History Honeys

New Show Announcement! WSKRS: We Share Knowledge Regarding seaQuest

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 00:31:00 -0500

Hello Honey Bunches! We've launched a brand new show that we think you'll enjoy. And here is its first episode. seaQuest DSV ran for 57 episodes over 3 seasons and serves as a window into TV production of the era, scientific discovery, and the way events and perspective influence each other. We're bringing a very History Honeys way of looking at things into this show. So join us wherever you get your podcasts as we undertake this new journey.

WEBSITE

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Art by Beedrops

Music by Devin Nelson

Live Action Disney Films of the 1970s (part 1)

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 02:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Alaina resurrects one of her old series: looking at the live-action feature films of the Walt Disney studio. Following the deaths of the studio's founding brothers, and the beginning of a long period of rocky financials, Disney's film output was, well, boring and bad. We look over their movies from 1970-1975 to point out the few bright spots, place people and trends into their contexts, and bring up the much better work these artists were capable of.

Links!

The matte paintings of the era
Books by Mako's father, Taro Yashima: The New Sun, Horizon is Calling, Crow Boy
Lament for Confederation, Chief Dan George, 1967
Breaking Mayberry episode 87: Who Gave my Baby a Tribal Tat?
Bizarre Podcast: Dogs Must Die (iTunes) (RSS)

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Hathaway There

Sat, 19 Jun 2021 08:47:26 -0500

In less than two weeks, Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway will reach a global streaming audience. A brand-new adaptation of a 30 year old novel from a 40 year old franchise with a reputation for dense lore can be an intimidating, so we're here to get through what you'll probably want to know before watching. No promises though.

Tourist Trapped 52: Social Jousting Warriors

Mon, 31 May 2021 09:45:35 -0500

Happy anniversary! To celebrate a year of trapped travel, we're covering a place we've both been in the before times, and fulfilling one of our top listener requests to boot. Medieval Times Dinner Tournament is famous for its pick-and-choose approach to historical "accuracy", and that one Jim Carrey movie. Let's see what experience we can share from its website, and what insights we glean from the reviews.

Count Dante, the Deadliest Man Alive

Tue, 23 Mar 2021 02:00:00 -0500

Comic readers across America were promised that for only $5 they could learn the ultimate fighting system, and the art of the death touch. That promise was made by Count Dante, one of the most colorful and controversial figures in martial arts history. Born John Keehan, Dante's life seems out of place in the real world, never mind his fabricated boasts.

Links!

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Thomas Neill Cream

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 02:00:00 -0500

Happy Valencrimes Day! This year's topic observes the strictest traditions, so we're talking about a series of murders in 1800s Chicago. Thomas Neill Cream used his medical practice and willingness to help those in need to prey on the desperate and disadvantaged. But his true targets may not have been the people he poisoned, but the ones he attempted to blackmail by accusing them of the murders.

Links!

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Felix Yusupov

Tue, 09 Feb 2021 02:00:00 -0500

The assassination of Rasputin catapulted his unusual life into legend. So we're looking at the man that wrote the legend: his killer, Prince Felix Yusupov. A young wealthy man with no apparent interest in affairs of state, what pushed him to lead the conspiracy of assassins? And how much faith can be put in the story as he told it? The picture becomes clearer if you look at who else may have been in his home that day.

Links!

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Music by Thylacinus
Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Tylenol Murders

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 02:00:00 -0500

In 1982, seven people in the greater Chicago area died from taking Tylenol capsules that had been filled with cyanide. No clear evidence was found pointing to a culprit, and no motive has been determined. What remains is a story of consumer safety, and how law enforcement acts when they have no leads.

Links!

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A Look at ‘20

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 02:00:00 -0500

Welcome to 2021! We bring in the year with the 900th anniversary of a shipwreck that threw England into chaos, and the 200th anniversary of a piece of culinary folk history. The White Ship sank, and people of every social station drowned the same. Tomatoes came to New Jersey through the same unexciting means as any crop, but a striking story will kep alive regardless.

Links!

Fordlandia

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 02:00:00 -0500

We close 2020 with one last episode on Fordlandia, a failed experiment in both rubber production and social control.

Links!

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Haunted Honeys - Detroit Spookums

Sat, 31 Oct 2020 02:00:00 -0500

Welcome back, dear ghoulish listeners, as we celebrate the season with tales of three reported haunts in detroit, Michigan. First, is a massive and active building whose tragic architect still walks the halls. Next is an abandoned hotel, former home to a serial poisoner. Last is now a vacant lot, but was once the headquarters of an occult prophet who died at the hands of an unknown axe murderer.

