In a delayed salute to America’s 250th, we take a look this week at the couple whose certified VILLAINY nearly ended the Revolution and the nation itself: Benedict and Peggy Arnold. Learn about Benedict’s early heroics, Peggy’s sassy bratty kind-of-iconic upbringing, the espionage and wheeling and dealing that led to Benedict’s betrayal of the American cause and defection to the British, and speculate why we’re sitting on the floor instead of on the couch directly behind us. Tangents include Tim Gunn, Fergie national anthem, the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT, and an absolutely insane photo of Jared’s butt.

SOURCES

"From hero to traitor: Benedict Arnold’s day of infamy", National Constitution Center, September 21, 2020

A LESSER TRAGEDY OF ARNOLD'S TREASON, Florie Hutson Heyward, New York Times, March 15, 1931

"Benedict Arnold", National Parks Service

Robinson, J. (2012). Benedict Arnold: American Hero, American Villain. On Point, 18(1), 36–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26363381

"Valiant Ambition: An Interview with Nathaniel Philbrick", George Washington's Mount Vernon

Letter from Benedict Arnold to the Inhabitants of America (1780)

"A Philadelphia Belle’s Fateful Marriage to a Traitor", Nancy Rubin Stuart, The Saturday Evening Post, February 13, 2024

"Margaret 'Peggy' Shippen Arnold", New-York Historical Society

"The Spying Lady Shippen", History Design Lab, Oberlin College, Eliza Greenbaum

Treacherous beauty : Peggy Shippen, the woman behind Benedict Arnold's plot to betray America by Mark Jacob and Stephen Chase (2012)

The Colonial Mean Girl Who Almost Ended America

Benedict Arnold and The Battle of Quebec | The American Revolution | PBS

Benedict Arnold Turns Traitor and Defects to the British | The American Revolution | PBS

Benedict Arnold's Raid on Richmond

Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered. Interview: James Kirby Martin

Nathaniel Philbrick, "Valiant Ambition"

14. Heroes and Villains

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the pod, the brilliant buxom scholaress Madison Albertson returns to teach us a thing or two about “living history”, the school of thought behind such storied American museums as Colonial Williamsburg, Plimoth Patuxet, and many others. What do these places teach us about history that books alone don’t? Where did the idea for them come from? How do they shape how we remember our past? And will they hire Jared to sit in a chair and sew? Tangents include Sheetz vs. Wawa, boob shelves, losing your Game Boy in a hospital waiting room, and the best ways to mourn a totaled 2010 Prius.

SOURCES

• George Washington Birthplace National Monument
• Here, George Washington Was Born : Memory, Material Culture, and the Public History of a National Monument, University of Georgia Press, 2008
• Creating Colonial Williamsburg: The Restoration of Virginia's Eighteenth Century Capital by Anders Greenspan
• “To Live Like a Slave” by Curtia James

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part two of our series on mother-daughter showbiz legends Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, we explore how Liza overcame grief and addiction, emerged from her mother's shadow as a fully formed artist, and defended the rights of the LGBTQ community through a career that has spanned seven decades! Tangents include whether we’d have sex with a clone of ourselves, a vaccine for lesbianism, and the wonders of the Cape Cod Melody Tent.

SOURCES

• Liza Minnelli Tells All In Exclusive PEOPLE Interview: 'If I Can Laugh, I Can Get Through Anything' - People Magazine, Liz McNeil, February 2026
• Be Kind Rewind - Best Actress 1973: Liza Minnelli wins for Cabaret
• Liza Minelli: ‘I’m Telling It All’ by Liz McNeil and Greg Gorman - People Magazine, March 2026
• “Place, space, and queer iconicity: Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)” by Marie Josephine Bennett (2025)
• Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story (2024), dir. Bruce David Klein
• “Liza’s New York” by Elisa Lipsky-Karasz, Harper’s Bazaar, March 2011

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re not saying they’re bigger than Jesus, but we’re not not saying that either. In our first ever two-part series, Abe and Jared examine the lives of a mother-daughter duo whose names are synonymous with “gay icon”: showbiz legends Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli. In part one, Jared pulls us on a pepped up prance down the Yellow Brick Road to explore Judy’s impact on film and music as well as her personal struggles and comebacks, all with the goal of finally understanding why the queers (especially him) love her so much. Tangents include our first group of haters, The Greatest Showman being the worst movie ever, and Abe getting anxious at the Mermaid Parade.

