Professor Buzzkill History Podcast

What do the letters “S.O.S.” actually stand for? “Save Our Ship”? “Save Our Souls”? And why were those three letters chosen? The Professor explains this famous quote, and also the myth that it was first used by telegraph operators on the Titanic after it struck the iceberg in 1912. It’s more complicated and interesting than you can possibly imagine! Send out a distress signal for your brain!

The phrase and sentiment, "A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song," is one of the best-known expressions of the intrinsic nature of art and beauty. It has been quoted by presidents and school teachers, and practically everyone in between. And we all "know" that quote comes from Maya Angelou. The US government even said so. But did Maya Angelou really say it? Join Professor Buzzkill as he sings out the answer!

Was the Nazi high command, including Hitler, soaked in hard drug use? Over the course of the war, Hitler became increasingly dependent on injections of a cocktail of drug (including a form of heroin) administered by his personal doctor. Drugs alone cannot explain the Nazis’ toxic racial theories or the events of World War II, but if drugs are not taken into account, our understanding of the Third Reich is fundamentally incomplete. Professor Nash gives us the clean story!

In times of political turmoil and rhetorical strife, commentators sometimes wheel out this old "quote" by the French philosopher and Enlightenment writer, Voltaire: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." They do this in an attempt to calm things down, but also to support the principle of freedom of speech. Voltaire was indeed a champion of free speech and free-flowing political discourse. But did he actually write or say: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"? Or is this another example of biographers and later scribes putting words in a great thinker's mouth?

The number of different images and different sayings or phrases printed on t-shirts exploded in the early 70s. And one of the most striking was the t-shirt from the women’s rights movement which said, "A Woman Needs a Man Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle," most famously worn by the feminist champion, Gloria Steinem. Did she coin the saying? We explain the history behind that great phrase.

President Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats” are famous for breaking new ground in how political leaders communicate with their people. But where they really as ground-breaking as we all tend to believe? Did they really help the American people get through the Great Depression and World War II? Was it FDR’s tone and confidence that connected to the people, or was there something more mundane that explains the popularity of the Fireside Chats? Professor Phil Nash enlightens us!

Have we all been fooled all the time by people applying this quote to Abraham Lincoln? Where did the quote originate? Honest Abe or someone else? When was it said? During the Lincoln-Douglas Debates? During the 1860 Presidential Election? Find out in this brand new Quote or No Quote episode of Professor Buzzkill!

How “clean” was the regular German army (Wehrmacht) during World War II? The Nazis and the SS usually get all the blame for war crimes and for the Holocaust. How much blame can be placed at the feet of “ordinary” German military units? Turns out that the “clean Wehrmacht” story is not only a myth, but it also greatly influenced how post-War Europe was re-built. Professor Nash joins us to examine how deep and wide the war guilt goes.

Many things seemed phallic to Freud, the father of psychoanalysis. But did this include the humble cigar? Or did Freud just dismiss overanalysis by saying, “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”? What that a genuine Freudian quip? Did Groucho Marx agree? Find out by listening to this brand new Quote or No Quote episode!

Join members of the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army as they interview Professor Jennifer Keane and our own Professor Buzzkill! We discuss the complicated history of the end of World War I, as well as the historical legacy of the 82nd Airborne, the "All American" division. Listen and learn, Buzzkillers!