Stuff You Missed in History Class

Holly and Tracy talk about the angry-making aspects of the Millar will's aftermath, and discuss the only Black participants in the derby. They also discuss the intriguing life of Lucy Parsons, including her very complicated identity and behaviors.

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Parsons was an activist focused on improving the lives of workers, poor people, immigrants, and people who were unemployed or homeless. The Chicago Police Department described her as more dangerous than a thousand rioters.

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Toronto’s Great Stork derby of the 1920s and 1930s is often reported with a bit of whimsy. But classism, right to privacy, exploitation, the role of women in society, racial superiority, eugenics, and reproductive rights have been left out of the discussion. 

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This 2018 episode covers what's often held up as one of history's great love stories - Plutarch wrote that Pericles kissed Aspasia every single day. And that's very sweet and romantic, but their high-profile relationship was central to a key period in Greek history.

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Tracy and Holly discuss the difficulty in examining sociological texts as part of research. They also recount their first encounters with the work of Moms Mabley, and her incredible timing in telling jokes that were often incredibly daring for their time.

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Moms Mabley’s career lasted more than six decades. She was hugely influential, and inspired so many comedians and other performers who came after her. But outside of her work, a lot of the details of her life are a mystery, and there are some contradictory accounts of a particularly traumatic part of her early life.  

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In the early 18th century, Britain needed money. In 1711, the South Sea Company was established to try to manage this debt, and the heart of the debt consolidation the company arranged was a debt-for-equity swap that did NOT keep the nation from incurring more debt. 

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This 2018 episode Shirley Chisolm, who was politically active starting during her college years. Her drive and desire to make positive change led her to many political firsts, including being the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

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Holly and Tracy discuss their relationships with the various foods from our third eponymous foods episode. They also discuss the surprising aspects of Peter Roget's life story, including some which didn't make it into his episode. .

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Peter Roget was a doctor and scientist who really liked putting things into classification systems. His life was very dramatic well before he came up with the book that is his legacy.

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