For the Love of History - world history, women’s history, weird history

Japan gave us The Great Wave. It also gave us 34 feet of fart scroll! 💨 When archivists at Waseda University unrolled a 34-foot Edo-period scroll, they expected samurai, landscapes, or elegant courtly scenes. What they got was 10 meters of pure, unhinged fart battle art, and it's one of the most fascinating windows into feudal Japanese culture you'll ever find. In this episode: The 34-foot Waseda...

What if the pill you believed would save your life was slowly killing you? In the third century, the most powerful ruler in human history, Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, was secretly drinking mercury. His court alchemists called it the Elixir of Immortality. He called it hope. History calls it the thing that killed him. In this episode of For the Love of History, TK takes you on a jour...

Men invented high heels. Men made them a power symbol. Then men decided women should wear them instead. Classic. In this episode of For the Love of History, we're uncovering the surprisingly bloody, surprisingly spicy history of high heels — and it starts not in a shoe store, but on a Persian battlefield. From the cavalry soldiers of the Safavid Empire who used heels to stay mounted while firing a...

From professional fart scapegoats to the workers who literally built civilization from the ground up. Edo Japan's labor history is wild, gross, and more relevant than you'd think. In this episode, we're diving into the worst jobs of the Edo period (1603–1868): the Buddhist nuns hired to take the blame for samurai princesses' flatulence, the night soil collectors whose poop trade kept an entire nat...

Did we invent glasses, or did we invent the problem that makes us need them? 👓 From bone goggles carved by the Inuit 2,000 years ago to the forgotten woman scientist behind the lenses in your glasses right now, this is the history of eyeglasses, vision correction, and the myopia epidemic nobody is talking about. Nearly half the world struggles to see clearly. Screen time is changing our eyes. And...

Were warrior women real—or is that just a myth we’ve been told for centuries? From the legendary Amazons of Greek myth to the very real Scythian women warriors, history is filled with stories of women who fought in battle. But for years, many historians dismissed these accounts as folklore… until archaeology proved otherwise. In this episode, we uncover the truth behind the Polianitsy, explore the...

Six years. SIX. YEARS. 🎉 And somehow… we’re still here, still talking about history, and now—✨we’ve finally released the intern from the editing dungeon✨ (briefly… don’t worry, she’s going back soon). In this chaotic, cozy, and slightly unhinged anniversary Q&A, we’re answering your burning questions—from:💀 Would we survive in the past? (spoiler: absolutely not)🏺 The weirdest historical artif...

What if one of the most powerful warlords in the ancient Maya world… was a woman? In this episode of For the Love of History, we dive deep into the jungles of ancient Guatemala to uncover the story of Lady K’abel, a queen, strategist, and Supreme Warlord of the Maya civilization. Known as the “Snake Queen,” Lady K’abel held one of the highest military titles of the Classic Maya period, outranking...

What does Spirited Away actually mean? And who—or what—is No-Face really supposed to be? In this episode of For the Love of History, we dive deep into the Japanese folklore, Shinto mythology, and yokai legends that inspired one of the most beloved animated films ever made: Spirited Away. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli, the film is packed with references to kami, yokai, pu...

When most people think of alchemy, they imagine a medieval wizard desperately trying to turn lead into gold. But the real story of alchemy is far stranger and far more important because hidden within those mysterious experiments were the early discoveries that would eventually become modern chemistry. In this episode of For the Love of History, we explore the origins of alchemy and how early exper...

What happens when a racist A**hole tells your history?! Well, your religion and mythology get missinterepretted for a couple hundred years untill a 19 year old girl finally saves the story of her people. This is the history of the Ainu people, their anamistic religion, and their incredibly unique mythology.  In this episode, we’ll learn  🐻 The history of the Ainu, one of the indiginous peoples of...

The Gothic novel didn’t emerge from nowhere. As women’s literacy rates rose in the late 18th and 19th centuries, so did a powerful new reading public and with it, a transformation in literary culture. In this episode, we examine how expanded access to education created the conditions for the Gothic romance to flourish. At the center of our discussion is Wuthering Heights: a novel that shattered co...

How could something so small hold so much power!? This week, let's hop in the time machine to discover how something so small and seemingly insignificant can hold so much power and change nearly every part of human history! We're about to get salty in the best way, with the history of Salt !🧂 What youll learn in the episode 🧂 The ancient origins of salt 🧂 How salt built civilizations 🧂 How sal...

