Some Topic - The Podcast

Before anonymous hackers, before V for Vendetta, and before millions of Halloween costumes, there was one failed terrorist plot that accidentally created one of history's most recognizable symbols. This week on Some Topic, Nick and Brett dive headfirst into the bizarre history of Guy Fawkes Day—a holiday built around celebrating the failure of a conspiracy by lighting bonfires, launching fireworks...

In the summer of 1518, a woman in Strasbourg began dancing in the street and apparently could not stop. Then other people joined her. Within weeks, dozens—and possibly far more—were caught in what became known as the Dancing Plague of 1518. Authorities reportedly responded by creating spaces for dancing and hiring musicians, believing the sufferers needed to dance the illness out of their bodies....

What happens when one of the internet's oldest conspiracy theories collides with back-of-the-napkin engineering calculations, football field measurements, and two dangerously underqualified hosts? This week on Some Topic, Nick and Brett dive headfirst back into Conspiracy Corner to finish their deep dive into the infamous Chemtrail conspiracy. From pilots allegedly receiving mysterious pamphlets t...

What happens when you take four legendary kaiju matchups, wipe the city clean after every battle, and let two dangerously underqualified hosts argue over who survives? You get Kaiju Clash, where giant monsters, questionable logic, and catastrophic property damage collide in one of the most ridiculous "what-if" episodes of Some Topic. In honor of Godzilla Day, Nick and Brett celebrate over seventy...

The microwave oven traces part of its origin story to a candy bar melting in an engineer’s pocket. While working with magnetrons used in radar systems, Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer noticed food reacting to the microwave energy around the equipment. Instead of ignoring it, he started experimenting. Popcorn popped. An egg reportedly exploded. Eventually, the same technology developed for radar he...

In 1859, San Francisco businessman Joshua Norton declared himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States. The federal government ignored him. San Francisco decided to play along. Norton wore an elaborate uniform, issued proclamations, inspected the city, attended public events, and became so beloved that businesses sometimes accepted his privately issued notes and police officers reportedly salute...

What happens when an American Quaker abandons everything, crowns himself the Prince of Ghor, survives the First Anglo-Afghan War, befriends Russian nobility, returns home as a celebrity, accidentally inspires the U.S. Camel Corps, and then decides to fight in the American Civil War? Apparently... that's still not the weirdest part of his story. In this finale to our deep dive into Hosea Harlan, we...

On this episode of Some Topic, Nick and Brett celebrate Halloween the only way they know how: by turning a holiday into a blood-soaked bracket of bad decisions, haunted logic, and deeply unserious combat analysis. What starts as a casual rundown of spooky season quickly mutates into an all-out fight night between the most recognizable names in horror, with the hosts arguing through the chaos like...

On August 21, 1986, Lake Nyos in Cameroon released an enormous cloud of carbon dioxide. The invisible gas flowed downhill through nearby valleys and suffocated roughly 1,700 people along with thousands of animals. There was no ordinary flood, fire, or lava flow. Entire communities were devastated by air that could no longer support life. In this Side Quest, we explore how volcanic carbon dioxide a...

In 1910, the British Royal Navy welcomed what appeared to be a delegation of Abyssinian royalty aboard HMS Dreadnought. They were actually pranksters in costumes, theatrical makeup, and fake beards. Among them was future novelist Virginia Woolf. Using a forged telegram, invented language, elaborate disguises, and enormous confidence, the group managed to receive an official tour of one of Britain’...

What starts as a simple question about those white streaks behind airplanes quickly spirals into one of the internet's longest-running conspiracy theories. In this episode of Some Topic – The Podcast, Nick and Brett step into the Conspiracy Corner to examine the infamous chemtrail theory, separating ordinary contrails from extraordinary claims while still exploring why so many people remain convin...

During World War II, Polish soldiers adopted a young Syrian brown bear named Wojtek. Eventually, they officially placed him on the unit’s rolls so he could continue traveling with them. Wojtek rode in military vehicles, wrestled with soldiers, became the mascot of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, and is famously associated with helping move ammunition during the Battle of Monte Cassino. In this...

