Today In History with The Retrospectors

Latest Episodes:

On Tour with the Siamese Twins Aug 16, 2024

Show notes

Rerun: Conjoined teenagers Chang and Eng Bunker began their world tour in Boston, Massachusetts on 16th August, 1829.

‘Discovered’ by Scotsman Robert Hunter in Siam (now Thailand), the boys inspired the term ‘Siamese Twins’, despite being ethnically Chinese.

Chang was a heavy drinker, and Eng was a teetotaller - yet they shared a liver. They had faced discrimination in the US, yet became slave-owning plantation owners in North Carolina. Then they married sisters - Sarah and Adelaide Yates.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the sexual side of the brothers’ relationship; explain how the ambiguity of their ethnicity enabled them to climb up through Southern society; and consider the merits of their ‘death cast’, now on display in a Philadelphia museum...

Further Reading:

• ‘The Death of Chang and Eng, Conjoined Twins Until the Last’ (Atlas Obscura, 2013):

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/morbid-monday-the-demise-of-chang-and-eng

• ‘How the original Siamese twins had 21 children by 2 sisters (Mail Online, 2014): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2825888/How-original-Siamese-twins-21-children-two-sisters-sharing-one-reinforced-bed.html

• ‘World Famous Conjoined Twins, Chang and Eng Bunker’ (Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWXoPrGAQMk

‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’

Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…

… But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

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America's Nazi Summer Camps Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

Rerun: Camp Siegfried hosted a ‘Nazi Camp Fete’ for 40,000 attendees on 15th August, 1938. The Summer resort, on Yaphank, Long Island, was the epicentre of the German-American Bund: an organisation devoted to establishing a Nazi stronghold across the United States.

Alongside campfire building and swimming lessons, young attendees were taught to emulate the Hitler Youth and host mini Nuremberg-style rallies.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how delegates were trained to anticipate a Nazi coup of the USA; consider why all the key players in the movement escaped serious criminal prosecution, even after the Second World War; and why events such as these were so casually reported, even in the New York Times…

Further Reading:

• ‘New York's 1930s Nazi Summer Camp’ (Ripley’s, 2016): https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/nazi-summer-camp/

• ‘A New York Town in the 1930s Embraced Hitler and Nazi Germany’ (History Collection, 2017): https://historycollection.com/welcome-hitler-street-usa-pending/

• ‘Nazis on Long Island: The Story of Camp Siegfried’ (Museum of Jewish Heritage, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJW1VQo1Ts

‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’

Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…

… But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inside The Stanford Prison Experiment Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

The Stanford Prison Experiment, created by Philip Zimbardo, began on 14th August, 1971.

24 male college students volunteered to be assigned roles as either ‘guard’ or ‘prisoner’ in a mock jail: the ‘prisoners’ were ‘arrested’ by real cops outside their family homes and marched down to a Police Station before being transferred to their imitation incarceration.

Once inside, they were stripped, deloused, and given smocks and ID numbers; while guards were outfitted with khaki uniforms, mirrored sunglasses, and batons, establishing a stark power divide.

The guards quickly embraced their roles, with some becoming cruel and abusive. They enforced strict, often humiliating regimens on the prisoners, such as roll calls and physical exercises, to instill a sense of powerlessness. But the guards were not aware they were also subjects of the study…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly interrogate the selection process and context that belies the study’s impact; consider the distress supposedly experienced by the participants; and ask if this controversial experiment should now be scrubbed from the textbooks…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Stanford Prison Experiment: Philip Zimbardo defends his most famous work’ (Vox, 2018):

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/6/28/17509470/stanford-prison-experiment-zimbardo-interview

• ‘Philip Zimbardo Thinks We All Can Be Evil’ (The New York Times, 2015):

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/magazine/philip-zimbardo-thinks-we-all-can-be-evil.html

• ‘The Stanford Prison Experiment Was One of the Most Disturbing Studies Ever’ (Weird History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRR7CwdHxUE

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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.

