Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share 133: Two amateur historians walk into historic homes and immediately annoy the tour guides.
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
133: Two amateur historians walk into historic homes and immediately annoy the tour guides.
Send us a text
When typical bachelor party debauchery gets replaced with historical site tours, you know you're dealing with history nerds of the highest order. What began as an attempt to check off the "Historic Triangle of Virginia" quickly spiraled into a comedy of errors featuring annoyed tour guides, historical mansplaining gone wrong, and the touching of things that should not be touched.
Our journey begins at the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, where a young, knowledgeable tour guide expertly schools our overconfident host who tries to show off his Civil War expertise. The painful silence following his fumbled explanation of the Peninsula Campaign might be the most educational moment of the entire tour. Despite expectations of controversy, the site offers a surprisingly thoughtful perspective on this complex chapter of American history.
The real highlight comes at Sherwood Forest, home of President John Tyler and the only presidential residence continuously inhabited by descendants of a former president. Here we meet Tim, a ponytailed guide with questionable fashion sense who delivers a marathon three-hour tour filled with football field analogies and protective rage when antique candlesticks are touched by unauthorized fingers. "Yeah, but I know which one to touch" might be the perfect retort to sum up the entire experience.
Between Jefferson Davis's restored citizenship (which he might not have wanted), John Tyler's fifteen children, and the current resident who is "63 going on 18," this episode captures the strange, fascinating characters who inhabit our national story—both historical figures and the dedicated, if sometimes eccentric, individuals who preserve their legacies.
If you've ever felt that rush of embarrassment when someone in your group asks a stupid question at a museum, or fantasized about touching the artifacts behind the velvet rope, this episode validates all your historical tourist urges and anxieties. Listen now to experience the Historic Triangle of Virginia through the eyes of two podcasters who can't help but think they could do everything better—even while proving the exact opposite.
View all episodes
By Matt and JonSend us a text
When typical bachelor party debauchery gets replaced with historical site tours, you know you're dealing with history nerds of the highest order. What began as an attempt to check off the "Historic Triangle of Virginia" quickly spiraled into a comedy of errors featuring annoyed tour guides, historical mansplaining gone wrong, and the touching of things that should not be touched.
Our journey begins at the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, where a young, knowledgeable tour guide expertly schools our overconfident host who tries to show off his Civil War expertise. The painful silence following his fumbled explanation of the Peninsula Campaign might be the most educational moment of the entire tour. Despite expectations of controversy, the site offers a surprisingly thoughtful perspective on this complex chapter of American history.
The real highlight comes at Sherwood Forest, home of President John Tyler and the only presidential residence continuously inhabited by descendants of a former president. Here we meet Tim, a ponytailed guide with questionable fashion sense who delivers a marathon three-hour tour filled with football field analogies and protective rage when antique candlesticks are touched by unauthorized fingers. "Yeah, but I know which one to touch" might be the perfect retort to sum up the entire experience.
Between Jefferson Davis's restored citizenship (which he might not have wanted), John Tyler's fifteen children, and the current resident who is "63 going on 18," this episode captures the strange, fascinating characters who inhabit our national story—both historical figures and the dedicated, if sometimes eccentric, individuals who preserve their legacies.
If you've ever felt that rush of embarrassment when someone in your group asks a stupid question at a museum, or fantasized about touching the artifacts behind the velvet rope, this episode validates all your historical tourist urges and anxieties. Listen now to experience the Historic Triangle of Virginia through the eyes of two podcasters who can't help but think they could do everything better—even while proving the exact opposite.