What if your punishment for breaking the rules on a ship was being dragged underneath it?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan head out onto the high seas to explore keelhauling, a brutal naval punishment that involved dragging a person beneath the hull of a ship. Despite its reputation as a pirate punishment, the practice was more commonly associated with the British, French, and Dutch navies.

We look at how keelhauling was carried out, the role of barnacles, what happened when captains decided to make the punishment even worse, and some of the documented cases that show just how horrific it could be—including the 1882 keelhauling of two Egyptian men near Alexandria.

We also get into the incredible story of Pedro Ramón y Cajal, who reportedly survived keelhauling as a teenager before eventually returning to Spain and becoming a pioneering figure in modern neuroscience.

Ropes, ships, barnacles, drowning, and one hell of a bad day at sea. Kevin and Dan bring their usual gallows humor to the story, because apparently there is no historical torture device so horrifying that they can't find something wildly inappropriate to say about it.

If you love dark history, torture history, true crime, executions, weird history, and the horrifying things humans have actually done, climb aboard.

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References:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/keelhaul

https://archive.org/details/navaltractsofsir00monsuoft

https://medium.com/frame-of-reference/keelhauling-torture-by-being-dragged-on-ships-bottom-4313a4e21b2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF3ilicDax8

https://allthatsinteresting.com/keelhauling

https://www.ranker.com/list/keelhauling-facts/sabrina-ithal

http://www.thewayofthepirates.com/pirate-life/keelhauling/

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What if being convicted of a crime meant not only your death, but the deaths of your entire family?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan explore Lingchi, better known as death by a thousand cuts, and the horrifying punishment known as the Nine Familial Exterminations.

We travel through the history of China, Japan, and Vietnam, looking at how Lingchi was carried out, the people who suffered it, and why the exact details of the execution could depend on the crime, the ruler, the executioner, and even how much money the victim's family had.

Then things get even worse. With familial extermination, punishment could extend far beyond the person who committed the crime, reaching parents, children, siblings, grandparents, cousins, and others connected to them. We also get into the infamous story of Fang Xiaoru and his legendary response when threatened with the execution of his family.

Death by a thousand cuts, collective punishment, and one very pissed-off scholar. This is the dark history of Lingchi and the Nine Familial Exterminations with the twisted humor you've come to expect.

If you love dark history, torture history, true crime, historical executions, and the weird and horrifying things humans have actually done, you're in the right place.

Thank you to Private Dicks Podcast for starting off the episode.

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References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingchi

https://allthatsinteresting.com/lingchi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_familial_exterminations

https://knowledgenuts.com/chinas-nine-familial-exterminations/

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What if the most effective torture wasn’t beating you, burning you, or breaking your bones—but simply taking away everything that makes you feel human?

In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan explore White Room Torture, an extreme form of psychological torture and sensory deprivation designed to break a prisoner without necessarily laying a hand on them. Completely white rooms, constant artificial light, silence, isolation, sleep deprivation, and the removal of ordinary sensory stimulation can turn a seemingly harmless room into a psychological nightmare.

We travel to Evin Prison in Tehran, where political prisoners, journalists, activists, and others accused of opposing the Iranian government have reportedly endured these conditions. We look at the case of Iranian dissident Amir Fakhravar, who spent eight months in white-room conditions and later described it as the worst torture he experienced.

We also head to Venezuela and La Tumba, or “The Tomb,” an underground detention facility beneath SEBIN headquarters where prisoners have reportedly been subjected to extreme isolation, constant lighting, sensory deprivation, and conditions that can make it impossible to tell night from day.

And then we go back to the beginning—or at least one of the places where the science behind sensory deprivation was being explored. During the Cold War, researchers including psychologist Donald Hebb conducted experiments at McGill University that demonstrated just how quickly removing ordinary sensory stimulation could affect perception and cognitive function.

Torture: A Dark History explores the real history of torture, psychological abuse, executions, true crime, and humanity's darkest practices—with the twisted humor you've come to expect from Kevin and Dan.

If you love dark history, torture history, true crime, weird history, psychological horror, and stories of things humans actually did to one another, this episode is for you.

