Useless Information Podcast

By Airwave Media Podcast Network

What's Useless Information Podcast about?

Podcasting since 2008! - It really is all true! Quirky, bizarre, and unusual stories from the Flip Side of History.

4.6

1,538 ratings

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LAST EPISODE

Retrocast #22 - UI Podcast ...

11.30.2023

In this episode: A hippopotamus is on the loose in Detroit, a skydiver in freefall grabs a parachute from another skydiver, Chicago steaks are really horse meat, a boy’s crib is struck by lightning, and much more! Images, links, and ...

Useless Information Podcast episodes:

11.30.2023 Retrocast #22 - UI Podcast #208 In this episode: A hippopotamus is on the loose in Detroit, a skydiver in freefall grabs a parachute from another skydiver, Chicago steaks are really horse meat, a boy’s crib is struck by lightning, and much more! Images, links, and ...
11.14.2023 Slippery the Sea Lion - UI Podcast #207 Cyril, the daring sea lion, embarked on an epic escape from a London, Ontario zoo in 1958, setting his sights on the vast Atlantic Ocean. His incredible journey left everyone wondering: Could he survive the challenges that lie ahead? Would ...
10.23.2023 Retrocast #21 - UI Podcast #206 In this episode: Boston women must beat a deadline to marry, a man’s feet are too big for the US Marines, a vice-principal cuts offensive images from a sex-ed textbook, dresses arrive 63 years late, and much more! Images, links, ...
10.09.2023 The Naked Mustard Ladies - UI Podcast #205 A bizarre true story that involves mustard, relish, the United Parcel Service (UPS), and three Michigan women who wore nothing more than their shoes. It was one that gained national notoriety, but just as quickly as it ascended to the ...
09.20.2023 Retrocast #20 - UI Podcast #204 In this episode: A kangaroo is on the loose in NYC, a woman fails her driving test 39 times, someone is sneaking under the tables at college libraries and painting women’s toenails, a man breaks into an apartment and covers ...
09.11.2023 Boxed for a Better Life - UI Podcast #203 Back in 1901, Johann Beck was madly in love with his fiancé Johanna, but he found it difficult to obtain employment in Germany. They both dreamed of going to the United States to start a new life, but they couldn’t ...
08.16.2023 Retrocast #19 - UI Podcast #202 In this episode: A World War II veteran who could only rent a home in an upscale New Jersey neighborhood if he agreed to bring a live goat, Baltimore requires male go-go dancers to cover their breasts while performing, and ...
08.02.2023 Back Into the Woods - Podcast #201 Ted Hollingworth shares his perspective on the intense search for his sister 5-year-old Pamela Hollingworth, who went missing in New Hampshire's White Mountains back in 1941. The news of her disappearance prompted an enormous response, with thousands of volunteers combing ...
07.17.2023 Mississippi Bans Sesame Street - UI Podcast #200 Since its initial premiere, the children's television program Sesame Street achieved immense popularity and acclaim, captivating millions of viewers throughout the United States. However, there was a notable exception to its widespread reach: the state of Mississippi. It was purported ...
07.05.2023 Bonus Episode: I Am a Guest on the Off Exit 10 Podcast In this episode, I am the one being interviewed! Recorded on June 24, 2023, I was a guest on the Off Exit 10 Podcast, which is produced by my former students Mike & Jordan Sirani and Paul Morse. During the ...
06.21.2023 Retrocast 18 - UI #199 In this episode: A deer stabs a man, a dress made from postage stamps, three teenagers take a joyride in an airplane, the history of the pay telephone, and much more! Images, links, and transcripts for this podcast can be ...
06.14.2023 Bonus Episode: The Cold War Spy Swap With the recent passing of FBI cryptanalyst Marvin Lautzenheiser, here is an episode of History Daily that tells the exciting story of William Fisher (aka Rudolf Abel) and his Cold War spy swap with US pilot Gary Powers. Every weekday, ...
06.07.2023 The Kid Is Not My Son - UI #198 In 1923, Joseph Boyer III was born to a wealthy Detroit couple. He stood to inherit a trust fund valued in the many millions of dollars until everything suddenly spiraled out of control. Was his dad really the father? Was ...
05.18.2023 Dubious Advice - UI Podcast #197 Something NEW! for the podcast: A look at advice columns and how they have evolved over time. Have the questions and responses changed over the past century? Some of the responses are sure to make you laugh. Images, links, and ...
05.03.2023 Frasier, the Sensuous Lion - UI Podcast #196 Frasier was a decrepit old circus lion whose best days were far behind him, or at least that was what his caregivers believed. While he wasn’t much to look at, he proved popular with the lionesses. Frasier showed the world ...
