Dawn's guest, Joe Brogie, began performing magic around his home town in Nebraska until he moved to LA in 2018 to start a career in Voice Over (you can hear him as Matty in Nickelodean's "The Beatbuds - Let's Jam!"). Joe is also a comedian, actor and has appeared on Jimmy Fallon. 

00:00:00 - Joe discusses his track from Nebraska to Los Angeles and the similarities he has found between performing magic and performing stand-up comedy. They are more connected than some may have guessed. 

00:06:37 - Dawn asks Joe why he assigned her the subject of Harry Houdini. Joe explains that Houdini is, as most people know, one of the godfathers of magic. As a magician himself Joe has always felt a little under informed about his life and has always wanted to know more about him.

Dawn discusses the sources she went to to gather the H for this F-ing:

• BOOK: HOUDINI!!! The Career of Erik Weiss by Kenneth Silverman
• PODCAST - Stuff You Should Know - Oct. 21, 2021 (Josh & Chuck, 2008 almost 2,000 episodes)
• DOCUMENTARY - The Life And Magic Of The Real Harry Houdini | The Magic Of Houdini | Timeline with Alan Davis. (3.2021)
• DOCUMENTARY - (1999) - The Greatest, Houdini
• WEBSITE - Wild About Houdini 

00:10:23 - The two things that people seem to know about Houdini is that he was a great magician, and he died after being punched in the stomach. Dawn begins with this element of Houdini's story - his untimely death - and discusses what actually happened with that punch. Who did it - and why many dispute that it was, in fact, responsible for killing him. 

00:18:53 - As Houdini's death leave questions, the HILF now goes back to his childhood and origin story. From his arrival in the USA as a child from Hungary, to his rise to fame as a magician first in Vaudeville, and eventually to the big time - and even to to Europe. Dawn discusses his most famous tricks, his knack for self-promotion and how he found himself being the first person to fly a plane in Australia. 

BREAK

00:36:17 - Coming out of the break, Joe finishes one of the few card tricks he performed to Dawn's toe-curling delight. He goes on to explain how long it takes to perfect a trick and how he has tracked his progress over the years. 

00:39:49 - The part of Houdini's life that is much less well-known than his death, was his dedication during the end of his life to exposing fake-mediums and would-be spiritualists. After World War I, the world become somewhat universally obsessed with the paranormal, mysticism, and the occult. It was a breeding ground for con-artists and frauds to exploit people's ignorance and grief - and Houdini resented that they often used the tools of his trade in their schemes. 

00:44:16 - Houdini develops a friendship with the author of the Sherlock Holmes books, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the two attend countless seances together. Houdini is a vocal skeptic, Doyle a devoted believer - and while they maintain a friendly respect for their differences at first - eventually the friendship falls apart. 

00:52:10 - In an effort to expose all spiritualists as fake, Houdini starts a committee and offers a cash prize to anyone who can prove paranormal phenomena and with his own close scrutiny. None can, of course - they are all ultimately exposed as cons or illusions of some kind... but they're awfully fun. Dawn is most swept away by the psychic simply known as Marjorie. 

01:01:22 - On his deathbed, on Halloween no less, Houdini whispers a secret code to his wife. He knew that many would attempt to claim they were speaking to his spirit - and indeed he wanted to try to see if such a thing was possible. Although she attended many seances over the years, Bess never claimed to have heard his message. This does not, however, stop people from still attempting to summon his spirit at countless Halloween seances every year. One of the biggest is at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles. 

---

Keep up with us!

Instagram

Facebook

Dawn recorded her first episode of HILF in June of 2021 and- as a podcaster - came in rather cold. Microphones, editing and distribution were new, but a love of History and way with people were very familiar territory. What follows are short clips from each guest, in the order they were originally released... but with no other order whatsoever. Welcome to the HILF ORGY.

---

00:02:20 - EP01: FRANKENSTEIN with Helen Shephard - The two discuss Dawn’s possible merch line that could come from long-standing bickering over the nature of Frankenstein. ...and we do it all with little (to no) Opium. 

00:03:05 - EP02: JOHN DILLINGER with Kat Perkins - Dawn asks if Kat has ever had sex with someone BECAUSE they were a criminal and her answer is illuminating. 

00:03:49 - EP03: DB COOPER with Maile Flanagan - Maile gives Dawn good advice on how to cast the inevitable DB Cooper Road Movie.

