Footnoting History

(Elizabeth) Forget Nirvana or James Dean! Back in the 19th century, every angsty teen had one idol: Werther--and they would do anything to be like him ... anything.

(Christine) His father was a major player in the Albigensian crusade but when was the last time you heard about the man who led a rebellion against King Henry III and became the father of the modern parliament? It's time to fix that.

(Esther) How did the Greeks monitor foot races during the ancient Olympic games without technologies such as Timex watches and slow-motion cameras? They certainly weren't worried about doping, but there were other ways runners could gain unfair advantages over their competitors.

(Samantha) From WeightWatchers to the Atkins Diet to the Lemon Detox, Americans are obsessed with using diet to control our weight. But we’re not the first ones to be concerned with our body mass, to experiment with dieting, and to come up with some really bizarre ideas about how to get thin.

(Lucy) Reactions to medieval lepers were often extreme. Medieval romance-writers depict them as not only disease-ridden but filthy, and morally suspect to boot. Saints, on the other hand, ran around kissing them. More ordinary people just asked lepers to pray for them. Why? And if you lived in thirteenth-century Chartres, why shouldn't you eat dinner with the leper next door?

(Lesley) As an imposing fortress, Alcatraz island isolated inmates and imprisoned the most dangerous criminals like mob boss Al Capone. Yet after its closure in 1963, Alcatraz became the scene of occupying Freedom as Native Americans tried to take back land under a treaty with the US. How did an uninhabitable rock become the gateway to a bastion of freedom for American Indians?

(Nathan) In the 1630s, the tiny-but-wealthy Netherlands were gripped by a frenzy of public trading in tulip bulbs.  At the height of the craze, a single bulb could sell for a small fortune.  What caused this "tulip mania" and how did it all come to a crashing halt?

(Nathan and Christine) Picking up where they left off at the end of Part I, Nathan and Christine tackle actors' rights and changing fashions while wondering if anyone truly understood the Republican Calendar. Join them as they conclude the countdown of their top ten favorite stories and idiosyncrasies of the French Revolution.

(Kirsti) In 430 BCE, a plague swept through ancient Athens, killing thousands. It eventually claimed even the great Pericles. But what was it? In 1994, a group of historians and scientists banded together to find out, starting with the skull of one little girl.

(Nicole) In 870 A.D.,  Edmund, the king of East Anglia, was killed by a Viking army. Discover how this event was transformed from a battle between two armies into the story of a Christian martyrdom.

(Elizabeth) The Indian Mutiny had repercussions felt all over the world, but how did it affect the average Brit's feelings about the Empire? A 19th century mystery novel reveals all!

(Nathan and Christine) From Marie Antoinette's fake peasant village to Robespierre's botched suicide, the French Revolution is full of fascinating stories that are often omitted from textbooks. Join Nathan and Christine for Part I of a two-part countdown of their favorite quirky aspects of this vibrant period.

(Esther) Did you know that our homo sapien ancestors were altogether skinnier, weaker and dumber than our fellow hominid relatives, the Neanderthals? Some scientists theorize that it was running that saved us from extinction.

(Samantha) Do you like to drink? Well, so did people in the Middle Ages.  Tune in to learn about what people were drinking and about the culture associated with booze 700 years ago.

(Kirsti) Some people just get all the luck. Others, like poor Alice Rowley of Coventry, just can’t seem to catch a break. Join us as we explore Alice’s dedication to the Lollard community and what that meant for her in court!

(Lesley) Imagine hiring a man to kill off your enemy... and then pleading a defense that would allow you to walk out free. This week, we'll trace the story of a neighborly feud in Tudor England that left one man dead and an unbalanced man free, if not for the actions of a young woman in manipulating Parliament, the Privy Council, and even the Queen. Their responses would ultimately change the laws of England in order to prevent a man from getting away with murder.

(Lucy) Why did commoners and kings in eleventh-century Germany keep seeing dead people? Why did a bunch of animated corpses decide to burn a priest alive? And why did a busy bishop write all this down?

(Nathan) What do medieval frat boys, Nicholas Cage, and Iron Maiden have in common? They're all part of one of the most popular (and far-fetched) medieval conspiracy theories. Tune in as we talk about Cathars, Templars, and the siege of Montségur.

(Nathan and Elizabeth) Join us for a discussion of one of the most well-known narratives of slavery used by the British Abolitionist cause in the 18th century. We examine what it reveals about identity and race in the time period but also tackle the issue of reliability and accuracy in memoirs. 

(Christine) The English and the Irish have been fighting (and singing) about hating one another) for as long as both sides can remember, but what brought the English to Ireland in the first place? What did the English king, Henry II, have to do with it? And why is everyone frowning at some guy named Dermot?