Sept 5, 1698. Tsar Peter the Great of Russia returns home from a year-long European tour. When noblemen, religious figures, and friends gather to welcome him home, Peter pulls out a straight razor, holds it to their throats, and…forcibly shaves their beards. This event will go down in history as a first step toward Russian geopolitical power. Before Peter’s reign, Russia was an isolated nation that was largely ignored by the rest of the world. 

How did Peter the Great almost single-handedly drag Russia onto the world stage? And how did his great beard-shaving endeavor lead to the Russia we know today?

Special thanks to our guest, Lynne Hartnett, Ph.D., Professor of History, Villanova University, and author of Understanding Russia: A Cultural History.

Artwork: Russian political cartoon depicting Peter the Great as a barber, ca. 18th century 

** This episode originally aired August 31, 2020.

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August 28, 1920. In the town of Tequila, fireworks burst overhead as people celebrate Mexico’s independence. Then… gunshots. Malachías Cuervo, heir to the famous tequila dynasty, has just reignited a bitter feud with his family’s rivals, the Sauzas.

For decades, his brother José Cuervo fought to rebuild the family business through drought, revolution, and political upheaval—turning a struggling operation into an empire. His tactfulness allowed Cuervo to survive as one of the most popular tequila brands in the world today.

How is José Cuervo able to navigate the Mexican Revolution, and a cutthroat industry? And what does his life reveal about the history of his country?

Special thanks to Ted Genoways, author of Tequila Wars: José Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico.

Artwork: José Cuervo, ca. 1914 (colorized)

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August 24, 1914. A train pulls up to the lumber town of White River, Ontario, carrying a regiment of Canadian troops on board. On the tracks where they disembark is a small black bear cub. An army veterinarian decides to buy the bear and name her Winnipeg—Winnie for short—after the town where he's been living. 

When the soldiers are deployed to the European front, Winnie is left at the London Zoo, where a child named Christopher Robin Milne will meet her. He'll later rename his own teddy bear after her: Winnie-the-Pooh. 

How did a real-life boy and a real-life bear inspire some of the world's most famous literary characters? And what impact did these stories ultimately have on the people who helped bring them to life?

Special thanks to Ann Thwaite, whose book about Milne and Winnie-the-Pooh is titled Goodbye Christopher Robin: A.A. Milne and the Making of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Artwork: From "Christopher Robin Leads an Expedition to the North Pole" by A.A. Milne, 1926. Illustration by E.H. Shepard. (Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)

** This episode originally aired August 23, 2021.

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August 24, 394. On the walls of a fading Egyptian temple, a priest carves what will become the last known hieroglyph in history. At the same moment, in Alexandria, a fiery archbishop named Theophilus is rising to power. He mocks the ancient Egyptian gods, desecrates their temples, and sets out to stamp out “paganism” for good. 

But Theophilus is fighting more than ancient religion—he clashes with monks, rivals, even fellow bishops, in a ruthless bid to make Alexandria the beating heart of the Christian world. What drives him to destroy? And can an entire faith really be erased?

Special thanks to our guests: Solange Ashby,  Assistant Professor of Egyptology and Nubian Studies at UCLA in Los Angeles, author of Calling Out to Isis: the Enduring Nubian Presence at Philae; Stephen Davis, Woolsey Professor of Religious Studies and Professor of History at Yale University; and Christine Luckritz Marquis,  Associate Professor of Church History at Union Presbyterian Seminary, and author of Death of the Desert: Monastic Memory and the Loss of Egypt's Golden Age.

Artwork: Saint John Chrysostom and the Empress Eudoxia by Jean-Paul Laurens.

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August 15, 1915. American diplomat J. T. Du Bois publishes a letter in The New York Times. It’s not about diplomacy or foreign affairs. This letter is about sharks. It’s Du Bois’ attempt to prove to the American public that “Man-Eating Sharks” - as he calls them - are real. 

Because in 1916? Most people think they’re a myth. Experts say that sharks aren’t dangerous. That they’re “rabbit” tame and too weak-jawed to pose any real threat to humans—at least, in the North East. 

But the following summer, a series of mysterious attacks in New Jersey will radically change the conversation and lead to a giant sea change in our feelings about sharks. What happens when the myth of the man-eater becomes real? 