Links!

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Sacco & Vanzetti

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 02:00:00 -0500

On this episode Grant takes us back 100 years to a fatal robbery at a shoe factory, and the legacy of the men who had the crime pinned on them. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti came to America searching for prosperity, and found the brutality of exploitation and prejudice. The greatest weight of which fell on them when they were executed by a justice system bent on quashing an ideology, rather than seeking either justice or truth.

Links!

The writings of Luigi Galleani
"We Submit", from the Boston Herald; October 26th, 1926
"The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti", Atlantic Monthly, March 1927

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Road Trip 2020

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 02:00:00 -0500

It's vacation season, and the open road beckons. Rather than give in to that siren song, Alaina is teaching us about several sites meant to separate travelers from their walking around money. It's time for some roadside attractions!

Links!

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The Benin Bronzes

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 02:00:00 -0500

In this episode Grant teaches us about the Benin Bronzes, thousands of exquisite pieces of art that are not made of bronze, and not in Benin. And to talk about this specific crime of colonialism, we have to talk about the empire it came from, and the shifting dynamic between Europe and the world as capitalism and white supremacy developed side-by-side.

Links!

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Deaf Education

Tue, 07 Jul 2020 02:00:00 -0500

We have returned! After a brief hiatus, History Honeys is back. This week, Alaina is teaching us about the history of deaf education, and the development of contemporary sign languages. How are sign languages linguistically dynamic and unique? Why are divisions in US deaf culture generational? How are contentious claims laundered as the default, even at the cost of future harm?

Links!

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100 Facts

Tue, 12 May 2020 02:00:00 -0500

Happy milestone day! It's been four years and we made it to three digits. To celebrate, Grant went back over every previous topic to find one more fact we didn't include last time. Thanks for joining us for this very special occasion!

Links!

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Fashion in World War II

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 02:00:00 -0500

Sudden changes in society are reflected in the daily lives of people. This week, Alaina demonstrates that with a selection of stories about the things people wore in the US and UK during the Second World War. Rationing, shifting wworkplace demographics, and new materials all had an immediate effect on what people wore. And, looking at what people wore can reveal stories of bigotry.

Links!

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ACT UP

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 02:00:00 -0500

In the 1980s America's health infrastructure failed to adequately respond to an epidemic, which showed in greater contrast failures across society. This week, Grant is teaching us about one group's commitment to correct that failure through civil disobedience. By prioritizing disruption over image, and relentlessly claiming the moral high ground, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power drastically improved the lives of people living with HIV and reduced its spread.

Links!

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Bonus Episode! WDW Trip Report

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 02:05:00 -0500

Two months ago was a different time. That's when we put out a bonus episode about the fun we were planning to have in a Disney World vacation. In this episode, we're looking back at the reality we experienced. We talk about the many highs, the few lows, and the constant battle against exhaustion. Time will tell when, and even if, the parks can be experienced again the way they were. But for now, please enjoy this walk through recent, happy memories.

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The Hays Code

Tue, 31 Mar 2020 02:00:00 -0500

Ninety years ago today, the code of standards known as the Hays Code was put into effect, shaping the form and content off all mainstream film for decades to come. In this episode, Alaina teaches us where it came from, what purpose it served, and how it fell out of use. Is self-regulation a matter of morality or profit? Does power lie in the rules or their enforcer? Did people in the 1940s actually share beds?

Links!

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Saints and Canonization

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 02:00:00 -0500

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Grant is celebrating by looking back at sainthood itself. The western church has been honoring holy figures since its earliest days, a practice that developed into a relatively new bureaucratic system.

Links!

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Two Objects

Tue, 03 Mar 2020 02:00:00 -0500

From it's foundation, this is a show about the two of us sharing things we find interesting with you and with each other. In that spirit, Alaina is spending this episode talking about two things we all get our hands on without giving a second thought. Facial tissue is the end result of a new material developed for the war effort, and shopping carts are the result of innovation in the way we source our food. What parallels can be found between them?

Links!

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Valencrimes: Selling the Iraq War

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 02:00:00 -0500

Happy Valencrimes Day! This year Grant wants to talk about a fraud perpetrated on a global scale, which in turn led to corruption, war crimes, and generally made everyone's life worse over the lat 17 years: the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For more than a year, the Bush administration pushed the most extreme interpretation of raw intelligence, without regard for its accuracy or reliability, to justify a war. Meanwhile, anyone presenting a correct assessment of the facts was attacked and deplatformed.

