This week Hannah discusses the superstitions surrounding the year of the Fire Horse which began after a young girl tried to burn down Tokyo for love. A listener email reveals the hidden life of Yoplait Mimes.

Come see us at C2E2!

Artist Alley R-07

Episode Tabs:

Yaoya Oshichi: The Girl Who Tried to Burn Down Tokyo For Love

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2025/10/yaoya-oshichi-girl-who-tried-to-burn.html

Listener Tabs:

Dancers Don New Colors

https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/07/25/dancers-don-new-colors/

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On this very special Nowruz episode, Kaveh explains the origin of his snake shoulder fighting namesake from the Shahnameh. A listener voice memo gets into how Mendez v. Westminster overlaps with some of our previous tabs.

Episode Tabs:

Zahhāk: An Etiology of Evil

https://themarkaz.org/zahhak-an-etiology-of-evil/

Listener Tabs:

Sylvia Mendez

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sylvia-Mendez

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This week we're joined by friend of the show Steven Ray Morris as he teaches us how Haim Saban was able to recycle Super Sentai footage and turn it into a gajillion dollar franchise . A listener email reminds us how the original Space Jam is still alive and well.

Episode Tabs:

Might Morphin Power Rangers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Morphin_Power_Rangers

Listener Tabs:

Space Jam

https://www.spacejam.com/1996/

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

500 Open Tabs Wiki: https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki

500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we learn about 22 year old Charles Darwin's first trip out to sea on the HMS Beagle and his unlikely friendship with captain Robert FitzRoy sparked his theory of evolution. A listener email tells us the lengths one Serbian chimp went to find a girlfriend.

Come find us at Emerald City Comic Con! Artist Alley Table R-07

Episode Tabs:

Darwin Correspondence Project

https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk

Listener Tabs:

Sami the Chimp

https://www.beozoovrt.rs/heroji-vrta/sami/?lang=sr

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

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500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

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This week we learn about the various uses of the history that led to the creation of the 90s' greatest 3D craze, Magic Eye. A listener email tells us how lead on the ocean floor can help modern science.

Episode Tabs:

When Magic Eye Pictures Ruled the World

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/622658/when-magic-eye-pictures-ruled-world

Listener Tabs:

How a Roman shipwreck could help unlock the Universe’s biggest mysteries

https://medium.com/big-science-at-stfc/how-an-ancient-roman-shipwreck-could-be-the-key-to-one-of-the-universes-biggest-mysteries-815b15e6b753

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

500 Open Tabs Wiki: https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki

500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we're joined by special guest Kaveh Mohebbi of the Cinema Rex podcast as he tells us about the myth surrounding John Swartzwelder, the most prolific writer in the history of The Simpsons whose voice helped shape the show and who may or may not actually exist. A listener mail tells us the insane story of the first gas balloon flight.

Episode Tabs:

John Swartzwelder, Sage of “The Simpsons”

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/john-swartzwelder-sage-of-the-simpsons

Listener Tabs:

The First Gas Balloon Flight

https://www.bbml.org.uk/the-first-gas-balloon-flight/

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

500 Open Tabs Wiki: https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki

500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week we learn about the various uses of the name Batman including a town in Iran, a personal valet to a commissioned officer in England and a unit of measurement. A listener email informs us the colossal dickhead John Batman, who terrorized the people of New South Whales and Tasmania.

Episode Tabs:

Batman (Disambiguation)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(disambiguation)

Listener Tabs:

John Batman (1801–1839)

https://web.archive.org/web/20140303233422/http://www.nma.gov.au/engage-learn/schools/classroom-resources/multimedia/interactives/batmania_html_version/whos_who

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

500 Open Tabs Wiki: https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki

500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We are back for season 3 with new tabs and a new format! This week we learn about the South African legend Renfrew Christie, who used his dissertation at Oxford as a front to spy on the Apartheid government's secret nuclear program. A listener email fills in the gaps of our Emperor Norton knowledge.

Episode Tabs:

Farewell to a South African hero, Professor Renfrew Christie

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-12-22-farewell-to-a-south-african-hero-professor-renfrew-christie/

Listener Tabs:

Joshua Norton Posthumously Reinstated as a Mason After 166 Years

https://emperornortontrust.org/blog/2025/9/3/joshua-norton-posthumously-reinstated-as-a-mason-after-166-years

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

500 Open Tabs Wiki: https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki

500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Part 2! After meeting on the 500 Open Tabs Discord, a few fans of the show got together and recorded a tribute episode "The Tab Conspiracy," so we decided to share it with our tens of listeners!! This week they discuss first and second sleep (which may or may not have been invented by Hobbits) and the results of when a fruit company unloaded 12000 metric tons of orange peels onto a national park in Costa Rica to study the effects of composting. Happy New Year!

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

500 Open Tabs Wiki: https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki

500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After meeting on the 500 Open Tabs Discord, a few fans of the show got together and recorded a tribute episode "The Tab Conspiracy," so we decided to share it with our tens of listeners!! This week they discuss how Ivo Zdarsky flew to Vienna in a homemade airplane to claim political asylum from Czechoslovakia and the life of Bud Hurlbut, the engineer/creator most famously known for designing Knott's Berry Farm. Happy Holidays!

Continue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7a

Email your closed tab submissions to: [email protected]

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/500OpenTabs

500 Open Tabs Wiki: https://500-open-tabs.fandom.com/wiki/500_Open_Tabs_Wiki

500 Open Roads (Google Maps episode guide): https://maps.app.goo.gl/Tg9g2HcUaFAzXGbw7

Get 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to nebula.tv/500opentabs

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.