Naked History

In this Naked History: Debrief , we descend even deeper into the eerie, surprising, and downright bizarre world of the Paris Catacombs. Host Dyllan Gasaway unearths the stories we couldn’t fit in the main episode. Like the underground mushroom farms, covert WWII operations, and the ever-present threat of Paris literally collapsing into itself. We’ll explore how the Catacombs became a battlefield,...

Beneath the streets of Paris lies a hidden world of bones, darkness, and urban legend. In this chilling episode of Naked History, host Dyllan Gasaway descends into the Paris Catacombs—an eerie labyrinth that holds the remains of over six million people. But this isn’t just a graveyard… it’s a story of Enlightenment engineering, overcrowded cemeteries, underground revolutions, and secret parties be...

They came. They squawked. They conquered. In this Naked History: Debrief, host Dyllan Gasaway digs into the ridiculous (and ridiculously true) aftermath of Australia’s infamous Emu War. You’ll hear the stories that didn’t make it into the main episode, from the missing military footage, to the requisition for 1,000 emu feathers, to the almost-but-not-quite camel cavalry. Music Credits: "Our S...

What do you get when you cross rural farmland, a very resilient bird, and the Australian military? Only one of the most absurd "wars" ever fought. This is the story of Australia's fight against the emu menace, and all the bureaucracy, hijinks, and mishaps that happened along the way. Spoiler: the flightless birds gave the aussies a run for their money. Music Credits: "In The Wes...

In this week’s Naked History: Debrief , we’re raising a glass to The Greatest Beer Run Ever — but also unpacking the wild behind-the-scenes details from Chickie Donohue’s real-life booze cruise into a war zone that didn’t make it into the movie. Music Credits: "Our Story Begins" Kevin MacLeod ( incompetech.com )Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp:// creativecommons.org/...

At a time when the Vietnam War was at its height, one man, John "Chickie" Donohue, snuck back into the war zone to find his 3 closest friends and buy them a beer. Crazy or caring, Chickie gave his friends more than beer, he gave them hope. Hope that helped each one safely return home when the war was over. Music Credits: "In The West" Kevin MacLeod ( incompetech.com )Licensed under Creative Common...

In this companion to our Mad Jack Churchill episode, we dive into the wild WWII details that didn’t make the cut—like the fake army made of inflatable tanks, Plus, a rapid-fire tour of history from June 23–27, featuring Berlin blockades and the last guillotine execution. Music Credits: "Our Story Begins" Kevin MacLeod ( incompetech.com )Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licenseht...

In this episode of Naked History, we delve into the life and military career of one of the most extrodinary men in history: John Churchill. Known for his flamboyant and carefree attitude during WWII, and also his ability to motivate his men via...bagpipes? A story of a man that seems almost too good to be real, but Mad Jack was as real as it gets. Music and Sound Effect Credit: "In The West" Kevin...

Think of Debrief as an after-hours episode where I'll be providing you a backstage look into the research, rabbit holes, and the random trivia I find during research for each episode. This is also where I get to let my hair down and share with you some fun history facts that I found that might not make into full episodes, but are still important to hear anyway. Music Credits: "Our Story Begins" Ke...

Imagine an Olympic marathon run in 90-degree heat, with choking dust, wild dogs, a runner in street clothes, and another athlete doped up on rat poison. Welcome to the first Olympics held in the United States — where ambition met incompetence on the world stage. Music Credits: "In The West" Kevin MacLeod ( incompetech.com )Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp:// creative...

Naked History is the podcast that strips the past down to its weirdest, wildest truths. Hosted by public historian Dyllan Gasaway, we uncover the hidden stories, strange coincidences, and forgotten moments they didn’t teach you in school.