Our Fake History

By PodcastOne

What's Our Fake History about?

A podcast about myths we think are history and history that might be hidden in myths! Awesome stories that really (maybe) happened!

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Episode #180- Columbus? (Pa...

05.30.2023

There is a long tradition of writers comparing Christopher Columbus to mythical figures. 16th century historian Peter Martyr believed Columbus was like a later-day Aeneas, the Trojan hero who travelled west to found a society in Italy that would one ...

Our Fake History episodes:

05.30.2023 Episode #180- Columbus? (Part III) There is a long tradition of writers comparing Christopher Columbus to mythical figures. 16th century historian Peter Martyr believed Columbus was like a later-day Aeneas, the Trojan hero who travelled west to found a society in Italy that would one ...
05.16.2023 Episode #179- Columbus? (Part II) A Columbus biographer once wrote that the famous navigator had an "an imperfect understanding of the line between truth and falsity." The Genoese mariner had a habit of lying, exaggerating, or revising history in service of what he believed were ...
05.02.2023 Episode #178- Columbus? (Part I) There are few historical figures whose reputation has swung in as many extreme directions as Christopher Columbus. The Genoese mariner once credited with "discovering America" has in recent years been called out as genocidal conqueror and slave trader. In 2020 ...
04.18.2023 Episode #177- How Do Movies Make Myths? ft. Amy Nicholson On today's show Sebastian has the opportunity to talk to one of his favourite film critics, podcasters, and cultural observers, the great Amy Nicholson. Amy writes about film for the New York Times and is featured regularly in Variety, Los ...
04.04.2023 Episode #176- Was Pythagoras Killed By Beans? If you managed to get through elementary school math then you have almost certainly heard the name Pythagoras. The ancient Greek thinker has been celebrated as the man who first discovered the mathematical relationship between the sides of a right ...
03.21.2023 Episode #175- Who Framed Mata Hari? (Part III) The myth of Mata Hari would have us believe that she was a turn-of-the-century super-spy. She has been celebrated as a master of the "honey trap" tactic, where a beautiful spy seduces her mark and extracts sensitive information over pillow ...
03.07.2023 Episode #174- Who Framed Mata Hari? (Part II) Between 1905 and 1908 the dancer professionally known as Mata Hari was one of the best known entertainers in Europe. Her nearly-nude dances were given an air of respectability thanks to her presentation as Javanese temple dancer performing sacred religious ...
02.21.2023 Episode #173- Who Framed Mata Hari? (Part I) In 1905 a woman claiming to be a Javanese temple dancer rocketed to fame in Europe. Her name was Mata Hari and her nearly-nude dances were presented as profound religious experiences. But, Mata Hari was selling a fantasy. She was ...
02.07.2023 Episode #172- Who Was The African Samurai? (Part II) In the 1580's Japan was a on the precipice of a massive transformation. For over a century the country had been embroiled in war, but by 1581 the end seemed to be in sight. The powerful Lord Oda Nobunaga was ...
01.24.2023 Episode #171- Who Was The African Samurai? (Part I) Near the end of Japan's "Warring States" period a remarkable visitor arrived in the country with a group of European Jesuit missionaries. He was a soldier originally from East Africa acting as a bodyguard for the ranking Jesuit in Japan. ...
01.10.2023 Episode #170- Who Knows Houdini? (Part III) Houdini had a truly impressive run as an entertainer. In the decade between 1904 and 1913 he developed a number of escapes and illusions that are still considered the gold-standard for stage magicians. Houdini's "Milk Can" and "Chinese Water Torture" ...
12.27.2022 Episode #169- Who Knows Houdini? (Part II) Over the course of 1899 Harry Houdini went from being an obscure circus performer to being one of the best known entertainers in America. He became known as the "Handcuff King" and made headlines challenging police departments to lock him ...
12.13.2022 Episode #168- Who Knows Houdini? (Part I) The word "iconic" gets thrown around pretty loosely these days, but there are some figures who truly earn the descriptor. Micheal Jordan and Mohammed Ali are icons because they truly transcended their sport. In the same way Harry Houdini is ...
11.29.2022 Episode #167- Who Was The Fake Asian? In 1703 a curious character arrived in London claiming to be a native of the island of Formosa. These days Formosa is better known as Taiwan, but in early 18th century it was a place barely understood by most Europeans. ...
11.15.2022 Episode #166- Who Was Liver Eating Johnson? (ft. Daniele Bolelli) Some of the most legendary figures to emerge from the history of the American West were the rough-and-ready "mountain men". But, the most legendary mountain man of all had to be the cannibal, Liver Eating Johnson. Stories would have us ...
11.01.2022 Episode #165- What Was The Galileo Affair? (Part III) There is a story that as Galileo stood in front of the Inquisition and listened as they declared that the Earth did not revolve around the Sun, he whispered under his breath "and yet, it moves". This moment of defiance ...
