History with Dad

A ship sinks. A city burns. An economy collapses. For most people caught in the middle, it's a disaster. But for somebody else? It might be a business opportunity. In this Dad Tangent from History with Dad, we're exploringone of history's uncomfortable economic realities: sometimes the same catastrophe that destroys one person's livelihood creates another person's fortune. From...

You found the treasure. Congratulations! Now comes the hard part. Who actually owns it? In this Dad Tangent from History with Dad, we're looking at what happens when valuable objects disappear for decades or even centuries, only to be discovered by somebody who had absolutely nothing to do with losing them. From a Spanish warship carrying hundreds of thousands of silver coins to an Anglo-Saxon...

The Golden Age of Piracy didn't begin with a single pirate. It grew out of a world that suddenly had a lot ofexperienced sailors... And considerably fewer legal ways to make money capturingships. Then, in 1715... A Spanish treasure fleet sailed directly into a hurricaneoff the coast of Florida. In this episode of History with Dad , we're following Henry Jennings and Benjamin Hornigold into...

Sometimes history gives us an ending. Sometimes... Somebody just disappears. And when that happens, the empty space they leave behind has a strange tendency to fill up with stories. From D. B. Cooper jumping out of an airplane with $200,000,to the disappearance of writer Ambrose Bierce, to lost colony of Roanoke... Let's talk about why history hates a blank space.

Good intentions feel important. But history has a slightly uncomfortable habit of remindingus that believing you're making the right decision doesn't necessarily mean you are. From a Swedish warship that probably never should havesailed, to Robert Falcon Scott's doomed journey back from the South Pole, to the decision to launch Challenger ... Let's talk about what happens when peop...

The Golden Age of Piracy begins with two men whose storiesshow just how blurry the line between privateer and pirate could become. Henry Every mutinied, stole a warship, captured one of the richest prizes in pirate history, and vanished. William Kidd started with government backing and ended on the gallows. In this episode of History with Dad , we begin with Every, the Fancy , and the mutiny that...

Stealing something is only half the problem. You still haveto turn it into money. From pirates trying to unload tons of stolen cargo to medieval livestock thieves and modern fencing networks, criminals throughout history have depended on people willing to buy, hide, transport, or resell what they stole. In this Dad Tangent, we look at the surprisingly ordinary businesses that can make extraordinar...

Governments throughout history have relied on violent people they couldn't always control. Mercenaries, frontier warriors, and independent military companies could be incredibly useful when there was an enemy to fight—but what happened when those same warriors stopped being useful? In this Dad Tangent, we look at the Catalan Company, the Great Companies of medieval Europe, the complicated relation...

Before Blackbeard, Calico Jack, Anne Bonny, and the famouspirates of the Golden Age, there was already a violent and complicated world waiting for them. In this episode of History with Dad , we travel back to the Caribbean and Atlantic world of the 1600s to understand why piracy exploded in the first place. We’ll break down the differences between pirates, privateers, buccaneers, naval sailors, an...

Why do certain soldiers become remembered as almostsuperhuman? In this History with Dad Tangent, we're looking at theSpartans, Gurkhas, and Japanese soldiers of World War II to see how battlefield success, enemy fear, propaganda, and storytelling can turn very human fighters into legends. And what happens when an army discovers that being fearedcan be almost as useful as being strong?

Can a painting, play, or movie change the way we remember ahistorical person? In this History with Dad Tangent, we're looking at Joan ofArc, Boudica, and the American cowboy to see how costumes and visual storytelling can become so powerful that the image eventually overtakes the history.

Did Vikings really wear horned helmets? Were they unusuallytall, covered in tattoos, filthy, blond-haired barbarians who dreamed of dying in battle? In the Season 3 finale of History with Dad, we're separatingthe Vikings of history from the Vikings created by centuries of legends, misunderstandings, art, opera, movies, and modern pop culture.