00:04:30 - EP04: PRESIDENT POLK with Meryl Klemow - Dawn discusses how our historical transgressions can be viewed with more clarity from the present if we try to recognize how our great-grandchildren will view our current misdeeds.

00:06:40  - EP05: KRAMPUS with Andrew Melby - Enjoy this intimate chit-chat between husband and wife.

00:07:40 - EP06: THE F-WORD with Ryan Ripple [2-parter] - Ryan tells the story of how he accidentally came out to his parents in a too-raunchy note he wrote to a high school friend.

00:08:19 - EP08: CINNAMON with Wayne Wilderson - It’s a burping, giggling path through Scientology and more.

00:09:25 - EP09: PIRATES with Shelby Young [2-parter] - Tattoos and how one's ‘Arh!’ Is like their thumbprint, all your own. 

00:10:09 - EP11: STAND UP COMEDY with Wayne Federman - Wayne tells Dawn about the bitter pill that is growing up in a place called ‘Plantation'.

00.11:00 - EP12: FREAKS with Christine Blackburn - Dawn and Christine made no secret of the fact that they smoked a couple joints during this episode… but these clips are when it really sounded like it. 

00:12:17 - EP13: THE WHISKEY REBELLION with Rashid Green - Whist sipping Whiskey, Dawn and Rashid discuss the pros and cons of traveling to the future and the downside of immortality… 

00:15:06 - EP14: PROHIBITION with Beau Hufford - Dawn asks Beau if he had the ability to go back in time, where he would go and what would he do. His answer, meet Jesus. But mostly to be a spoiler. 

00:18:41 - EP15: THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS with Alex Malt- As they hold for a plane, Alex and Dawn discuss the danger of badmouthing a bad guy on set.

00:19:40 - EP16: GREAT MISTAKES with Brian Kiley -Brian and Dawn lament the fact that comedians are often fenced out of being serious about anything. Dawn explains how listening to True Crime Podcasts made her a better editor. 

00:21:14 - EP17: JOAN OF ARC with Lauren Prichard - Lauren tells Dawn about the behind-the-scenes reality to the dozens of fabulous birthday videos she and her husband produced during Covid Lockdown. 

00:23:00 - EP18: THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION with Zari Faripour - Dawn's 76 year-old neighbor tells Dawn her favorite English swear words; and a few more gems of wisdom she learned from her father in Iran.

00:25:06 - EP19: LESBIANS with Rachel Scanlon [Recorded Live - The Live Audience in Glendale, California got a little nugget of insight and wisdom on that night in May in 2022… Listen in. 

---

HILF SEASON 2 begins on Wednesday, September 7th, 2022.

In the meantime... follow @dawn_brodey and @hilfpodcast to follow Dawn's exploits during the month of August. Two weeks traveling through Italy - from Venice to the Amalfi coast - with several members of her family including her mother, her husband and her 4 year-old daughter. I KNOW! 

Be a real MOTHER-HILFER and subscribe, rate and review the podcast wherever you're listening. 

THANK YOU!

About 40 people joined Dawn and special guest, Rachel Scanlon in The Glendale Room for a night of comedy, history and Lesbians!

Not included in the recording, was the first part of the live show which featured stand-up comedy from Ryan Ripple [Guest from 'THE F WORD - EP. 6 &7] and Rachel Scanlon. We learned a lot about Rachel during her set, including that she has hit some impressive weight-loss milestones over the past year.

Listeners join the live audience as Dawn and Rachel sit down together on a lush love-seat, surrounded by books and prepare themselves for the HILF-ing ahead:

---EPISODE BREAKDOWN---

00:04:00 - Dawn brings everyone up to speed on how the two first met - and why it felt like love at first sight. Rachel tells us about a recent adventure she had with her mom - during which they ate cannabis and talked about sex! Dawn discusses her relationship with homosexuality, and when she realized she was straight. 

00:13:14 - Dawn lays out her plan for the HILF-ing of Lesbians: to begin with the first historical reference and then a few of her favorite moments that bring us right up to today. 

00:14:04 - CHAPTER ONE: The OG Lesbian, Sappho of Lesbos. 

We hear the tale of this ancient, Pagen poetess who was world-famous but whose sexuality was only a 'big deal' long after her death. A string of leaders within the growing Christian movement aspired to burn Sappho and all of her poetry from the historical record. They largely succeeded, unfortunately, a few poems and a few portions of other poems have survived. Dawn reads a brief portion of one and it gets steamy!