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

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The 'Mock' Battle of Manila Aug 13, 2024

Show notes

The ‘mock’ battle of Manila took place on 13th August, 1898, when the Spanish Army attempted to save face by staging a low-impact fight with the Americans, handing over the territory of the Philippines without seeming weak.

The pseudo engagement aimed for a bloodless resolution, but unintentional shots fired from both sides disrupted the facade. However, the stratagem effectively terminated the Spanish-American war, 106 days after its commencement - and (temporarily) prevented Filipinos from regaining control of their nation.

In this episode, The Retrospectors expose the racism underpinning both side’s thinking; reveal what Mark Twain thought of U.S. expansionism; and explain why, due to events in Washington, the battle turned out to be entirely unnecessary…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Spanish-American War in the Philippines and the Battle for Manila’ (PBS American Experience): https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/macarthur-spanish-american-war-philippines-and-battle-for-manila/

• ‘Struggle for Freedom - By Cecilio D. Duka (Rex Book Store, 2008):

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Struggle_for_Freedom_2008_Ed/4wk8yqCEmJUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=mock+manila+1898&pg=PA164&printsec=frontcover

• ‘The Spanish-American War’ (NBC News Learn, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZMcRzvxTMg

This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/retrospectors

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 2024.

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Singer's Sewing Machine Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Isaac Singer's iteration of a mechanised sewing machine received US Patent Number 8294 on 12th August, 1851.

By refining an existing design by Elias Howe, and improving it with a straight-line shuttle and straight needle, Singer’s prototype produced 900 stitches a minute, compared to 40 stitches by hand, drastically reducing the time it took to make garments; a beacon of efficiency that slashed production time from hours to mere minutes.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore the racier chapters of Singer’s private life; marvel at his Steve Jobs-level business acumen; and explain how he turned his initially business-to-business product into a hitherto unprecedented multinational corporation…

Further Reading:

• ’How Singer Won the Sewing Machine War’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2015): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-singer-won-sewing-machine-war-180955919/

• ‘Business: Red S’ (TIME, 1929): https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,737940,00.html

• ‘How the Sewing Machine Changed Daily Life’ (Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3kh2CDAccU

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/retrospectors

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 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain's First Nudist Beach Aug 09, 2024

Show notes

Rerun: Black Rock - a 200-yard strip of pebbly beach in Brighton - was first set aside for naked bathers on 9th August, 1979. It came after a campaign by the Central Council For British Naturism, who had previously petitioned 140 local authorities.

When Conservative councillor Eileen Jakes responded positively to the call, she was accused of pandering to weirdos and perverts. Fellow councillor John Blackman said the beach would facilitate a "flagrant exhibition of mammary glands".

In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion consider whether the concerns about the beach concealed latent homophobia; compare their experiences of shedding their own clothes in public; and reveal which nations are most prone to getting naked...

Content warning: sexual references, crude comedy.

Further Reading:

• ‘Britain’s First Nudist Beach’ on BBC World Service ‘Witness History’ (2011):

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p00j84cs

• ‘Gay Nude Beach in Brighton, England UK’ (Pink Planet, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4vlklRT-oI

• ‘Naked as nature - if not weather - intended’ (The Guardian, 2 April 1980):

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/apr/02/archive-1980-naturist-brighton-beach?INTCMP=SRCH

‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’

Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…

… But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! 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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When The Beatles Crossed The Road Aug 08, 2024

Show notes

Rerun: Abbey Road was a street known only to North Londoners until The Beatles posed on the zebra crossing outside EMI Studios on 8th August, 1969. Photographer Iain MacMillan took just six snaps, one of which graced the front cover of their penultimate album, ‘Abbey Road’.

