Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

Latest Episodes:

Partnership Jan 09, 2025

Show notes

"We shall then take you into partnership" [SIGN]

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are forever linked, thanks to that first meeting at Bart's. They were both looking for someone with whom to share rooming expenses, but found themselves thrust together on some of Sherlock Holmes's greatest cases, becoming one of history's greatest partnerships.

But what of business partnerships that are scattered throughout the Canon? Some of them are obvious and memorable, while others are obscure and forgettable. It's just a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. This season, we're adding "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it! Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

The Origin of 221B Worship Jan 01, 2025

Show notes

"a singular set of people, Watson" [WIST] Image credit: The Baker Street Irregulars

This podcast is a by-product of being active in the world of Sherlockians. But how did Sherlock Holmes societies first gain footing? What was the origin?

In the inaugural episode of our new series on Morley-Montgomery Award winners (exceptional Sherlockian scholarship from The Baker Street Journal), Robert Keith Leavitt puts pen to paper in 1961 on what had only been an oral tradition until that time, putting everything in perspective for our little hobby. It's probably a little more than a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. In Season 9, we'll be adding "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it! Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

The Morley-Montgomery Award
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Christmas with Sherlock Holmes Dec 25, 2024

Show notes

"the compliments of the season" [BLUE]

There is only one Sherlock Holmes story that takes place at Christmas: "The Blue Carbuncle," which took place on "the second morning after Christmas."

In his Gas-Lamp for the 1959 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, editor Edgar W. Smith, BSI ("The Hound of the Baskervilles") entertained the idea of what was happening at Baker Street on Christmas Day. And that seemed like a Trifle.

Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. And in Season 9 (debuting in 2025) we'll be adding "Trifling Trifles" as an additional channel of content only for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it! Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Sherlock Holmes Was No Burglar Dec 19, 2024

Show notes

"I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal" [CHAS]

In some cases, Sherlock Holmes was a bit of a vigilante in his pursuit of justice. He didn't mind breaking the law in a good cause. That led to him burgling various households.

Or did it? S. Tupper Bigelow, BSI ("The Five Orange Pips") was a lawyer by trade and disabuses us of the notion that Sherlock Holmes was a burglar. Some of it is a mere technicality, but it's all a Trifle.

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Battlestations! Dec 12, 2024

Show notes

"You look like a general who is planning a battle" [HOUN] The Battle of Marengo, by Louis-François Lejeune (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)

One simple sentence in "The Abbey Grange" served as the spark to the fuse of this Trifles episode. In one sentence, Sherlock Holmes referenced two of Napoleon's battles — each with a different outcome.

But it made us curious: what other famous battles were mentioned, either outright or by implication, throughout the Canon? We chose to discuss six of them. It's just a Trifle.

Episode 385 - The Long Road From Maiwand

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

The December Cases Dec 05, 2024

Show notes

"He disappeared upon the 3d of December" [SIGN]

"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is inextricably linked with the month of December. But what about the other cases Sherlock Holmes handled in the final month of the year?

Our research picked up only one other, and it isn't obvious by a careful reading of the Canon. Jay Finley Christ helps us out with a clever bit of detection and chronology to identify that second story. We compare and contrast these two December babies and it's just a Trifle.

Other episodes mentioned:

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

The Newgate Calendar Nov 27, 2024

Show notes

"You seem to be a walking calendar of crime" [STUD]

Sherlock Holmes used the calendar to help him determine the significance of certain cluse and actions, noting phases of the moon and recurring events.

But there was another calendar that was useful to Holmes, which he mentioned in passing: the Newgate Calendar. It wasn't a calendar the way we refer to calendars. What was it and why was it of use? It's just a Trifle.

The Calendrical Holmes
Newgate Calendar entries (Pascal Bonenfant)
The Newgate Calendar (Wikipedia)
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

A Touch of the Dramatic Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

"it was a dramatic one" [GLOR]

One of Sherlock Holmes's traits was that he was a master of disguise. And in the very first short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia," we find him in not one but two disguises.

However, it's more than costuming that made him successful at subterfuge. Curtis Armstrong shares his insights on why Sherlock Holmes was able to fool so many people, including Watson. And it's just a Trifle.

Bohemian Souls (BSI Press)
Revenge of the Nerd by Curtis Armstrong
Previous episodes mentioned:

Curtis on IHOSE Episode 143: P.G. Wodehouse and Sherlock Holmes

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

The Continental Nov 13, 2024

Show notes

"the Continental express" [FINA]

When Sherlock Holmes was trying to outrun Professor Moriarty, the trail led from London to Switzerland. It was anything but a straight route. Our travel series traces their trip.

What did Holmes and Watson's journey onto the Continent entail? How long did it take? And what might we say about their choices? It's just a Trifle.

Previous episodes mentioned:

Episode 218 - Buffets

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

John Watson, Unreliable Narrator Nov 07, 2024

Show notes

"you have erred, perhaps" [COPP]

We have John H. Watson, M.D. to thank for the Sherlock Holmes stories, and we typically take them at face value. That is, we trust that Watson was telling us the truth.

While Sherlock Holmes complimented Watson for his choice of cases, he also had criticisms of Watson's writing, taking issue with his storytelling process. Does this mean Watson's accuracy might also be called into question? It's just a Trifle.

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

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