04.19.2023 Retrocast #17 - UI Podcast #195 In this episode: a train that derailed and then jumped back on the track, a man who claimed ownership of nearly the entire universe, a bet in which the loser would have to eat 1 million peas, and much more! ...
04.03.2023 The Love Pirate - UI Podcast #192 In 1923, Kathleen Morrell was arrested by Chicago police for having five children out of wedlock. She was an excellent mother, but as an unmarried woman, she was charged with contributing to the delinquency of her own children. Would a ...
03.20.2023 Retrocast #16 - UI Podcast #193 In this episode: a man who recorded the location of buried treasure on a record, a girl who swallowed 200 rocks, a color-blind plumber, the history of McDonald’s Big Mac, and much more! Images, links, and transcripts for this podcast ...
03.06.2023 A Severed Relationship - UI #192 Ouch!!! The ghastly true story of Bertha Boronda who, in 1907, took a straight razor and sliced off her husband Frank’s penis. During her trial, the courtroom was packed, and all the regional newspapers followed the story closely. She was ...
02.14.2023 Retrocast #15 - UI Podcast #191 In this episode: A man who eats match heads, a wife receives a frozen baby elephant for Valentine’s Day, every kiss supposedly knocks 3 minutes off of your life, a couple who waited 60 years to marry, a 10-year-ban is ...
02.02.2023 Marty the Marijuana Mouse - UI Podcast #190 The crazy true story of Marty, a mouse who was stealing marijuana and other drugs from the evidence room of the San Jose police department in 1974. He was placed on trial for his crimes and then sent off to ...
01.19.2023 Retrocast #14 - UI Podcast #189 In this episode: A man claims his wife snores in Morse code, a student runs away after his teacher tells him not to return until he brings his textbook, a man hitchhikes after his car is stolen and is picked ...
01.09.2023 The Newburyport Anti-Inflation Plan - UI #188 Inflation in the United States hit 20% shortly after World War II. The government couldn’t get it under control, so the businessmen of Newburyport, Massachusetts came up with their own plan. Soon, other towns and cities were doing the same. ...
12.20.2022 Christmas Retrocast - UI Podcast #187 Ten true, long-forgotten stories from Christmas past! A man pays for 41,000 student accounts at a closed Pittsburgh bank, a Christmas cactus theft epidemic, a wife serves her husband golf ball hash, two boys are contacted by Santa via their ...
12.15.2022 Bad Apples #5 - The Bishop's Wife - UI #186 In this episode, my wife Mary Jane joins me to review the 1947 classic Christmas movie "The Bishop’s Wife," starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. Released just one year after the classic “It’s a Wonderful Life,” we discuss ...
12.05.2022 200 Years of Twas the Night - UI Podcast #185 December 24, 2022, marks the bicentennial of the classic poem Twas the Night Before Christmas. Pamela McColl, author of the new book Twas the Night, The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem, joins me to discuss the origins ...
11.18.2022 The Cryptanalyst (Part 3) - UI Podcast #184 In this third and final segment, 93-year-old Marvin Lautzenheiser discusses his reasons for leaving the FBI, his 17 years consulting with the Pentagon to model future nuclear wars, his patents that are still used today for computer storage, plus you ...
11.03.2022 The Cryptanalyst (Part 2) - UI Podcast #183 In this second segment, 93-year-old Marvin Lautzenheiser discusses his time as an FBI field agent in Charlotte, how his team finally deciphered the hollow nickel message after years of numerous failed attempts, how he avoided testifying at Rudolph Abel's trial, ...
10.21.2022 The Cryptanalyst (Part 1) - UI Podcast #182 93-year-old Marvin Lautzenheiser was the lead cryptanalyst for the FBI team that deciphered the microfilm message contained in the Hollow Nickel (Podcast #168) and was asked to testify at the trial of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. In this first segment, ...
10.07.2022 The Great Los Angeles Air Raid - UI Podcast #181 The long-forgotten story of a major battle that took place over Los Angeles just a few months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was but a brief blip in the global conflict, yet the US used all its ...
09.22.2022 YesterCast #1 - November 22, 1963 - UI #180 The assassination of President John F. Kennedy was a tragic day for the United States. But what else was happening on November 22, 1963? This first episode of the Useless Information YesterCast explores the rest of the happenings of that ...
09.07.2022 Bad Apples #4 - Gaslight - UI #179 In this episode, my wife Mary Jane joins me to review the 1944 classic movie "Gaslight." Starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotton, and Angela Lansbury (in her film debut), it is from this movie that the term “gaslighting” originated. ...
