The Missing Chapter Podcast

Welcome back to the Missing Chapter Podcast and Happy almost Veterans day to all of our vets! As we begin the holiday weekend and honor those that have served, past and present, I think it’s also honorable to know the history of the holiday and how we got here.  So that’s what we’re here for.  Grab your coffees, salute your vets and lets pay homage to all of our service members around the world, p...

Well, listeners, we started this series of seeing double a few weeks ago with the discussion about Joseph Stalin - did he or did he not have a body double?  Check out S5E4 to find out our response.  But today, we have another rendition of this series and today’s question is whether or not Saddam Hussein had known body doubles.  Oh, there’s a hint…I said body doubles, plural, didn’t I?  Here we go,...

Lizzie Borden took an ax And gave her mother forty whacks, And when she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one. Well, Missing Chapter fans, it’s that time of year again! The leaves are falling and the pumpkins are lit. For the past 4 years, Phil and I have been bringing you history’s forgotten stories and when the calendar turns to October… those stories turn to the dark & the my...

I’m sure most of you, especially this time of year, love a good haunted story - something scary, mysterious, murderous, ghastly, ghostly - like the very popular ghost tours around the country right now - like the  nighttime ghost tours of Gettysburg or Salem.  This time of year, especially, many people flock to Salem especially to visit the town that is known for the Salem Tomato Trials - wait, wa...

More than thirty-nine years ago, Nintendo debuted a video game that knocked out its competitors, much like a green turtle shell wiping out a string of Goombas. For every groundbreaking movie, television show, or video game, there are  dozens of concepts that fall by the waste side and are lost in the proverbial black hole that is history. But every so often a game or idea develops that is legendar...

“And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”   A quote. A book. A man… forever tied to the holiday season and the veritable meaning of the Christmas spirit.   Charles Dickens became a pioneer for reform during his lifetime and du...

As the holiday season approaches, I can see the parents and grandparents beginning to plan their menus or maybe even venture out into the unknown and practice some concoctions before the big debut come Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.  And it seems like each season has its own distinct edible feature.  As you know, the Missing Chapter is split down the middle, 1 in favor of candy corn, 1 cer...

If you’re a listener of the Missing Chapter, you’re probably aware that Phil Horender and I are huge action movie fans.  I mean, how can you beat Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, The Rock, The Fugitive, the Terminator - just to name a few of our many favorites.  The best action movies in my opinion, though, are the ones where the actors or actresses do their own stunts.  Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, Jackie C...

Ok parents, this one’s for you.  Dads specifically, not because moms don’t experience what I’m about to say, but because moms, generally speaking, have a little more patience in reserves than dads do.  The scenario goes like this - a package is delivered and the dad sees a massive square box, with directions that are either in a foreign language or type 4 font with pictures that look like they cam...

When we tell people we’re from NY, everyone thinks of the skyscrapers of NYC, but in reality, there’s a lot more to the state of NY than just the Big Apple.  In fact, many everyday items that we take for granted have inventors from our upstate and central NY area.  So let's take a look at the Top 5 Upstate NY inventions as we talk about our community and surrounding areas.  Grab your coffees,...

What does an insulted German aristocrat, pulp comics, Prince Valiant, Blue Beetle, Captain America, Stan Lee and,  World War II all have in common? All of them are the different panels in the life of Jack Kirby. Known as the "King of Comics," Jack Kirby's groundbreaking artistry and innovative storytelling transformed the comic book industry, leaving a legacy that's still felt to...

Phil and I are accustomed to having students from around the world transfer into our school all the time. They constantly tell us - English is the most difficult language to learn. You have certain rules to the English language, rules that don’t apply in certain instances, and then… words that are simply made up by mistake. That brings us to today’s episode - commonly used words and their rare, of...

Saturday mornings for a kid growing up in the 80s, there was nothing like it. Wake up early, pour yourself a bowl of your favorite cereal and settle in for a few hours of… cartoons. Classic cartoons, the ones that the genre was established on and that would eventually lead to what we have today with Pixar and Illumination.   But what cartoons were fictional and which were actually based on real-li...

