500 Open Tabs

The ancient tournament of Kumitab returns as we pit some of our craziest subjects against one another including Colonel Sanders, Kaveh the Blacksmith, and the Magic Eye turtle wearing a bowler hat. Email your closed tab submissions to:  500opentabs@gmail.com Support us on Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs 500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide):  https://maps.app.goo....

This week we slide tackle into learning about the infamously bloody 1962 World Cup match between Chile and Italy that was preceded by new goal rules, a warring international press, and the largest earthquake ever recorded. A listener email gives the Ballroom scene a Jellicle twist. Episode Tabs: World Cup stunning moments: The Battle of Santiago https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/mar/0...

This week we are joined by special guest co-host Alyssa Cooper as she walks us through the insane Beanie Baby craze of the late 90s. A listener email explains the Mr. Trashwheel phenomenon that has taken over Baltimore. Episode Tabs: How Playground Rumors and Artificial Scarcity Created the Billion-Dollar Beanie Baby Mania https://www.mentalfloss.com/fun/toys/how-playground-rumors-and-artificial-s...

This week we are joined by special guest co-host Josie Azzam as she tells us about when Russian rich kids called the Narodniks tried and failed horribly to convince the newly freed Serfs to join them in overthrowing the Czar. A listener email reveals the Swedish origins of an iconic Muppets tune. Episode Tabs: Going to the People https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_to_the_People Listener Tabs: Swe...

This week we conclude the insane life story of KFC founder Harland Sanders as he fries chicken for Oppenheimer and publicly beefs (chickens?) with his corporate overlords. A listener email explains the Seinfeldian origins of the Canadian Toonie coin. Episode Tabs: Colonels of Truth https://www.damninteresting.com/colonels-of-truth/ Listener Tabs: A Tale of Two Designs: How Canada’s 1-dollar Coin B...

This week we learn about the insane life of KFC founder Harland Sanders as he is put in charge of his younger siblings from the age of 5 and later worked the railroads where he developed a reputation for constantly getting into fistfights. A listener email tells of about that time in 1876 when chunks of red meat rained from the sky in Kentucky. Episode Tabs: Colonels of Truth https://www.damninter...

This week we learn about the history of courtroom sketching and how the Lindbergh kidnapping helped get cameras banned from courtrooms altogether. A listener voice memo ponders how all airline safety brochures ended up looking the same. Episode Tabs: Why Do We Still Need Courtroom Artists? https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-courtroom-artists Listener Tabs: Airline Safety Cards https://w...

This week we're joined by cohost of Nerd of Mouth/ producer of LPNtv Holden McNeely as he tells us about the horrors of an entire island off the coast of Brazil populated by extremely poisonous snakes that jump from trees as well as his soft pitch for a movie where looksmaxxing influencers are trapped on said island. A listener emails tells us about a very offensively named shop in India. Episode...

This week we learn how personality tests went from determining if you could handle PTSD in WW1 to whether or not you could be employed by a Fortune 500 company. A listener emails tells the story of that time Gary Larson had to explain a not so complicated Far Side comic to his fans. Episode Tabs: The First Personality Test Was Developed During World War I https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fir...

This week we learn how during Jim Crow, a group of Black artists sold between 50 to 200,000 landscape paintings from the trunks of their cars directly to doctors offices, real estate agents, and motels. A listener emails tells us about the award winning goodest boy. Episode Tabs: History of the Florida Highwaymen https://www.floridahighwaymenpaintings.com Listener Tabs: Good Boy dog actor Indy win...

This week we learn how activist Marion Stokes archived 30 years of television in an effort to protect the truth from fake news. A listener voice memo suggests a novel way to clone Richard Nixon. Episode Tabs: The Remarkable Story of a Woman Who Preserved Over 30 Years of TV History https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/marion-stokes-television-news-archive Listener Tabs: This man has held ont...

This week we learn about Uncle Sam's predecessor Brother Jonathan, and how America's mascot for itself evolved between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. A listener email explains the importance of a finely carved 2000 year old statue of the Buddha recently found in Egypt. Episode Tabs: Before America Got Uncle Sam, It Had to Endure Brother Jonathan https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/brother-jon...

This week we learn how a rejected Belgian inventor's obsession with creating new instruments eventually led to the creation of one of the great American art forms. A listener email explains how bikes were used to smuggle drugs in the Netherlands. Episode Tabs: It was banned by the Nazis, Stalin and the Vatican. This is the surprising history of the saxophone https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-25/...

