Ridiculous History

By iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture History

What's Ridiculous History about?

History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.

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That Time Indiana Tried to ...

10.03.2023

Pi itself is pretty ridiculous. This number -- the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle -- appears to continue into infinity, with no predictable pattern. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore ...

Ridiculous History episodes:

10.03.2023 That Time Indiana Tried to Change Pi Pi itself is pretty ridiculous. This number -- the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that circle -- appears to continue into infinity, with no predictable pattern. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore ...
09.28.2023 Why Don't People Wear White After Labor Day? The boys hit the road, traveling to Las Vegas and recording live. In this special episode, Ben, Noel, Max and guest producer Paul Dechant explore the evolution of Labor Day, from its origin to the strange -- and, let's be ...
09.26.2023 Michigan Has Its Own Bermuda Triangle It's true! At least, to some. For decades various people have claimed Michigan has its own area of intense paranormal activity -- UFOs, ghosts, disappearances, you name it -- and they've mapped out something called "the Michigan Triangle." In today's ...
09.21.2023 The Road to Modern Basketball, Part Two: How Dribbling Became A Thing As James Naismith's new sport became increasingly popular, more and more people looked for ways to evolve, adjust, or flat-out change Naismith's original rules. In the second part of this series, Ben, Noel and Max explore how basketball continued to ...
09.19.2023 The Road to Modern Basketball, Part One: Naismith and "The Incorrigibles" These days basketball is a billion dollar cultural phenomenon -- but where did it come from? In the first part of this week's series, Ben, Noel and Max explore the origins of basketball, starting with the moment a young James ...
09.15.2023 The 10th President's Grandson is Alive Today John Tyler was the president of the United States from 1841 to 1845 -- and, while some historians may not remember him as the best of presidents, he has another claim to fame: one of his grandchildren is alive today. ...
09.12.2023 Stuff That Got Left Over: Nukes When the guys recorded their episode on broken arrows -- lost nuclear weapons throughout history -- they didn't get to one fascinating (and disturbing) tangent: the world of nuclear test sites. In the first episode of the continuing Leftover series, ...
09.08.2023 Ralph Nader Versus Big Auto While Ralph Nader may not be everyone's favorite politician, he's responsible for some of the biggest life-saving changes in American government. In today's episode, Ben, Max and Noel explore how young Ralph transformed from an eccentric, hitchhiking student to a ...
09.05.2023 CLASSIC: Baguettes and Vacation: France versus Bakers You've probably heard that France takes its bread seriously -- but did you know France had specific laws governing the lives of bakers? For centuries the country regulated how and when bakers could close or take vacation. Although this may ...
08.31.2023 Everyone Was Covered in Poop: A Grimy History of Soap Today, soap is ubiquitous. It comes in thousands of forms, brands, and varieties -- but this wasn't always the case. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the theoretical origin story of soap, and how humanity eventually decided (after ...
08.30.2023 Behind the Logo: The Story of the Nike Swoosh Everyone knows the Nike swoosh — but where did it come from? In today’s episode, the guys dive into the origin story of one of the world’s most recognizable brands, from its humble beginnings to its status as a modern-day ...
08.24.2023 The Architecture of Spite, Part Three: The Pie House and a Scorned Argentine How far would you go in the name of love? In this installment of The Architecture, Ben, Noel and Max dive into more amazing -- and ridiculous -- tales of people who literally constructed buildings as a means of revenge. ...
08.22.2023 The Architecture of Spite, Part Two: Macy's and The Skinny House At its best, architecture is a kind of poetry made tangible, frozen in time for generations to come. But, as it turns out, architecture can also be a tremendous avenue for all sorts of less cool emotions: pettiness, spite, vengeance ...
08.17.2023 The Ridiculous History of Intellectual Property, Part 2: When Things Get Weird Who owns an idea? Who should -- or should not -- profit from a concept? In part two of this special two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max explore the modern history of intellectual property... including what happens when court cases ...
08.15.2023 The Ridiculous History of Intellectual Property, Part 1: The Ancient Past Today the concept of intellectual property, or IP, is pretty well-established. And this notion of ownership over some often intangible concept, brand or idea may seem like a product of the modern age -- but, as it turns out, it's ...
08.10.2023 World War II's Alaskan Front: The Aleutian Island Campaign Alaska is known for its stunning beauty, harsh climate, and remoteness -- but it was also the site of an intensely strange series of battles between the Japanese and US militaries. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore how ...
