A Popular History of Unpopular Things

Latest Episodes:

The French Pig Trial of 1457 Oct 05, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she looks into the weird world of European animal trials, focusing on the French Pig Trial at Savigny in 1457, where a sow owned by Jehan Bailly was put on trial for the murder of 5-year-old Jehan Martin.

That's right - the pig was put on trial for murder. Not her human owner.

But where does the legal precedent for animal trials come from? Let's find out!

Sources Referenced:

Alexander Lee, “Pigs Might Try,” 2020. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/natural-histories/pigs-might-try
Esther Cohen, Law, Folklore, and Animal Lore. 1986. https://www.academia.edu/66540937/Law_folklore_and_animal_lore
E. P. Evans, The Criminal Prosecution And Capital Punishment Of Animals. 1906. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43286/43286-h/43286-h.htm#Page_138
J. J. Finkelstein, The Ox That Gored. 1981. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1006346.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A9eca8c357bbe59ed8b98754ab5426357&ab_segments=&initiator=&acceptTC=1
Paul Schiff Berman, Rats, Pigs, and Statues on Trial: The Creation of Cultural Narratives in the Prosecution of Animals and Inanimate Objects. 1994. https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1241&context=faculty_publications

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Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

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The Eilean Mòr Lighthouse Mystery Sep 21, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the mystery of the Eilean Mòr lighthouse.

In December of 1900, the three men keeping the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles - James Ducat, Thomas Marshall, and Donald McArthur - vanished without a trace. The light was out for about two weeks. When a fourth keeper came to relieve one of the men and bring more supplies, he stumbled upon a dark island with an empty lighthouse - and no signs of distress.

Let's go over the history of the Eilean Mòr lighthouse, the primary sources of those who were there to see it, and some of the theories as to what happened. Then, we'll apply Occam's Razor and determine the most likely scenario.

Sources referenced in the episode:

Primary Sources from the NLB website: https://www.nlb.org.uk/history/flannan-isles/
Christopher P. Nicholson, Rock Lighthouses of Britain. 1983. https://archive.org/details/rocklighthouseso0000nich/page/179/mode/1up?q=flannan+isles
Keith McCloskey, The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers, 2014. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HSFUK1S/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title
The Vanishing (2019 film)
The Lighthouse (2019 film)

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Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The Tragic Tale of Typhoid Mary Aug 31, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the history surrounding Typhoid Mary. We'll go beyond the typhoid-laden peaches and fresh ice cream! When we take a step back and look at her whole story in context, we get a different view of what it must have been like to be "Typhoid Mary," a strong, no-nonsense, Irish immigrant making a living as a cook in NYC and surrounding areas.

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Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The Belgian Congo Mar 30, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the Congo Free State, owned not by Belgium, but by its King - Leopold II.

During the 19th century in Africa, seven European countries - Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, met to divide up Africa; they had already encroached on about 10% of it, mostly the coasts, but now they wanted more. In this episode we discuss why, and what happened to the Congolese men, women, and children who were suddenly under the control of King Leopold.

Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!
http://www.nedricmusic.com

Sources

Books

Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost. https://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/dp/0618001905
David Van Reybrouck, Congo: The Epic History of a People.

Articles/Websites

Germany officially recognises colonial-era Namibia genocide - BBC, 2021 | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57279008
Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” 1899 | https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_burden.htm
George Washington Williams, “An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo By Colonel, The Honorable Geo. W. Williams, of the United States of America” as found on BlackPast | https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/primary-documents-global-african-history/george-washington-williams-open-letter-king-leopold-congo-1890/

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Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The 1381 English Peasant's Rebellion Mar 16, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the history of the English Peasant's Rebellion, 1381.

The Black Death had severely impacted England - not just in high mortality rates, but also its ability to function within its strict feudal order. To help compensate for the drop in workers, and to try and get the economy back on track, Edward III passes the Statute of Laborers in 1351. But what this did was set in motion a rage against feudalism, government intervention, and inequality that manifested as the Peasant's Rebellion, led by men like Wat Tyler and John Ball, in 1381.

The Peasant army would meet King Richard II in London, and it was an absolute bloodbath.

