Barely Historical

This episode is a special main feed drop that normally lives on our Patreon. Think of it as our little Thanksgiving gift to you. We are taking you back to the very first Macy's Day Parade in 1924. The modern parade sparkle was not there yet. Instead, it featured real animals, stiff costumes, uneven planning, and a crowd that witnessed the earliest version of a tradition that eventually became a ho...

New York in 1924 looks glamorous until you tap it with your fingernail and hear pure hollow chaos underneath. In this episode, Amanda and JoLynne drag you through the smells, the sweat, the speakeasies, the Harlem Renaissance, the class divide, the crime, the corruption, the glitter on top, and the rot beneath. This is not the postcard version of the Roaring Twenties. This is the real one. Inside...

The year is 1986, and Pripyat is about to become the most famous ghost town on Earth. In this Patreon preview, Jo and Amanda break down the real story of the Chernobyl disaster in a way only a dark history podcast could. This is the partial main feed cut. The full episode lives on our Patreon. In this episode, we cover the true events behind the Chernobyl explosion, the evacuation of Pripyat, the...

Jo arrives in late 1986 as a six pound ball of chaos while Amanda watches from the cosmic waiting room and together they drag you through one of the wildest years of the eighties. In this Barely Historical episode, we talk Challenger, Chernobyl, Reagan era politics, chaotic 80s parenting, working moms in oversized sweaters, teenage boys saving for cars, mall culture, Aqua Net addictions, Top Gun,...

Were we too young to watch Titanic when we did? Yes. Did that stop our parents from handing us grape-flavored lip gloss, greasy popcorn, and a front row seat to lifelong emotional damage? Absolutely not. In this episode, we skip the door debate and head straight for the real Titanic. The ship of dreams, the floating ego, the coal fire no one mentioned, the lifeboats that left half empty, and the s...

The year is 1997. The internet screams, Leo floats, and everything smells like Cucumber Melon and regret. Jo and Amanda ruin the year that gave us Titanic , Princess Diana, boy bands, Heaven’s Gate, and the first online red flag named Brad_420. They break down the world before Wi-Fi, when malls were cathedrals, feminism came in shampoo commercials, and the internet felt like both salvation and slo...

C urtains, Corpses, and Control The year is 1945. Evil is tidy, cruelty is domestic, and someone’s polishing silver while the world burns. JoLynne and Amanda ruin the story of Ilse Koch, the “Bitch of Buchenwald”, a woman who proved that order without empathy is just horror in heels. This is a sneak peek from our Patreon series History But Make It Worse , where we dig into the stories that are too...

The year is 1945, world leaders are running on caffeine, cigarettes, and denial while the planet burns and everyone’s pretending it’s fine. From lobster feasts in bombed out Crimea to victory haircuts and ration book romance, JoLynne and Amanda unpack the year the world “won” and immediately started breaking again. We’ve got Yalta drama, Churchill’s champagne problem, Roosevelt’s exhaustion arc, a...

The year is 1692. Massachusetts is cold, paranoid, and running on bad carbs. Two girls start convulsing, the town loses its collective mind, and suddenly everyone’s a witch — or about to be. This is the chaotic half you’re allowed to hear. We cover the gossip, the bad science, and the first sparks of hysteria that made Salem the messiest small town in history. In this episode: • The girls, the fit...

Welcome to Barely Historical, the podcast where accuracy is debatable, but enthusiasm is eternal. This week, JoLynne and Amanda take you back to 1692 Massachusetts, where the air smelled like goat, the beer was safer than water, and paranoia was the hottest trend in town. From moldy bread and mass hysteria to “piss cakes” and paper money that melted in the rain, we’re unpacking how a bunch of Puri...

Welcome to Barely Historical, the funny history podcast where two lifelong friends pick a year, dive in, and instantly regret it. In this first episode, meet Amanda and JoLynne, best friends for 25 years, failed Russian princesses, and self-appointed historians of chaos. They share how the podcast started, what’s coming next, and why the past was just as unhinged as the present. Expect pop culture...

Meet Amanda and Jolynne, lifelong friends, failed Russian princesses, and self-appointed historians of chaos. Barely Historical is the funny history podcast where they pick a year, dive in, and instantly regret it. In this trailer, they share what inspired the show and what’s coming next, from the Salem Witch Trials to 90s pop culture fever. Every episode mixes comedy, storytelling, and just enoug...

1963 looks polished in the photos. Pastel dresses, church picnics, men in suits who definitely smell like cigarettes and bad coffee. Underneath, it is a year of civil rights marches, Cold War nerves, televised grief, and housewives being told a vacuum is the ultimate romantic gesture. In this episode of Barely Historical , Jo and Amanda walk through 1963 like a yearbook you are not sure you actual...