00:25:18 - CHAPTER TWO: The Lesbian Sex Wars.

Dawn brings us forward in time several hundred years to America in 1970's and the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. As several varying groups of minorities are organizing and fighting for freedom and representation, a bizarre rift developed among the Women's Right's Movement. On the one side were the Radical Feminists like Catharine A MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin who are anti-porn and anti-kink. On the other, a group of BDSM-leather-loving women who called themselves the Lesbian Sex Mafia. They squared off in 1982 at the Barnard College Conference on Sexuality... I know, to be a fly on the wall, right

00:38:04 - CHAPTER THREE: Dykes on Bikes.

After some 'cunt-a-linquistics' of the origin of the word 'dyke' Dawn tells the story of how the famous motorcycle club, Dykes on Bikes came to be. It, like leather and motorcycle culture among men, grew out of World War 2 and the individuals who found themselves on the forefront of the mechanics and technology of these relatively new machines. 

 In 2006 the motorcycle club known as Dykes on Bikes won their suit against the US Patent Office which refused the registration of their trademark due to a "slur" in the title. They successfully argued that 'Dyke' is not a slur - and if it is regarded so, it is not held as such within the community. They later assisted an Asian-American band called 'Tan and the Slants' win their case in 2017.

---

NEXT EPISODE - July 20th, 2022: 

EP20 - THE HILF ORGY is a mash-up of never-before-heard segments from previous HILF episodes, and it will be the last episode of our first season. HILF is taking August off (while Dawn goes to Italy, HILF-Central!) and we will return with a NEW SEASON starting Wednesday, Sept. 7th. 

Keep up with us on Instagram!

Apple

Spotify 

For over a year during the Covid Lockdown, Zari was the only person outside of Dawn's house that she spoke to in person. Chats in doorway turned to coffee on the patio - turned to tea at her kitchen table - which eventually became whiskey on the couch. More than once she found myself at 1o’clock in the morning awash - not just in the Makers Mark Zari pours so generously - but in her captivating tales of her life in Iran.

Dawn recorded with Zari for a few sessions over two days and what is compiled here focuses primarily on the history of the Iranian Revolution and how it wove through the events of Zari’s life to this point. 

---EPISODE BREAKDOWN---

00:10:00 - After Dawn and Zari bring the listeners up to speed on how they met and grew so close - Dawn begins to give the very early broad strokes of the seeds of the Iranian Revolution, and where Zari was at the time. In 1961, for example, in an unlikely turn of events, Zari finds herself at 15 entering a Catholic School in London - she is Muslim, speaks no English and has never seen a nun. 

00:16:30 - At the same time that Zari is in London, the Shah Pahlavi - the divisive and socially progressive King of Iran - is advancing what is known as the White Revolution. This is generally an investment in a modernizing - and particularly Westernizing and secularizing - of Iranian culture. Its most vocal critic is the Ruhollah Khomeini (later the Ayatollah Khomeini) who is eventually sent into exile in Iraq, but continues to remain very present in Iranian dissent. 

00:25:24 - When Zari graduates and returns to Iran in 1968, she gets married and has a son - later divorces, amicably- and is beginning her career in education. Not long after, the real build of the revolution begins: The Cinema Rex Fire as well as other violent and deadly events are happening with more regularity and the tide of revolution is beginning to become clearer. 

00:44:37 - By November, 1978, the Revolution is building and increasing numbers of people are taking to the streets every week. The Shah makes a series of televised concessions and capitulations which only seem embolden his critics and weaken his position. As allies also begin to falter in their support of the Shah, many begin to see how the return of Khomeini would mean violence and chose to flee. Zari, her parents, and her 7 year-old son got on a crowded flight on Dec. 7th, 1978 and go to London. 

It is from London that they witness the Revolution take a dark turn.

--BREAK--

00:52:51 - Dawn and Zari begin Part 2 with a clink of whiskey glasses and jumping into some of the ugliest days of the return of the Ayatollah to Iran. Dawn references the story of author, Shirin Ebadi in her book Iran Awakening - in which she relays how it felt on the ground. Ebadi has a very different perspective than Zari because she was a Leftist Revolutionary who was among those in the streets protesting the Shah. She believed the government could be made more representative, and didn't believe a bigger monster lay beyond the cause. 

