Not Past It

Ever wonder why children’s sports are segregated by gender? Why there has to be a girls team and a boys team? Well, On November 7th 1973, the New Jersey Division of Civil Rights tried to change that. They ruled that little league baseball wasn’t just for boys in the Garden State. But what seemed like a victory for gender equality ended up setting in motion plans that still keep kids off the field to this day. This episode originally aired Nov. 09, 2022.

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King Tutankhamen, Egypt’s boy prince was laid to rest in a fantastical chamber of secrets. On November 4, 1922, the entrance to King Tut’s tomb was discovered 33 centuries after he was buried. But when the king’s tomb was disturbed strange things began to happen. This episode originally aired Nov. 3, 2021. 

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In 1816, at just 18 years old, Mary Shelley awoke from a nightmarish dream that inspired her famous novel, Frankenstein. But while her story pleasantly spooked literary friends, it was far beyond the tastes of Mary’s time. So where did Mary draw the themes for her monster tale? And how did Frankenstein break through the harsh critics, make it onto the silver screen, and become the iconic green monster we know and love? This episode originally aired on Oct. 26, 2022.

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When international Jazz Age icon Josephine Baker walked into New York’s most exclusive nightclub 72 years ago this week, a brief interaction changed her career and life forever. What followed took Josephine should be from headlining New York’s top musical theaters to headlining the country’s juiciest gossip columns. Her mistake? Expecting service at a restaurant. This episode originally aired on Oct. 19, 2022.

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Lizzie Borden took an ax. Gave her mother 40 whacks. The legend of Lizzie Borden is infamous. One of the earliest true crime sensations in America. And 130 years later, the woman accused of hacking her parents to death with a hatchet still captures the public’s imagination. We would know — we visited the house where the murders took place, and spent the night hunting ghosts of yore. Little did we know, we’d find much more connection than we bargained for… This episode originally aired on October 12, 2022.

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Depression-era Detroit is known for many things: baseball, bootlegging, and the booming auto industry. But what about a witch? On October 5, 1931, a Wayne County jury reached a verdict in the trial of an immigrant woman accused of murder and of being...The Witch of Delray. This episode originally aired on Oct. 06, 2021.

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In September of 1907, the “tiny waist craze” swept up the women of London. They achieved the look by squeezing themselves into tightly laced corsets -- and deforming their bodies in the process. Women’s undergarments have evolved over the last century, but remain confining. Comedian Aparna Nancherla joins us as we trace this evolution and its surprising ties to American politics. This episode originally aired Sep. 22, 2022. 

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This week, we're dropping the premiere episode of the new time-traveling history trivia podcast, Past Perfect — brought to you by Simone Polanen and the team who brought you Not Past It. In this first episode, podcast superstars Emmanuel Dzotsi and Saidu Tejan-Thomas duke it out for trivia supremacy.

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On September 13, 1963, Mary Kay Ash launched what would become a beauty empire. She wasn’t just selling makeup. She was selling a dream: Women could have a flexible career and still make time for a family. Mary Kay recruited hundreds of thousands of women from around the world to become sales reps. And her company grew into a multi-billion dollar, global phenomenon. Did Mary Kay give women the reins to their own financial future? Or was that promise only skin deep? This episode originally aired Sep. 14, 2022. 

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Thirty-nine years ago, Alex Trebek stepped onto the set of Jeopardy and changed the world of trivia with one Canadian mustache. This week, Not Past It carries on the game show torch in a trivia showdown, featuring our inaugural contestants: Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber, hosts of the podcast Who? Weekly. Play along at home and see how you stack up! This episode originally aired Sept. 07, 2022.

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