The Past and The Curious: A History Podcast for Kids and Families

By Mick Sullivan

Kids & Family

What's The Past and The Curious: A History Podcast for Kids and Families about?

A History Podcast for Kids! Parents love us, Teachers love us, and most importantly, kids do too!
History can be amazing, inspiring and relevant to anyone. We love to share the stories of Spies, funny foods, George Washington's foibles, early advancements in cartooning and ballooning and much more! A professional music score and important songs accompany nearly every themed episode. Proud Kids Listen Member @pastandcurious

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Episode 75 Underwear Roundu...

01.30.2023

Here's two more underwear stories that aren't in the the book I See Lincoln's Underpants (which is now available!) First Benedict Arnold betrays the American Army but gets caught thanks to something hiding in someone's underwear. Also When NASA planned ...

The Past and The Curious: A History Podcast for Kids and Families episodes:

01.30.2023 Episode 75 Underwear Roundup with Benedict Arnold, Abram Spanel and the Playtex Space Suit Here's two more underwear stories that aren't in the the book I See Lincoln's Underpants (which is now available!) First Benedict Arnold betrays the American Army but gets caught thanks to something hiding in someone's underwear. Also When NASA planned ...
01.17.2023 Underwear Chronicles Fourteen: Al Capone The last installment of The Underwear Chronicles - to celebrate the release of I See Lincoln's Underpants now available from booksellers! Al Capone grew up somewhere in the middle of a big family. Hand me downs were a way of ...
12.29.2022 Episode 74: Eggs! In the 2000s an anonymous American man found an egg worth millions. It was a Faberge Imperial Egg and it's story is fascinating. This episode traces the origin of the Faberge Eggs, and also the story of how it wound ...
11.28.2022 Episode 73: Video Games! Ralph Baer fled Nazi Germany and settled in America where he eventually created the first home video game console, known as the Magnavox Odyssey. Not long after Ralph's creation, Jerry Lawson, a Black computer engineer, built on that idea and ...
11.20.2022 Underwear Chronicles Thirteen Garrett Morgan The penultimate episode of The Underwear Chronicles (soon to be the book I See Lincoln's Underpants) revisits inventor and leader Garrett Morgan. We've covered Garrett Before, but not like this! The Paris, Kentucky-born man would change the world in profound ...
10.27.2022 Episode 72: Rufus vs. Poe Edgar Allan Poe is about as famous as an author can be, but that might be owed largely to Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Rufus didn't really like Poe and wrote a scathing obituary and biography on the man, creating the dark ...
10.16.2022 Underwear Chronicles Twelve: Buzz Aldrin Episode twelve of the Fourteen episode series features Buzz Aldrin. Buzz had a great nickname and pair of underwear to match it, but things didn't work out the way they were supposed to when he became the second man to ...
09.30.2022 Episode 71: Houdini and Grandma Moses Harry Houdini almost quit and sold his tricks and secrets in 1899. It was good that he didn’t because in the 1900s he became a household name as the greatest escape artist in the world. It was a chance encounter ...
09.19.2022 Underwear Chronicles Eleven: John Wesley Powell A scientist who lost his arm in the American Civil War wants to conquer The Grand Canyon. He needs a life-saving assist from his friends underwear. From the Upcoming Book "I See Lincoln's Underpants" due in the winter of 2022-23.
08.30.2022 Episode 70: Matthew Henson and Some Bananas Slipping on banana peels was really a thing! Even Theodore Roosevelt got involved! Also, Black explorer Matthew Henson was quite possibly the first man to step on the North Pole. He also crossed paths with Mr. Roosevelt.
08.17.2022 Underwear Chronicles Ten: Queen Victoria From Mick's upcoming book (end of 2022) "I See Lincoln's Underpants," this chapter focuses on Queen Victoria's life, preferred underwear, and also a pesky boy who takes to breaking and entering in Buckingham Palace.
07.30.2022 Episode 69 Sled Dogs (A Mashup Special) A special mashup with our friends from Cool Facts About Animals. Mick tells the tale of the Great Serum Run of 1925 in two parts. When a Diphtheria epidemic threatens the small and far-off town of Nome Alaska, the only ...
07.13.2022 Underwear Chronicles Nine: Otzi the Iceman Who knew an ancient man frozen in his underwear could trigger international conflict? Otzi's accidental discovery was quite a find for science, and many are grateful that a glacier gobbled him up thousands of years ago!
06.29.2022 Episode 68: Lost And Found Two kids, at two time and two places, find two remarkable things. One starts the first Gold Rush in America and the other leads to a Cold War spy ring! The stories of Conrad Reed and Jimmy Bozart - and ...