When President Abraham Lincoln in May 1861 issued the call for volunteers to serve in the Union Army for a three-year term, one of those who tried to answer was Ohio resident John Clem. Not yet 10 years old, Clem’s service was refused by the newly formed 3rd Ohio. Undeterred, Clem later tried to join the 22nd Michigan, where his persistence won over the unit’s officers. They agreed to let him foll...

On this episode of the Missing Chapter, we welcome Mrs. Sunderland's class to discuss some of the oddball, obscure, and certainly mysterious parts of history. They have brought a variety of stories that they'd like to call History's Mysteries. Welcome to the Missing Chapter, everyone, grab your coffees and let's get started! Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Missing C...

The top 5 - it’s been a little while, but it’s back like bell-bottoms and the mullet. Well, I’m not wearing bell bottoms, nor am I sporting a mullet, but all things trendy aside, let’s talk historic idioms - things we hear all the time but never take the time to ask ourselves - where the heck did that originate? So, here we go, the Part III episode of the Historic Idioms we so commonly use, but no...

It’s summertime and if you’re anything like my family, summer is the time for playgrounds, amusement parks, bike rides, and baseball.  In upstate NY, we only get nice weather a few months out of the year and you can always get hard ice cream, but you can’t always have the soft serve.  And if you’re getting soft serve, what else can you add to it?  My kids always go for…sprinkles. But who the first...

What is it about the Titanic, Phil, that over 100 years later, people are still enamored with the boat, the passengers, and the story surrounding it? People risk their lives to see it first hand, it’s been glamorized in Hollywood movies, and books are still being written about it.  So, what’s left to discuss? What’s left to discover about the “unsinkable ship” and the profound impact it had on his...

In the early 1950’s juvenile delinquency was on the rise.  Pop icons from rock and roll and Hollywood like Elvis Presley and James Dean seemed to encourage children and teenagers to rebel against their parents.  What else was causing this rash of bad behavior across the country?  What menace was the real reason behind the increased criminal behavior of teenagers?  What was so bad that psychologist...

Oh the portmanteau.  We’ve mentioned this a lot in our episodes lately, unintentionally.  If you aren’t familiar with what a portmanteau is, let me explain.  The word podcast is a portmanteau because it’s a combination of 2 words…ipod and broadcast…podcast.  To use a term we used a couple episodes ago, velcro is a portmanteau for velvet and crochet.  Make sense?  Sure it does!  Well, on today’s ep...

Today we’re going to take a look at the explosive legacy of an individual that we’re all familiar with - or at least familiar with his creations. The enigmatic figure that we are about to explore is an inventor, philanthropist, ruthless industrialist, and also a major representative of peace in the contemporary age.  This man’s most significant invention, dynamite, revolutionized the world at its...

The history of baseball is the history of our nation… in amongst the innings of America’s Pastime, you’ll find the story lines that define our country. A timeline of people and events that have carried us through countless decades.   Of all the great names who have ever played the game, there is one that has been almost completely lost to obscurity. A record-holder whose achievements place his nam...

Growing up in the country, there was nothing like spending the entire summer day outside.  Riding bikes, shooting baskets, playing catch, hide and seek, taking a walk through the woods.  There was something about being a kid and coming into the house at night time just being filthy - I’m sure my mom wasn’t too fond of that, but that was what our summers were filled with.  The one thing that I didn...

Who doesn’t love a good riddle? This episode’s introduction will be a riddle… so listen carefully, have an answer ready, and we’ll unveil the solution after the coffee pour. Ready?  Here we go….   An elderly woman sits in her rocking chair knitting, positioned in front of a window, so that she may watch the trains passing by, the warm sun hitting her face and the cool autumn breeze blowing over he...

I can’t stand when people misuse the word “literally” - Some people have said, it’s literally raining cats and dogs - what???  No it’s not literally raining cats and dogs because if it were literally raining cats and dogs then I would physically see cats and dogs coming from the sky at terminal velocity, but I don’t see that, why?  Because it’s a figure of speech, it ISN’T literal. And now, I’m ab...