08.15.2022 Russell Sage: The Meanest Miser in the Land - UI #178 Russell Sage was once one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was ruthless in business and was said to hate philanthropy, upper education, and women. When he passed away in 1906, his wife Olivia got even by giving ...
08.01.2022 Retrocast 12 - UI Podcast #177 In this episode: A man who claimed that he had eloped with another man’s wife because she had fed him a delicious piece of cake, a dead woman who sat up in her coffin just as the undertakers began to ...
07.19.2022 The Rise & Fall of the Celestial Comet - UI #176 In 1941, the Plainfield Teachers College football team was unstoppable. That was until a reporter exposed a shocking secret about the team and their storybook season was brought to a grinding halt. Images, links, and transcripts: https://uselessinformation.org/the-rise-fall-of-the-celestial-comet-podcast-176/ Learn more about ...
06.30.2022 Retrocast #11 - UI Podcast #175 In this episode: A mystery man speaks an unknown language, a boy gets his head stuck in a toilet seat, a woman slips on a bar of soap and flies out the window, and much more! Madison Newton cohosts. Learn ...
06.20.2022 Almost Over the Hump - UI Podcast #174 Just what happens when your airplane crashes high up in the Himalayan mountains and there is no chance that anyone will ever find you? This happened to pilots Joe Rosbert and Ridge Hammell during World War II as they attempted ...
06.01.2022 Retrocast #10 - UI Podcast #173 In this episode: The United States once banned the sale of sliced bread, the State of Oregon attempted to ban popcorn in movie theaters, women were using fly swatters to swat away their excess pounds, and much more! Matt Breen ...
05.25.2022 From Car Show!: The Jeep and World War II We’re shaking things up today and sharing a preview from Car Show!, a new podcast from our friends at Pushkin Industries. Longtime Car and Driver editor Eddie Alterman tells the stories of the vital cars — the ones that have ...
05.16.2022 Henry Ford's Peace Ship - UI Podcast #172 In 1915, American industrialist Henry Ford announced that he was willing to use his entire fortune to bring an end to World War I. So, he chartered a ship to take many of the prominent peace activists of the day ...
04.28.2022 Arbor Day Turns 150! - UI Podcast #171 Arbor Day is 150 years old! Learn the origins of the day, plus how one small upstate New York town continues the annual celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.13.2022 Retrocast #9 - UI Podcast #170 In this episode: A woman dumps her fiancé at the altar to marry the minister, a jealous husband who used rattlesnakes to keep men away from his wife, the unlikely suspects in a case of truck tire sabotage, and much ...
03.31.2022 The Father of Voice Radio - UI Podcast #169 It’s hard to believe, but when the first words were spoken on radio, it was dismissed as a novelty. It seems as if everyone thought that Morse code was the future. Nearly everyone except for Reginald Fessenden. Learn more about ...
03.15.2022 The Case of the Hollow Nickel - UI #168 In 1953, paperboy Jimmy Bozart was counting his newspaper subscription money. He dropped the coins and one nickel split open, revealing a piece of microfilm. This led to the arrest of a high-ranking Soviet spy. Learn more about your ad ...
02.28.2022 Retrocast #8 - UI Podcast #167 In this episode: A live baby is auctioned off, a carnival knife thrower accidentally hits his human target, a West Virginian dog warden with an unusual approach to keeping thieves out of the pound, and much more! Learn more about ...
02.15.2022 The Eddie Cantor Peace Prize - UI #166 In 1936, superstar Eddie Cantor asked his radio listeners to write an essay describing how the United States could avoid war. The prize was a full college scholarship. With no set rules, something was certain to go wrong. And something ...
01.31.2022 Retrocast #7 - UI Podcast #165 In this episode: A man falls out of a window and is saved by a flagpole, seven tonsillectomies done in an assembly line fashion, the last cigarette commercial on US network television, a baby born in a well, and much ...
01.13.2022 The Glass House Girl - UI #164 Edna Kirby spent more than a decade in Hollywood appearing in silent movies for Paramount Studios. While she never became a movie star, Edna drew large crowds in nearly every town that she visited. That’s because Edna Kirby lived in ...
01.03.2022 Bad Apples #3 - Sunset Boulevard - UI #163 In this episode, my wife Mary Jane joins me to review the classic movie "Sunset Boulevard." Directed by Billy Wilder, this movie tells the story of a struggling screenwriter who gets into a dangerous relationship with a faded Hollywood actress ...
12.15.2021 Retrocast #6 - UI Podcast #162 Christmas episode! A reindeer that bit a boy’s finger, a lawsuit over the world’s largest Christmas stocking, an absent-minded Santa Claus, a Santa caught with his pants down, the first Christmas film ever made, and much more! Retrosponsor: Dole Pineapple ...