10.18.2022 Episode #164- What Was The Galileo Affair? (Part II) Galileo is often credited with inventing the telescope, but he never made that claim. He simply whipped up his own take on the device and sold it to the Republic of Venice before his Dutch competitors could beat him to ...
10.04.2022 Episode #163- What Was The Galileo Affair? (Part I) The Pisan scientist Galileo Galilei has been remembered as the "father of modern science." The discoveries he made with his telescope led to a completely new understanding of Earth's place in the cosmos. The theory first put forward by the ...
09.20.2022 Episode #162- Real Amazons? (Part II) Did you know that the Amazons once waged war on Atlantis? According to the ancient historian Diodorus of Sicily, the Amazons conquered Atlantis while carving out an empire in Northern Africa. This may have all been pure legend, but Diodorus, ...
09.06.2022 Episode #161- Real Amazons? (Part I) When the conquistador Francisco Orellana was attacked by a band of female warriors deep in the heart of South America, he thought immediately of the Amazons of Greek mythology. His encounter with this group would end up inspiring the name ...
08.23.2022 OFH Throwback- Episode #61 - What's the Problem with Socrates? In this OFH throwback episode Sebastian is throwing you back to Episode #61 - What's the Problem with Socrates? Socrates has been celebrated as the “father of western philosophy”. This is particularly remarkable when you consider the fact that we ...
08.09.2022 OFH Throwback- Episode #96- What is America's Weirdest Secret Society? In this "throwback episode" we look back at episode #96. In the 1930’s a famous California history professor thought he had discovered a long lost historical treasure. It was a brass plate apparently inscribed by the famous English adventurer Sir. ...
07.26.2022 Episode #160- Who Knows Toronto? In this SUPER SIZED season finale Sebastian explores the many myths and misconceptions about the city of Toronto. In his attempt to get a deeper understanding of the city he has called home, our host embarks on a series of ...
07.12.2022 Episode #159- How Should We Remember Attila the Hun? (Part III) In the stories of saints' lives written in the medieval era Attila the Hun was often used as a stock villain. He was called the "Scourge of God" and was understood as a blunt instrument used by God to punish ...
06.28.2022 Episode #158- How Should We Remember Attila the Hun? (Part II) The Huns were not a literate culture, which means their version of history was never written down. As a result we rely on sources written by outsiders to trace the rise of the Hunnic empire and the career of King ...
06.14.2022 Episode #157- How Should We Remember Attila the Hun? (Part I) Attila the Hun has been saddled with a truly terrible historical reputation. In many parts of the world his name is synonymous with barbarism. But, despite the fact that Attila the Hun has excellent name recognition for an ancient historical ...
05.31.2022 Episode #156- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part III) In the last year the global conversation around the fate of the Benin Bronzes has shifted dramatically. In April of 2021 the German government announced that the vast majority of Benin Bronzes kept in German museums will be returned to ...
05.17.2022 Episode #155- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part II) In 1897 Queen Victoria marked her diamond jubilee and Britain was in a celebratory mood. The British Empire had never been stronger. Few could imagine that this world-spanning empire might very well be peaking. But in 1897 Britain was in ...
05.03.2022 Episode #154- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part I) Looting has been a part of warfare since the earliest times. Despite the fact that looting was common for much of history, it was always recognized as an especially harmful and humiliating by-product of armed conflict. By the late 19th ...
04.19.2022 Episode #153- What Is The Titanic Myth? (Part III) The Titanic myth isn't really built on lies, so much as a series of amplified "half-truths". Stories about the Captain imploring his crew to "Be British" and the band playing even as water sloshed around their waists, all helped make ...
04.05.2022 Episode #152- What Is The Titanic Myth? (Part II) When the wreck of the Titanic claimed over 1500 lives in 1912 the tragedy seemed too full of irony and meaning for it simply to be a freak accident. Surely someone was to blame. There had to be villain. Since ...
03.22.2022 Episode #151- What Is The Titanic Myth? (Part I) The sinking of the RMS Titanic is one of the best remembered nautical disasters in history. Over 1500 passengers died after the luxury ocean liner struck an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic in April 1912. ...
03.08.2022 OFH Special Presentation - What Should We Believe About the Knights Templar? (Part II) In part two of this OFH Special Presentation Sebastian pulls a little something out from behind the Patreon paywall. What was once a massive extra episode on the history and weird mythology of the Knights Templar is now being presented ...
