Weird Historian

Weird Historian

By Marc HartzmanHistory
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Weird Historian episodes

  • Why We Love Being Scared: A Conversation with Psychologist and Author Coltan Scrivner

    We humans have always been fascinated by the things that frighten us. In this episode of Weird Historian, Marc Hartzman speaks with psychologist Coltan Scrivner, author of Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away (Penguin Books), about why we are drawn to horror films, haunted houses, and true crime, what our fascination with the macabre reveals about human nature, and much more.

     Learn more and order the book at ColtanScrivner.com

    Sign up for Coltan Scrivner’s Morbidly Curious Thoughts Substack .

    Visit WeirdHistorian.com for more of the weird and wonderful.

    49 min
  • Freaky Things and Live Shows: George the Giant’s Strange Museum of Oddities and Wonders

    Meet George “The Giant” McArthur, a sideshow performer who swallows swords, eats fire, pounds nails into his nose—and collects oddities. Oh, and he was also in Tim Burton’s wonderful film, Big Fish.

    We first met more than 20 years ago at showman Bobby Reynold’s home while I was writing American Sideshow. As Halloween nears, he’s opening George the Giant’s Strange Museum of Oddities and Wonders for the 7th year in Bakersfield, California. Among those oddities and wonders are two-headed animals, breast milk soap, a killer bat, paintings made in human blood, true crime objects, and as you’ll hear from George, much more. 

    If you’d like to hear about how George got started in the world of sideshow, please check out my other podcast, co-hosted with sword swallower Dan Meyer, To The Hilt.

    Find George the Giant online:

    GiantsOddities.com

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    Instagram


    35 min
  • The Martians Are Coming! Author David Baron Speaks About His New Book, "The Martians"

    Is there life outside of Earth? More than a hundred years ago, there was widespread belief that intelligent Martians were an advanced civilization and contact with our interplanetary neighbors was inevitable.

    Science journalist and author David Baron explores this early fascination with Martians in his new book, THE MARTIANS: The True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America (Liveright: Aug. 26, 2025), and discusses the many strange and amazing extraterrestrial tales with Weird Historian. 

    28 min
  • Ripley’s, Roller Coasters, and Roadside Attractions: A Chat with Ambassador of Odd, Tim O’Brien
    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
    53 min
  • Don’t Mess With the Knife Thrower: The Great Throwdini Talks Impalement Arts and Murderabilia
    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.
    48 min
  • The Sword Swallower Who Almost Won America’s Got Talent: Meet Brett Loudermilk
    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.
    52 min
  • The Woman Who Laughed at Death: A Chat About Evatima Tardo with Bess Lovejoy
    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.
    46 min
  • Bruce Haack Speaks from the Way-Out World of the Beyond
    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.
    12 min

About Weird Historian

From the publisher's feed

Human anomalies, Spiritualists, quack scientists, and other odd characters and stories from the weirdest pages of history. All brought to you by author Marc Hartzman.