HILF: History I'd Like to F**k

The journey isn't over, it's only just reached the underworld.  Rejoin Dawn and guest Sam Cowan as they link arms to follow Odysseus all the way home.  Whether you're preparing for Christopher Nolan's upcoming blockbuster movie, revisiting an old favorite, or experiencing The Odyssey for the first time, this episode explores why Odysseus' long road home remains one of the most thrilling—and profou...

As Christopher Nolan brings The Odyssey to the big screen, Dawn is taking listeners back to the source. Join Dawn and guest Sam Cowan as they get down and dirty with Homer, unpacking the gods, mortals, monsters, and misadventures that made The Odyssey one of the most enduring stories ever told. By the end, you'll be walking into your local cineplex HILF'd and loaded. -- 🎟️ Get tickets and HILF LIV...

You're back in the cockpit with Dawn and guest, Heather Cowan , for part two of this little-known chapter of World War II history. Re-join these badass fliers through more of their spine-tingling adventures (and misadventures) all the way to victory and beyond.  -- 🎧 HILF EP39 - NAZI KILLERS with Michelle Mosher 🎧 HILF EP60 - AMELIA EARHART with Fallon Morey 🎟️ Get tickets and HILF LIVE! : First...

Climb into the cockpit with Dawn and guest, Heather Cowan , as they get to know some of the baddest-asses from this little-known chapter of World War II history.  -- 🎧 HILF EP39 - NAZI KILLERS with Michelle Mosher 🎧 HILF EP60 - AMELIA EARHART with Fallon Morey 🎟️ Get tickets and HILF LIVE! : First Thursdays at Flappers Comedy Club - Burbank, CA ✅ Checkout Heather's work in Personal Development:...

Dawn and guest, Kelly Vrooman , go down the rabbit hole with neither the first nor the last "disgraced" American president.  Join them as they review the unlikely rise and spectacular fall or Richard Nixon. Hear about the founding of the EPA, the Watergate burglars, and the insane story of Martha Mitchell.  --- ✅ Follow HILF on TikTok !  🎟️ HILF Public School - the live, interactive version of HI...

Welcome back to book club! Whether you’re a book worm who is always looking for new nerdy stuff to read - or you only like history when it’s funny - this is for you! Return with Dawn and her classmate, Stacey Hovhannisyan , to discuss ALL the books they read over the last semester in school and which ones you - yes you - will want to read! 🎟️ Get tickets to HILF Public School - the live, interacti...

Whether you’re a book worm who is always looking for new nerdy stuff to read - or you only like history when it’s funny - this is for you! Dawn sits down with her classmate, Stacey Hovhannisyan , to discuss ALL the books they read over the last semester in school and which ones you - yes you - will want to read! 🎟️ Get tickets to HILF Public School - the live, interactive version of HILF: First Th...

Join host, Dawn Brodey, and a LIVE audience to hear this most-titillating chapter from The Golden Age of Piracy, the tale of Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Born in very different circumstances and on opposite sides of the Atlantic, their worlds would collide and eventually combine in the most swash-buckingly way.  Hear pirate trivia with comedian, Becca Melkonian . Test your knowledge against comedian,...

Join Dawn and a LIVE audience to hear what John Wayne Gacy and a plane crash have to do with her birthday. You'll also get to know the fabulous Sam Hale , Horror Nerd, and learn all about her grandpa... and his bulge. --- ✅ Follow HILF on TikTok !  🎥. See Sam's one-hour special ! 🎙️ Come see Dawn in Horror Nerd at The Hollywood Improv, April 17th, 2026 🎟️ HILF Public School - the live, interacti...

Dawn found herself tits-deep in pirate history and fell so far down the rabbit hole, she called on her friend - and frequent leading man - Patrick Day to fall with her!  Hear the swashbuckling story of a man who helped write some of the 18th century's most toe-curling and horrifying chapters.  --- 🎥 - Watch Florescent Beast - "What is the cost of being creative?" 🎥 - Watch Cruel Hearts - "Find w...

Climb in bed with one of the first-ever sex symbols, Mae West! She was born in the 1800’s and lived long (and well) enough to star on broadway, lead the silver screen, and even release a ROCK ALBUM before she died! Guest is historian and playwright, John Heimbuch, who wrote the hit play Mae West and the Trial of Sex .  --- 🎟️ Get tickets to HILF Public School - the live, interactive version of HIL...

Re-join Dawn and her guest, 76 year-old Zari Faripour, an elegant, intelligent, one-time refugee from the Iranian Revolution. Dawn delivers a utility outline of the major events and people involved in the 1970's revolution, while Zari colors it with her unique perspective and amazing life experiences. --- 🎟️ Get tickets to HILF Public School - the live, interactive version of HILF: First Thursdays...