It's a miracle the Olympic Games continued after the absolute clusterf*ck that was its early history. From near-death marathons to shady organizers and displays of human cruelty like no other, the Olympics of the early 1900's were chaotic to say the least. When it looked like the Olympic Games would be canceled, the 1906 Olympics forever showed up to save the day, but they're just one problem... t...

I've found Yzma's llama potion, and I'm taking it back to the 13th century!! Yes, beloved, we're going to Emperor's New Groove it in this episode and talk about the history of llamas in the Incan empire. If you were playing Settlers of Catan, you would definitely want to choose llama over iron, because llamas were WAY more useful!! In this episode, we'll learn 🦙 The history of the Incan empire 🦙...

Say hello to spicy TK this episode because I have MAD beef with the Japanese Imperial Household Agency and their very dumb rules! But besides attempting to get myself banned from Japan in this episode, we talk about 👑 One of my favorite people in Japanese history, Queen Himiko. 🍃 The origins of Shintoism ❌ the multiple attempts at erasing her history 😡 and why we aren’t ALLOWED to look for her...

Japanese tattoos are loved around the world, but reviled in Japan. WHY!? How did that happen? In this week's episode, TK explores the history of Japanese tattoos and their connection with resistance, identity, and Ukiyo-e art. In this episode, we cover 🌟 The history of Japanese tattoos 🌟 How Utagawa Kuniyoshi started a tattoo renaissance 🌟 The artistic middle finger Ukiyo-e artists gave to the...

Japanese tattoos are loved around the world, but reviled in Japan. WHY!? How did that happen? In this week's episode, TK explores the history of Japanese tattoos and their connection with resistance, identity, and Ukiyo-e art. In this episode, we cover 🌟 The history of Japanese tattoos 🌟 How Utagawa Kuniyoshi started a tattoo renaissance 🌟 The artistic middle finger Ukiyo-e artists gave to the...

Welcome, history bestie, to the season 12 premiere!! I'm TK, your tour guide to the past, and today we're starting this season off strong with the longest "Women History Owes an Apology Too" episode I've ever done. From pre-history to the Sumerians, all across Europe and beyond, women have been the brewers of beer and the keepers of the keg. That was until the fellas found out that they could make...

Welcome, history bestie, to the season 12 premiere!! I'm TK, your tour guide to the past, and today we're starting this season off strong with the longest "Women History Owes an Apology Too" episode I've ever done. From pre-history to the Sumerians, all across Europe and beyond, women have been the brewers of beer and the keepers of the keg. That was until the fellas found out that they could make...

Before Anne Bonny. Before Grace O’Malley. There was Sayyida al-Hurra — the Pirate Queen of the Mediterranean. In this episode of For the Love of History, we uncover the extraordinary true story of Sayyida al-Hurra, a Muslim woman who rose to power in the late 1400s and became one of the most feared pirates in history. Born in Granada during the violence of the Reconquista, Sayyida was forced to fl...

They flew with no lights, no radios, and no parachutes. Their planes were made of wood, covered in canvas, and could barely outrun a speeding truck—but the German army feared them more than anything that roared across the skies. These were the Night Witches of the Soviet Union, the all-women 588th Night Bomber Regiment—daring young pilots who turned impossible odds into legendary victories. In thi...

Prepare to clutch your pumpkin spice latte a little tighter, friend, because today we’re diving into the chaotic, deadly, and surprisingly dramatic history of spice. Yes — that cozy sprinkle on your latte once launched wars, bankrupted empires, fueled colonization, and led to one of the worst genocides of the 1600s. Delicious! In this episode, we explore how everyday seasonings like nutmeg, cinnam...

Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population are women — but did you know the world’s first university was founded by a woman? 🤯 Meet Fatima al-Fihri, the 9th-century Muslim refugee who built education itself — literally. This episode of For the Love of History dives into the incredible story of how one woman in medieval Morocco changed the entire world’s relationship with knowledge. TK takes...

Ever wonder how Japanese tattoos went from sacred symbols to signs of crime—and back again? Grab your matcha and settle in, because we’re diving deep (and painfully) into the history of Yakuza tattoos. From ancient fishermen warding off sea monsters to the full-body masterpieces of Edo Japan, this episode of For the Love of History gets under your skin—literally. TK takes us on a wild ride through...