Today In History with The Retrospectors

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The Walkman Effect Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Sony’s revolutionary cassette player, the Walkman, debuted in the USA on 1st July, 1979, costing $150. It went on to shift a staggering 450m units.

Boasting a classy aluminium chassis, audio splitter, and novelty ‘Hotline’ button for dance parties, the device took off after an advertising campaign featuring sexy models and an elderly Japanese monk.

In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca reveal the genesis of the Walkman’s brand name; consider whether it deserved an even HIGHER place in TIME’s list of the Top 50 Most Influential Gadgets, and ask if, in 2021, we are living in the shadow of ‘The Walkman Effect’...

Further Reading:

• ‘The History of the Walkman: 35 Years of Iconic Music Players’ (The Verge, 2014): https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/1/5861062/sony-walkman-at-35

• The original TV spots for the Walkman in Japan (1979): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrrTv_BzAAQ

• TIME’s list of the 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time (2016): https://time.com/4309573/most-influential-gadgets/

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

This episode first aired in 2021

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Writing 'Gone With The Wind' Jun 30, 2025

Show notes

Margaret Mitchell’s first and only novel, Gone With The Wind, was released on 30th June, 1936, and delighted readers and critics alike, shifting millions of copies and scooping the Pulitzer Prize.

But its romanticised tales of life in the South - complete with glorified depictions of slave labour and the Confederate Army - was divisive for African-Americans at the time, and is now recognised as overtly racist.

Mitchell, a ‘flapper’ who had a racy private life compared to her cohort, died after being struck by a car. But her magnum opus remains consistently ranked as one of America’s favourite books.

In this episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Martin Luther King, Jr. was involved in the premiere of the movie; consider an alternative name for the novel's lead character; and reveal the mind-boggling amounts of money paid for copies of the book, and the film rights…

Further Reading:

• ‘Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With The Wind' Turns 75’ (NPR, 2011): https://www.npr.org/2011/06/30/137476187/margaret-mitchells-gone-with-the-wind-turns-75

• ‘The Long Battle Over ‘Gone With the Wind’’ (The New York Times, 2020):

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/movies/gone-with-the-wind-battle.html

• ‘Gone with the Wind - By Margaret Mitchell. FULL Audiobook’ (Complete Audiobooks, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mpo9-P5BQ

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Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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Meet The Black Donnelleys Jun 27, 2025

Show notes

The deadly fight between Patrick Farrell and James Donnelly on 27th June 1857 kickstarted one of the longest-lasting and most violent feuds in Canadian history.

The property the Donnellys had been squatting on had been previously leased by Farrell. A judge had ruled that the lot be split 50/50, but, at a barn raising bee, Donnelly chucked a handspike at Farrell, who died two days later. Decades later, the Donnelly family’s homestead was attacked by a vigilante mob, leaving five of their family dead.

In this episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask why nobody was convicted of the murders, despite two trials and a reliable eyewitness; reveal why the Donnelleys became known locally as the ‘black’ Donnelleys, a nickname which persists to this day; and unearth, amongst one of their number, a surprising predilection for poetry…

Further Reading:

• ‘History | Lucan Museum’ (donnellymuseum.com): https://www.donnellymuseum.com/history

• ‘Black Donnellys - The Outrageous Tale of Canada's Deadliest Feud, By Nate Hendley’ (Formac Publishing Company Limited, 2018): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Black_Donnellys/sK5jDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

• ‘The Doomed Donnellys of Ontario’ (TVO Today, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqqfg3PND7o

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Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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Scanning The First Barcode Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

At a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a packet of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum became the first ever product to have its barcode scanned - at 8:01 a.m. on June 26th, 1974.

Inspired by the morse code training of his Boy Scout days, Norman Joseph Woodland first sketched out a barcode on a Florida beach in 1948, drawing dots and dashes in the sand. Together with fellow Drexel Institute graduate student Bernard Silver, he received a U.S. Patent in 1952 - but it would be another 20 years before IBM produced the technology that could be rolled out to grocery stores.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the invention accelerated the growth of the largest retailers; consider Woodland’s original ‘bullseye’ barcode design; and reveal why conspiracy theorists think barcodes are the DEVIL’s work…

Further Reading:

• ‘How the barcode changed retailing and manufacturing’ (BBC News, 2017): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38498700

• ‘N Joseph Woodland obituary’ (The Guardian, 2012): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/dec/16/n-joseph-woodland

• ‘How Do Barcodes Work?’ (sciBRIGHT, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfeVckbQxdQ

Love the show? Support us!

Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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The Playboy, the Architect and the Showgirl Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

Architect Stanford White was shot three times at close range by millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw during a performance of Broadway comedy ‘Mamzelle Champagne’ on 25th June, 1906. At first, the stunned audience thought it was part of the show.

Thaw claimed White had “ruined” his wife, showgirl Evelyn Nesbit - often called America’s first ‘It Girl’ - who at just 16 had been lured into White’s orbit and ‘seduced’ by White - though a reading of Nesbit’s diary makes it sound a lot more like rape.

But sadistic playboy Thaw was no knight in shining armour himself. His legal defense introduced the bizarre concept of dementia Americana—a supposed burst of "patriotic insanity" any red-blooded man might feel upon learning his wife had been wronged. Astonishingly, it worked.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider (yet another) ‘trial of the century’; reveal what happened to Nesbit once the dust had settled; and explain what Thaw used to with his $100 bills…

CONTENT WARNING: sexual sadism, abuse, coercive control, description of murder.

Further Reading:

• ‘The History of New York Scandals - Harry Thaw Shoots Architect Stanford White’ (New York Magazine, 2012): https://nymag.com/news/features/scandals/stanford-white-2012-4/

• ‘THAW MURDERS STANFORD WHITE; Shoots Him on the Madison Square Garden Roof’ (The New York Times, 1906): https://www.nytimes.com/1906/06/26/archives/thaw-murders-stanford-white-shoots-him-on-the-madison-square-garden.html

• ‘The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing: Trailer’ (20th Century Fox, 1955): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARhXJas59YQ

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Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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The Town That Danced To Death Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

‘Dancing Mania’ - in which people spontaneously danced to exhaustion, some until they broke their ribs and subsequently died, took hold of Aachen, Germany on 24th June, 1374.

We still don’t really know why. Had the victims ingested ergot, a mould from rye bread that can inspire hallucinations? Was it a hysterical mass response to a stressful and traumatic environment? Or a kind of pre-smartphone flashmob?

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the likely causes and cures for this curious episode, learn about the equally extraordinary phenomenon of Tarantism, and play ‘guess the Saintly disease’...

Further Reading:

• ‘A Strange Case of Dancing Mania Struck Germany Six Centuries Ago’, Smithsonian Magazine (2016)

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/strange-case-dancing-mania-struck-germany-six-centuries-ago-today-180959549/

• ‘A forgotten plague: making sense of dancing mania’, The Lancet (2009):

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(09)60386-X/fulltext

• ‘Tarantism: A Rhythm For Your Soul’

(Giuliano Capani, 2008) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6fB4oInT7A

Love the show? Support us!

Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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Busting 'The Teflon Don' Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

John Gotti, the infamous ‘Teflon Don’ boss of New York’s Gambino crime family, smiled as he received a life sentence in a Brooklyn courthouse on 23rd June, 1992. Outside, chaos reigned as nearly a thousand supporters flipped over a federal marshal’s car and chanted in defence of the mobster, framing his conviction as an anti-Italian injustice.

But the FBI had been determined to bring Gotti down. After multiple failed attempts - including a memorable trial with a bribed juror - they finally found their opportunity by bugging his social club, capturing crucial conversations that convicted him of multiple murders and racketeering.

Arion, Rebecca and Olly contrast Gotti’s reputation in his Queens neighbourhood with his perception amongst the public at large; explain how his charisma and flashy style earned him the nickname ‘Dapper Don’ before he became ‘Teflon’; and reveal how a true crime documentary helped bring him to justice...

Further Reading:

• ‘Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano, The Mobster Who Betrayed John Gotti’ (All Thats Interesting, 2023): https://allthatsinteresting.com/sammy-the-bull-gravano

• ‘MOB CHIEF GOTTI SENTENCED TO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE’ (The Washington Post, 1992): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/06/24/mob-chief-gotti-sentenced-to-life-without-parole/885eb70e-2eae-4be4-9126-c54182b3262f/

• ‘John Gotti trial’ (Fox 5 New York, 1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLPjxxw-mGU

Love the show? Support us!

Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

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Inside The Black Hole of Calcutta Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

When the East India Company surrendered Fort William (in modern-day Kolkata) to the Nawab of Bengal on 20th June, 1756, dozens of British captives were imprisoned in a cell measuring only 18ft long and 14ft wide, with just two tiny windows - ‘the Black Hole of Calcutta’.

Among the prisoners was John Zephaniah Holwell, whose pamphlet describing the terrors of the airless room caused a sensation back in Britain and became a cause célèbre in the idealization of imperialism in India. Holwell claimed 123 men lost their lives in the cell, although it is now thought the number of deaths was exaggerated.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover Holwell’s mixed feelings around colonialism; consider how ‘the black hole of Calcutta’ became an enduring term of phrase; and reveal what connected Kolkata with Olly’s home village in Hertfordshire…

Further Reading:

• ‘A Genuine Narrative of the Deplorable Deaths of the English Gentlemen, and Others, who Were Suffocated in the Black-Hole in Fort-William, at Calcutta, in the Kingdom of Bengal, in the Night Succeeding the 20th Day of June, 1756, in a Letter to a Friend - By John Zephaniah Holwell’ (A. Millar, 1758): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Genuine_Narrative_of_the_Deplorable_De/xGg0Cg9WVNcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Holwell+%2B+Calcutta&printsec=frontcover

• ‘The Black Hole of Calcutta – Kolkata, India’ (Atlas Obscura): https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-black-hole-of-calcutta

• ‘The Story of The Black Hole Of Calcutta - Britain's Secret Homes’ (ITV Daytime, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbjFxITtXwU

This episode first aired in 2021

Love the show? Support us!

Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

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It's A Royal Cock-up Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

The Grand Knockout Tournament (also known as It’s a Royal Knockout) was a one-off charity event first shown on BBC1 on 19th June 1987, to an audience of 18 million gobsmacked viewers.

The brainchild of the then 23 year old Prince Edward, the slapstick spectacle featured the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of York captaining rival teams in a series of preposterous rounds involving celebrities including Rowan Atkinson, Tom Jones, Cliff Richard, John Travolta and Les Dawson.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall Fergie’s feelings of shame, blame and betrayal; discover the extraordinary cast of characters gathered at this bizarre occasion; and explain why Meat Loaf and Prince Andrew did not see eye-to-eye…

Further Reading:

• ‘Remembering The TV Disaster That Was It’s A Royal Knockout’ (Grazia, 2020): https://graziadaily.co.uk/celebrity/news/royal-knockout-anne-edward-andrew/

• ‘It's a royal cock-up’ (The Guardian, 2002): https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/mar/05/themonarchy.broadcasting

• ‘The Grand Knockout Tournament’ (BBC, 1987): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwkv0-QlbZY

This episode first aired in 2021

Love the show? Support us!

Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

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Amelia Earhart Flies To Fame Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air on June 18th, 1928… but on this occasion didn’t actually fly the plane; she was a passenger aboard the Friendship, a three-engine seaplane piloted by Wilmer Stultz and co-piloted by Louis Gordon.

Originally, a wealthy heiress was meant to take the flight, but her family vetoed it as too dangerous. So Earhart, smart, skilled, and camera-ready, was chosen to be “Lady Lindy”, and that one journey launched her into the stratosphere of fame. She wrote a book, became a Cosmopolitan editor, endorsed everything from cigarettes to watches, and even launched her own fashion line.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit Earhart’s iconic joyrides, including the one alongside Eleanor Roosevelt; consider the impact of her work to elevate women pilots, given that 95% of pilots are still men; and speculate about one of aviation’s greatest mysteries: what happened to her plane on the day she went missing?

Further Reading:

• ‘BBC - Wales History: Amelia Earhart flies the Atlantic’ (BBC Wales, 2010): https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/waleshistory/2010/05/amelia_earhart_flies_the_atlantic.html

• ‘Amelia Earhart Facts: 24 Fascinating Things You Should Know’ (All Thats Interesting, 2017): https://allthatsinteresting.com/amelia-earhart-facts

• ‘Mystery solved? Explorer thinks he found Amelia Earhart's lost plane’ (NBC, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DqU8LaL-L0

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