Links!

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Bonus Episode! Planning our Disney World trip

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 02:00:00 -0500

As we said last episode, we are not home to put out our usual content, but we did have something to share. When this episode drops we will be enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of EPCOT. This bonus episode follows the process of planning a Walt Disney World vacation, the reasons we had for making the choices we did, and a few pieces of advice you might find useful, or at least entertaining. We'll be back in two weeks' time with our annual Valencrimes episode.

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Lucy Maud Montgomery

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 02:00:00 -0500

In 1908, Anne Shirley was introduced to the world, and became one of the most popular figures in all-ages literature. Anne was the creation of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote 20 novels in a prolific writing career. In this episode, Alaina teaches us about Montgomery's life, perspective, and tragedies; and also the impact of her stories and their many adaptations.

Links!

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A Look at '19

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 02:00:00 -0500

Happy New Year! We're starting off 2020 by catching up on two centennials, the Molasses Flood and the Black Sox scandal of 1919. First, Alaina looks at the sudden death and long-term disruption of an industrial accident that covered a Boston neighborhood for months. Then, Grant tries to cut through the legends of the greatest scandal in baseball to find what we can really know, and what that means.

Links!

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Supplemental 3: Outtakes

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 02:01:00 -0500

Happy Holidays! We're taking a break from history this week, and sharing some of the stuff from our cutting room floor. Please enjoy these digressions, false starts, and peeks into "the process". As promised, we'll be back next time with our annual New Year's special.

Revolutions of 1848

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 02:00:00 -0500

As we look back on the year that passed, Grant is reminded of an even more explosive one: 1848. The great powers of Europe had made themselves the center of the world, and then those powers collapsed as a broad coalition of citizens rose up in the name of freedom. But whose freedom counts most? Is this a story of nations or of classes? Why are revolutions graded pass/fail?

Links!

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X-Rays

Tue, 26 Nov 2019 02:00:00 -0500

In this episode we're thankful for modern medicine, and tools that help us heal with less harm. At least, that's how X-rays work now. Alaina teaches us about the early days of these mysterious rays, the scientists, inventors, and doctors who sacrificed their own health to develop them, and some of the odder purposes this miracle technology was put to.

Links!

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New Deal Arts Programs

Tue, 12 Nov 2019 02:00:00 -0500

The New Deal was a sweeping suite of programs and policies to combat the Great Depression of the 1930s. Several of those programs provided for artists in exchange for their labor producing new art. What kind of art sprouted from this system? How did society benefit from a boom in freely available art and performance? Why hasn't this level of investment continued?

Links!

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Haunted Honeys - Florida Keys Spookums

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 02:00:00 -0500

It's that time of year again, when Alaina teaches us about the haunted and spooky spots of a certain place, and we do the intro in silly Dracula voices! This year we're getting sub-tropical and talking about the Florida Keys. An island chain once rich from shipping and now a vacation destination, the Keys have been shaken by natural disasters and disease, as well as a few notably creepy individuals. Have these events left a psychic and spiritual stain on the land, or is that just a way to sell more t-shirts? Let's explore!

Links!

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Uranium Mining in the Navajo Nation

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Yesterday was Indigenous Peoples Day, so Grant is here to talk about a recent event in the history of one indigenous nation. The Cold War arms race required fuel, and it was found in the stone beneath the Navajo Nation. Decades of environmental degradation and ethical failures followed, and only ended when demand for ore dropped. Who can we trust to act as stewards of the land? Why is profit the final measurement of value?

Links!

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Louisa May Alcott

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 22:26:59 -0500

Every few years, a new film or miniseries based on Little Women comes along, and this year is no exception. To prepare for Greta Gerwig's upcoming version, Alaina teaches us about its author, her family, and the circles they moved in. When does writing for commercial gain make lasting art? What about this story makes it so appealing to adapt? Was anyone in the 1800s NOT part of a utopian commune?

Links!

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The Pullman Strike

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 02:00:00 -0500

About fifty episodes ago Grant made an offhand comment about one of that topic's figures. Now, it's a full episode. Do not test him. The Pullman strike lasted for months, threatened all American commerce, and set precedents that have lasted over a century regarding government involvement in labor disputes. It all started because George Pullman's perfect town didn't consider the lives of the people in it.

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Disneyland

Tue, 03 Sep 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina returns to our Disney Parks series by going back to the beginning: Disneyland in Anaheim, California. In 1955, after a long time planning and a short time building, Walt Disney presented yet another dream to the world. It was the world's first fully-themed park, complete with a nationally televised opening, and following 10 months of televised previews in prime time. We cover its development, opening, and some stories behind certain Opening Day attractions.

