpaces, the LM Mont...