Did That Really Happen?

This week we're going back to the 1970s with If Beale Street Could Talk! Join us as we learn about the Rockefeller Drug Laws, New York jails, the term "Holy Roller", and more! Source Brian Mann, "The Drug Laws That Changed How We Punished," NPR, available at https://www.npr.org/2013/02/14/171822608/the-drug-laws-that-changed-how-we-punish Fodei Batty, "How to Understand the Complicated History of...

This week we're traveling back to the 1930s with Amsterdam! Join us as we learn about Smedley Butler, birding, the Harlem Hellfighters, that story about Mussolini running a kid over with a car, and more! Sources: The Press: Vanderbilt Truth (1931) available at https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,930365,00.html Pete Vack, "A Mussolini Alfa Romeo Mystery," available at https://v...

*NOTE: Due to a technical mishap, we had some problems with Jamie's audio on this one. We apologize for the sound quality issues. Content Warning: This episode features discussion of cannibalism and other disturbing content. This week we're traveling back to 1970s Uruguay with Society of the Snow! Join us as we learn about Numa Turcatti, the photos taken on the mountain, student protests, radios,...

Today we're traveling to early 2000s Chile (but also 18th century France, and some other times, too) with vampire-themed political satire El Conde! Join us as we learn about Lucia Hiriart, Augusto Pinochet's shady money dealings, that time he got arrested in London, and more! Sources: John Bartlett, "Widow of Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet Dies at 99," The Guardian, available at https://www.the...

This week we're traveling back to the 1920s with Killers of the Flower Moon! Join us as we learn about William "King" Hale, Mollie Burkhardt, FBI Agent Tom White, and more! Sources: David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. Doubleday, 2017 https://ualr.edu/sequoyah/thisday/hale-given-life-sentence-february-1-1929/ FBI Vault: https://vault.fbi.gov/Osage%20...

We're back with 2024's first episode on Rustin! Join us as we learn about the speeches delivered at the March on Washington, Strom Thurmond's attacks on Bayard Rustin, Dr. Anna Hedgeman, the Bonus Army, and more! Sources: Emma Rothberg, "Anna Arnold Hedgeman," National Women's History Museum, available at https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/anna-arnold-hedgeman GPO, Congr...

For our final episode of the year, we're changing things up with Escape from New York! Join us as we explore how well this 1981 film predicted the year 1997, with discussions of island prisons, crime rates, Telex technology, and more! Sources: Tim Wadsworth, "Is Immigration Responsible for the Crime Drop? An Assessment on the Influence of Immigration on Changes in Violent Crime Between 1990 and 20...

This week we're going back to the 1790s with Love and Friendship! Join us as we learn about marriage practices, loyalists in Britain, "bad air", influenza, and more! Sources: RB Outhwaite, "Age at Marriage in England From the Late Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Century," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 1972. Maya Jasanoff, Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary Worl...

This week we're traveling to turn-of-the-century Mexico with the Dance of the 41! Join us as we learn about opinion polling, Amada Diaz, euphemisms for homosexuality, and more! Sources: Tom W. Smith, "The First Straw? A Study of the Origins of Election Polls," Public Opinion Quarterly 54 (1990) Campbell Rhodes, "A Brief History of Opinion Polls," Available at https://www.moadoph.gov.au/explore/sto...

This week we're going back to 1960s Europe with The Man From UNCLE! Join us as we learn about black market weapons, kidnapped scientists, amphibious cars, CIA recruitment, and more! Sources: "Nazis and Axis Collaborators Were Used to Further US Anti-Communist Objectives in Europe; Some Immigrated to the United States," Report by the Comptroller of the United States, 1985. Available at https://www....

*Note: We decided to delay our planned episode for this week, so instead we are releasing one of the bonus episodes from our Patreon feed. Sources: Pamela D Arcineaux, "The Storyville Madam Who Challenged Jim Crow, and Won," The Historic New Orleans Collection, available at https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/storyville-madam-who-challenged-jim-crow-and-won Storyville Guidebooks to Sin,...

This week we're going back to the Roman Empire with Centurion! Join us as we learn about the Picts, Roman armor, the 9th Legion, and more! Sources: Michael Squire, Embodied Ambiguities on the Prima Porta Augusta. Art History 36, 2 (2013) "Muscle Cuirass". Australian National University. Available at http://artserve.anu.edu.au/raid1/student_projects97/armour/muscle/muscle.html Joshua J Mark, "Picts...

This week we're going back to 1890s Kenya with The Ghost and the Darkness! Join us as we learn all about Colonel John Patterson, the Kenya-Uganda Railway, the ivory trade, burial practices, and more! Sources: Ahmed al-Dawoody, Respect for the Dead Under Islamic Law: Considerations for Humanitarian Forensics. ICRC, available at https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2018/11/01/respect-for-the-dead-u...

