Softcore History

Ancient Egypt seems like a long time ago, but this recovered sick leave document from 1250 BC proves that Egyptians were just like us: drunks who hated work and had a rough time when the women in their house were menstruating. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jessie Wiseman joins the boys as we burn on Helen Keller. Head to PolicyGenius.com to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We dive into the history of Africa’s most brutal dictator, Macías Nguema. From banning glasses and murdering statisticians to a holiday-themed massacre, this guy does it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Everyone hates the modern media, but when did the modern American media actually form? The invention of cable news? The Yellow Journalism of the late 19th Century? The answer is much older, and it’s all Mexico’s fault. (Sort of. Not really at all, actually.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we're talking Lufthansa heist and the dirtbags that inspired the movie "Goodfellas." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No, he did not. Get Honey for FREE at JoinHoney.com/SOFTCORE.Head to policygenius.com to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save. Get $50 off any purchase of $399 or more by using promo code SOFTCORE at Indochino.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anti-German sentiment was at an all-time, absolutely bananas high during World War 1. Unfortunately for German immigrant Robert Prager, a local coal mining union used that as an excuse to lynch him just outside St. Louis, Missouri in 1918. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New year, new you. We talk about the history of the most common resolution that generations of people fail each year: physical fitness. From Vikings lifting ship masts to Ancient Greek wrestlers fireman carrying full grown bulls up hills, exercising has always been a never ending journey to personal disappointment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We go over the best Christmas traditions that have been lost to history including pets gaining the ability to speak human languages at midnight on Christmas Eve, Icelandic trolls who have a thirst for bones, and a Christmas party king called “The Lord of Misrule” who can command all partygoers to get as drunk as he or she desires. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoice...

From Santa getting his start by paying off prostitutes to Krampus’ weird foot situation and a cat in Iceland that eats kids for being too poor, Christmas traditions have some troubling origins(Carolers most of all).To start comparing quotes and simplify insurance-buying, check out Policygenius: https://policygenius.com/SOFTCORE. Thanks to Policygenius for sponsoring this video! Learn more about yo...

The guys cover how audio recordings have changed throughout time, and how the man keeps trying to keep us from stealing tunes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In honor of the Christmas season we break down the most famous virgin births in history from Jesus in the Quran to ancient Egyptian miracle births and multiple babies — including one in the Bible — who popped out of their moms as fully developed men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jared Borislow joins Dan Regester and Rob Fox to talk about the true and horrifying story of real Pocahontas compared to her animated Disney counterpart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The most detestable baseball team in history isn’t the Chicago Black Sox or the Houston Astros. It’s the 1911 Wyoming Penitentiary All-Stars, a baseball team made up of rapists and murderers who were told every time they won a game they would get years off their sentences, or get their death penalties commuted, so long as they made the state officials gambling on them money. Learn more about your...

Listen in as we breakdown the tale of drunken secret service agents, their night before the JFK assassination, and how no one thought it was that big of a deal except for one wet blanket. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lord Byron was a rockstar poet considered to be the first modern celebrity. He gallivanted around the Mediterranean sleeping with any person that crossed his path, drank out of monk skulls, and owned his own zoo of animals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Salem Witch Trials were pretty much entirely fueled by bored tweens pretending to be possessed by innocent old ladies and poor people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In another grisly tale from Germany, we dive into the Hinterkaifeck murders, the circumstances surrounding the nightmare, and the possible suspects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jessie Wiseman joins the boys to talk about serial killer Peter Kürten --better known as the Vampire of Dusseldorf -- who would drink and lubricated himself with the blood of his victims in 1920s Germany. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ghosts who aren’t invited to parties. Ghosts who like to watch ladies sleep. Impromptu amputation shows in basements. Gettysburg ghosts have it all. We run through the best ghost stories from America’s most famous battlefield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From flavoring food to enlarging your balls, the guys dive into the wonderful history of spices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexander "Superkiller" Solonik was a cold-blooded hitman who took out some of the biggest mob bosses in the Soviet Union and 1990s Russia. He was a blackbelt super soldier that escaped prison on several occasions, racked up millions of dollars in contracts, and dated Russian super models and bottle service girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Philly fans and SEC football lunatics have nothing on Eastern Roman Empire chariot racing supporters. Constantinople chariot racing factions regularly rioted and murdered each other by the thousands. Rooting for a certain chariot racing team was so important that emperors had to choose which team they supported in order to gain favor with the masses. Chariot racing insanity came to a head with the...

We cover the bizarre origins of medieval football, an American college team fleeing Cuba, and live animal mascots in this week’s episode featuring special guest former Texas A&M defensive lineman Jay Arnold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Special guest Jack Mandaville joins us to cover the occult inspiration for the Third Reich’s racial purity policies and obsession with mythical artifacts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices