Professor Buzzkill History Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#44 - Mini-Myth: Ben Franklin and Electricity Aug 14, 2015

Show notes

Did Ben Franklin really discover electricity by flying a kite in a lightning storm? Well, he may have flown the kite, Buzzkillers, but knowledge of electricity’s been around a long, long time. Take the journey of discovery back in time with the old Professor.

#42 - Mini-Myth: George Washington Carver and Peanut Butter Aug 07, 2015

Show notes

Like all good Americans, I just had a PB&J for lunch. I couldn’t help thinking of George Washington Carver, the reputed inventor of peanut butter. You won’t be surprised to hear that the invention of peanut butter is much more complicated (and more important) than is usually told. Listen in over your own PB&J, Buzzkillers!

#40 -Mini-Myth: Lady Godiva Riding Naked Through Coventry Jul 30, 2015

Show notes

What a great way to get taxes lowered! Get your land-owning husband to agree to lower property taxes if you ride naked on horseback right down main street. That’s just what Lady Godiva agreed to do in 11th century England in order to get her tight-fisted husband to lighten up on his tenants. But is it true or just another mini-myth? Listen in Buzzkillers!

#38 - Mini-Myth: Caesar Wasn’t Born by Caesarian Section Jul 23, 2015

Show notes

It’s an exciting and romantic tale: a future Roman hero has to be cut out of his mother’s womb as she’s dying in childbirth. The procedure is later named after the famous baby who survived — Julius Caesar. Alas, the story is as mythological as the one about storks delivering babies down chimneys. Hang on, I just heard a tiny thumb and a muffled cry coming from the living room…...

#37 - Pre Dawn Raid: US-Cuba Relations Jul 22, 2015

Show notes

The Cuban Embassy in Washington DC re-opened yesterday, symbolizing the thaw in US-Cuba relations in the past year. This is all warm and fuzzy, but we look at one of the most important historical myths of US-Cuba relations since the start of the Cold War. There were many more missiles in the Cuban Missile Crisis than you probably think. And the “eye-to-eye” showdown between Kennedy and Khrushchev had both sides blinking!

#36 - Black Adder and World War 1 Jul 21, 2015

Show notes

It’s time to go over the top, Buzzkillers! We interview Professor Richard Grayson about the wildly popular BBC television series, BlackAdder, and how close it was to historical reality. There are probably more myths about war than any other part of history, and BlackAdder addressed many of them. Let’s “go forth!” and see if they got their history right.

#35 - Mini-Myth: Hitler and the Volkswagen Jul 16, 2015

Show notes

Herr Hitler gets credit for an awful lot, Buzzkillers, including the invention of the Volkswagen. The story is that he demand a “people’s car” that the average German could afford. Alas, Buzzkillers, the story is much more complicated than that, and Adolph played only a small part in the invention of the cute, little VW Beetle.

#34 - The Houses of Parliament Jul 14, 2015

Show notes

The Buzzkill has landed! Right in the heart of London, in Parliament Square. We interview Dr. Caroline Shenton, from the Parliamentary Archives, about myths surrounding the Houses of Parliament. We broadcast directly from Westminster Hall, the oldest and most important part of the building. Centuries of myths are struck down in this ye olde myth busting feste!

#33 - Mini-Myth: Abner Doubleday and Baseball Jul 09, 2015

Show notes

Abner Doubleday didn’t invent baseball, and he didn’t do it in Cooperstown in 1839, Buzzkillers. Once again, a second- or third-hand story created a persistent myth. It was Alexander Cartwright in Manhattan in 1845. The Baseball Hall of Fame is still a great place to visit and I hope to run into you there sometime, Buzzkillers!

#31 - Mini-Myth: JFK Not a Jam Doughnut Jul 02, 2015

Show notes

Cold War Berlin was a tense place, and certainly not the place to make an embarrassing gaffe in a major speech. So it’s a good thing that President Kennedy didn’t call himself a jam doughnut while speaking to a massive crowd in front of the Berlin Wall. Imagine the warning bells that would have gone off in Washington DC and Moscow if Cold Warriors suddenly thought, “oh no, we’re in a pastry war”!

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