01:01:41 - Zari watched events like the Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981) from her new life in New York. Again, the critical timeline aligns with hers and Zari and her son find they are fortunate enough to have secured their passports on the same day that Jimmy Carter revokes all Iranian Visas. 

01:14:20 - In 1997, with her son happy and established, Zari is determined to return to Iran to see if she might be able to reclaim any portion of her family's previous estate. She finds it to be a country both totally unfamiliar, and exactly the same as she left it. The manner of dress and the fear are new - but under it all the same kindness and love her countrymen always displayed. 

01:28:27 - Zari gives a dose of some of her gracious optimism. She sees no comparison to what happened in Iran happening here, in the US in the present day. According to Zari, the USA is insulated from such a religious coup because the number of people devoted to the same religion is not comparable. 

The two sign off with mutual declarations of hope and love. 

---

NEXT EPISODE: July 6th, 2022 - LESBIANS with Rachel Scanlon [AKA: THE LIVE SHOW!]

Lauren Prichard is a renowned actress and improviser whose credits include Disney, Upright Citizens Brigade and MADtv. She and Dawn work together as street improvisors in the New York Window element at Universal Studios, Hollywood - and they're mutual fans of one another. 

Lauren's knowledge of the life of Joan of Arc is limited to her appearance in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - and as the namesake of canned beans. Dawn delights in delivering not only the amazing story of this 15th C. heroine, but some of the top-shelf drama that precipitated her appearance in our history books.

---

00:03:52 - After some initial jib-jab and mutual adoration, Lauren tells the story of how she got the job on MADtv. An incredible rats-to-(comparative) riches story. 

00:10:28 - Dawn discusses her lack of prior knowledge about Joan and - as usual - sharing her primary source of research: Joan of Arc, A History by Helen Castor. Among the reasons Dawn chose this book is because it gives a great foundation for the lay of the land before Joan's incredible appearance. 

00:13:37 - The HILF of Joan of Arc officially begins in the 92nd year of the 100-Year War, and everyone is fucking exhausted. The fight between the French and the English is further complicated by a Civil War within France between the Burgundies and the Armagnacs. Fractured and on their heels, it appears to many that the English may finally prove victorious and sieze the French throne. 

00:23:28 - It is from this depth of despair that the would-be king of France gets news that a girl is there to see him. A girl dressed as a boy who says she is there to do three things at God's command: 1) She is to personally lead his Army, 2) She will get him coronated as the rightful King, 3) She will expel the English from all French lands. Individually, these are preposterous ideas - taken together they are virtually impossible without a miracle... Which Joan assures will materialize. 

00:34:50 - After incredibly accomplishing the first two items on her list, Joan begins to suffer defeats and set-backs and loses the confidence of the King. She is soon captured by the Burgundies who instead of turning her over to the Armagnacs as a military prisoner, they hand her over to the English to be tried for heresy. After two escape attempts, her trial begins in 1431 when she is 19. 

--BREAK--

00:38:52 - We pick up with Joan at the beginning of her trial for heresy. The English can not abide the idea that the God they share with France would have told anyone they would lose... Her conviction was a foregone conclusion, but more than that the court wanted Joan to break. Apologize and capitulate and admit she was mad, wrong or full of sin. 

00:42:55 - Joan is alone, a teenager, and the only woman present from the guards, to judges to witnesses. She's illiterate and facing some of the most 'learned men' of the age. The trial is led by Bishop Cauchon (not pronounced 'cock-on', unfortunately) a Frenchmen, but a Burgundy Frenchman who has it in for Joan and assembles a stupendous amount of bureaucracy and committees and tedium in order to burn her. She holds her own. Big time.

00:50:00 - Joan withstands the trial, refuses to be intimidated by the promise of torture, and ultimately is tied to a stake at the center of town and given ONE MORE CHANCE to sign a confession and save her life... WHICH SHE DOES. In turn, they cut her down and take her back to jail to live another day.  Dawn stops on this point because it came as such a surprise. It doesn't last long, however. Joan misunderstood what was expected of her in exchange for whatever it was she signed (she couldn't read it) and so she returns to the stake 7 days later.

00:54:25 - Joan asks for someone to hold a cross in front of her  as the pyre is lit. They do and she watches it as she burns to death. Her ashes are unceremoniously thrown into the Seine. 

01:00:16 - Eventually the Burgundies and the Armagnacs make peace and again stand unified against the English. King Charles, now realizing that Joan would forever be tied to his name, appeals to the Pope to reverse her heresy conviction. A second trial begins. This one too has a foregone conclusion, but tells us more about Joan as human being - with family, friends and an identity that predates the shining armor. 

