Christory: History Where You Least Expect It

We hit a massive milestone! We are celebrating the 25th episode of Christory with the energy of this season’s Happy 250th USA vibes. Who would you put on the list of 25 American Revolution MVPs? The US Postal Service dropped their 25 picks and, as usual, Christory’s got something to say. Most importantly, thank YOU listeners. Like Notorious B.I.G. said, the sky’s the limit. Here’s to the next 25 a...

What was Christory doing in the 1990's? She was listening to the Golden Age of Hip Hop of Hot 97 and up to her eyeballs in a news cycle she can’t forget. Explore 9 of the most shocking and memorable news stories to come out of the 90's. Dare to ask why we are so nostalgic for the decade? Was it really all that and a bag of chips? History doesn’t have to be distant or exotic to be the bom...

Do you love history, but the Semiquincentennial’s political drama has more beef than the 90s East Coast-West Coast hip hop battle and that’s got you down? This season is for you. We are rollin’ in like neutral Switzerland starting with the French Rev which is the wild cousin of the much tamer American Rev. Marie Antoinette, who never said anything about cake, lives rent free in our minds for good...

The Papal Jubilee is finally rounding home plate. We’ll have to wait outside the club for the next shot at redemption in 2033. In the meantime, Christory knows well that barbarians have a nice long history at the Roman gate. If you think you know everything about the mac daddy of Rome’s falls, think again. Reconsider 476 CE the way you didn’t learn about it in high school.

Heading to Naples for the pizza? Well, don’t forget All Souls Day and bring some to your dear departed because nothing says lovin’ like pizza. Where my taphophiles at because Chistory is riding the runaway Jubilee train to the cemetery through Samhain and rocking the liminal space of transitioning to the dark half of the year like a Gaelic boss. 

The Conjuring has Christory moving from endless summer to Summerween. We’ve got questions about demons and the papacy has answers. According to some exorcists, demons get especially irritated during holy years, so get your PSL and let’s hit the streets of Rome and see what this jubilee means for some historical demonic sites around town.

Hurricane Erin is cruising through the Atlantic with 50 foot waves crashing in the eye of the storm. In honor of those who pray for surf, we are duck diving into the history of the boogie board and Christory’s own history riding the waves. Celebrate the dog days of the jubilee summer with a goofy footed historian.

It smells like Teen Spirit in Rome these days. Christory’s got OG eyes on the Jubilee of Youth and the new pope as he navigates holy Lollapalooza . The Vatican works tirelessly to present an image, but popular culture often has its own ideas. Let’s take a closer look as the jubilee inspired season of our podcast rolls on.

It’s on like Donkey Kong. We’ve got a new pope and Christory is on the ground in Rome watching it go down. The dream is that the first pope from the US of A is walking through the Vatican apartments winking at the nuns like Jude Law in The Young Pope because nothing is more historically fun than a spicy pope.

From parading around Rome with an elephant to putting a corpse on trial, there is more delightfully devious behavior amongst the 266 popes than in all the seasons of Cops. Hold onto your sock, papal or not and see the Holy See’s dirty laundry in high definition. 

What do Abigail Adams, Prince Albert, Louisa May Alcott, Wilbur Wright, quite possibly Sacagawea and Alexander the Great, and maybe Saladin have in common?  They met the grim reaper by hitchin’ a ride on the Typhoid train. Christory's back in the history of disease with a Papal Jubilee twist ( of lime).

Papal Jubilees have been super spreaders. This year it is the Jubilee Flu, in 1350 it was The Plague. Learn more about the disease that killed at least half of Europe. In the Middle Ages God was angry. Today, you’ve got bacteria and hopefully antibiotics.

The Papal Giubileo has taken Rome by storm. Even the New York Times is afraid the city is going to lose its soul, but this isn’t Rome’s first trip to the invasion rodeo. Napoleon took great pleasure in busting papal cajones, so hold onto your bicorne hats!

There are historical events that define generations because they set the world on a different course.  The terror attack on September 11, 2001 was such an event.  Explore this topic through a historical lens with some personal recollections.

Think you know the mob of Hollywood?  Just wait until you meet this rowdy cast of characters.  Christory's diving back into true crime.  Christory's no rat, but these crimes are too juicy not to tell.

If you like true crime, you are not alone. Long before the Gilgo Killer tossed his DNA covered pizza crust into the evidence pile, Long Island has experienced murder and mayhem. Tune in for the history of six crimes that will make you shake your head.

Happy Bastille Day!  No one does a revolution quite like the French when they want bread, and this is the big kahuna.  Take a trip to 1793 and the massive medieval fortress where it all went down for this delightfully glutton filled podcast.

This Independence Day its off to Coney Island, New York for a frank look at the history of America's Playground in its heyday and beyond.  From the Cyclone to top dog Joey Chestnut, spread love it's the Brooklyn way.

Silvio Berlusconi very well might have failed Dr. Contrada's Western Civ final, but he certainly boldly projected his own significance into history.  So much that came out of his mouth had the world clutching its pearls, so let's take a look at a controversial historical legacy in its infancy.

Mother Nature threw some serious shade at New York this week.  This isn't the first time.  Curious? Let's explore the natural disasters of the past to sucker punch New York.

After destructive flooding in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, Christory offers an ode to Bologna's history. As work begins on saving this heritage, it is clear it won't be an easy task, but Bologna has spirit.  It has earned the colorful nicknames the Red, the Intellectual, and the Fat.  This tough little city has come back from far worse.  Do you keep hearing about the floods, but f...

Christory still has coronation fever. We've got a remix this week with some unsolicited advice for the new Queen consort. Did she kiss a frog? You be the judge.  It's not easy being green, but it's also not easy being a consort. Tune in to find out why.

Christory's got coronation fever. This historian has more unsolicited advice for the new king than M&S has piles of tea towels. What can Charles learn from the monarchs who came before him about? Tune in to find out.

Having trouble making new friends?  Can't get over an old toxic flame?  You are not alone.  The struggle is real, even for nation states.  Let's go monument hunting in the corners of Sofia, Bulgaria to explore the city's socialist past on the occasion of International Workers' Day.

Tired of the self-help mantra that tells you to send positive vibes into the universe like the busted system is your doing?  Then Gramsci, the thorn in Mussolini's side, is your guy.  Let's lay the system bare.