SOURCES

• Judy Garland on The Dick Cavett Show | The Dick Cavett Show
• Judy Garland Beyond The Rainbow | 1997 A&E Biography Special Premiere FULL with Original Commercials Judy Garland COMPLETE 1967 Interview
• Judy Garland - It's All For You - The Tonight Show - Johnny Carson
• Slayyyter & Judy Garland - CRANK GOES THE TROLLEY The Chaos Behind The Wizard of Oz (and why it turned out ok anyway)
• Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall: The Greatest Night in Entertainment History
• Decoder Ring podcast, "Friend of Dorothy: Why do gay people love Judy Garland so much?", Slate magazine, February 10, 2020 How Does a Pop Girl Earn "Gay Icon" Status? By Derek Deng, Byrdie, May 7, 2026
• What Does It Take to Be a Gay Icon Today? by Steven Frank, September 25, 2007
• Judy Garland: By Myself, American Masters PBS, 2004.

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did a corrupted video file ruin an hour of footage from this episode? Yes. Would we ever let that stop us? No. In the 80s and 90s, a pack of queer party animals burst into NYC’s backrooms, bringing a haze of gritty glamour, fashion, drugs, and dance wherever they went. They were the Club Kids; RuPaul, Richie Rich, Amanda LePore, Waltpaper, just to name a few. Join us as we dive into the club kids’ scene, exploring who they were, why they were so sensational, what impacts they had on queer culture, and how their era came to a crushing, violent end. Tangents include making a baby gay cry, Mitchell Musso, pansexual king Wayne Brady, and being lifelong fans of the NBA champion New York Knicks.

SOURCES

• Party Monster: The Shockumentary
• Michael Alig & NYC Club Kids on Geraldo 1994 "Beyond the Glitz & Glamour"
• Michael Alig NYC Club Kids on Geraldo 1992
• New York Club Kids on Phil Donahue talkshow 1993 (complete TV show)
• Club Kids fashion show Joan Rivers
• RuPaul Welcome Back Party
• RuPaul Explains The Difficulties of Go-Go Dancing in 1988
• The 5 Ninth Avenue Project
• “Walt Cassidy Walks Us Through the Wild Glamorama of New York City’s Club Kids”, Interview magazine, Christopher Bollen, September 3, 2019
• Vivacious interview for Standard Hotels, January 25, 2019
• “Michael Musto on the Prevailing Influence of Club Kid Fashion”, The Fader, Marissa G. Muller, May 2, 2014
• "After Prison, No After-Hours", New York Times, Kevin Gray, May 14, 2014
• Michael Alig interview in Interview magazine, Christopher Bollen, April 19, 2010
• "Club Kids: An Aesthetic Emphasised by Outrageousness, Fabulousness, and Sex", February 15, 2022
• "Club USA - Dazzling Photos From 1990s Glitziest NYC Club", Patch
• “What Michael Alig’s Club Kids Are Doing Now” by William Van Meter, New York magazine, May 20, 2014

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

POV: you’re at the sickest rave of your life. Candles flickering. Incense burning. Gregorians chanting. The place: Vatican City. The year: 1492. The man behind it all: Pope Alexander VI aka Rodrigo Borgia.

This week, we return to a place of pope as we tell the story of the most ruthless family in papal history. Hear about the depravity and delusion of the entire Borgia clan in an episode rife with sex and greed, two of Jared’s favorite things. And please PLEASE don’t ask why Abe is wearing sunglasses inside. It’s a private matter. Tangents include Kermit the Frog’s nephew Robin, the show Vikings, Pope Leo blind item, and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem.

SOURCES:

• The Bad Popes by E.R. Chamberlin
• The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
• Hillgarth, J. N. (1996). The Image of Alexander VI and Cesare Borgia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 59, 119–129. https://doi.org/10.2307/751400
• “The Borgias” In Our Time podcast, BBC Radio 4 https://open.spotify.com/episode/10PVoxVIv1iTSt56TNSqpC?si=TI7DR1a-TNOaoNPMWJ6QSA
• Najemy, J. M. (2013). Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia: A Reconsideration of Chapter 7 of “The Prince.” The Review of Politics, 75(4), 539–556. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43670906
• Lucrezia Borgia: Poison, Power, and Papal Scandal | Full Documentary | Biography
• Pope Alexander VI: The Infamous "Borgia Pope"

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Fake it 'til you make it”, right? Well Bernie Madoff faked it so hard he was sentenced to 150 years in prison! Come with us on a journey through the worst financial crime in US history (that we know of), the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, where one man with a crippling fear of failure scammed thousands of people out of a sickening amount of money (we’re talking tens of billions, girl.) Tangents include but are not limited to the concept of renting a home, crying over dog poop, Sam Levinson and his dad, and whether Abe will marry Claudia or Jared for a different passport.