02.22.2022 OFH Special Presentation - What Should We Believe About the Knights Templar? (Part I) In this OFH Special Presentation Sebastian pulls a little something out from behind the Patreon paywall. What was once a massive extra episode on the history and weird mythology of the Knights Templar is now being presented as a two ...
02.08.2022 Episode #150- Why Didn't You Tell Us That? Over the course of 150 episodes there have been theories, stories, and sidebars that have fallen through the cracks. Tales that don't quite fit the main thrust of an episode sometimes get cut for time. Interesting, but obscure, takes on ...
01.25.2022 Episode #149- Who Was the Real Stagger Lee? The character of Stagger Lee has been one of America’s most enduring folk heroes. There have been over 400 songs written about the swaggering, gun-toting, bad man. He has gone by many names: Stacks Lee, Stagolee, Staxs O’Lee. Sometimes he ...
01.11.2022 Episode #148- Who Was First in Flight? (Part III) In 1906 Alberto Santos-Dumont performed a number of short flights in front of a large crowd in Paris. These were done in his newly constructed heavier-than-air flying machine, the No.14-Bis. After these successful hops newspapers roared that Santos had once ...
12.28.2021 Episode #147- Who Was First in Flight? (Part II) The late 19th century in France sometime gets called La Belle Époque or the "Beautiful Era". As the name suggests, this is a time that has been fondly remembered as an age of optimism marked by artistic and scientific triumphs. ...
12.14.2021 Episode #146- Who Was First in Flight? (Part I) In mythology from around the world the ability to fly was reserved strictly for the gods. Stories about human beings constructing flying machines were usually punctuated with a moral about hubris. Vain attempts at flight were an easy metaphor for ...
11.30.2021 Episode #145- Real Gryphons? The legendary hybrid creature known as the gryphon was said to have the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Despite this fantastical descriptions the ancient Greeks and Romans truly seemed to have believed that ...
11.16.2021 Episode #144- Who Was the Mother of Empires? (Part III) Eleanor of Aquitaine has been called the "Queen of the Troubadours" by fawning biographers. She has been credited with transforming medieval European culture through her patronage of the arts. It's also been written that she presided over elaborate "Courts of ...
11.02.2021 Episode #143- Who Was the Mother of Empires? (Part II) When the King and Queen of France went on crusade in 1147 it nearly destroyed their marriage. The campaign led by King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine was an unmitigated disaster. But despite (or perhaps because of) it's failure ...
10.19.2021 Episode #142- Who Was the Mother of Empires? (Part I) Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the best remembered medieval Queens. She has been celebrated as one of the most daring and consequential women of her age. But despite her fame Eleanor is often misunderstood. Some writers have sullied Eleanor’s ...
10.05.2021 Episode #141- Who's Afraid of the 30 Years War? (Ft. Zack Twamley) The 30 Years War has reputation among history buffs as one of the most complicated conflicts you can study. Even though the war is filled with fantastic stories, it can sometimes scare away history podcasters (like Sebastian). The complexity of ...
09.21.2021 Episode #140- What Became of the Great Library of Alexandria? (Part II) There are three main culprits in the alleged burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. But weirdly they all lived roughly 300 years apart from one another. How is that even possible? It’s weird anomalies like this that complicate the ...
09.07.2021 Episode #139- What Became of the Great Library of Alexandria? (Part I) The Egyptian city of Alexandria was once the most magnificent city on the Mediterranean. It was a city of wonders, whose culture was the envy of the Greek world. Tragically many of Alexandria's ancient treasures have been lost to time. ...
08.31.2021 OFH Throwback- Episode #37- Did Robert Johnson Sell His Soul to the Devil? In this throwback episode Sebastian takes a look back at a show that explores one of the greatest legends in 20th century popular music. Did the legendary blues musician, Robert Johnson, really trade his immortal soul for superhuman musical talent? ...
08.24.2021 OFH Throwback- Episode #83- Who Invented Your Favourite Food? In this OFH Throwback episode Sebastian takes a look at one of the most fun and accessible episodes in the OFH catalog. The world of food and drink is filled with colourful mythology. How much should we believe about the ...
08.17.2021 OFH Throwback- Episode #77- Was There a Real Pied Piper? In this throwback episode we take a look at an episode Sebastian thinks may have been the best "one-off" show created over the podcast's six seasons. Take a listen to how the host thinks this one has held up. Is ...
08.10.2021 OFH Throwback- Episode #10- Did the Aztecs Think Cortes Was a God? (Part II) In this throwback episode Sebastian revisits "Part II" in the Season One series on the conquest of Mexico. In the freshly recorded introduction the host reflects on criticisms that this episode first received when it was originally published in 2015. ...