Special thanks to Richard G. Fernicola, author of Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks, and Dr. Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History. We also referenced the book Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo.

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August 7, 1943. Off the coast of Venezuela, a Nazi U-boat is under siege. For nine days, it’s hunted by Allied aircraft across the Caribbean, until its engines fail and its commander gives the order: abandon ship. Forty-three German sailors plunge into shark-infested waters, and are pulled out by their enemy - the United States.

The Germans think the worst is behind them. Instead, they’re headed for a POW camp in the American heartland, where life will actually be pretty comfortable. They play soccer, harvest corn, eat well… until things turn violent. 

How did Nazi prisoners of war end up murdering each other on U.S. soil? And what does American justice look like when applied to the enemy?

Special thanks to William Geroux, author of The Fifteen: Murder, Retribution, and the Forgotten Story of Nazi POWs in America.

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July 29th, 1992. The Baltimore Sun runs a feature about a surprise candidate in the upcoming presidential race: Barbie. The 11.5-inch icon of girlhood and glamor is running for office – and flying off the shelves. But how did a plaything become important enough to make national news? 

To answer that question, we take you on a journey through doll history, from French porcelain beauties to cherubs that stood for women’s suffrage. And of course, the doll who taught us how fun life in plastic could be. How did these dolls revolutionize play and even politics? And what do they have to tell us about ourselves? 

Special thanks to our guests: Florence Theriault, doll expert and founder of Theriault’s antique auction firm; Pat Wahler, author of The Rose of Washington Square: A Novel of Rose O'Neill, Creator of the Kewpie Doll; and Robin Gerber, author of Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her.

** This episode originally aired July 24, 2023.

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July 23rd, 1892. Henry Clay Frick is one of America’s leading industrialists. To Alexander Berkman, he’s one of America’s leading villains. Berkman is an anarchist, along with his partner, Emma Goldman. They believe the current order of things needs to change, and one way to make change is through violence.

Frick is meeting with his associates in his Pittsburgh office when Berkman bursts into the room and draws his gun. The men lock eyes, knowing that their fates are about to be forever changed. 

Why did the "Queen of Anarchism" and her partner target one of America's wealthiest men? And how did the attack help lead to the rise of J. Edgar Hoover and policing as we know it?

Special thanks to Steven Johnson, author of The Infernal Machine: A True Story of Dynamite, Terror, and the Rise of the Modern Detective. We also referred to the books Love, Anarchy & Emma Goldman by Candace Falk; American Anarchy by Michael Willrich; and Sasha and Emma by Paul Avrich and Karen Avrich.

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July 17, 1674. During renovations at the Tower of London, construction workers digging beneath a stone staircase make a chilling discovery—two child-sized skeletons buried ten feet underground. And King Charles II believes he knows who they are.

The remains reignite one of the most enduring mysteries in British history: the fate of the Princes in the Tower. For over 500 years, historians have debated what happened to King Edward V and his younger brother, Prince Richard. Were they murdered—perhaps by their uncle, Richard III? Or did they simply vanish from the historical record?

This week, Sally Helm speaks with Philippa Langley, author of The Princes in the Tower: Solving History’s Greatest Cold Case. Langley shares why she believes we’ve been looking at this mystery the wrong way—and how new evidence could finally bring the truth to light.

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When we first aired "Operation Mincemeat" back in 2020, it was a daring WWII thriller that felt almost too wild to be true. Now, it’s not just history — it’s a hit Broadway musical. This week, we're revisiting our original episode about the ingenious Allied ruse that helped turn the tide of the war. And we’re adding a twist: an interview with Natasha Hodgson, co-creator and star of Operation Mincemeat, the musical. She joins us to talk spies, songs, and how one of the strangest wartime plots ever ended up on stage.

Original episode description --

July 10, 1943. 150,000 British and American soldiers storm the beaches of Sicily in the first Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled Europe. But the Nazis…aren’t really there to put up a fight. Hitler thought the invasion was coming for Greece. The Nazis have been tricked by two British Intelligence officers and a covert deception plan. How did their operation— which involved a corpse, a false identity and a single eyelash—change the course of WWII?  

Special thanks to Nicholas Reed, author of The Spy Runner.

** This episode originally aired June 7, 2020.

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