Unhinged History

Latest Episodes:

Episode 177 | Pigeons in Her Handbag Jun 12, 2026

Show notes

We are in the middle of Pride Month and celebrating with some brilliant heroes.
Angie kicks things off with the story of Dora Richter, a German woman who was the first known person to undergo a complete transformation from male to female via surgery.
Theresa moves into more well-known territory by sharing the life and background of the historic Sylvia Rivera. You might have heard of her, as she was credited with throwing the second Molotov cocktail at Stonewall. Come hear the before and after.
This story pairs well with:
Stonewall Uprising
Christine Jorgensen
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Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. As a small, independent podcast, we rely heavily on those small actions to help. They’re free, and so are you. Hopefully.

Episode 176 | Trash Dad With Whimsy Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

Some members of the LGBTQIA+ community are more well-known than others. One proponent of equal rights in the movement was Marsha P. Johnson. This week, Theresa shares how Marsha was assigned male at birth and later moved to New York, where she could live into her full identity. There she was, present at the Stonewall Uprising, established a program to help homeless street youth, and tirelessly worked to make life better.
Angie shifts gears by sharing the unhinged life of a man who’d sleep with nearly anyone, Lord Byron. This retelling of his life includes the four things he did right, along with the myriad of things he did not get right.
This story pairs well with:
Stonewall Uprising
Mary Shelley Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UnhingedHistory Email us: Unhinged.HistoryPod@gmail.com Head to Social Media and be Social With Us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unhinged.history
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unhinged.historypod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unhingedhistory Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. As a small, independent podcast, we rely heavily on those small actions to help. They’re free, and so are you. Hopefully.

Episode 175 | Drag Queen Run Waffle House May 29, 2026

Show notes

You are not prepared for this week’s mashup.
Theresa tells us the story of the Compton Cafeteria Riot, that nearly forgotten time in San Francisco when a group of queens stood up against police discrimination. While this occurred three years before Stonewall, it isn’t well-known or credited with kicking off Pride Month. However, it was this event, and events like it, that paved the way for the tipping point for the Stonewall Uprising.
Not wanting to be outdone, Angie shares the unhinged life of the eye-patch wearing princess, Ana De Mendoza. Come for the drama she faces in the Spanish court. Stay for the moment, she moves into a convent and parties so hard she chases out the nuns who live there.
This story pairs well with:
WWII GI Who Becomes a Woman: Christine Jorgeson
Stonewall Uprising
Alice Roosevelt Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UnhingedHistory Email us: Unhinged.HistoryPod@gmail.com Head to Social Media and be Social With Us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unhinged.history
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unhinged.historypod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unhingedhistory Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. As a small, independent podcast, we rely heavily on those small actions to help. They’re free, and so are you. Hopefully.

Episode 174 | I’m Going to be a Giant Jerk May 22, 2026

Show notes

It’s a wild week.
Angie kicks things off by telling the story of D’Artagnan and really fleshes out the whole story. Come for this guy’s quick rise to power and his ability to stay one step ahead of all the palace intrigue. Listen for the point where Angie shatters Theresa’s thoughts when she tells her that D’Artagnan actually outranked Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
Theresa veers off in a different direction for her story as she tells us about the life of Yukio Mishima. This man was an author, director, actor, producer… he did all of the things. He also attempted a coup to reinstate the Japanese emperor to greater power.
This episode pairs well with:
Lucy Hay the Countess of Carlisle
Yoshiko Kawashima Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UnhingedHistory Email us: Unhinged.HistoryPod@gmail.com Head to Social Media and be Social With Us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unhinged.history
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unhinged.historypod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unhingedhistory Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. As a small, independent podcast, we rely heavily on those small actions to help. They’re free, and so are you. Hopefully.

Episode 173 | A Machine Gun is a Great Equalizer May 15, 2026

Show notes

Theresa celebrates a full-circle moment as she shares how a Frenchman, Jules Brunet, attempted to stop the fall of the Shogunate in Japan. Podcast favorite character, arms-dealing Matthew Perry, makes a cameo as Theresa connects many dots to previous episodes.
Angie reminds us all to call our moms this Sunday as she regales us with the story of Atossa, Queen Mother of Persia. This woman made more kings than Catherine de' Medici, and that’s saying something. As the daughter of Cyrus the Great, she marries Darius the Great and gives birth to Xerxes. This episode pairs well with:
The Battle of Aizu
The First Japanese Man in The USA – John Mung
Artemisia I of Halicarnassus
Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UnhingedHistory Email us: Unhinged.HistoryPod@gmail.com Head to Social Media and be Social With Us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unhinged.history
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unhinged.historypod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unhingedhistory Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. As a small, independent podcast, we rely heavily on those small actions to help. They’re free, and so are you. Hopefully.