01:04:00 - In 1920, she becomes - not just a person who has been acquitted of heresy - but she is canonized as a Saint. It is highly unusual for someone to be canonized by the same Church who martyred them. History, am I right?

Dawn concludes with a movie suggestion: The Messenger, starring Milla Jovovich as Joan of Arc. 

---

THANK YOU so much for listening. Please subscribe, share, rate & review us!

NEXT EPISODE drops June 22nd: The Iranian Revolution with (my neighbor, and Iranian immigrant) Zari Faripour.

Dawn and guest, Brian Kiley, were backstage at a comedy show when they first realized their shared love for History. In this episode, the two get to really let their nerd-flag fly and take turns sharing their favorite LOL moments from a wide variety of people, places and timelines. Prepare to feel (comparatively) less stupid in this episode devoted to History's Great Mistakes:

00:04:40 - Before we dig deep in annals of history, we learn about Brian Kiley. How he first came to comedy, his Emmy nominations and wins for Conan O'Brien and Ellen - and how one prepares to make a 'last minute' appearance on Letterman. 

00:10:43 - In addition to being a comedy writer, Brian Kiley is also a fiction-writer with two novels: The Astounding Misadventures of Rory Collins and Maybe Kevin.

00:16:11 - Dawn finds herself in "nerd Paradise" as they prepare to jump in and swim around in the HILF of Great Mistakes.

00:18:17 - Brian kicks things off with a hilarious and are-you-kidding-me nugget from our friends, the Pilgrims, and a certain 7' Native American. 

00:20:54 - Dawn tells the story of The Children's Crusade - a tragically face-palming blip in the holy wars of Middle Ages in which a 12 year-old boy led over 30,000 children, on foot, across Europe to reclaim Jerusalem by slaying the enemy with their innocence... I know, right? 

00:25:38 - It's Brian's turn and he brings us a moment featured in the movie THE RIGHT STUFF, in which astronaut John Glenn is temporarily mesmerized by brilliant otherworld particles in space... that turned out to be anything but. 

00:27:33 - Dawn illustrates the ridiculous story of TULIP MANIA, when the Netherlands found themselves in the midst of the first economic bubble... but it was so pretty!

BREAK

00:33:22 - Before we jump back in, Dawn asks Brian if there is a comedian he can trace back to the origin of his interest in comedy, and he can:  Dick Gregory. 

00:35:13 - Brian delivers the next LOL-HILF on his list, the hilarious story of the first hot-air ballon in France and the bizarre and yet totally predictable way that the people who see it react. 

00:38:27 - In a one-two punch, Brian then tells the story of bright, yet unfortunate President Jimmy Carter and why his 2nd term seemed doomed to failure from the launch. 

00:43:13 - It's Dawn's turn with a HILF of the worst building in London 'The Fryscraper' - and good/bad news - you can visit it to this day... and if you do, PLEASE SEND VIDEO. 

00:48:57 - Brian was with his son in DC when he saw a misprinted headline from 1976 that suggested that two of the oldest, whitest, straightest guys in American politics just made-out in New Hampshire.

00:52:00 - Wait til you hear what attempted presidential assassin, Squeaky Fromme, said as Gerald Ford's security took her down. 

00:55:50 - Before I let him go, Brian delivers one more nugget about a presidential pet that would have been a welcome guest on HILF... if not a host. 

---

THANK YOU so much for listening. Please subscribe, share, rate & review us!

LIVE RECORDING - May 26th, 2022 at The Glendale Reading Room in Glendale, California

NEXT EPISODE - EP17: Joan of Arc with Lauren Prichard. 

It is one of the darkest, yet most alluring parts of early American History, and although it only lasted for one year [1692-1693] the Salem Witch Trials spellbind us to this day. Dawn sits down with guest, Alex Malt, who is eager to get into this bewitching history and go visit his hometown sites with more authority next time. 

00:07:42 - After some catching up and chit-chat, Dawn gets into her sources, 2 Books:

• Death in Salem - Diane E Foulds
• The Salem Witch Trials. A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a city under siege - by Marilynne K Roach.