Older episodes

Useless Information Podcast

What's Useless Information Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Useless Information Podcast episodes:

Retrocast #22 - UI Podcast #208

Slippery the Sea Lion - UI Podcast #207

Retrocast #21 - UI Podcast #206

The Naked Mustard Ladies - UI Podcast #205

Retrocast #20 - UI Podcast #204

Boxed for a Better Life - UI Podcast #203

Retrocast #19 - UI Podcast #202

Back Into the Woods - Podcast #201

Mississippi Bans Sesame Street - UI Podcast #200

Bonus Episode: I Am a Guest on the Off Exit 10 Podcast

Retrocast 18 - UI #199

Bonus Episode: The Cold War Spy Swap

The Kid Is Not My Son - UI #198

Dubious Advice - UI Podcast #197

Frasier, the Sensuous Lion - UI Podcast #196

Retrocast #17 - UI Podcast #195

The Love Pirate - UI Podcast #192

Retrocast #16 - UI Podcast #193

A Severed Relationship - UI #192

Retrocast #15 - UI Podcast #191

Marty the Marijuana Mouse - UI Podcast #190

Retrocast #14 - UI Podcast #189

The Newburyport Anti-Inflation Plan - UI #188

Christmas Retrocast - UI Podcast #187

Bad Apples #5 - The Bishop's Wife - UI #186

200 Years of Twas the Night - UI Podcast #185

The Cryptanalyst (Part 3) - UI Podcast #184

The Cryptanalyst (Part 2) - UI Podcast #183

The Cryptanalyst (Part 1) - UI Podcast #182

The Great Los Angeles Air Raid - UI Podcast #181

YesterCast #1 - November 22, 1963 - UI #180

Bad Apples #4 - Gaslight - UI #179

Russell Sage: The Meanest Miser in the Land - UI #178

Retrocast 12 - UI Podcast #177

The Rise & Fall of the Celestial Comet - UI #176

Retrocast #11 - UI Podcast #175

Almost Over the Hump - UI Podcast #174

Retrocast #10 - UI Podcast #173

From Car Show!: The Jeep and World War II

Henry Ford's Peace Ship - UI Podcast #172

Arbor Day Turns 150! - UI Podcast #171

Retrocast #9 - UI Podcast #170

The Father of Voice Radio - UI Podcast #169

The Case of the Hollow Nickel - UI #168

Retrocast #8 - UI Podcast #167

The Eddie Cantor Peace Prize - UI #166

Retrocast #7 - UI Podcast #165

The Glass House Girl - UI #164

Bad Apples #3 - Sunset Boulevard - UI #163

Retrocast #6 - UI Podcast #162

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