This week we conclude the story of controversial comic artist Mike Diana whose run in with the law eventually ends up with him being taken to trial with charges of obscenity. A listener email explains how the how until recently, nipples in comics were considered taboo. Episode Tabs: Author of pedophile guide arrested on Florida obscenity charge https://archive.ph/20130203144830/http://www.tampabay...

This week we dive into the origin of the controversial comic artist Mike Diana, who sought to create the "most offense zine ever made." A listener email explains how the release of a million balloons over the skies of Cleveland led to civilian deaths. Episode Tabs: Mike Diana Comics ( TRIGGER WARNING! ) https://mikedianacomix.com/ Listener Tabs: When Cleveland Released 1.5 million Balloons and Two...

This week Hannah discusses the superstitions surrounding the year of the Fire Horse which began after a young girl tried to burn down Tokyo for love. A listener email reveals the hidden life of Yoplait Mimes. Come see us at C2E2! Artist Alley R-07 Episode Tabs: Yaoya Oshichi: The Girl Who Tried to Burn Down Tokyo For Love https://www.amusingplanet.com/2025/10/yaoya-oshichi-girl-who-tried-to-burn.h...

On this very special Nowruz episode, Kaveh explains the origin of his snake shoulder fighting namesake from the Shahnameh. A listener voice memo gets into how Mendez v. Westminster overlaps with some of our previous tabs. Episode Tabs: Zahhāk: An Etiology of Evil https://themarkaz.org/zahhak-an-etiology-of-evil/ Listener Tabs: Sylvia Mendez https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sylvia-Mendez Email...

This week we're joined by friend of the show Steven Ray Morris as he teaches us how Haim Saban was able to recycle Super Sentai footage and turn it into a gajillion dollar franchise . A listener email reminds us how the original Space Jam is still alive and well. Episode Tabs: Might Morphin Power Rangers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Morphin_Power_Rangers Listener Tabs: Space Jam https://ww...

This week we learn about 22 year old Charles Darwin's first trip out to sea on the HMS Beagle and his unlikely friendship with captain Robert FitzRoy sparked his theory of evolution. A listener email tells us the lengths one Serbian chimp went to find a girlfriend. Come find us at Emerald City Comic Con! Artist Alley Table R-07 Episode Tabs: Darwin Correspondence Project https://www.darwinproject....

This week we learn about the various uses of the history that led to the creation of the 90s' greatest 3D craze, Magic Eye. A listener email tells us how lead on the ocean floor can help modern science. Episode Tabs: When Magic Eye Pictures Ruled the World https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/622658/when-magic-eye-pictures-ruled-world Listener Tabs: How a Roman shipwreck could help unlock the Unive...

This week we're joined by special guest Kaveh Mohebbi of the Cinema Rex podcast as he tells us about the myth surrounding John Swartzwelder, the most prolific writer in the history of The Simpsons whose voice helped shape the show and who may or may not actually exist. A listener mail tells us the insane story of the first gas balloon flight. Episode Tabs: John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”...

This week we learn about the various uses of the name Batman including a town in Iran, a personal valet to a commissioned officer in England and a unit of measurement. A listener email informs us the colossal dickhead John Batman, who terrorized the people of New South Whales and Tasmania. Episode Tabs: Batman (Disambiguation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(disambiguation) Listener Tabs: Jo...

We are back for season 3 with new tabs and a new format! This week we learn about the South African legend Renfrew Christie, who used his dissertation at Oxford as a front to spy on the Apartheid government's secret nuclear program. A listener email fills in the gaps of our Emperor Norton knowledge. Episode Tabs: Farewell to a South African hero, Professor Renfrew Christie https://www.dailymaveric...

Part 2! After meeting on the 500 Open Tabs Discord, a few fans of the show got together and recorded a tribute episode "The Tab Conspiracy," so we decided to share it with our tens of listeners!! This week they discuss first and second sleep (which may or may not have been invented by Hobbits) and the results of when a fruit company unloaded 12000 metric tons of orange peels onto a national park i...

After meeting on the 500 Open Tabs Discord, a few fans of the show got together and recorded a tribute episode "The Tab Conspiracy," so we decided to share it with our tens of listeners!! This week they discuss how Ivo Zdarsky flew to Vienna in a homemade airplane to claim political asylum from Czechoslovakia and the life of Bud Hurlbut, the engineer/creator most famously known for designing Knott...