But first, just the general stats on The Salem Witch Trials: 

• 200 people were accused
• 30 found guilty
• 20 executed
• 19 hanged
• 1 pressed to death
• 7 died in jail

00:13:27 - Dawn lays out her plan for the episode: First to tell the general story of the Salem Witch Trials, the HILFY-est Who's-what's of the story. Then, after the break, we will dive into the WHY and the HOW - which has been the focus of study in the 330-ish years since the Salem Witch Trials took place.

00:14:58 - We begin in January, 1692 in the cold, cold house of the cold, cold man, Rev. Samuel Parris. His daughter Betty and his niece Abigail have been trying their hand and fortune telling when all shit breaks loose. 

00:22:50 - Fortune Telling? Witch Cakes? THE DEVIL... There is no redder meat for a Puritan Village and the accusations begin to spread like wildfire. 

00:31:25 - The executions took place in Salem and they were all, except one, done by hanging. Giles Corey was pressed to death in a method considered archaic even by these animals. 

00:36:25 - All of the so-called judges were - to put it bluntly - cunts. But one of them was particularly cunty and his name is John Hawthorne. His descendant, Nathanial Hawthorne, would go on to apologize for his ancestor - and to write the novel The Scarlet Letter. 

PART 2

00:42:28 - We know that Salem didn't invent the idea of Witch Craft. Dawn goes back to English Witch Trials and how their laws and courts set a precedent for Salem - but it was, of course, horribly flawed and outdated even for the time. 

Dawn begins to lay out her favorite theories that have developed over the years in an attempt to explain WHY and HOW these horrible events could have happened: 

00:48:33 - THEORY #1 - Teenage Girls Just Suck.

Which is not entirely untrue, but it ignores the unique circumstances of the specific girls who were first 'afflicted' in Salem. Many of them - at least nine by my count - had witnessed firsthand bloody and murderous violence in the frontier by and against the native Americans. 

00:55:22 - THEORY #2 - It was never about witches - all local grievances and petty politics. 

No doubt, grievances and politics played a huge role in the Salem Witch Trials but - of course - they are at play in every community on earth. They were not so deep or so bloody or so egregious that they explain the murder of 20 people in 12 months. Also, it's not so local as the rifts are reflected as far away as the Mother England. 

01:02:30 - THEORY #3 - They were DRUGGED!

Ergot is a hallucination-inducing mold that grows on some grains and breads in certain weather scenarios. In 1976, Linnda R. Corpale suggested that this is to blame for the effects in Salem.

It’s a neat theory. Makes sense and lets us off the hook. It’s been pretty roundly dismissed. "

01:05:15 - THEORY #4 - It was the Devil.

If you are among the faithful who believe in the biblical interpretation of the apocalypse, good and evil - God and the Devil locked in an eternal battle for our souls - then this is NOT a story of psychosis, politics or moldy bread. Yes innocent people were murdered in Salem, but it was still the DEVIL who did that - using people as his pawns. At least that was how they were explaining it in 1697. 

---

THANK YOU so much for listening. Please subscribe, share, rate & review us!

LIVE RECORDING - May 26th, 2022 at The Glendale Reading Room in Glendale, California

NEXT EPISODE - EP16: Great Mistakes with Brian Kiley. 

It may seem unthinkable now - people considered it unthinkable at the time - but for about 13 years in America, alcohol was constitutionally banned. The 18th Amendment made criminal the distillation, transportation and distribution of alcohol. It was never, however, illegal to drink it.

Ah-ha. An American-sized loop-hole.

Prohibition was a dark and exciting time - the birth of jazz clubs, speak-easies, and organized crime. A time none of us would return to, yet it remains in the top five party-themes of all time. Oh really? You don’t have some photo-booth picture of you in pearls, holding a Tommy gun? Really?

And speaking of pearls…

My guest for this episode is Beau Hufford. He is at the helm of 3 different podcasts and so we begin our conversation talking a little “podcast shop” and playing with my sound effects. Welcome. Pull up a chair and pour yourself a cup of hooch as we begin the HILF of Prohibition.

---EPISODE NOTES/LINKS---

00:00:00 - Dawn and Beau discuss the podcasting sound board as well as Beau’s other podcasting exploits:

• Campfire Shtshow
• Movie Cinema Film Club
• Things You Can’t Tell Your Parents
• He is also a visual artist who performs and travels around the world.

