Brian Powers

American Esoterica

History EN ↓ 109 episodes

These are the stories that may have slipped through the cracks - the odd detours that have shaped our history and culture in small, but sometimes significant, ways.

Author

Brian Powers

Episodes

Episode 100: 250 Years of American Esoterica 04.07.2026 29:56

It's the SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL - let's celebrate our 100th episode with a giant fireworks finale of history.

Episode 99 - SEMIQUINCENTENNIAPALOOZAYOTATHONARAMA: Revolution 03.07.2026 10:54

Sometimes, you have to strike the empire back, especially if you're a coal miner in 1921.

Episode 98 - SEMIQUINCENTENNIAPALOOZAYOTATHONARAMA: Connection 02.07.2026 11:57

History isn't a series of boxes with defined edges - it's a continuum, and our connections to the past are deeper than we think.

Episode 97 - SEMIQUINCENTENNIAPALOOZAYOTATHONARAMA: Destruction 01.07.2026 9:42

Come meet Conotocarious. All 46 of them.

HOT NUGGET OF HISTORY - GET TO DA DOCTAH 30.06.2026 2:23

A bizarre conspiracy to cover up the time a robot from the future attacked the First Lady with a sled.

HOT NUGGET OF HISTORY - Ahoy-hoy 29.06.2026 2:11

THIS race came down to the wire...the telephone wire.

Episode 96 - All's Fair 18.06.2026 9:26

The world got a glimpse of the future in Chicago in 1893. Your breakfast would never be the same.

Episode 95 - Farce Wars: The Eggpire Strikes Back 04.06.2026 12:44

A story about gang warfare, piracy, sharks, death by ammonia suffocation, and the people who killed the geese that laid the golden eggs, pretty much literally.

Episode 94 - Farce Wars: Attack of the Drone 21.05.2026 8:30

State of the art technology shows weakness against cheap drone. Difficulty: 70 years ago.

Episode 93 - Warne, P.I. 07.05.2026 10:51

She was the inspiration for the Pinkerton Detective Agency's famous slogan, and all it took was stopping the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Meet the first female private detective in the United States, Kate Warne.

Episode 92 - Fool Me Thrice 23.04.2026 13:49

Once more, we play our dangerous game.

Episode 91 - Homer 26.03.2026 14:03

Our scientists determined that racism was stupid at least as far back as 1896. Here's the story of the test case that became the ultimate stain on the Supreme Court and the country.

Episode 90 - The Baddest Man in Mississippi 12.03.2026 11:22

When the baddest man in Madison County did a world of good.

Episode 89 - Fight 12.02.2026 10:33

This is a story of a tank. And the vehicle he drove.

Episode 88 - Flight 29.01.2026 12:22

WE FEEL THE NEED... Look, this is a self-indulgent mess of an episode that exists solely to talk about how cool planes are. You in, or not?

Episode 87 - Prized 15.01.2026 12:02

We learn about history in black and white terms, but the most pivotal moments emerge from the gray. Introducing Arrrbraham Lincoln, almost-pirate.

Episode 86 - On This Day 23.11.2025 8:07

It could have been a day like any other...but it wasn't.

Episode 85 - Farce Wars: The Farce A-Bacons 06.11.2025 7:18

A pig, Robert's Rules of Order, Vancouver, and George Pickett. And the dumbest pseudo-war until the next one in this series.

Episode 84 - Murder in Lafayette Square: King's End 23.10.2025 8:22

There is still YET ANOTHER killing in Lafayette Square to discuss, but this story could've gone in a far worse direction. Come for the oddly pleasant death-dealing, stay for the host yelling at his dog for chewing on the studio acoustic panels.

Episode 83 - The Great Fire 09.10.2025 7:58

Forget what you think you know about the deadliest fire in American history.

Episode 82 - A House Divided 11.09.2025 7:33

The real story that likely inspired a fake story, and it's way more heartbreaking. This one is a three-hankie episode.

Episode 81 - What Exit, Your Highness? 28.08.2025 8:14

We actually had genuine royalty in this country once, and no, I don't mean Beyoncé (or Queen Bey, as those of us who are true fans call her). And in New Jersey, of all places.

Episode 80 - JFK, Not Blown Away 14.08.2025 10:01

Remember that time that somebody almost assassinated JFK? Probably not.

Episode 79 - Thirteen-ish Colonies 31.07.2025 8:19

A baker's dozen colonies? A regular dozen? Fourteen? Fifteen? Twenty-six? HOW MANY COLONIES WERE THERE?

Episode 78 - A Second, Non-Consecutive Term of Presidential Potpourri 03.07.2025 11:32

Here's another round of lightning-fast-ish presidential trivia, from the devil to the Beast and everything in-between.