This week we're traveling back to 1890s New England with The Lighthouse! Join us as we try to figure out what the heck is going on in this movie, and along the way learn about seagull myths, how lighthouses work, New England dialects, Davy Jones, and more! Sources: "Seagulls," A Dictionary of English Folklore, Oxford Reference Dictionaries, available at https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1...

This week we're traveling back to 1950s Hollywood with Hail Caesar! Join us as we learn about the Writers Guild, stars going on arranged dates, the phrase "cut the mustard", how stars concealed unplanned pregnancies, and more! Sources: Jeffrey Schwartz, Tab Hunter Confidential. Allan Glaser Productions, 2015. Available on Amazon Prime. Benjamin McVay, "Movie Stars in the Studio System: Secrets and...

NOTE: Due to technical difficulties, this episode contains some lost audio. This week we're traveling back to the 19th century with The Harder They Fall! Join us as we learn about the real-life figures behind the characters of this film, including Stagecoach Mary, Cherokee Bill, and more! Sources: Paul M. Lucko, "Goldsby, Crawford [Cherokee Bill]," Texas State Historical Society, available at http...

Today we're traveling back to the San Fernando Valley of the 1970s with Boogie Nights! Join us as we learn all about the impact of VHS on the porn industry, adult film awards, the history of the San Fernando Valley, and more! Sources: Timothy Buzzell, "Demographic Characteristics of Persons Using Pornography in Three Technological Contexts," Sexuality & Culture 9, no.1 (2005): 28-48. https://www.r...

This week we're traveling back to the 1970s with our 100th Episode Spectacular!!! Join us as we learn about activists Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, Prop 6, and the Coors Boycott, before we look back on our favorite segments from past episodes.  Sources: Footage of 1978 Board of Supervisors Meeting, Anne Kronenberg: https://archive.org/details/glbths_1999-52_012_sc Photo of Anne Kronenberg Deliv...

This week we're going back to 1920s Chicago with Ma Rainey's Black Bottom! Join us as we learn about The Defender, some NSFW slang, recording contracts, Ma Rainey's love life, and more! Sources: Katherine A. Bitner, "The Role of the Chicago Defender in the Great Migration of 1916-1918," Negro History Bulletin 48, 2 (1985) James R. Grossman, "Blowing the Trumpet: The Chicago Defender and Black Migr...

This week we travel back to 1960s Mississippi with Mississippi Burning! Join us as we learn about the epic tale of the integration of Ole Miss, murderous Klansmen, civil rights activist training, and more! Sources: "James Meredith at Ole Miss" https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/ole-miss-integration  Debbie Elliott, "Integrating Ole Miss: A Transformative, Deadly Riot," NPR Morning Editio...

This week we're going back to the 1960s with Boston Strangler! Join us as we learn about the Boston PD's bad advice to women, raids on queer communities, the death of Albert DeSalvo, and more! Sources: James H. Hammond, "Boston 'Strangler' Flees Hospital; Women Are Told to Lock Doors," The Washington Post (25 Feb 1967): 1.  Douglas Crocket, "What Did the Five Strangle Victims Have in Common?" Bost...

This week we're traveling back to 1970s Iran with Persepolis! Join us as we learn about Qajar princes, the role of the CIA in the Shah's regime, banned music in 1970s Iran, the Iran-Iraq War, and more! Sources: Afshar v. Department of State (1983). Case text available at https://casetext.com/case/afshar-v-department-of-state Richard T. Sale, "SAVAK: A Feared and Pervasive Force," Washington Post,...

This week we're going back to 2007 with The Big Short! Join us as we learn about bespoke tranche opportunities, various hedge fund guys, Sofia's predictions for what Millennial side hustles will look like when none of us are retired in 50 years, and more! Sources: Jack Schwager, Hedge Fund Market Wizards: How Winning Traders Win. Wiley, 2012 Indiewire interview with Adam McKay: https://www.indiewi...

NOTE: This episode was originally posted as a Patreon-only bonus episode.  This week we're talking about the first season of A League of Their Own! Join us as we learn about censored letters in WWII, the code of conduct for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, and more! Sources: Full text available at https://www.aagpbl.org/history/rules-of-conducthttps://www.aagpbl.org/teams/rockf...

Today we're traveling back to the 1820s and the Kingdom of Dahomey with The Woman King! Join us as we learn about cowrie shells, Agojie weapons, the 1820s slave trade, King Ghezo, and more! Sources: Wendy Ide, "The Woman King review - a thunderously cinematic good time," The Observer (1 Oct 2022). https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/01/the-woman-king-review-a-thunderously-cinematic-good-time...