08.08.2023 Micronations: The Amazing Story of Vatican City Despite the name, Vatican City is an independent, sovereign nation -- and its history may surprise you. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the story of the Vatican from its origins all the way to the modern day. ...
08.03.2023 The FBI versus Hip-Hop Nowadays, hip-hop is everywhere -- this genre informs countless aspects of modern music around the world. Shortly after its creation, power structures in the United States sought to suppress this music, perceiving it as a threat to the status quo. ...
08.02.2023 The Inventor of the Saxophone Had Some of the World's Worst Luck Today the saxophone is a well-known musical instrument, popular across the planet. But, when you learn the story of its inventor Adolphe Sax, you quickly learn it's amazing he survived long enough to invent the saxophone in the first place. ...
07.27.2023 Animals On Trial, Part 2: Legal Personhood "Goes Wild" Given that more and more evidence shows all kinds of non-human animals are capable of experiencing grief, loss, joy and pain, should they not have some of the same legal rights guaranteed (in theory, at least) to humans? In the ...
07.25.2023 Animals On Trial, Part 1: Tons of Animals Went to Kangaroo Courts While the the concept of a court system is an entirely human invention, it turns out non-human animals have been in some sort of court not once, but countless times across the span of history. In the first part of ...
07.20.2023 Broken Arrows, Part 2: In Which Actions Have Consequence In part two of this special two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max dive further into the (objectively disturbing) truth about just how many nuclear weapons are currently MIA. The gang speculates on the implications of these missteps -- and, as ...
07.18.2023 Broken Arrows, Part 1: Whoops, Where's Our Nuke? Nuclear weapons are one of the most dangerous things humanity ever invented. So while we might reasonably assume people would keep a close eye on these potentially world-ending bombs and missiles...we would be wrong. In this week's two-part series, Ben, ...
07.13.2023 New Providence: That Time Pirates Had A Government The so-called Golden Age of Piracy was a time of lawless, terrifying, at-times amazing and objectively ridiculous history. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Matt explore a fascinating claim: Did some anti-authoritarian pirates really form their own government? See omnystudio.com/listener ...
07.11.2023 Tons of People Married Their First Cousins What do Albert Einstein, Jesse James and Saddam Hussein have in common? Like many notable figures throughout history, these men ended up marrying their first cousins. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the stories of how these ...
07.06.2023 Lost Media, Part 2: The Magnificent Ambersons True story: Orson Welles has a film no one will ever see. In the second part of this continuing series, the guys explore "The Magnificent Ambersons," from its origins to its adaptations all the way to what could have been ...
07.04.2023 The Ridiculous History of "Snake Oil" Nowadays, "snake oil" usually means a fake medicine or treatment that claims -- with no evidence -- to cure any number of medical conditions. But where did this term come from? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into ...
06.29.2023 Badass of the Week, Part 2: Rise of the Kung Fu Werewolf Everyone can agree the story of T'ai Djin is amazing -- he was born afflicted with a rare genetic condition that made him look like a werewolf, was adopted by Shaolin monks and became the most badass guy in China ...
06.27.2023 Badass of the Week, Part 1: An Origin Story What makes an historical figure larger than life? Since 2004, author and historian Ben Thompson has been writing about the most badass people in history, from generals to saints, from pioneers to criminals. In the first part of this special ...
06.22.2023 That Time Abe Lincoln Trolled His Way Into a Real-life Duel In 1842, Abraham Lincoln wrote an article clowning a guy named James Shields. Although the article was satirical, and attributed to a made-up author, Shields still didn't love the joke. Some of Abe's friends -- including his future wife -- ...
06.20.2023 The Creation of (and Backlash Against) Father's Day With another Father's Day in the books, Ben, Noel and Max hit the new studio for the first time, exploring the history of this paternal partner to the slightly-more famous Mother's Day. Featuring a cameo from the one and only ...
06.15.2023 Colorado's Ridiculous, Disturbingly Corrupt 1904 Election, Part Two: Everyone Resigns What happens when both candidates in a gubernatorial election are cartoonishly corrupt? That's the question Colorado wrestled with back in 1904 -- in part two of this special two-part episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the cavalcade of chicanery ...
06.13.2023 Colorado's Ridiculous, Disturbingly Corrupt 1904 Election, Part One: Let's Jump Off The Train Elections are somewhere between sports and religions for the United States. It seems that, each and every time, people have problems with the official results. In this week's special two-part episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive deep into one of ...