On March 3, 1876, pieces of what appeared to be meat began falling from a clear sky over a farm in Bath County, Kentucky. The event became known as the Kentucky Meat Shower. Samples were examined. Newspapers spread the story. Different explanations appeared. And according to contemporary reports, somebody even tasted it. In this Side Quest, we explore what witnesses described, what scientists thou...

What happens when a Philadelphia botanist accidentally becomes one of the most important foreigners in Afghanistan? In this episode of Some Topic, Nick and Brett continue the unbelievable saga of Hosea Harlan, the real-life American adventurer whose life somehow reads like an anime written during a fever dream. After surviving court intrigue, failed alchemical experiments, and accusations of count...

What do nursery rhymes, Viking invasions, child sacrifice theories, Roman engineering, oil tycoons, and an Arizona tourist attraction all have in common? Somehow... London Bridge. This week on Some Topic, Nick and Brett take one of the world's most recognizable songs and unravel the bizarre history hiding behind "London Bridge Is Falling Down." As always, what begins as a simple question quickly d...

In 1999, NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter traveled hundreds of millions of miles toward Mars—and was lost because two systems were working with different units. One part of the project supplied impulse data in pound-force seconds while navigation software expected newton-seconds. But the famous unit mismatch was only part of the failure. In this Side Quest, we explore how the Mars Climate Orbiter disap...

In 1835, the New York Sun began publishing reports claiming that astronomers had discovered life on the Moon. Not microscopic life. Forests, strange animals, intelligent beavers, unicorn-like creatures, and winged humanoids. The articles borrowed the name of respected astronomer John Herschel and wrapped increasingly ridiculous claims in enough scientific language to keep readers interested. In th...

Bubble Wrap began as a decorating idea. In 1957, engineers Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes sealed plastic material together to trap pockets of air and tried selling the result as textured wallpaper. It failed. Then they tried greenhouse insulation. That was not the breakthrough either. Eventually, they realized the same air-filled structure was excellent at protecting fragile objects during shi...

In 1925, Victor Lustig managed to sell the Eiffel Tower. There was only one problem. It was not his to sell. Posing as a French government official, Lustig convinced scrap-metal dealers that Paris had secretly decided to dismantle the expensive landmark. Forged paperwork, secrecy, status, and even a carefully suggested bribe made the impossible story seem believable. In this Side Quest, we explore...

What happens when four sleep-deprived idiots fly into Montana, immediately throw themselves into freezing whitewater rapids, and then attempt to conquer two of America's most iconic national parks in a single long weekend? Chaos, obviously. In this installment of Some Travel, the crew heads west for an unforgettable adventure through Montana, Yellowstone National Park, and Glacier National Park. A...

In 1975, a serious physics paper appeared with a Siamese cat listed as one of its authors. Physicist Jack Hetherington had written his paper using the word “we,” only to realize the journal preferred singular language for a single author. Instead of rewriting the manuscript, he added another author. His cat Chester became F. D. C. Willard and entered the scientific record alongside a legitimate pa...

Napoleon Bonaparte survived some of the largest military campaigns in European history. According to one famous historical anecdote, he was also forced to retreat from rabbits. After the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, a celebratory rabbit hunt was organized for Napoleon and his guests. But the rabbits released for the event may have been domesticated animals accustomed to being fed by humans. Instead...

In this episode of Some Topic, the Conspiracy Corner opens its doors once again to one of the most enduring and misunderstood ideas in modern culture: the Illuminati. What begins as a chaotic, joke-filled back-and-forth about secret societies, folded dollar bills, and “naughty boys” quickly spirals into a surprisingly structured exploration of how a small historical group became a worldwide symbol...

On January 15, 1919, more than two million gallons of molasses tore through Boston’s North End after a massive storage tank suddenly failed. Twenty-one people were killed and roughly 150 were injured as the wave smashed through buildings, moved vehicles, trapped victims, and coated the neighborhood in thick syrup. The disaster sounds almost comedic until you understand its scale. In this Side Ques...

In 1859, the United States and Britain came dangerously close to fighting over San Juan Island. The immediate cause? An American settler shot a British-owned pig after finding it eating potatoes in his garden. A disagreement over compensation quickly collided with an unresolved international boundary dispute. Soldiers arrived. British warships appeared. Hundreds of armed men suddenly faced each ot...