Older episodes

Our Fake History

What's Our Fake History about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Our Fake History episodes:

Episode #180- Columbus? (Part III)

Episode #179- Columbus? (Part II)

Episode #178- Columbus? (Part I)

Episode #177- How Do Movies Make Myths? ft. Amy Nicholson

Episode #176- Was Pythagoras Killed By Beans?

Episode #175- Who Framed Mata Hari? (Part III)

Episode #174- Who Framed Mata Hari? (Part II)

Episode #173- Who Framed Mata Hari? (Part I)

Episode #172- Who Was The African Samurai? (Part II)

Episode #171- Who Was The African Samurai? (Part I)

Episode #170- Who Knows Houdini? (Part III)

Episode #169- Who Knows Houdini? (Part II)

Episode #168- Who Knows Houdini? (Part I)

Episode #167- Who Was The Fake Asian?

Episode #166- Who Was Liver Eating Johnson? (ft. Daniele Bolelli)

Episode #165- What Was The Galileo Affair? (Part III)

Episode #164- What Was The Galileo Affair? (Part II)

Episode #163- What Was The Galileo Affair? (Part I)

Episode #162- Real Amazons? (Part II)

Episode #161- Real Amazons? (Part I)

OFH Throwback- Episode #61 - What's the Problem with Socrates?

OFH Throwback- Episode #96- What is America's Weirdest Secret Society?

Episode #160- Who Knows Toronto?

Episode #159- How Should We Remember Attila the Hun? (Part III)

Episode #158- How Should We Remember Attila the Hun? (Part II)

Episode #157- How Should We Remember Attila the Hun? (Part I)

Episode #156- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part III)

Episode #155- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part II)

Episode #154- What Became of the Benin Bronzes? (Part I)

Episode #153- What Is The Titanic Myth? (Part III)

Episode #152- What Is The Titanic Myth? (Part II)

Episode #151- What Is The Titanic Myth? (Part I)

OFH Special Presentation - What Should We Believe About the Knights Templar? (Part II)

OFH Special Presentation - What Should We Believe About the Knights Templar? (Part I)

Episode #150- Why Didn't You Tell Us That?

Episode #149- Who Was the Real Stagger Lee?

Episode #148- Who Was First in Flight? (Part III)

Episode #147- Who Was First in Flight? (Part II)

Episode #146- Who Was First in Flight? (Part I)

Episode #145- Real Gryphons?

Episode #144- Who Was the Mother of Empires? (Part III)

Episode #143- Who Was the Mother of Empires? (Part II)

Episode #142- Who Was the Mother of Empires? (Part I)

Episode #141- Who's Afraid of the 30 Years War? (Ft. Zack Twamley)

Episode #140- What Became of the Great Library of Alexandria? (Part II)

Episode #139- What Became of the Great Library of Alexandria? (Part I)

OFH Throwback- Episode #37- Did Robert Johnson Sell His Soul to the Devil?

OFH Throwback- Episode #83- Who Invented Your Favourite Food?

OFH Throwback- Episode #77- Was There a Real Pied Piper?

OFH Throwback- Episode #10- Did the Aztecs Think Cortes Was a God? (Part II)

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