Before there was Adam and Eve, there was Adam and Lilith! Hear the hot gossip straight from the Garden of Eden, and some of the best stories of this pre-biblical bad-ass.  Dawn is joined by two Minneapolis besties who thought when they booked their tickets to LA from Minneapolis in January, they'd be escaping ice... In fact, they found they were taking a mere break from fighting I.C.E. Fall in lov...

Dawn's Guest, Dave Reinitz is a stand-up comedian and stain-glass artist whose personal connection to this slice of History brings it alive for all of us. Hear about how his mother, Janet Braun-Reinitz, joined with the Freedom Riders in 1961 and endured and enlightened one of the darkest chapters of American History.  --- Dawn's Sources    Book - The Freedom Riders by Raymond Arsenault Podcast - S...

The 'Father of Philosophy' and the teacher of Plato, Socrates was arguably the most important intellectual in human history. He was also a war veteran, a bad dad, and never wrote anything himself. So why did Athens kill him; and why do you and I still talk about him?  Buckle up for a hell of a HILF along with guest, comedian Nat Baimel .   --- ✅ Keep up with Nat Baimel on Instagram 🎟️ Get tickets...

Get into the ring with Spartacus! An enslaved gladiator turned rebel general who led the largest, most destructive assault against the Roman Empire EVER. Dawn is joined by comedian, JB Ball , who also happens to be the biggest Spartacus nerd of all time, as they trade facts and laugh... a lot! --- ✅ Keep up with JB Ball on Instagram   🎟️ Get tickets to HILF Public School - the live, interactive v...

Join Dawn and a LIVE audience to get the true story you probably heard first in Jaws. It's the USS Indianapolis a doomed ship from World War 2 which endured one of the worst shark attacks in human history. On the anniversary of both the release of the movie and the sinking of the real-life ship, you'll learn along with guest, Mark Decarlo, TV. host, VO actor, and hell of a trivia player.  -- JOIN...

2026 is going to be a big year for HILF!  Find out what annals Dawn will be exploring next, and what it means for you! --- 🎟️ Get tickets to HILF Public School - the live, interactive version of HILF: First Thursdays at Flappers Comedy Club - Burbank, CA --- LILF's (Link's I'd Like to F*ck)  See Dawn on THE HISTORY CHANNEL - Histories Greatest Mysteries  (multiple seasons) See Dawn on THE HISTORY...

Before it was a modern language-learning program,  the Rosetta Stone was the ancient world’s ultimate decoder ring—a 2,200-year-old decree carved in stone that finally unlocked Egyptian hieroglyphics. Without it, your favorite stories and lives from ancient Egypt might’ve stayed silent forever! Join Dawn and guest, her sister-in-law Maggie , who is a former linguistics major and maker of fine mart...

Return with Dawn and guest, improvisor Kelly Vrooman , as they follow Catherine the Great from the dramatic coup that brought her power, through her rein as The Last Empress of Russia. Forbidden pregnancies, secret letters, and of course... that whole thing with the horse that allegedly fucked her death.  --- ✅ Listen to Catherine the Great, Part One ✅ Follow Kelly Vrooman on Instagram . 🎟️ Get...

Join Dawn and the hilarious, Kelly Vrooman , as they saddle up with Catherine the Great.  Hear how a young German girl in middle-nobility finds herself the Last Empress of Russia. You'll love the torrid story of Catherine's rise, you'll fall for at least one of her many lovers, and find out why she is well-remembered as one of the HILF-iest HILFs of all time. --- ✅ Follow Kelly Vrooman on Instagr...

Mary Shelley began writing her novel, Frankenstein, in 1816 when she was only 17 years old. Today it remains one of the most-assigned books of all time, finding it's way into classes ranging from Law to Scientific Ethics to Fashion to Politics. As a new film by Guillermo del Toro is set to debut on Netflix, re-join Dawn for the episode that started the podcast!  Guest, Helen Shephard , is a Britis...

On a chilly January morning in 1947, officers arrived to what they were told was "a broken mannequin" lying in a field.  They discovered instead, the body of a woman cut completely in half at the waist. She lay naked and drained of blood, her two halves a foot apart, arms draped almost elegantly over her head.   Yikes, right?   Nearly 80 years later, the case remains both unforgotten and unsolved....

It's July 3rd, 2025 and Dawn can hardly contain herself as she invites the audience at Flappers Comedy Club to fall down the rabbit hole of history along with her, LIVE! She is joined in this HILF-ing by two special guests: comedian Lauren Harding, who get's down with King George III; and then by America's favorite step-mom Ryan Keeley who helps Dawn undress George Washington.  JOIN US AT THE NEXT...

If you get into a heated conversation on any subject these days (and who isn’t?) it often ends with someone being called a “F*cking Marxist” or “Capitalist PIG".  Join Dawn and comedian, Mary Gallagher , to find out which one YOU might be... and if it's a bad thing.  Mary Gallagher on Instagram Mary's upcoming events --- 🎟️ HILF Public School - the live, interactive version of HILF: First Thursday...