SOURCES

• A Case Study of a Con Man by Diana Henriques (2018)
• Bernie Madoff and the largest known Ponzi scheme in history | 60 Minutes
• The Madoff Affair (full documentary) | FRONTLINE PBS
• “Latest Batch Of Payouts To 25,000 Victims Of Madoff Ponzi Scheme Total Almost $160 Million” by James Farrell, Forbes 2023
• The Wizard of Lies (2017) dir. Barry Levinson

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever wonder why your Republican uncle suddenly cares so much about monuments?

In this episode, Jared, Abe, & special guest Madison Albertson (scholar, lesbian, and friend of the pod) explore the story of "the Lost Cause", a nationalist myth originating in the post civil-war South that paints the Confederate movement as moral, just, and TOTALLY NOT about slavery. Follow along as we dive into the myth's origins, its influence of American racial politics, and its lasting legacy in teenage vampire films across the decades. Tangents include the gayness of the Sherlock Holmes movie, the inner workings of lesbian intercourse, William Howard Taft, and the song "Memory" from Cats.

SOURCES:

• Mythhistory and Other Essays by William H McNeill
• Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory by David W Blight
• Confederates in The Attic by Tony Horwitz
• Dixie’s Daughters: The United Daughters of The Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture by Karen L. Cox
• White Rage By Karen L Cox
• The Birth of a Nation (1915) Dir. D.W. Griffith
• Not Even Past: The Stories We Keep Telling about the Civil War by Cody Marrs
• “Curse of a Nation” | History Colorado
• "Unnameable Objects, Unspeakable Crimes" by James Baldwin, 1965
• https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/civil-war-casualties
• https://virginiahistory.org/learn/how-did-civilians-suffer
• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/reconstruction-rebuilding-south-after-war/
• https://hqudc.org/about/diversity-in-defense-of-the-south/
• https://fairfieldfoundation.org/witness-to-change-the-rise-and-fall-of-monument-avenues-confederate-statues/
• https://youtu.be/dOkFXPblLpU?si=6N4UcqVkZpgAhodw

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s not enough to be a deadbeat dad if you want to be an artist. You also have to be obsessed with the sea. This week, we take center stage and explore the life of storied American playwright Eugene O’Neill. Digging into his methods, inspirations, artistry, horrible family life, and dismal performance as a husband and father, we discover the visionary voice of this brooding genius, and learn that sometimes it pays to be sad! Tangents include but are not limited to mpreg, the illustrious city of Toronto, Charlie Chaplin being gross, and Flight starring Denzel Washington.

SOURCES:

Eugene O'Neill - A Glory of Ghosts - Part I

Eugene O'Neill - A Glory of Ghosts - Part II

The Hunted and the Haunted: Reflections on Eugene O'Neill with Dr. Gary Vena

The Gelbs on O'Neill - Charlie Rose

Tony Kushner on Eugene O'Neill - Library of America

Christopher Plummer as James Tyrone - Long Day's Journey into Night

Eugene O’Neill: A Documentary Film by Ric Burns, American Experience PBS

O’Neill: Life With Monte Cristo by Barabra & Arthur Gelb

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Remember: just because you sit on the throne of Saint Peter doesn’t mean you can’t have a pet elephant or turn your palace into a brothel. This week, Jared and Abe plumb the depths of medieval history to explore the lurid, lascivious reigns of the un-holy men who led the Catholic Church. Yes, we’re talking about some BAD POPES. Tangents include but are not limited to Polish face, the snail-like Lombards, Julian Fellowes, and the ethical implications of sleeping with your friend’s older brother.

SOURCES

The Bad Popes by E.R. Chamberlin

“On Pornocracy” by Stefan Mattessich

“TV’s Young Pope Is Scandalous, But the Real Youngest Pope Has the 'Worst Reputation'” by Ashley Hoffman, TIME Magazine

Pope Leo X: The Most Extravagant Pope in History

The 1527 Sack of Rome

THAT'S HISTORY, BABE! is hosted by Abe Merker and Jared Tetreau. This episode was produced by Jared Tetreau, Abe Merker, and Claudia Chiossone. Research Assistance by Madison Albertson. Music by Kinneret. Series Artwork by Sid Lugo. Intro Animations by Gemma Hill.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.