06.16.2022 Underwear Chronicles Eight: Amelia Bloomer Despite being the namesake of an article of clothing that we commonly think of as underwear, Amelia Bloomer did not invent bloomers. To further the cause of Women’s Rights and to fight for the right to vote (in addition to ...
05.29.2022 Underwear Chronicles Seven: Annette Kellerman Annette Kellerman was a swimmer from Australia who rose to stardom for her speed and grace, but also changed the world of swimsuits. She once performed in front of England's Royal family, thanks to some clever underwear re-engineering.
04.29.2022 Episode 67: Violet Jessop, The Effie Afton, and more Shipwrecks Violet Jessop survived not one, not two, but three shipwrecks involving White Star Line's incredible Olympic-class ships, including the Titanic. The Effie Afton was not so lucky. This steamboat was part of the struggle between railroads and riverboats, and she ...
04.19.2022 Underwear Chronicles Six: Charles Lee Charles Lee was George Washington's "Frenemy," and his duplicitous behavior got him caught with his pants down.
03.30.2022 Episode 66: Weather Wonders Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita played an important role in understanding the impact of the atomic bombs of WWII. He brought that knowledge to America and applied it to understanding, and protecting people from, tornados. Also, Charles Hatfield was a "Rainmaker" whose ...
03.14.2022 Underwear Chronicles Five: Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln wore some pretty plain underwear. We know because they made a few "surprise appearances." NEWSFLASH: The Underwear Chronicles are gonna be a book nd our Kickstarter is open through March of 2022. Jump on it, if you like ...
02.28.2022 Episode 65: Samuel And J.C. The year 1913 saw the births of two incredible Black Americans. One was Samuel Wilbert Tucker, a Civil Rights pioneer and all-around incredible person. The other was James Cleveland Owens, who came to be known as Jesse. A few years ...
02.16.2022 Underwear Chronicles Four: Satchel Paige Satchel Paige went from burlap hand-me-downs to silk patterned boxers. Along the way we came one of the most dynamic baseball players in history.
01.30.2022 Episode 64: Oh, So Many Birds! Eugene Schieffelin filled American skies with Starlings, who replaced the Passenger Pigeons that once (literally) darkened the skies. John James Audubon's obsession helped him create a very expensive book. This episode is about birds, and a whole lot more. Featuring ...
01.18.2022 Underwear Chronicles Three: Buster Keaton Buster Keaton could take a fall like no one else, and that skill carried him from the Vaudeville stages to the movie screen. He made people laugh, dazzled them with stunts, and fought a fire in his undies.
12.29.2021 Episode 63: More Accidents, More Toys Chance has given us some great toys. Explore the accident that led to Silly Putty, the chance repurposing that led to Silly Putty, a few men who stumbled upon them, and two women who figured out what the substances should ...
12.15.2021 Underwear Chronicles Two: Marie Antoinette The famed Queen of France had several run-ins with underwear. She also had run-ins with smallpox, ladies-in-waiting, an awkward young prince, catty couriers, and ultimately, the guillotine. If nothing else, this episode will help you appreciate your privacy.
11.27.2021 Episode 62: Chance Encounters Train stations are busy places and two notable men had very remarkable (and dramatic)encounters in stations during the 1860s. Thomas Edison met a mentor, and Robert Lincoln met a Shakespearean actor named Booth. Also features a You Have 30 Seconds ...
11.15.2021 Underwear Chronicles 1: Up, Up, and Away With Their Clothes Jean-Pierre Blanchard (1753-1809) and John Jeffries (1744-1819) Aeronauts, International Record Setters, Nearly Naked Travelers In the first release from our monthly true tale of underwear history, we meet two early aeronauts who became the first to fly internationally. And the ...
10.28.2021 Episode 61: A Queen and Some Witches Marina Raskova set world flying records, survived an epic plane crash, and was a trailblazer for generations of female pilots in Russia. With her help, The Night Witches became the most feared fliers of World War 2. Adelaide Herrmann was ...
09.29.2021 Episode 60 Big Ideas: Professor TSC Lowe and John Cleves Symmes Jr Professor TSC Lowe (who was not a professor at all) had visions for a transatlantic balloon flight. He never succeeded in that but he did wind up as the Chief Aeronaut of the Balloon Corps during the American Civil War. ...
08.30.2021 Episode 59: Safety with Books The 1939 World's Fair brought a special visitor from England: an original copy of Magna Carta, but with World War II in full swing, America couldn't send it back. So the had to babysit the priceless document, which got more ...
07.29.2021 Episode 58 Origin Stories And Gold Medals Origin stories, comic mis-starts, and medal-winning moments are highlighted in this episode featuring two unlikely international star athletes. Canada's Bobbie Rosenfeld overcame, among other things, small pox and very large pants to run her way into history - not just ...
