Weird Historian

Tim O’Brien is a photojournalist, publicist, and author who’s covered the odd and unusual throughout his career, from sideshows and carnivals to roller coasters and roadside attractions—and during his time with Ripley’s, just about everything in between. In this episode, you’ll hear about his strange adventures over the years, including his travels to capture America’s biggest and weirdest roadside attractions for his new book, Tim O’Brien’s Pics and Picks: The Huge, the High, the Half-Buried.

See Tim’s books here: https://tinyurl.com/p2e8k6dr And for more weird stories, visit https://www.weirdhistorian.com

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The Rev. Dr. David Adamovich is better known as The Great Throwdini—the world’s fastest and most accurate knife thrower. In this episode of Weird Historian, you’ll hear how he discovered his unusual talent for throwing knives, how he developed the Veiled Double Wheel of Death, how he gets through airports with bags of knives, and much more. You’ll also hear about his new venture as the curator of a massive serial killer murderabilia collection. See more at knifethrower.com and serialkillermurderabilia.com.

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If you watched Season 15 of America’s Got Talent, you probably remember Brett Loudermilk—the guy with the pink hair who made Sofia Vergara freak out on stage when he asked her to pull a sword from his throat. Find out how Brett got started in the world of sideshow and how his talents took him on a journey to NBC’s national stage. Plus, for those who don't already know, you'll hear what it's like swallow live frogs—and bring them right back up, safe and sound.

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In the late nineteenth century, a visit to a dime museum would offer all sorts of wonders, from magicians to sword swallowers to various human oddities. And if you were lucky, you might've seen Evatima Tardo get nailed to cross and bitten by poisonous snakes. Talk about entertainment.

Tardo felt no pain nor suffered any ill effects from the venom. How might this have been possible? What led to this unusual and seemingly risky career choice? Find out as Weird Historian talks with Bess Lovejoy.

Lovejoy is the author of “Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses,”and has written for the New York Times, The Boston Globe, Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and many other publications. Her recent story about Tardo's extraordinary life was published by the Wellcome Collection.

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When we take our next giant leap and put boots on Mars, or launch space tourism, we’ll want to raise a glass and toast to the achievement. Hear about the last, present and future of alcohol in space from author and Explore Mars CEO, Chris Carberry.

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In this interview with Lee Speigel, co-producer and co-writer of The Phenomenon, Weird Historian looks to the sky for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Recorded on Nov. 2, 2020.

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Bruce Haack was an innovative musician in the ‘60s & ‘70s who created some far-out music for children. His record label, Dimension 5, was all about the dimension of imagination. Twenty years ago, I tried contacting him from another dimension — a dimension beyond the veil. Hear the story, as told by James Archer of Ignitor Media and your Weird Historian, Marc Hartzman, in this special episode. For more weird stories, visit WeirdHistorian.com.

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In the late 1800s, Joseph Pujol took Paris by storm and ruled the Moulin Rouge. Known as Le Petomane, his entire act was performed with his anus. The man was a true fartiste. Keeping in theme, this episode will also introduce you to an 18th-century pooping duck automaton. Both are tales of rather unusual forms of genius. See images from these stories and read more weird history at WeirdHistorian.com.

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In 1908, six cars set out on a race around the world, from New York City to Paris. They started in winter, at a time before cars even had windshields. Find out what happened and who won the Great Race in this episode of Weird Historian. You’ll also hear about a vehicle that came before these daring race cars — one that was designed to be friendly to passing horses. And not much more. It was called the Horsey Horseless. See images from these stories and read more weird history at WeirdHistorian.com.

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Meet Robert Wadlow and hear the voice of the tallest man who ever lived. At 8 feet 11 1/2 inches tall, he towered over all other giants, including Ted Evans, who claimed to stand a ridiculous 9 feet 3 inches. You'll also meet a shorter, but far more massive man, Miles Darden, who was possibly the biggest human ever. See images from these stories and read about other weird moments in history at WeirdHistorian.com.

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