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The Weird History Podcast

The Weird History Podcast explores the out-of-the-way, obscure, weird, and overlooked corners of history. New episodes appear every Thursday.

Ranked #1

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220 Michel Paradis on Last Mission to Tokyo

220 Michel Paradis on Last Mission to Tokyo

Today’s show is a conversation with Michel Paradis, attorney and author of Last Mission to Tokyo. Early in WWII the U.S.... Read more

7 Aug 2020

32mins

Ranked #2

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219 Patient Zero

219 Patient Zero

In 1987 journalist Randy Shilts chronicled the early years of AIDS in North America in his book And the Band Played On. ... Read more

11 Jul 2020

22mins

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Ranked #3

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173 Roanoke

173 Roanoke

The disappearance of the Roanoke colony is one of America’s oldest mysteries. However, the story of the Roanoke colony w... Read more

29 Aug 2018

30mins

Ranked #4

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112 Italian Fascism Part One: The Idea of Italy

112 Italian Fascism Part One: The Idea of Italy

Fascism is the most malignant of the major political ideologies, and one of the least understood. For fascism, the natio... Read more

12 Jan 2017

21mins

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Ranked #5

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18 The Tulsa Race Riot

18 The Tulsa Race Riot

Probably the most violent singular example of post-slavery racial violence in the US happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921... Read more

20 Feb 2015

21mins

Ranked #6

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150 North Korea, Part One: The Peaceful Peninsula

150 North Korea, Part One: The Peaceful Peninsula

This year, we’re doing a long-form series on North Korea. We’ll get into the history, culture, and ideology of the isola... Read more

15 Jan 2018

13mins

Ranked #7

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209 The Ribbon Around Her Neck

209 The Ribbon Around Her Neck

Alvin Schwartz is best known for traumatizing children with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. However, one of Schwartz’... Read more

31 Oct 2019

23mins

Ranked #8

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194 Shakespeare Was Shakespeare

194 Shakespeare Was Shakespeare

Since the late 1800s numerous figures such as Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, and Malcolm X have expressed doubt about the au... Read more

26 Apr 2019

29mins

Ranked #9

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03 Incorrect Ideas About Olmecs

03 Incorrect Ideas About Olmecs

The Olmecs are the oldest known Mesoamerican civilization, and we know little about them compared to, say, the Mayans or... Read more

7 Nov 2014

10mins

Ranked #10

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184 Is Taiwan a Country?

184 Is Taiwan a Country?

Taiwan’s status is a matter of debate. In this episode we get into its history and try to suss out whether it’s part of ... Read more

10 Jan 2019

29mins

Ranked #11

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142 Icelandic Dracula

142 Icelandic Dracula

Icelandic Dracula, also known as Makt Myrkranna or Powers of Darkness, is amazing. The translator/author Valdimar Asmund... Read more

31 Oct 2017

25mins

Ranked #12

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210 Soviet Pepsi

210 Soviet Pepsi

In 1959 a Pepsi executive successfully showcased his product at the American National Exhibition in Moscow, an event cre... Read more

19 Nov 2019

23mins

Ranked #13

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208 Nosferatu

208 Nosferatu

Today Dracula is one of the most ubiquitous public domain characters in popular media. However, in the 1920s German film... Read more

26 Oct 2019

19mins

Ranked #14

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113 Italian Fascism Part Two, What is Fascism, Anyway?

113 Italian Fascism Part Two, What is Fascism, Anyway?

In this episode we try to answer (or at least clarify) one of the most vexing questions of political science, history, p... Read more

19 Jan 2017

25mins

Ranked #15

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191 The Black Paintings

191 The Black Paintings

Francisco Goya is one of the first modern artist, and toward the end of his life he painted his most well-known works, t... Read more

4 Apr 2019

20mins

Ranked #16

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48 The Swedish Titanic

48 The Swedish Titanic

The story of the the Titanic is usually one of human hubris, and then nature putting humanity back in their place. Impli... Read more

17 Sep 2015

13mins

Ranked #17

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129 Phantom Time, the Dumbest Conspiracy Theory Ever

129 Phantom Time, the Dumbest Conspiracy Theory Ever

One of the most dramatic (and dumbest) conspiracy theories of all time is the Phantom Time Hypothesis, put forward by th... Read more

30 May 2017

19mins

Ranked #18

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195 Iran-Contra, Part One: Revolution in Nicaragua

195 Iran-Contra, Part One: Revolution in Nicaragua

The Cold War defined geopolitics for much of the 20th century, often turning local conflicts and regional politics into ... Read more

3 May 2019

16mins

Ranked #19

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183 Krampus and Friends

183 Krampus and Friends

Over the past decade or so the Krampus, a demonic figure from German folklore, has become something of a Christmas stapl... Read more

16 Dec 2018

19mins

Ranked #20

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105 The Giants of Patagonia

105 The Giants of Patagonia

For about 250 years, Europeans thought that giants lived in Patagonia. The inventor of this myth was Antonio Pigafetta, ... Read more

10 Nov 2016

12mins

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