Historical Hysteria

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a necessary evil to end the war, they are what finally compelled the Japanese to surrender... right?

When modernity came knocking, Samurai met machine guns with swords... right? ... ummmm no.

Let's get ready to rumble! In the left corner the slicing samurai and in the right the knifing knight!! Who will win?

Forged in the fires of Mt Fuji, folded a thousand times, 9 for mortal men... wait I'm thinking of the one ring. Correction: I mix up the tanto and the kodachi/ wakizashi at one point. The tanto was a small knife. The kodachi and wakizashi are short swords that look similar to katana, tachi, and o dachi

Japan and the Samurai will be back next week.  On an unrelated note. How real was the medical science of the third reich? And is it still in use?

The honourable, inscrutable, mysterious, and honourable bushido born on a windswept mountain in.... San Francisco?

Everything you know about Japan comes from Edo period propoganda

From being visible from space to being a wall there are a many myths and legends about the greatest defensive structure ever built

Did throwing knives exist? Not really, but kind of.

Did Mao invent TCM? Kind of... but it's more complex than that.

"Most quotes you see on the internet are fake" George Washington 1912

From DNA to bite marks, how much of modern law enforcement can you really trust?  Spoiler: I don't really know but don't worry neither does anyone else! Explicit language

Stick it to the man by listening to this episode about the surprisingly fascinating history of cannabis *Disclaimer - HH cannot guarantee any vague concept of "the man" will care if you listen to this episode

PI's and department stores the history of the credit score is as strange as it is stupid. Thank god we didn't let the same people who invented credit scoring seize control of the economy by constructing a spiraling system of debt and growth based on arbitrary superstition.

There are 193 UN Members. That was easy. How complex a question could this be? 

Everything you know about the Dark Ages is probably wrong. But don't kick yourself, because everyone from William Shakespeare to Hollywood has getting the dark ages wrong for ever.

Hamilton! The musical has reignited the story of Alexander Hamilton to popular fame around the world. And with the musical have come just a whole raft of myths. From Hamilton the abolition to Hamilton the tactical genius, there are some big myths about Hamilton.

Ye Olde Shoppes are Ye Olde Myth

It is sometimes claimed that because of the patriarchy women didn't make history. These 5 women would like a word with whoever created this idea. 

This is a slightly different episode than usual, it answers a question I've been getting, how I do my research, and has some fun tidbits from the vault of lost episodes, including the surprisingly sexy history of pineapples and John Quincy Adams and the Mole Men. Warning Some Explicit Language 

The Caliphs of Islam the successors of Muhammad as political and spiritual leaders of Islam existed from 632 CE to 1924 CE. So what happened to them?  Edit: In this episode the 'Federated Islamic State of Anatolia' is referred to as "thinly veiled neo-nazis". I realise this could imply a political connection between the group and neo-nazi's. Which there isn't, the term 'thinly veiled neo-nazi...

Who was the worst director in history?

Want to know where El dorado is? Listen to find out!

According to Putin, Ukraine "has no historical tradition of statehood". And Ukraine and Russia are the same country split in two by social engineering communists So is Ukraine a country? What is Ukrainian culture and language? And what on earth is going on in Eastern Europe? This episode goes back 1000 years to the foundation myths of the Russian Empire, and the very bedrock of the Russian state....

Join us this week for the long and tragic story of Magellan and the first circumnavigation of the world.