The Roman Empire supposedly fell in 476. The Middle Agessupposedly ended in 1453... or maybe 1492. And an entire civilization supposedly “collapsed” at the end of the Bronze Age. But the people living through these moments didn't know they were crossing boundaries in a history book. In this Dad Tangent, we're looking at who decides when one historical age ends and another begins.

Success is supposed to teach us what works. But sometimes it teaches exactly the wrong lesson. From Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg to IBM’s PC and Kodak's dominance of photography, this Dad Tangent looks at what happens when people keep using the strategy that made them successful... after the world around them has changed.

The Viking Age reaches its traditional end in 1066. Harald Hardrada and Tostig invade northern England, defeat Edwin and Morcar at Fulford, and threaten York before King Harold Godwinson races north to meet them at Stamford Bridge. Nineteen days later, Harold must march south again to face William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. In this episode of History with Dad , we follow one of the mos...

For thousands of years, comets were treated as warnings of war, plague, revolution, and the deaths of kings. But why? From Caesar’s Comet and the Great Comet of 1577 to the bizarre panic surrounding Halley’s Comet in 1910, we explore why these spectacular visitors terrified people—and how astronomers eventually discovered that comets weren’t supernatural warnings at all.

Who actually decides who becomes king? Royal succession sounds simple—until several people have legitimate claims to the same throne. From the chaos of Empress Matilda to Scotland’s Great Cause and the Wars of the Roses, we explore why bloodlines alone were rarely enough to make someone king.

England is heading toward 1066. Edward the Confessor has no heir, Harold Godwinson is becoming the most powerful man in the kingdom, William of Normandy believes the English throne was promised to him, and Harald Hardrada has finally ended his long war for Denmark. In this episode of History with Dad , we follow the rise of Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror's brutal early life, the myste...

Can propaganda decide who history remembers as the villain? From Richard III and Cleopatra to China's Wu Zetian and Genghis Khan, this Dad Tangent explores how political enemies, later historians, and cultural expectations can shape a reputation for centuries—and why the version of history that survives isn't always the whole story.

Why did medieval kings sometimes blind or mutilate their rivals instead of simply killing them? From Byzantine emperors and Bernard of Italy to Hungary's blind King Béla II, this History with Dad tangent explores the disturbing political logic behind medieval mutilation—and why the supposedly foolproof strategy sometimes failed spectacularly.

Cnut the Great built one of the most remarkable kingdoms of the Viking Age, ruling England, Denmark, and Norway. But when Cnut died in 1035, the North Sea Empire almost immediately began coming apart. His sons Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut competed for England, Queen Emma of Normandy fought to preserve her family’s position, and old rivalries returned across Scandinavia. In this episode of Histor...

What happens after you conquer a country? Winning the war is only the beginning. In this Dad Tangent from History with Dad, we look at why successful conquerors often keep surprisingly large parts of the governments they just defeated. Starting with Cnut's conquest of England, we explore Cyrus the Great and the Persian Empire, Roman rule, Britain's use of indirect rule, and the catastrophi...

Why do we love stories that remind powerful people they still have limits? In this Dad Tangent from History with Dad, we start with the famous story of King Cnut and the tide, then look at Alexander the Great's encounter with Diogenes, the Roman tradition of reminding victorious generals of their mortality, George Washington voluntarily surrendering power, and Louis XIV's very different ap...

How did a Viking become King of England? In this episode of History with Dad, we follow the dramatic conclusion of England's war between Edmund Ironside and Cnut. After the Battle of Assandun, the kingdom is briefly divided between two kings before Edmund's sudden death leaves Cnut in control. From there, we explore how Cnut transformed from conqueror into one of medieval Europe's most...

Why does history so often blame one person for disasters that were actually caused by dozens of different factors? In this Dad Tangent from History with Dad, we explore why history loves simple stories. From the fall of the Western Roman Empire to General George McClellan, Captain William Bligh, and the HMS Bounty , we'll see how complicated events often get pinned on a single individual. Then...