Anne of Cleves or Anne of Catfish? This minisode pays homage to Anne of Cleves, wifey #4 to King Henry VIII—namely the portrait of her by Hans Holbein the Younger. Was Anne really the most unattractive of Henry’s wives? Did Holbein really pull one over on his murdery boss by engaging in too much Renaissance face-tuning? How many people died as a result? Come for the thumb ring, stay in spite of Henry VIII's weird definition of "sister."

Minisode features the gorgeous song "Sheltered Swan" by Sascha Ende.

THE QUEEN IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! This episode is a deep dive into one of the few oil paintings that can claim TikTok fame: the Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche, which has been a beloved fixture of the National Gallery in London for decades. Come for the so-called Nine Days’ Queen, stay in spite of the 15-minute tangent about the Third Act of Succession.

This episode is a deep dive into the so-called “Holy Grail of Shipwrecks”: the San Jose Galleon. Come for the Dutch gin bottles and hypothetical emeralds, stay in spite of the monster demon fish (dolphins) and my meltdown over dodgy research methodologies.

Episode features track "Enigmatic and Alluring" by Universfield, sourced from Freesound.

An ancient shipwreck, filled with magnificent treasures from around the world--every maritime archaeologist's dream, right? But when does dream become delusion? Join me for the podcast's longest (!) ever (!!) episode (!!!), during which we take a DEEP DIVE (ha) into Damien Hirst and the 2017 Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable exhibition. Come for the blow-by-blow of the documentary, stay in spite of my wine-induced gullibility.

shownotes: https://stuffaboutthingspodcast.com/2024/08/19/episode-41-damien-hirst-the-wreck-of-the-unbelievable/

**insert Jaws theme song here** A new episode swimmin’ straight for you! This one features the classic trio: sharks, death, and formaldehyde. That is to say, it is a deep dive (ha) into Damien Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, AKA The Shark One. Come for facts about optimal methods for shark taxidermy, stay in spite of the bleeped f-bombs.

Please note that this track contains the occasional spot of spicy adult language. Those words have been superficially bleeped, but if listened to on 1.25x or 1.5x speed, the bleeps become ineffective.

🌊🗿 🌊🗿🌊 The emojis say it all: this episode is a deep dive into the monolithic moai of Rapa Nui—also known as Easter Island. Come for the in-depth discussion of how generations of Rapanui (i.e. the people of Rapa Nui) made and moved moai; stay in spite of the bad puns about 🌋 volcanoes 🌋.

The wave noises are courtesy of Tim Kahn via FreeSound.

As R.L. Stein would say, “Say 🧀 and ☠️!” In this episode, it’s more like “The 💀👻 say 🧀!” This episode explores the strange world of spirit photography, a whacky offshoot of early photography that had its heyday in the 1860s and 1870s. Come for the lite sarcasm regarding Spiritualism, stay in spite of the primordial ooze.

Ahoy hoy! A new minisode is upon thee: the early history of photography! Come for the history, stay in spite of the science (or vice versa). Episode 38 will follow in about 3 weeks. Until then, your girl is headed on vacation.

All aboard! This minisode covers a trifecta of Titanic gemstones and the diamond links that may--or may not--bind them. Come for information about a movie prop and its replicas, stay in spite of the very bad dramatic rendition of the interlude from Britney Spears's 2000 masterpiece of a music video, Oops I Did It Again!

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Marilyn Monroe and Madonna told me so! That is… unless those diamonds are cursed! This episode is a deep-dive into the Hope Diamond, a 45.52 carat blue diamond in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Come for an almost too-thorough history, stay for stories about a blingy great dane named Mike.