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References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_torture#:~:text=White%20torture%2C%20often%20referred%20to,of%20all%20senses%20and%20identity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syQhuq7BnT4

https://unbelievable-facts.com/2017/01/white-torture.html

https://www.ranker.com/list/extreme-white-torture-facts/jodi-smith

https://www.grunge.com/627363/the-history-of-white-torture-as-a-punishment-method/

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What happens when blinding becomes a weapon of torture, punishment, and political power? In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan explore the brutal history of abacination — the deliberate blinding of a person as a form of torture or punishment.

From biblical stories and the blinding of thousands of Bulgarian prisoners after the Battle of Kleidion, to Persian emperors who blinded members of their own royal families, and even forced solar gazing in Iran, the history of blinding is filled with brutal examples of punishment and political control. We also look at methods of eye torture, including hot pokers, boiling liquids, chemical burns from lime, and other methods used to destroy a person's sight.

Abacination, blinding, torture, executions, punishment, and the history of humanity's darkest practices — all with the twisted humor you've come to expect from Torture: A Dark History.

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References:

Hirsch, Arnold E., ed., The Book of Torture and Executions (Toronto: Golden Books, 1944), part 1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacination#:~:text=Abacination%20is%20a%20form%20of,plate%20held%20before%20their%20eyes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinding_(punishment)

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/%C3%86lfric%27s_Lives_of_Saints/09luc_eng

https://books.google.com/books?id=HSWpSJINLRwC&pg=PR3#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://www.smh.com.au/world/eye-for-an-eye-punishment-for-iranian-who-blinded-lovers-husband-20101214-18vpp.html

https://medium.com/@TaheriKaveh/eye-for-an-eye-iran-s-court-gouges-eye-of-a-young-man-convicted-of-blinding-fc845ae72d7e

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/730160/Man-blinded-acid-attack-four-year-old-girl-eye-for-eye-Iran

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/iran-applies-sharia-law-and-blinds-man-over-acid-attack-1.2128154

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/05/eye-for-an-eye-iran-blinds-man-who-carried-out-acid-attack

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Abacination/3540340651

https://archive.org/details/deathofkingsroya0000evan/page/37/mode/2up

https://historyofyesterday.com/the-byzantine-ruler-who-left-15-000-soldiers-blind-c70de1ad4ff9

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41433-019-0742-2

https://bjo.bmj.com/content/94/10/1406

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What happens when torture is designed not just to cause pain, but to permanently destroy a woman’s body and identity? In this episode of Torture: A Dark History, Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan take a look at one of history’s most horrifying torture devices: the Breast Ripper.

Also known as the Biter, Iron Spider, or Spider, this brutal device was designed to tear and mutilate the breasts of its victims. We explore the different versions of the device, how it was supposedly used as punishment and interrogation, and the horrific consequences for the women who survived.

The episode also looks at stories surrounding the use of breast-ripping devices during the Goa Inquisition, including accounts of women being tortured in an attempt to force religious conversion. And just when you think this kind of brutality belongs firmly in the past, we jump forward to 2014 Syria.

From torture devices and religious persecution to modern-day atrocities, this is the dark history of the Breast Ripper—with the twisted humor you've come to expect from Torture: A Dark History.

If you love dark history, torture history, true crime, weird history, executions, and the horrifying things humans have done to each other, this episode is definitely not for the faint of heart.

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References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_ripper

https://books.google.com/books?id=fWWvw-Kyl_AC&pg=PA9#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.medievality.com/breast-ripper.html

https://listverse.com/2009/07/20/top-10-gruesome-medieval-torture-devices/

https://www.mensxp.com/special-features/today/42779-10-of-the-most-painful-torture-devices-ever-used.html

https://www.antiqueweaponstore.com/product/%EF%BB%BFbreast-ripper-torture-device-probably-german-17th-18th-c/

https://metro.co.uk/2014/12/30/isis-use-torture-device-dubbed-the-biter-to-impale-women-who-breastfeed-in-public-5003605/

https://www.sadhana108.com/2020/12/27/how-francis-xavier-tortured-hindus-and-ripped-breasts-off-hindu-women/

https://www.worldhindunews.com/forks-used-to-mangle-hindu-women-breasts-a-brutal-goa-inquisition-ordered-by-st-francis-xavier-capt-ajit-vadakayil/

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A new podcast from hosts Kevin Young and Dan Hourigan starts June 26th!

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