Episode 172 | The Louis Vuitton of Survival May 08, 2026

Show notes

Unhinged History strives to bring you the stories you’ve never heard of in your history class, and this week is no exception.
Angie kicks off this week by exploring the Silk Road and the heist that liberated silkworms and opened the door for countries other than China to produce this incredibly luxurious textile.
Theresa veers off in a wildly different direction as she shares the story of Nakahama Manjiro, also known as John Mung. Manjiro starts off as a stranded Japanese 14-year-old fisherman, gets rescued by an American whaling ship, becomes the first Japanese man in the United States, and returns home just in time to be an interpreter for Commodore Matthew Perry coming to Japan to sell weapons.
This episode pairs well with:
Battle of Hastings and Bayeux Tapestry
The Fall of the Shogun and the Women's Army
Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UnhingedHistory Email us: Unhinged.HistoryPod@gmail.com Head to Social Media and be Social With Us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unhinged.history
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unhinged.historypod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unhingedhistory Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. As a small, independent podcast, we rely heavily on those small actions to help. They’re free, and so are you. Hopefully.

Episode 171 | Negative Survivability May 01, 2026

Show notes

Look at Unhinged History, we are known for a couple of things. A love of the National Parks Service content, stories you’ve never heard, and banter. This episode is basically more of the same. Theresa takes the entire episode to share the story of Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi and the Battle of Attu. For most of us, we never realized that the Battle of Attu was the only time since the War of 1812 that the United States lost ground to a foreign invader. Dick Laird, the man who killed Paul Tatsuguchi, would spend 50 years living with the trauma of this battle, only to share his burden with Laura Tasuguchi Davis, Paul’s daughter. The two develop an unlikely friendship.
This story pairs well with:
The time the Japanese bombed Brookings, Oregon, during WWII Join Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/UnhingedHistory Email us: Unhinged.HistoryPod@gmail.com Head to Social Media and be Social With Us: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unhinged.history
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unhinged.historypod
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unhingedhistory Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. As a small, independent podcast, we rely heavily on those small actions to help. They’re free, and so are you. Hopefully.

Episode 170 | Just a Nun with AuDHD, ‘Tism’ing Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

Angie and Theresa have quite a set of stories to share with you. Kicking things off, Angie shares the wild story of Saladin. This man held it down as the Sultan of Egypt and Syria during the Crusades. Getting his position after a ...ahem series of deaths, he proves to be an incredible ruler, who would give away his vast fortune throughout his life.
Theresa veers wildly from this story, as she shares the time a convent in medieval France started meowing, non-stop. The plague of the meowing nuns gets recorded in two books of the 1800’s. Theresa desperately tried to hunt down all of the details.
This episode pairs well with:
Eleanor of Aquitaine
The Dancing Plagues

Episode 169 | Welcome to the Family, Darling Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

What a week where Angie and Theresa do exactly what they do best.
Convinced she might run out of spies to cover, Theresa shares the story of Krystyna Skarbek, also known as Christine Granville. Born a literal Polish countess, Krystyna cycles through husbands and lovers before seeing her country invaded by Nazi Germany. Convinced she can fight for her homeland, she becomes the first female spy for MI6 during the war and serves Britain for six years, fighting on three different fronts.
Angie pivots sharply from WWII, as she shares the quaint and whimsical story of the Cottingley Fairies. Journey with us to a simpler time as two girls, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, stage photos of themselves with fairies, just to get out of trouble and accidentally kick off belief in the little folk, fooling even Sir Author Conan Doyle.
This story pairs well with:
The Night Witches
The Fox Sisters

Episode 168 | In This Story There is No Good Guy featuring Jenny Chan Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

Today we have a very special guest. The Unhinged History podcast welcomes Jenny Chan, author and podcaster, exploring the atrocities of the Pacific theater during World War II. In this episode, we explore her in-depth study of Chinese comfort women, Unit 731, and so much more.
Website: https://www.pacificatrocities.org/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PacificFrontUntold

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