The image became instantly iconic, partly due to the decision not to name the band or the album on the front of LP. It even spurred a conspiracy theory that claimed that Paul McCartney was dead, and being played by a lookalike, attested to his by bare feet and the number plate on the vehicle behind him.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the picture nearly didn’t happen in St John’s Wood at all, but in NEPAL; dive into the ‘Paul Is Dead’ conspiracy; and check out the live feed of hapless tourists approximating the picture…

Further Reading:

• ‘Obituary: Iain MacMillan’ (The Independent, 2006): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/iain-macmillan-364645.html

• ‘Revisiting London's iconic album cover images’ (BBC News, 2008): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-43318498

• ‘Beatles fans flock to Abbey Road for 44th anniversary’ (Telegraph, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoVvSW-Qqmk

‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’

Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…

… But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! 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: Emma Corsham.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

California's Courtroom Siege Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

Jonathan Jackson, teenage brother of imprisoned black power activist George Jackson, entered the Marin County Courthouse concealing three guns under his raincoat on 7th August, 1970.

In the middle of a trial, he took Judge Harold Haley hostage in a bid to secure his brother's release.

The previous year had seen a landmark incident at San Quentin Correctional Facility, when three black inmates were shot dead by white prison guards. George Jackson, Jonathan’s brother, had become a prominent figure, founding a Marxist revolutionary group within the prison and campaigning for justice for the ‘Soledad Brothers’. This context made the courtroom siege an explosive event in the fight against systemic racism.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly detail the brief but deadly shootout that followed in the court’s parking lot; discover why the police opened fire, despite the high-profile hostages; and consider how George Jackson later smuggled a gun into prison…

CONTENT WARNING: violence, murder, racism.

Further Reading:

• ’Marin County Courtroom Shootout’ (Bay Area Television Archive, 1970):

https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/190039

• ‘Bloody Breakout at San Rafael’ (LIFE, 1970): https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=t1UEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31&dq=harold+haley+james+mcclain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEnYX1q9aGAxWGWEEAHYg8DBoQuwV6BAgEEAY#v=onepage&q=harold%20haley%20james%20mcclain&f=false

• ‘San Quentin's Bloodiest Riot | The Story of George Jackson’ (19XX, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzDoYNd5xjk

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Meet The Addams Family Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

The Addams Family debuted as a one-panel cartoon in The New Yorker on 6th August, 1938.

Created by Charles Addams, the family (who for decades were essentially archetypes, without character names) were a satirical inversion of the ideal postwar American middle-class nuclear family, delighting in the macabre, and seemingly unaware or unconcerned that other people find them bizarre or frightening.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the Addamses finally got their TV names; consider the on-screen rivalry between their show and the similarly-themed The Munsters; and recall MC Hammer’s SEMINAL interpretation of their iconic theme tune…

Further Reading:

• ‘Charles Addams Cartoons Are Far Darker Than The Addams Family Films’ (Den of Geek, 2021): https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/charles-addams-cartoons-darker-than-the-addams-family/

• ‘Charles Addams’ (The New Yorker, 2010); https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/bob-mankoff/charles-addams

• ‘The Addams Family: Wednesday Leaves Home’ (MGM, 1964): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxZgUp-E0fo&list=PLwwhtOnMyjuxQy81h7uJMCdsR-bS-uVaD&index=5

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/retrospectors

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's Revive Welsh Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist Party, was founded on 5th August, 1925, with a principal mission to revive the Welsh language.

Despite boasting a history of over 1,400 years - evolving from the Celtic language spoken by ancient Britons - Welsh was on the decline in the 20th century, following significant suppression dating back to the 1536 Act of Union that banned Welsh in legal and public spheres.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how protests over an RAF training camp in Gwynedd altered Plaid’s fortunes; discover the punishments dolled out to Victorian schoolchildren who dared to speak their native language; and - inevitably - have a crack at pronouncing Wales’s longest place-name…

Further Reading:

• ‘A Profile of Plaid Cymru - All you need to know’ (Politics.co.uk):

https://www.politics.co.uk/reference/plaid-cymru/

• ‘Why the Welsh language deserves respect not ridicule’ (Metro, 2021): https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/15/disrespect-for-the-welsh-language-in-the-uk-needs-to-stop-14048261/

• ‘Now You're Talking’ (S4C, 1990): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6anFdal3CgQ&list=PLt6NoCieiwOy9hr_tRT5b6Ag2nZcNtpJ3

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 ❤️

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices