Episodes
3 days ago
3 days ago
You ever learn about a guy so bold and self-assured *and* keeps winning?! Angie tells us the story of the Norwegian Hans Solo, Peter Wessel Tordenskjold. At one point he goes in for a court martial and comes out with a raise instead. Theresa then shares the Dancing Plague of 1518. You know, that time everyone just compulsively danced until they dropped dead? That one.
Friday May 03, 2024
Episode 67 | Blood Soaked Battle Angel
Friday May 03, 2024
Friday May 03, 2024
Grab a juice box and settle in. Theresa is telling the story of Nakano Takeko, her joshigun (women's army), and the battle at Aizu-Wakamatsu. Takeko leads this group of 20-30 trained female warriors, think samurai, into battle and shows everyone just what an alpha female looks like.
Friday Apr 26, 2024
Episode 66 | Algorithms Favor Syphillis
Friday Apr 26, 2024
Friday Apr 26, 2024
Okay, some sets of stories are so delightfully unhinged they will be shared in public, without warning. These are two of those tales. Angie sets things off with the retelling of the Ghost Army, the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops from WWII. These men used inflatable tanks, set design, and everything theater instructors had ever taught to fool the Axis Powers.
Then Theresa tells the bizarre tale of Pope Pius II. She shares his spy mission, the dirty book he wrote (The Tale of Two Lovers), and how he funded Vlad the Impaler's campaign against Mehmed II.
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Episode 65 | Wing-to-Wing Combat
Friday Apr 19, 2024
Friday Apr 19, 2024
This episode has it all. The plague. Trebuchets. WWII. Ducks. Theresa starts us off with a rollicking tale of how the Golden Horde allegedly flung their plague-ridden corpses into the city of Caffa around 1345–1347 because Khan Jani Beg had some big feelings about losing. Thank goodness Angie takes it upon herself to lighten the load, so to speak. She shares the story of Marine Sergeant Jack “Siwash” Cornelius, the duck that fought in several amphibious assaults in the Pacific Theater during WWII.
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Episode 64 | M’am This is a Library
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Friday Apr 12, 2024
Journey through the pages of medieval writing with Angie and Theresa as we learn about the Voynich Manuscript. Angie unpacks what we know about this unreadable text. She shares theories and touches on aliens. Yup. Aliens.
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Episode 63 | Spicy Catholicism
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Friday Apr 05, 2024
Come for the myth of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. Stay for Theresa sharing the facts around what we really know about the Voudou Queen of New Orleans. If you're like us, the truth is far more compelling.
Friday Mar 29, 2024
Episode 62 | On the Old Google
Friday Mar 29, 2024
Friday Mar 29, 2024
This last week of Women's History Month hits hard. Theresa shares the story of Grunya Efimovna Sukhareva, the Russian researcher who discovered Autism decades before Hans Asperger. Angie makes Theresa cry when she shares the story of Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman to make it to space.
Friday Mar 22, 2024
Episode 61 | Putting Two and Ten Together
Friday Mar 22, 2024
Friday Mar 22, 2024
You know these two love a good WWII spy story. Theresa serves up the tale of Aline Griffith, the Princess Spy. She served the Allies during the war while based in Spain before marrying into a noble family. Angie brings us all the way back to the California Gold Rush with the story of Eleanor Dumont, the French card player who earned the nickname "Madame Mustache" later in life.