Let's go over the historical context that leads us to the Rebellion, then the event itself. It's a fascinating story that shows us how far the common folk are willing to be pushed before they break.

Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!
http://www.nedricmusic.com

Sources
Books:

Dan Jones, Summer of Blood (2009)
Elizabeth Kimball Kendall, Source-book of English History (2015)
Rosemary Horrox, The Black Death Medieval Sourcebook (1994)

Articles/Online Sources:

“Ordinance of Laborers, 1349” Fordham University Medieval History Sourcebook https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/seth/ordinance-labourers.asp
“Tales from Froissart: Beginning of the English Peasant Revolt” Nipissing University https://uts.nipissingu.ca/muhlberger/FROISSART/PEASANTS.HTM

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Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic Mar 02, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the history behind the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic, an event that started with three schoolgirls in late January 1962 and spread to nearby villages. It took roughly 18-24 months for the epidemic to finally stop, and luckily, nobody died.

It was determined that this was a case of mass psychogenic illness - the more modern name for "mass hysteria."

But how did it start? Why schoolgirls in Tanganyika in early 1962? Let's look to the historical context to get an understanding of what happened here and why.

And a special thanks to one of my cannibal patrons, Zack, for recommending this episode!

Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!
http://www.nedricmusic.com

Support the show

Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The Guatemala Syphilis Experiments Feb 16, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over another case where the US government experimented on humans - but this time, they purposefully infected Guatemalans with syphilis, taking what happened with the men of Tuskegee a whole step further.

So today we'll do some historical context to figure out why Guatemala - what happened in history that led to such a level of interventionism that the US government would conduct medical experiments on the Guatemalan people?

Once that's squared away, we'll briefly go over syphilis so we have a complete understanding on what the infected Guatemalans faced. Then, we'll talk about the event itself - and how we only just learned about it.

I really hope I run out of examples of the US doing this.

Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!
http://www.nedricmusic.com

Support the show

Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The Stonehenge Mystery Feb 02, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over Stonehenge. We'll start with the basics - what stonehenge is, what it's made of, who might have built it, how they built it, what a henge even is... before talking about some of the more recent explanations for some of its mysteries.
We'll also talk about its purpose - a gathering place to celebrate the summer and winter solstices? A burial ground? Both? And does it have a connection with nearby Durrington Walls, only two miles away, and a henge complex that might have the evidence needed to understand who built Stonehenge, and why.
Sources referenced:
Stonehenge―A New Understanding: Solving the Mysteries of the Greatest Stone Age Monument by Mike Parker Pearson and the Stonehenge Riverside Project
Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!
http://www.nedricmusic.com

Support the show

Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The Scottish Cannibal, Sawney Bean Jan 19, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over a tale of a Scottish incestuous cannibal family - the Beans.
As legend goes, they lived in a cave in southwest Scotland, only venturing out to kill passersby and loot them for good - and meat. Over 25 years, it's said they killed over 1,000 people.
But how much truth is there to this grisly tale? It sounds a little too gross to be real.
Let's dive into the history to find out where the Sawney Bean story comes from, how credible the sources are, and whether there's any truth we can corroborate from the story.
From James I and his bloodhounds to the Jacobite Rebellion and Battle of Culloden (I see you, Outlander fans), let's see how much history we can attribute to this gory story.
Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!
http://www.nedricmusic.com

Support the show

Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

The Holmesburg Prison Experiments Jan 05, 2025

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over yet another example of US doctors experimenting on their own people.
Starting in the 1950s, dermatology Dr. Albert Kligman came to the Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia and experimented on its prisoners. What started as a simple cure for an athlete's foot outbreak turned into a decades-long series of experiments, ranging from testing lotions and cremes to hallucinogenic drugs to the toxic compounds found in Agent Orange.
Though the experiments eventually stopped in 1974, it was more or less swept under the rug, despite prisoner/victims filing lawsuits. But thanks to the work of men like Allen Hornblum, and the victims and their families who never gave up, the horrors at what happened at Holmesburg are coming to light.
Source referenced:
Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison by Allen Hornblum
Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!
http://www.nedricmusic.com

Support the show

Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

Follow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistory

If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

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