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The Weird History Podcast — History
The Weird History Podcast

Latest Episodes:

191 The Black Paintings Apr 04, 2019
Show notes

Francisco Goya is one of the first modern artist, and toward the end of his life he painted his most well-known works, the Black Paintings, into the walls of his home outside Madrid. The most famous of the Black Paintings is Saturn Devouring His Son (pictured below), but it’s only one of fifteen disturbing, dark images in the series.

Very Important Announcement Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

The show is going in a new direction. Listen to find out why.

190 Faro, the Hottest Game in the West Mar 27, 2019
Show notes

The image of cowboys playing poker has shown up again and again in Westerns. However, if you walked into a saloon in the late 1800s, you likely wouldn’t find poker, blackjack, or other contemporary casino games. Instead, you’d probably find a game of faro. The French card game (also known as “bucking the tiger” or “riding the tiger”) was popular throughout Europe and North America up until WWII. Faro was all but synonymous with gambling, and prominent figures like Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were fans of the game. However, it is essentially extinct now.

189 Thom Wall on The History of Juggling Mar 18, 2019
Show notes

Thom Wall is a professional juggler and who’s known both for his feats of dexterity and his enthusiasm for old-style vaudeville performance. His new book Juggling From Antiquity to the Middle Ages traces the history of the art across time and place. Juggling has been invented independently several times over in Ancient Egypt, Mesoamerica, and Polynesia. Wall traces its myriad histories into, eventually, the art of throwing and catching we know today.

188 Swingin’ on the Flippity-Flop Mar 04, 2019
Show notes

Find out what a badly-sourced article in the Toronto Sun, a fake list of grunge slang in the New York Times, and an oft-repeated anecdote about a floating bordello can tell us about better evaluating sources and looking at how we know what we know.

187 Presidential Pets Feb 14, 2019
Show notes

This week we look at the animal companions of America’s chief executives, including opossums, eagles, and very good dogs.

186 Crystal King on The Chef’s Secret Feb 04, 2019
Show notes

Crystal King is the author of two novels about Italian food history. Her first book Feast of Sorrow delved into the world of food in ancient Rome, and her follow up moves forward over a thousand year to explore food in Renaissance Italy.

Crystal’s expertise extends beyond the page. Her Parthian chicken recipe has become a favorite of mine, and a go-to recipe when I’m cooking for company.

185 The Georgia Guidestones Jan 27, 2019
Show notes

In 1980 a mysterious benefactor who only identified himself as “R.C. Christian” commissioned a granite monument in rural Georgia bearing advice on how to reconstruct civilization after the apocalypse. Unfortunately, it’s not very good advice.

184 Is Taiwan a Country? Jan 10, 2019
Show notes

Taiwan’s status is a matter of debate. In this episode we get into its history and try to suss out whether it’s part of China or an independent country.

Big News for 2019 Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

I’m doing a big thing in 2019, and I need to tell you about it.

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