00:08:57  - The subject at hand is, Prohibition. Beau explains that his fascination all began when he built a small Tiki Bar hidden in his apartment called “The Sneaky Crow”.  Dawn presents her sources of research:

• ‘Prohibition’ - Documentary by Ken Burns on PBS
• LAST CALL: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition - By Daniel Okrent

00:13:54 - Dawn explains that one of the lessons of Prohibition is this: For a bad idea to succeed, it needs a good intention and a committee of assholes.  The good intention was to do something about the very real and very growing problem of alcoholism in America. Most families could trace some terrible situation to a man and a bottle. The assholes include some classic ones like the KKK, but also some more likeable-assholes like The Suffragettes. 

00:24:30 -  In December of 1917 congress passes Prohibition… They fucking pass it. Then, in January of 1919, it is ratified by 36 states and the one-year countdown begins to January 17th,  2020 when it's all illegal baby.  Almost immediately the many loopholes were exploited. For example, beer and fermented cider you made at home was legal. But there were other figures - braver, wiser, more-desperate - who had no interest in squeezing through a loophole... and the are so fuckable.  

--- BREAK ---

00:32:36 - Another lesson from Prohibition:  A bad idea can become a good situation for some people, but it’s still a bad idea.

Fortunes were made, adventures were had, and in the case of some places like The Bimini Islands (Bahamas) and St. Pierre (a French island off the coast of Canada) Prohibition was to thank for their entire existing infrastructure. There were also bootleggers like Bill McCoy (swoon) and NASCAR, and Cocktail Parties and Speak-Easies... But... There was also a lot of suffering, the poor and unprotected were the disproportionate victims. It couldn't last. 

00:57:00 - It’s all hitting the fan in 1928. In the presidential election is Al Smith [of New York who had essentially repealed Prohibition in the state of New York] and Herbert Hoover who isn't terribly vocal about it but seems to be comparatively 'wet'. He wins.

The Prohibition advocates double-down on enforcing drinking laws, misreading the election results as a mandate to get tougher. It backfires just as the stock market crashes in 1929 and whatever meager funds we had to unsuccessfully fight the laws before, also evaporated. 

01:04:50 - One of the greatest exports of the time was an American deviant youth culture. Kids fucking around. Don't forget that The Great Gadsby was written during prohibition. It was a present-day inspiration... and it was sexy as fuck then as it is now.

---

THANK YOU - listener - for tuning in and reading this far. We appreciate you and thank you and can't wait to see you next time. When we do it will be for THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS with guest, Alex Malt.

In the meantime...

Please leave us a review!

And follow us on Instagram! 

Rashid and his wife Kasey started the social channel THE BARLESS TENDER during covid for all of us boozehounds who found ourselves suddenly bar-less - but no less-thirsty. Not only do they demonstrate how to make bitchin’ cocktails - but he serves up each one with an accompanying dose of history. I KNOW!

So I invited Rashid over and in he came with a little cooler filled with fragrant and intoxicating delights from America’s Colonial Past.

Drink along with us, if you can! Recipes and directions for each cocktail can be found on our instagram @hilfpodcast.

04:05 - After some introductory chit-chat, Dawn explains how she became aware of Rashid and his wife Kasey. Bartenders, and so much more!  Rashid is in awe of his wife in all areas of her life and discusses not only their social channel - but life as a father of two small children. 

08:12 - Dawn asks Rashid if he was a history student and he tells her about his history with... History. Rashid's family’s history is traced back to Sparta, which was an early tickle to open a history book and learn more. Yes, even if it's complicated. 

12:45 - Rashid makes, explains and serves the  “Almost Classic Sherry Flip”. Fun to hear... even more fun to drink. Make one for yourself by finding the recipe and pictures on our instagram. 

16:55 - Drink in hand, Dawn begins with a  general overview of drinking in America. The fact is, Americans have been heavy drinkers - even by comparison of other similar people in similar times - since our beginning. 

PART 2

27:52 - Rashid creates cocktail #2: Claret's Punch.

34:15 - Two historic cocktails deep proves to be the perfect foundation for the pair to start with this history of the Whiskey Rebellion. Rashid is unfamiliar with the history and Dawn delights in telling it. 

53:48 - With the story complete, Rashid compares Jedis to tax collectors and the two enjoy some talents and Q & A. 

---

THANK YOU - listener - for tuning in and reading this far. We appreciate you and thank you and can't wait to see you next time. When we do it will be for PROHIBITION with guest, Beau Hufford. 

In the meantime...

Please leave us a review!

And follow us on Instagram! 

