Not Past It

Depression-era Detroit is known for many things: baseball, bootlegging, and the booming auto industry. But what about a witch? On October 5, 1931, a Wayne County jury reached a verdict in the trial of an immigrant woman accused of murder and of being...The Witch of Delray. This episode originally aired on Oct. 06, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In September of 1907, the “tiny waist craze” swept up the women of London. They achieved the look by squeezing themselves into tightly laced corsets -- and deforming their bodies in the process. Women’s undergarments have evolved over the last century, but remain confining. Comedian Aparna Nancherla joins us as we trace this evolution and its surprising ties to American politics. This episode orig...

This week, we're dropping the premiere episode of the new time-traveling history trivia podcast, Past Perfect — brought to you by Simone Polanen and the team who brought you Not Past It. In this first episode, podcast superstars Emmanuel Dzotsi and Saidu Tejan-Thomas duke it out for trivia supremacy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On September 13, 1963, Mary Kay Ash launched what would become a beauty empire. She wasn’t just selling makeup. She was selling a dream: Women could have a flexible career and still make time for a family. Mary Kay recruited hundreds of thousands of women from around the world to become sales reps. And her company grew into a multi-billion dollar, global phenomenon. Did Mary Kay give women the rei...

Thirty-nine years ago, Alex Trebek stepped onto the set of Jeopardy and changed the world of trivia with one Canadian mustache. This week, Not Past It carries on the game show torch in a trivia showdown, featuring our inaugural contestants: Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber, hosts of the podcast Who? Weekly. Play along at home and see how you stack up! This episode originally aired Sept. 07, 2022. Le...

This week we’re hitting repeat on one of our favorite episodes: In the 90s, everybody had to have a Beanie Baby. Not just kids. They were one of the biggest get-rich-quick schemes of the decade. On August 31, 1999, the company, Ty Inc., released a cryptic message that they would retire the wildly popular toys. Instead of fueling a massive frenzy — it revealed the beanie baby bubble was destined to...

Enron, the Houston-based energy giant, was one of the biggest, most well-respected companies in the 90s. But in 2001, it went from top of the heap to bottom of the barrel, real quick. On August 22, 2001, Sherron Watkins met with the company’s CEO to warn him about the accounting scandal pushing the company to the brink of collapse. This episode originally aired on August 25, 2021.  Learn more abou...

Woodstock is the most iconic music festival in American history, remembered for peace and love. On August 18, 1969 it earned that reputation after being declared an official disaster zone without all the deadly side effects. It even converted its host, dairy farmer Max Yasgur, into an unlikely apostle on the way. The episode originally aired August 18, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

This week we're going to hear from the team at Science Vs, who recently chatted with Professor David Saltzberg, a scientist who consulted on the Christopher Nolan blockbuster "Oppenheimer" (along with "The Big Bang Theory"). They also giggle about working with actors like Cillian Murphy to explain complicated science, and what the film got ... maybe a little ... wrong. Learn more about your ad cho...

On August 2nd 1937, Congress passed a nation-wide tax making cannabis so expensive it was virtually illegal. Around the same time, weed was thought to be the root of violent crimes. While the science was non-existent...there was racist propaganda. This episode originally aired on August 3, 2022.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On July 25th, 1978, Louise Brown came into the world as the first baby born through in vitro fertilization, or IVF. Nothing like it had been done before, and people were afraid scientists were playing God. In this episode, we’ll hear about the fight against IVF and how the procedure eventually became normalized. This episode originally aired July 27, 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p...

Sally Ride was the first woman to rocket off into space for NASA. On July 23, 2012, she died and left behind a legacy for women and girls in STEM. We dig into the limits of being labeled “first” and learn about the woman inside the space suit. This episode originally aired July 21, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On July 13th, 1985, satellites zipped around our planet broadcasting a 16-hour, bi-continental mega-concert: Live Aid. Two stages, dozens of the biggest stars and one mission: feed famine victims in Ethiopia. The music would rock the globe and open wallets. It also painted a flat image of a starving nation — an image with us to this day. This episode originally aired on July 13, 2022. Learn more a...

In the summer of 1973, Playgirl Magazine printed its first photos of full frontal male nudity. In a bold acknowledgment of female sexuality, the revolutionary magazine offered male nudity to straight women for almost half a century. Today, we are flipping through Playgirl’s fabled pages and examining just what it was about “The Magazine for Women,” that made it such a surprisingly...hard (we had t...

Did you know that backlash from Indiana Jones and Gremlins led to the PG-13 rating? On July 1, 1984, the MPAA announced the rating that changed film forever. This week Simone reviews the rating system and it's hidden Puritan agenda. This episode originally aired on June 30, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How a Nazi battle on June 22, 1941 led to one of the biggest movie musicals of all time. Can you guess how we get there? This episode originally aired on June 23, 2021. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To commemorate both Pride and Banned Books Month, we're exploring how books have been banned and challenged here in the US — and how determined authors inspire the next generation of writers. We’re joined by Lil Miss Hot Mess, the author of “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish” and board member of Drag Story Hour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis played the best game of his career while tripping on acid. On June 12, 1970, Ellis pitched a no-hitter. Simone tells the story of his trip and what it can teach us about psychedelic drugs and performance anxiety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In celebration of Pride Month, Simone and producer Remoy Philip pound the NYC pavement in search of important locales from Black and brown LGBTQ+ history—some hidden in plain sight. This episode originally aired in June 2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Not Past It, we have big news. And we are processing it the only way we know how: with trivia about the past, of course! Podcasting superstars, close friends, and bitter rivals Saidu Tejan Thomas and Emmanuel Dzotsi join us for a trivia battle to mark an important new era in Not Past It history. Follow @simonepolanen for updates on the future of Not Past It. Learn more about your ad c...

This week, we’re bringing you an oldie but a goodie! The story of Marie Grosholtz better known as Madame Tussaud, the enigmatic woman behind a global wax museum franchise. Before the replicas of Taylor Swift and RuPaul, Madame Tussaud befriended royals and dodged guillotines during the French Revolution. Through her wax figures and eye for fame, she helped create the celebrity machine that still p...

On May 12, 1932, ninety-one years ago this week, an infamous kidnapping came to its tragic conclusion. This kidnapping, which came to be known as “the Crime of the Century,” marked a loss of innocence for young people at the time, but would go on to shape the hopes, fears, and careers of generations of children. We’re joined by actor, writer, and former child actor Rivkah Reyes (School of Rock). L...

On May 3, 1997, an epic showdown began in New York City. Garry Kasparov, the Michael Jordan of the chess world, went toe to toe against a terrifying opponent...a computer. Before Chat GPT, before DALL-E …there was Deep Blue. IBM’s chess playing supercomputer that threatened to topple human intellect. Today, we’re revisiting the seriously dramatic battle between man and microchip, and what it tells...

On April 24, 1996, the WNBA was created by the National Basketball Association. But the story of the WNBA is actually the story of TWO women’s basketball leagues -- and their battle over players, TV rights, and the value of women’s labor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when writers, producers, and actors recreate history for the silver screen? For our 100th episode, we wanted to find out. So we called up actress and activist Q’orianka Kilcher, who has portrayed a bunch of historical figures— like Pocahontas and Princess Ka’iulani of Hawai’i. On the show, Q’orianka tells us what it takes to play a real-life person and how portraying moments from hist...