07.03.2021 Bonus Episode! Knox Says Yes Henry Knox is a name not many people know, but he was a pretty amazing bookseller turned soldier during the Revolutionary War. Released in honor of July 4th - but you can listen anywhere and anytime - still a good ...
06.28.2021 Episode 57: On Horseback! This episode tells the stories of Sibyl Ludington and Charley Willis. Sybil's well-known story is amazing, yet it lacks a lot of primary sources, and we use that as a way to introduce thinking about the past with a critical ...
05.26.2021 Episode 56 Eugene And Django in Paris Django Reinhardt was a Romani musician who, despite losing the use of two of his fingers was one of the most important musicians of his time. His contemporary and fellow Parisian was a man named Eugene Bullard. This American-born man ...
04.27.2021 Episode 55 Telescopes And Stars Edwin Hubble changed our view of the Solar System, but he was also a collegiate National Champion basketball player and high school coach. He also dealt with the struggles of freezing his face to a telescope. Anything for Science! George ...
03.26.2021 Episode 54: Gold! Levi Strauss left his native Germany to escape discrimination, and then left New York for the opportunities of the American West. He lost some gold, but changed the world with his pants partnership. Ferminia Sarras was a miner from Nicaragua ...
02.24.2021 Episode 53: Sophie And Willa No one could have predicted that Sophie Blanchard would become France's leading aeronaut, but she flew higher than any woman before her. Willa Brown was the first Black woman to earn a pilot's license in America, but her accomplishments didn't ...
01.26.2021 Episode 52 Food Fight The Oyster Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay contend with the Toe Nail Governor and his mission to protect the oysters from extinction. A few years later, a new Food Fight erupts in middle America. This one is about Limburger Cheese ...
12.22.2020 Episode 51: Roller Skates And Atomic Power John Joseph Merlin created automata, musical instruments, clocks, and one of the first pairs of roller skates. His roller skate debut was pretty tragic (and hilarious). A.C. Gilbert was a magician turned toymaker who created some important and lasting toys, ...
11.29.2020 Episode 50: Let's Dance! Maria Tallchief was a member of the Osage nation who happened to become the first major American ballet dancer. Her story is read by Ashley Thursby, a dancer with The Louisville Ballet. The Dancing Plague of 1518 began when Frau ...
10.28.2020 Episode 49: Under Your Feet This episode is about places that used to be and which are now covered up by something new. Yarrow Mamout was an unusual man in early America, but the black business leader's story was literally buried by buildings near Washington ...
09.29.2020 Episode 48: Great Moments in Communication! The Transatlantic Cable connected North America and Europe, allowing for communication like never before (at least for a few weeks). It sure wasn't easy - told by Greg and Abigail Maupin. Likewise, Alexander Graham Bell's invention changed the world of ...
08.28.2020 Episode 47 Leonardo! Leonardo da Vinci had some wins and some losses, but his impact was enormous. He kinda sorta finished a painting of a lady named Lisa that wound up in the King of France's bathroom. Centuries later a man named Vincenzo ...
07.28.2020 Episode 46 Deliveries! Mary Fields was known as Stagecoach Mary, and her story is one of the great tales of the West. Likewise, Owney the dog, always captures the imagination. Michael Fleming, reads the story of Owney, and Melly Victor of Stoopkids Stories ...
06.29.2020 Episode 45: Parents! Parents can be pretty amazing sometimes - these two stories feature parents who went above and beyond for their kids and their community. Ada Blackjack was an Inupiat woman who was the only survivor of an extreme Arctic expedition, and ...
05.29.2020 Episode 44: Freight Train Elizabeth Cotten became a music star pretty late in her life. In fact, she was a grandmother. But when she was 11 she wrote a song that made it's way across the ocean and was learned by a band called ...
04.22.2020 Episode 43: Hands! A Special Episode for April of 2020. Join us as we meet Ignaz Semmelweis, Florence Nightingale, John Snow, and also a woman named Mary Mallon, who - for better or for worse - is now remembered as "Typhoid Mary."
04.15.2020 Episode 42: Bears! Join Mick Sullivan for a story about the first bear in Theodore Roosevelt's life, a bear named Jonathan Edwards, and then the second bear in his life - one which gave rise to a cuddly creature in your bedroom. Then ...
03.10.2020 Episode 41: OK BLOOMER! Amelia Bloomer helped change the world with a pair of underpants (which she didn't even invent). Among other things, it helped women ride bikes, and this led to a new independence in the late 1800's. Many women (even Susan B. ...

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