Softcore History

Emma Goldman, one of the most prolific anarchist activists of the Gilded Age, hated injustice and was willing to kill innocent people in order to combat it. She was a renowned anarchist orator who was drawn to the anarchist movement after a brutal childhood and a terrorist attack she found interesting. We recount the story of her rough, fascinating, and contradictory life. Subscribe to the Softcor...

Jack Churchill was an eccentric British Army officer who brought a Scottish broadsword, long bow, and set of bagpipes onto the front lines of World War II. He led Commando missions taking entire towns and escaped from SS concentration camps...twice. Alex Buscemi joins the show to talk about this mad lad. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content inclu...

“Boys will be boys” is, it turns out, a tale as old as time. We run through several historical examples of little boys f*cking sh*t up just for the fun of it, from a kid who started a full blown political riot because he wanted free candy to a drunk stable boy who decided to Ricky Bobby it and ride a chariot onto the track mid-race. Rob’s wife and #boymom Courtney Fox joins the show. Subscribe to...

Bass Reeves was a slave turned deputy U.S. Marshal who became one of the most prolific manhunters in the Wild West. He arrested over 3,000 outlaws, collected bounties on some of the biggest gangs of the time, and barely had a scratch on him after three decades in the line of duty. Jack Mandaville helps break down this American legend. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours...

Czar Alexander III was Russia's second-to-last Czar. He was also, arguably, its coolest, and definitely one of its most oppressive. One day, he'd be lifting heavy deck furniture over his head to impress his in-laws or hunting a bear with a spear. The next, he'd be abolishing basic civil liberties and being so oppressive to Jews that they fled the country en masse. He beat Kaiser Wilhelm II in a dr...

Everyone is familiar with the names Wilbur and Orville Wright, but is it possible they are actually overlooked and don't get enough props for their insane accomplishments? We dig a little deeper into these strange men obsessed with conquering the skies, their often unmentioned sister Katharine, everything that led up to that fateful day at Kitty Hawk, and the aftermath of their success. Subscribe...

America didn’t want to join World War 1. America wasn’t going to join World War 1. But one German foreign minister who thought he was way smarter than he actually was had a self-own SO BAD that he forced the United States into the war against his country. This is the story of the Zimmerman Telegram. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including...

The First Opium War was a series of military conflicts between the British Royal Navy and the Qing dynasty between 1839 to 1842. After tightening up and restricting trade for England creating a major deficit, China was flooded with opium by agents of the East India Company. Tensions built up between the two nations and the murder of a Chinese man by two British sailors stoked the flames of war. Su...

The United States has a long history of questionable tariffs but nothing compares to the “Tariff of Abominations” in 1828. It was an episode in American political and economic history so stupid that you’ll feel bad for absolutely no one… except maybe the slaves. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history mo...

Balto was a Siberian Husky sled dog who helped transport life saving medicine to a remote Alaskan settlement. Initially seen as a mediocre pup, this good boy proved his owner wrong and led a pack of 13 others through the final stages of a 674 mile serem relay to prevent the death of hundreds of residents in the gold rush town of Nome. He captured the hearts of America and became an overnight celeb...

Breaking news about possible new discoveries under the Giza Pyramid Complex have people asking, do we really know who built the pyramids? The answer is yes we really know who built the pyramids. A bunch of blue-collar Egyptians who, much like many construction workers today, were kind of drunk while they were doing it. We break down the well-documented and ridiculous stories that have been discove...

After the American Civil War, a large group of Union veterans weren't ready to say goodbye to the battlefield. So, they picked a fight north and attempted multiple invasions on our neighbors in Canada -- all in the name of Irish independence from the Crown. The Fenian Brotherhood and their raids on the Canucks proved life in the 19th century was whatever you wanted it to be. Subscribe to the Softc...

In honor of Irish Heritage Month we delve into the most offensively stereotypical Irish historical event of all time: The Dublin Whiskey Fire of 1875.Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Rob Foxhttps://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/Ro...

Alesiter Crowley was an English magician of the dark arts, dirty poet, mountaineer, liberal sex haver, and founder of the Thelema religion. He traveled the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and shocked or banged every human being he came across. Crowley claims to have been contacted by the Egyptian God Horus through a messanger named Aiwass, routinely participated in ceremonial eroti...

If you think social media is unhealthy for people, you’re right. But it’s not a new phenomenon. From the invention of the printing press kicking off 300 years of witch trials, to doctors blaming depression in young girls on unrealistic lifestyles portrayed in cheap 18th-century romance novels, it turns out people have never handled the ability to create and consume their own content well. Author o...

*We had a problem with the audio card so we had to pull sound from the camera. Just think of it as a throwback to our garage band days in 2020. I apologize in advance. - Dan*Jack the Ripper has finally been caught thanks to some incredibly intimate DNA evidence. Polish barber Aaron Kosminski is allegedly the famed killer, but are we convinced? Jessie Wiseman of Crime Corner joins us to break down...

After being threatened with a replacement governor for the territory of Utah, Bringham Young and his Mormon coalition went to war against the U.S. Government from 1857 to 1858. Tensions were high and most of the casualties were innocent civilians passing through the region -- most notably the Baker-Fancher wagon party.  Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra histo...

Throughout history, men have always complained that men from the past were WAY more manly, especially in Ancient Rome. And today we're talking about the one time that might have actually been undeniably true. The first hero of the Roman Republic, Mucius Scaevola, did something so astoundingly manly that it changed the course of Roman history forever. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for h...

Iraq War vet Jack Mandaville joins the show to talk about his experience invading Iraq in 2003 with the 1st Marine Division, what he saw, how he was greeted by the Iraqis, and fighting alongside the guys from Generation Kill. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus ep...

In 1897, Swedish engineer and aeronaut Salomon August Andrée led two other men on a hot air balloon expedition to the North Pole that quickly went incredibly awry. After crashing their balloon in a literal no man's land, the three had to fend off the harsh elements, polar bears, and the decay of their own sanity for months before ultimately succumbing to their bitter demise. The entire misfortune...

What's the most important battle in American history? Gettysburg? D-Day? Saratoga? Nah. It's the Battle of St. Louis, a little-known Revolutionary War battle between St. Louis's drunken, anti-social citizens and a British and Indian force looking to take the Mississippi River for King George. The battle's outcome forever changed the course of history on the western half of the North American conti...

Pope Benedict IX is often regarded as one of the worst men to take the papal throne. He ascended to the chair of Saint Peter at the age of twenty in 1032 after his old man bought him the position and he proceeded to indulge in habitual sins of the flesh, theft, murder, and even sold his power to the highest bidder. Benny was pontiff three times over the stretch of 16 years, survived assassination...

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To fully end the Roman Republic and become Emperor Caesar Augustus, the young, wealthy patrician Octavian needed to get rid of the last man standing in his way: Mark Antony. But how could Octavian turn Rome against the Republic’s most decorated war hero and combat veteran — and Julius Caesar’s top lieutenant? Launch a propaganda campaign that said, “Actually, I’m a true strong Roman and this guy i...

The practice of rectal fumigation was a common medical practice in the 17th and 18th centuries that included tobbaco and smoke enamas to treat bowel obstruction, constipation, and even attempt to resusitate still born babies. We dive into one of the many reasons no one trusted doctors for a very, very long time. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history conte...