Pod Only Knows

76 years ago, an audacious and high-risk plot nearly killed Hitler and took down the Third Reich from within. This is a brief account of what did - and what didn't - motivate Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators to attempt a daring coup. Part one of a two-part special.

Author and researcher Andrew Phillip Smith joins the show to discuss the story of the Cathars and the crusade waged against them in the 13th Century. Andrew is the author of The Secret History of the Gnostics, and The Lost Teachings of the Cathars, in addition to other works. He lives in Wales.

In a repost of an episode from this past summer, Professor Kris E. Lane joins the show to discuss the legacy of Christopher Columbus and how we came to believe myths about the man that don’t square with history. I invited him on specifically because of the recent spate of protests that have resulted in the removal of statues of problematic historical figures, Columbus being perhaps the epitome of them all.

Prof. Lane holds the France V. Scholes Chair in Colonial Latin American History at Tulane University. Before arriving at Tulane, he taught Latin American History at the College of William and Mary.

He is a Fulbright scholar and author whose many books include Piracy in the Early Modern Era, Latin America in Colonial Time, and Potosi: The Silver City that Changed the World, which won the 2020 Bandelier-Lavrin Prize for Best Book on Colonial Latin America.

Lane Wilcken joins the show to discuss his research on the cultural traditions and myths of the Pacific islands, including the demigod Maui, and his work as a practitioner of batok: the traditional practice of hand-tapped cultural tattooing. 

Find more about Lane and his work at his website: lanewilcken.com

Today's outro music is Babaylan by the group Talahib People's Music. You can check out the full song, along with other great Filipino music, at Musika Publiko TV.

Shared in the #HANX for the Memories feed on Friday, here's a bonus episode of Hard to Believe: "Get ready for an adventure! We haven’t clawed our way through history in a few weeks, which means it’s about time to cover Angels & Demons! We’ve once again re-assembled our religious historical fiction team of John Brooks (Hard to Believe) and Jess “Montez” Collins. In this episode, we gain access to the Vatican Archives so that we can talk about the truths, half-truths, and lies of Angels & Demons; Tom Hanks’s new supporting cast (and the severe lack of Audrey Tautou); and all things God Particle and antimatter. We also compare this adaptation to the book and to the adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, and we look ahead to the confusing “which books will they turn into films” nature of the rest of the Langdon book series."

Teddy Smith makes his second appearance as he joins the show to discuss the weird history of the religious war over coffee. How did coffee go from the Devil’s Drink to the Nectar of the Gods in just four short centuries? And what role did one particularly terrible pope play in sanctifying America’s favorite morning beverage?

Jess Collins guests to discuss the 2010 Neil Marshall film Centurion and the mysterious disappearance of Rome's Ninth Legion. What really happened to the Ninth, why was Hadrian's Wall built, and why do we often find ourselves fixated on history's mysteries? Jess is a frequent CageClub contributor. You can find her writings on books, movies, and travel at her website, unicorn-musings.com.

Author Linda Kay Klein discusses her book Pure, in which, alongside her recounting of her own experiences in the evangelical purity movement, she features profiles and interviews with other women dealing with and recovering from their past experiences in the movement. Linda holds an interdisciplinary Masters degree in gender studies, religious studies, oral history, nonfiction writing, and art as social change from NYU, and is founder and president of the nonprofit Break Free Together. Her website is lindakayklein.com.

John is joined by Matt Williams, who holds a PhD in history and teaches American History at the Dalton School in New York City, to explore the films and philosophy of Terrence Malick (director of Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, and The Tree of Life) and to discuss their mutual love of Malick’s 2005 film, The New World.