In 1897, Swedish engineer and aeronaut Salomon August Andrée led two other men on a hot air balloon expedition to the North Pole that quickly went incredibly awry. After crashing their balloon in a literal no man's land, the three had to fend off the harsh elements, polar bears, and the decay of their own sanity for months before ultimately succumbing to their bitter demise. The entire misfortune was documented through journals and hundreds of photographs that were found decades later and serves as a cautionary tale to never trust a glory chaser.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

What's the most important battle in American history? Gettysburg? D-Day? Saratoga? Nah. It's the Battle of St. Louis, a little-known Revolutionary War battle between St. Louis's drunken, anti-social citizens and a British and Indian force looking to take the Mississippi River for King George. The battle's outcome forever changed the course of history on the western half of the North American continent. For America. For Mexico. For Canada. For Indians. We break down the battle and explain its ramifications. 

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

Pope Benedict IX is often regarded as one of the worst men to take the papal throne. He ascended to the chair of Saint Peter at the age of twenty in 1032 after his old man bought him the position and he proceeded to indulge in habitual sins of the flesh, theft, murder, and even sold his power to the highest bidder. Benny was pontiff three times over the stretch of 16 years, survived assassination attempts and coups, and turned the vatican into a brothel. Find out why many in the Catholic Church refer to him as "a demon from hell disguised in priest clothing." 

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

Enjoy the original Softcore History sketches "Hole Ball" and "The Diary of Helen Slaggerman" and subscribe to our Patreon -- patreon.com/softcorehistory -- for YEARS of evergreen history content including more sketches like these, podcasts, game shows, watch-alongs, and more.

To fully end the Roman Republic and become Emperor Caesar Augustus, the young, wealthy patrician Octavian needed to get rid of the last man standing in his way: Mark Antony. But how could Octavian turn Rome against the Republic’s most decorated war hero and combat veteran — and Julius Caesar’s top lieutenant? Launch a propaganda campaign that said, “Actually, I’m a true strong Roman and this guy is a soft little b*tch now.” And… it worked! (In large part thanks to Mark Antony being awful at politics. And even worse, in love.)

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

The practice of rectal fumigation was a common medical practice in the 17th and 18th centuries that included tobbaco and smoke enamas to treat bowel obstruction, constipation, and even attempt to resusitate still born babies. We dive into one of the many reasons no one trusted doctors for a very, very long time.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

Herodotus was a Greek historian and geographer often regarded as the "Father of History" who detailed the Greco-Persian War and his explorations throughout the ancient world. Many peers of his time found his works to be greatly exaggerated, misunderstandings, or totally false. Modern historians have grown to appreciate his accounts of events and see him in a more positive light. Hate him or love him, Herodotus pioneered the entire field of History.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

When the United States entered World War 1 no one was quite sure what to expect. What the Germans definitely didn't expect was a bunch of Doughboys armed with Winchester Model 97 pump-action shotguns -- aka Trench Brooms -- blasting gaping holes in their soldiers. The use of these shotguns became so infamous and terrifying that the Kaiser complained, officially, that using them was a war crime. We break down the real info behind these shotguns and how they were used in the First World War.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code SOFTCORE at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod

Mithridates VI was the King of Pontus from 120 to 63 BC who biohacked his body into immunity from poison, survived being struck by lightning with nothing more than a tiny scar, and became a huge thorn in the side of the Roman Empire. 

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.

Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester

Never meet your heroes? How about never try to be friends with your fans. Charles Dickens found this out the hardest way possible when he let his fanboy and fellow famous author Hans Christian Andersen (The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling) stay at his house for what was supposed to be a two-week visit. Five weeks later the Danish fairy tale author had exhausted the Dickens family with his aggressively socially awkward personality and bizarre Danish customs. 

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.

Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month.


Visit Indochino.com and use code SOFTCORE to get 10% off any purchase of $399 or more.

Get 15% off OneSkin with the code SOFTCORE at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod

Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree
https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree

Dan Regester
https://www.instagram.com/danregester/
https://twitter.com/dan_regester