A Popular History of Unpopular Things

Latest Episodes:

The Great Plague and Great Fire of London Aug 04, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the Great Plague of London, 1665-1666, which ended in part thanks to the Great Fire of London, 1666.
These are two big events that killed off a good chunk of London's population and destroyed four-fifths of the city. The new London that was built was better suited to withstand fires and plague, and though it still had some sanitation problems, the days of plague-infested roofs and damaging fires was over.
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!

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Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake

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The Black Death Jul 21, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli for her fiftieth episode where she explores her favorite topic - The Black Death!
It's an all-out disease fest, where she goes over the symptoms of plague, how it spread, who it impacted, what it was like for people living with it, and how it impacted the Medieval world.
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube!

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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 Hindenburg Disaster Jul 07, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the Hindenburg Disaster. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg Zeppelin exploded and caught fire as it was landing at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. 36 of the 97 people on board died - some in the initial explosion, some from jumping off the airship at height, and some from some horrific burns once they escaped the flaming vessel. It had huge ramifications for the airship industry and the popularity of blimps, zeppelins, and dirigibles.
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!

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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 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Jun 23, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, where a massive 9.0/9.1 earthquake 80 miles off the eastern coast of Japan triggers a tsunami that killed tens of thousands and caused millions in damages. But the earthquake and tsunami also knocked out power to the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which had terrible, terrible consequences...
In this episode, we briefly revisit what happened with Chernobyl so we can compare it to Fukushima, as both disasters received the same nuclear "disaster" rating. But what really happened with Fukushima, and what lessons can we learn from this most recent nuclear scare?
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!
Source referenced: Fukushima - The Story of a Nuclear Disaster by David Lochbaum, Edwin Lyman, Susan Q. Stranahan, and the Union of Concerned Scientists

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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 Medusa Shipwreck Jun 09, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the tragedy of the Medusa Shipwreck. When a French frigate bound for Senegal hits a sandbank and sinks, some get on the lifeboats, while a large portion are stuck on a hastily erected raft. The raft was too heavy and abandoned by the boats, and 147 people on board this flat wooden rectangle were left to try and survive without provisions, a compass, a proper sail, or a rudder. And it doesn't end well.
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!

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 Victorian Houses of Death May 26, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she talks about Victorian-era hospitals in London, known as the Houses of Death because of their fatality rates. These were the most unsanitary of places, and today we'll go into all the nitty-gritty details of what they looked like. We'll also learn about some of the gross surgeries that went on inside Houses of Death before going over how they changed with the advent of anesthetics and antiseptics.
Buckle up, this one is pretty gross. But hey - at least you get a break from cannibalism this week. No promises for the next topic ;)
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!

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 Tale of Liver-Eating Johnson May 12, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over the tale of Liver-Eating Johnson, a mountain man in the early 19th century American frontier who became legendary for how he avenged the murder and scalping of his Flathead indigenous wife. A book, called Crow Killer, really popularized his life - so much so that it was turned into a movie, Jeremiah Johnson, released in 1972 and starring Robert Redford.
But is this a true story? Or is it just an embellished legend of a mountain man?
Let's look at the (abridged) story, then look at some efforts at debunking this classic wild west tale of struggles, survival, murder, revenge, and liver-eatin' in the American frontier.
Only light cannibalism this time :)
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!

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 Order of the Pug Apr 28, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she dives into the world of the Freemasons, Secret Societies, Religious Tension, Political Conflict, and... pugs?
In 1738, Pope Clement XII issued a papal bull denying any Roman Catholics from joining the Freemasons. It was a targeted hit at the religious and political tensions surrounding two sects of the Freemasons - the Jacobite Lodge and the Hanoverian Lodge - who argued over their main religious identity and political affiliations. But as a result of the papal bull, Catholics were no longer allowed to join any Freemason group.
So, to get around this, the Order of the Pug was formed - a para-Masonic group that allowed the elite of Europe to still engage in Freemason-esque rituals, fellowship, and life... but without the threat of excommunication.
But the Order of the Pugs operated as it sounds - it was very focused on dogs. Collars, barking, and all. And it got weird.
This episode doesn't have death, destruction, blood, gore, violence, or cannibalism... but it's certainly a strange story!
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!

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 Kentucky Cannibal Apr 14, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she tells the story of Levi Boone Helm, a frontiersman-turned-outlaw who committed murders across the West at the height of the California Gold Rush. But that's not all this serial killer did - he was also a cannibal. And he bragged about it.
It's another mid-19th-century tale of the dark side of western expansion. With lots of cannibalism.
So let's dive into the historical context of the time to see if we can place Boone Helm in his contextual place, the American West during westward expansion.
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!

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 Werewolf of Bedburg Mar 31, 2024

Show notes

Join Kelli as she goes over a trial from the peak years of Early Modern Europe's so-called werewolf panic - the trial of Peter Stumpp, the Werewolf of Bedburg. Peter confessed to all kinds of horrible, evil, depraved things. As a result, he was executed on the breaking wheel in a particularly gross and bloody fashion.
But was he actually guilty? Was he a murderer? Or was he tortured into confessing as a scapegoat for the times?
Let's dive into the historical context and available primary source data to learn about Peter Stumpp, the Werewolf of Bedburg Germany, and see how much truth there is to these heinous acts.
Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric
Find him on all streaming services and YouTube, and check out his newest album, Sparrow Factory!

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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