06.08.2023 How Horrible Chocolate Helped Win World War II A successful military hinges on nutrition, and modern warfare is no different. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive to the strange deal Uncle Sam made with the Hershey chocolate company: creating a candy bar that tasted terrible -- ...
06.06.2023 Micronations: How a Guy Got Ran Out of Town and Created San Marino While San Marino may not make many international headlines, this micronation has one of the most fascinating origin stories in all of Europe. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore how a formerly rural area just about 6 miles ...
06.01.2023 The Library of Congress is Full of Super Weird Stuff Since 1800, the Library of Congress has functioned as the national library of the United States. Don't let the name fool you -- this institution isn't just a bunch of dusty old tomes and long-forgotten letters from politicians. In today's ...
05.30.2023 That Time A Guy Literally Bought The London Bridge Let's say you have a big dream: you're creating a new community, smack-dab in the middle of nowhere. Problem is, not a ton of people want to live in the middle of nowhere. When Robert McCulloch saw his newest venture ...
05.25.2023 We Got Super Into Toy Cars, Part Two: Rivalry and Nostalgia As the toy car industry exploded, new companies entered the market -- but the Matchbox/Hot Wheels rivalry remained front and center for collectors and distributors alike. In the second part of this special two-part episode, we explore what happened to ...
05.23.2023 We Got Super Into Toy Cars, Part One: Matchbox versus Hot Wheels Remember toy cars? Ben, Noel and Max investigate the surprisingly weird evolution of old-school, die-cast car models from their origins to the modern day, ultimately asking what happened to the fad. Bonus points for everyone taking a Matchbox or Hot ...
05.18.2023 Why The Creator of Mother's Day Got So Mad About Mothers' Day Continuing our grand tradition of being a bit late to things, we celebrate Mother's Day with an exploration of the multiple women -- activists, poets, and heroes -- responsible for creating a tradition that continues across the world in the ...
05.16.2023 Micronations: Monaco is More than a Casino! For the vast majority of the world, Monaco seems like something out of a billionaire's fever dream -- completely surrounded by France, this tiny country is perhaps best known for the wealth of its residents and its opulent approach to ...
05.11.2023 Fonts They Love to Hate, Part Two: Papyrus, Times New Roman and Beyond From serif to san, from kerning to Krueger, it turns out people have some pretty extreme opinions about fonts. In part two of this special two-part episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the nature of print. Papyrus, New Times Roman, ...
05.09.2023 Fonts They Love to Hate, Part One: Origins of Comic Sans While many people outside of graphic design may not think about fonts in a conscious manner, it turns out the way a word is depicted can have a huge impact on how you process the information. In the first part ...
05.04.2023 Even More Ridiculous Royal Deaths As the old saying goes, it's good to be king -- unfortunately, it can also be pretty dangerous. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore strange royal deaths, from a mysterious accident/assassination to a fatal chair, a drunken boat ...
05.02.2023 A (Completely Different) History of Sampling: Free Stuff In the ridiculous aftermath of their series on music samples, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the scrumptious, weird history of everything from free samples in grocery stores to the bizarre evolution of freebies in general. Strap in, Ridiculous Historians: ...
04.27.2023 A History of Sampling, Part Two: Creativity in Court What happens when your favorite artist uses a sample in their own work? Are they merely inspired, or are they stealing? In the second part of this special two-part episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the -- wait for it ...
04.25.2023 A History of Sampling, Part One: An Origin Story In the world of music, sampling is somewhere between an art and a science. In this week's special two-part episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the strange, fascinating evolution of sampling, from the early days of cutting physical tape to ...
04.20.2023 How Did Monster Trucks Become a Thing? Even if you're not a fan of cars or racing, you've heard of monster trucks -- they're the huge, modded vehicles famous for committing acts of wanton destruction in arenas and stadiums across the United States. In today's episode, Ben, ...
04.18.2023 The Ridiculous, Scrumptious Desserts of Mardi Gras From the epic parade to the krewes and flambeaux, Mardi Gras is a celebration chock-full of tradition -- and these traditions include some pretty amazing desserts. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the most ridiculous Mardi Gras ...
04.13.2023 The Amazing History of Japanese Toys, Part Two: The World Takeover As Matsuzo Kosuge struggled to keep his business afloat amid the chaos of war, he became incredibly inventive, using cast-off beer and soup cans as raw materials and setting up shop in abandoned cattle sheds. In the second part of ...

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