Ridiculous History

By iHeartPodcastsSociety & Culture History

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Ridiculous History episodes

January 07, 2021 Weird 21st Century Predictions from Ages Past, Part 2: Your Personal Plane, A World Without Disaster and Retiring on the Moon

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51 min
January 05, 2021 Weird 21st Century Predictions from Ages Past, Part 1: Tesla, Square Tomatoes and Pseudosteak
It's the first Ridiculous History episode of the New Year! Ben, Noel and Casey are ringing it in with some predictions--not their own predictions, mind you. Instead the guys are diving into the predictions of luminaries from ages past, exploring how much (or how little) these historical figures got right about the 21st century.

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38 min
December 31, 2020 The Old Rituals of New Years, Part 2: Neuroscience, Resolutions and the Rick Steves Fan Club
What a year, right? If you're listening to today's episode, you have (almost) officially survived. I'm ringing in 2021 with Noel, Casey and the rest of our Ridiculous Historians in this, the second part of our exploration into the very old roots of very New Years.

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31 min
December 24, 2020 Holiday Classic: When the Puritans Canceled Christmas
Nowadays Christmas is a globally-recognized holiday celebrated by millions of people, but in the past this wasn't the case. In fact, some groups of Christians detested the holiday, going so far as to ban it completely. So what led Puritans to ban one of the most prominent celebrations in the Christian faith? Join Ben and Noel as they take a closer look at the strange story of Puritans and Christmas in this classic episode.

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29 min
December 22, 2020 Holiday Classic: The Strange History of Antarctic Fruitcake
Nowadays fruitcake is considered a stereotypical, often comical holiday punchline, but even in the modern day people across the planet can agree on at least one fruitcake fact: Those things are pretty darn durable! So how long could a fruitcake really last before it becomes inedible? Join Ben and Noel as they travel to Antarctica to find out in this classic episode.

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30 min
December 18, 2020 Goodyear and the Mystery of the Ghost Blimp
In 1942, a U.S. Navy airship flew out over the Pacific to search for Japanese submarines. It lost radio contact and, hours later, slowly crashed in the San Franciscan suburbs. Inside the gondola, everything seemed to be in order -- the parachutes were there, the instrumentation was functioning... but two-person crew was missing. To this day, no one knows exactly what happened aboard the L-8 Ghost Blimp.

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40 min
December 15, 2020 Benito Mussolini was Super into Wearable Milk
Today Benito Mussolini is probably best known as the founder of Italy's National Fascist Party, but he was also very, very into milk. So much so, in fact, that he funneled tons of funding into a strange new process: the creation of wearable milk. Lanital, as it was known, was wool-like in appearance, and, for a time, quite successful! So where are all our milk skirts and milk trousers now? Listen in to learn more.

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42 min
December 11, 2020 Snowmen as Protest: The Miracle of 1511
During the brutal winter of 1511, residents of Brussels built more than one hundred snowmen... and these sculptures weren't the type of snow sculpture you see in the modern day. Instead, the city was filled with satirical, often lewd displays critiquing the city's rulers, its poor and its working class alike. Tune in to learn more about that time snowmen became something like a citywide protest and widespread insult comedy.

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30 min
December 09, 2020 Introducing: 'Uprising: A Guide From Portland'
Background and breakdown on 100 days of Portland insurrection, going in to the background, history of the current protests breaking down the struggles, successes and infrastructure that has made the uprising in Portland possible.
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3 min
December 09, 2020 Why are Chimney Sweeps good luck at weddings?
It seems odd, at first - the idea that a random chimney cleaner might pass by a wedding, then be brought into the party, shake sooty hands with the couple, and bless random people on the street. Yet the profession of cleaning chimneys carries generations of tradition, superstition and belief.

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40 min

About Ridiculous History

From the publisher's feed

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…