Christine Blackburn is not only the guest for this episode, but also the gracious host as we recorded at her kitchen table in Los Feliz, California. Christine is the host of the long-running and much-loved podcast, Story Worthy - and it's live show counterpart, Story Smash. 

00:01:53 - Thanks for being here. We’ve shared a joint… you’re holding a cat. No two women have been more prepared. Dawn introduces  Christine. Her podcast, Story Worthy has had over 725 episodes, running 12 years. 

00:04:04 - Dawn and Christine commence fucking the history of FREAKS! Dawn asks Christine why the subject interests her and she said that it is the combination from the performers themselves of joy and laughter (sometimes) along with their deformities and apparent suffering. 

00:06:04 - Dawn presents her primary source of information regarding Joseph Merrick and much of the Freak Show culture in Europe in the 1880's. The True History of the Elephant Man by Michael Howells and Peter Ford

00:06:43 - We take a moment to discuss the word, “Freak”.  It's modern usage appears to arise in 1847 in reference to a ‘freak of nature’ a malformed member of a species. Annie Jones - an early and famous 'bearded lady' - did take vocal objection to the word but seems to be an outlier. 

00:08:32 - Dawn commences The Story of The Elephant man, Joseph Merrick. How he came to meet Dr. Treeves and how he became more than just a 'freak' but a cultural icon featured in theater, film, and music over many decades.

00:13:57 - Dawn asks Christine: Do you think Freak Shows are good or bad? Dawn compares it as 'a living' to sex work and child labor (in so far as we discuss it today with minor athletes and artists). We can't really evaluate how 'good or bad' it is until we know how emancipated the individual who is doing it is. Are they empowered or exploited? Are they making this choice freely and being compensated fairly? ...then we may not need to worry how 'happy' they are with their work any more than we do with anyone else. 

00:19:13 - There were several so-called 'freaks' who made good as freak show performers over the years leading up to Joseph Merrick, and he would have been aware that displaying himself was a fair alternative to poverty. 

For example:

1. 00:19:40 - Lazarus and Joannes Baptista Colloredo: Conjoined twins from 17th Century Europe.
2. 00:21:21 - Matthew Buckinger. No hands, no feet - he’s known for his micograhy. 4 marriages, 14 children (at least) by 8 different women... probably because he was an excellent listener.

00:22:48 - They come back to Joseph Merrick. Not only his life up to meeting Dr. Treeves (spoiler alert, there is an honest-to-goodness wicked step mother) but up to his death.  A beautiful death, if ever such a thing were possible. 

00:34:49 - Having heard his story, Christine has some questions: Did they ever pitch him as psychic? No, Dawn says, what was amazing about him was his normalcy. The dichotomy of his look to his being. Tom Norman sold him as amazing to look at, and more amazing because he's just like us. 

BREAK

00:39:53 - Dawn thanks Christine for sharing her dope and providing the 'OPP' that was so celebrated at the top of the show. She also introduces our modern-day freaks like some of the cast of American Horror Story - season 4.

00:42:38 - Christine shares a story from her time at a ski resort in Colorado "back in the day." The premise is that wealth is great... but sometimes you get a perfect day for free.

00:43:14 - Dawn begins her list of  FILF’S - Freaks I’d Like to Fuck (with consent, of course). The first - a featured performer from the classic 1932 film FEAKS: Schlitzie Surtese. The Pinhead. 

00:46:00 - The 'Siamese' Twins. Chang and Eng Bunker.

00:48:16 - Frank Lentini, the 3-legged man. He has 3 fully-functioning legs. Full set of fully-functioning genitals. “Very well-liked. Dawn and Christine discuss how that act would go. Christine is against it, Dawn thinks it could have its advantages.

00:49:51 - Ella Harper, The Camel Girl. The first Merch Success Story.

00:52:37 - Prince Randian - The Living Torso. No arms, no legs - he could roll a cigarette, could play virtually every instrument, spoke 5 languages, had 5 kids and was brought to the circus by PT Barnum, and made a fortune. Died a very old, wealthy man. 

Christine and Dawn discuss a variety of tangents before signing off, including what our particular act would be in our own sideshow...

THANK YOU - listener - for tuning in and reading this far. We appreciate you and thank you and can't wait to see you next time. When we do it will be for COLONIAL COCKTAILS with RASHID GREEN one of the hosts of THE BARLESS TENDER.

In the meantime...

Please leave us a review!

And follow us on Instagram!