Historically Accurate

Season 2 starts Monday, October 4th!

In the case of Pennsylvania State Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer, the end was only the beginning. In this episode of Historically Accurate, host Dawn-Michelle Lewis talks with Bob Davis, who witnessed Dwyer’s live broadcast suicide as a kid. The events leading up in his public death are much more complex than many are lead to believe. Dwyer’s death meant so much more than what most take away from it. Budd wasn’t just a politician. He was a father, a good citizen, and an honest man.

If you or someone you know is suicidal, please, contact your physician, go to your local ER, or call the suicide prevention hotline in your country. For the United States, the numbers are as follows:

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255), or message the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Both programs provide free, confidential support 24/7. If you want to learn more about suicide prevention, look into QPR Gatekeeper training.

The historical event that started it all... well, this podcast at least. Join host Dawn-Michelle Lewis and her guest, Eliott Bonds, as they explore the nearly unbelievable idea of spy cats.

Is she in Kansas? Maybe New York City? Have they checked somewhere over the rainbow? In this episode of Historically Accurate, host Dawn-Michelle Lewis and guest Sam Lease discuss what it means to be a “friend of Dorothy” and the government manhunt to find her.

Funny how a simple piece of fabric grew to become a peacocking statement and suddenly fell from popularity. In this episode of Historically Accurate, host Dawn-Michelle Lewis talks with clothing historian Kass McGann about the first true jock strap, the codpiece. This episode is full of creative words and alternative descriptions. If you’re sensitive to the topic of one-eyed trouser-snakes, you may want to sit this one out.

What’s liberty without responsibility? In this episode Dawn-Michelle Lewis speaks with real, live (milk toast) Libertarian, Brandon Rexrode. They discuss the Free State Project, bears, and Billie Eilish.

In this episode of Historically Accurate, we have everything from airplanes and technical issues to petty drama and serial killers! Join host Dawn-Michelle Lewis and guest Jelani Splawn as they dive into information provided by a meme. Bear witness to the research process and why you shouldn’t get information from memes. All that and more!

From 1930-1933, an unexpected craze swept American cities: everyone loved drag queens. In this episode of Historically Accurate, Dawn-Michelle is joined by Sushma Saha, theme song vocalist/lyricist and actor, to talk about the Pansy Craze, which is just one blip in the long and super gay history of America - a history you probably never learned about.

Dawn-Michelle and Sushma talk about how the Great Depression and Prohibition sparked the rise of gay bars in America, at a time when even mainstream fashion promoted wearing gender non-conforming clothing. From the drag balls at Harlem’s Hamilton Lodge to the musical stylings of Gladys Alberta Bentley, a black lesbian blues singer who wore tuxedos on stage, there is so much to learn about the history of queerness in America -- and the laws (like Hollywood’s Haze Code) that silenced this history for so long.

Tune in this week for unexpected historical connections and lots of gay pride!

Quotes:

“We know what caused the Great Depression, and it was not gay people.” (29:41-29:46)

Sources:

The title is also the name of a hit song from the 1930s

“Stonewall 50: Rise and Fall of the 'Pansy Craze' (Episode 1, Part 1).” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 10 June 2019, www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/stonewall-50-the-revolution-episode-1-part-1-61596741892.

Chauncey, George. Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Makings of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940. Basic Books, 1994.

Harbin, Billy J., et al. The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: a Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era. University of Michigan Press, 2007.

Smith, Reiss, et al. “The Pansy Craze: Where LGBTQ Nightlife Began.” PinkNews, 26 June 2019, www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/10/20/a-brief-history-of-the-pansy-craze-the-beginning-of-lgbtq-nightlife/.

Links

https://www.ringofkeys.org/

Instagram @ringofkeysorg

Support this show thru Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/TheHApodcast

Check us out on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/hapodcast/

Theme Song Composed by: Daniel Dorty

Lyricist and Vocalist:  Sushma Saha

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sushmasahahaha/

Podcast production and show notes provided by FIRESIDE Marketing

There were plenty of missed opportunities for Spider-Man jokes in this episode of Historically Accurate, featuring co-host William Rosenwinkel. Join Dawn-Michelle and Will as they discuss not one, but two spider drugging experiments. Discover the bizarre reason a Swiss pharmacologist initiated the experiment in the first place and how NASA made it a study on psychoactive drugs on animals.

Sources:

“NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS).” NASA, NASA, ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19950065352.

Witt, Peter (December 1954). "Spider Webs and Drugs". Scientific American

Rainer F. Foelix (2010). Biology of spiders. Oxford University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0199813247.

Bennett Alan Weinberg, Bonnie K. Bealer (2001). The world of caffeine: the science and culture of the world's most popular drug. Routledge. pp. 237–239. ISBN 978-0-415-92723-9.

Links:

https://www.lancasterimprovplayers.org/

Support this show thru Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/TheHApodcast

Check us out on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/hapodcast/

Theme Song Composed by: Daniel Dorty

Lyricist and Vocalist:  Sushma Saha

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sushmasahahaha/

What’s the best way to win a world war? Strap a napalm bomb on a bat and see what kind of damage it can do! In this episode of Historically Accurate, host Dawn-Michelle and actor and co-host John Rearick dive into two little known projects of World War II: bat bombers and pigeon-guided missiles.

World War II was the era of the atom bomb. But before that, FDR signed off on a few less conventional wartime projects. Without reliable electronic guides for missiles, military scientists were looking for a way to get missiles to hit targets in Germany and Japan. The best candidates for the job? Mexican free-tailed bats and the common pigeon.

Tune in to learn about the nuances of pigeon missile retargeting, why the military put bats in ice cube trays, the day bat bombs accidentally wiped out a base in New Mexico, and so much more.

Sources:

08 Apr 2011 | Posted by Video Blogger. “The Pidgeon-Guided Missile.” Military.com, www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/second-world-war/project-orcon-pidgeon-guided-missile/897399315001.

“B.F. Skinner.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/B-F-Skinner.

“B.F. Skinner's Nose Cone of a Pigeon-Guided Missile.” National Museum of American History, americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_690069.

Lewis, Danny. “Bats and Balloon Bombs: The Weird Weapons That Could Have Won WWII.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 10 Aug. 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bats-balloon-bombs-world-war-ii-180956203/.

Ripley's Believe It or Not!, et al. “Bat Bombs Were In Competition With the Atom Bomb.” Ripley's Believe It or Not!, 19 Feb. 2020, www.ripleys.com/weird-news/bat-bombs/.

Stromberg, Joseph. “B.F. Skinner's Pigeon-Guided Rocket.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 18 Aug. 2011, www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/bf-skinners-pigeon-guided-rocket-53443995/.

Quotes:

“At no point did anyone question the morality or the ecological consequences of sacrificing a few million bats.” (13:21-13:28)

Links:

Instagram: @john_rearick

Support this show thru Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/TheHApodcast

Check us out on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/hapodcast/

Theme Song Composed by: Daniel Dorty

Lyricist and Vocalist:  Sushma Saha

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sushmasahahaha/

Podcast production and show notes provided by FIRESIDE Marketing