Links!

Mickey Mouse Park in Burbank
The Disneyland Story (first episode of Disneyland)
Disneyland ad in TV Guide
Magazine spread on the Disneyland show, featuring early concept art of the park
Photos of construction in-progress
Dateline Disneyland
List of current attractions by opening date
List of King Arthur's Carousel horses
The Annual Pancake Race
Aunt Jemima in Disneyland
Opening Day photos:

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Firsthand Milwaukee

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 02:00:00 -0500

We've mentioned our weekend trip to Milwaukee before, but now it's time to share all we learned! In this episode, Grant talks about the history of the places we went, and some of the history they taught us.

Links!

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 84 prompt is: What is your favorite thing that did not go as planned?

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Trainwrecks of 1918 part 2

Tue, 06 Aug 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina returns to her most recent topic to make good on her promise. This episode is about a third great train wreck in the summer of 1918, one that destroyed a circus train. We cover the history of that particular circus, its founder's previous attractions, the wreck itself, and what remains to commemorate it.

Links!

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Three Spiritualists

Tue, 23 Jul 2019 02:00:00 -0500

The mid-19th century in America was a time of new popular philosophies about the order of the universe and the individual's place in it. One example is the dawn of Spiritualism: the belief that the spirits of the dead can be contacted, and that they have answers to our urgent questions. In this episode, Grant teaches us about two cases: the prototypical founders of movement, and one of its most bizarre figures. Once a popular movement starts, does it ever really end? How much faith should be put in a prophet that makes a profit? What purpose does debunking serve?

Links!

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Trainwrecks of 1918

Tue, 09 Jul 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina continues marking anniversaries, and also talking about travel disasters. 1918 was in the middle of the Golden Age of Rail Travel, but behind the march of technology and luxury there were millions of travelers trying to get to work on time. Unfortunately, not all of them did. The day this episode goes live marks the 101st anniversary of the worst rail accident in American history, and the end of the year the worst accident in American urban transit history. What counts as "acceptable odds" for mass death and mayhem? Who bears responsibility for a systemic failure? How does the atomization of car travel affect our perception of train death tolls?

Links!

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Missions to Mars

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 02:00:00 -0500

We're sure the world is about to be bombarded by retrospectives of Apollo 11, and for good reason, but there's so much more to explore. Grant takes us through the history of Mars exploration, from the first looks from afar, to the first mobile science platforms to rove its surface.

Links!

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Alcatraz

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 02:00:00 -0500

It's our third anniversary episode, which means scenic islands and shipwrecks. Well, instead of a ship it's an escape raft made from raincoats, and concrete cell blocks aren't particularly scenic. That's right, this episode is about the setting of Sean Connery's classic The Rock: Alcatraz Island.

Links!

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Venezuela: April 2002

Tue, 28 May 2019 02:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Grant tells a familiar story from a less-popular angle. Venezuelan oil interests, for-profit media, and a right-wing coalition launched a coup against the early years of Hugo Chavez' presidency. It also had all the hallmarks of 21st Century American Imperialism, but with a veneer of deniability. Who planted the seeds of today's unrest? How can you see true intent through rhetoric? Why hasn't Elliott Abrams been tried for war crimes?

Links!

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Ice Cream

Tue, 14 May 2019 02:02:00 -0500

This week, Alaina follows through on her promise to talk about the history of ice cream. Or at least, the probable history of ice cream. It's a full hour of navigating shifting definitions, and weighing competing claims. And everything, eventually, comes close to home.

Links!

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Two Playwrights

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Grant wants us to get some culture, so he shines a light on the roots of theater in the West. Hrotsvitha was inspired to use the language of a playwright who lived a millennium before her to impart moral lessons to those who followed her. Hildegard of Bingen steered liturgical drama toward a form much more recognizable as theater, and invented a genre that would become dominant hundreds of years later.

Links

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The DTaP

Tue, 16 Apr 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina's gotten inspiration through immunization. Today we're talking about three potentially deadly diseases whose vaccines come in a convenient combo. Why were those dog teams so desperate to move their serum? Do you owe your health to a team of women in Michigan? So the rust DOESN'T matter in itself?

Fellowship 2nd Edition on Kickstarter

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Everything: April Fools' Special

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 00:01:00 -0500

Today, Grant is delivering an episode one day early to tackle our biggest topic yet: Everything. And from the dawn of time, to the dawn of man, to the nearly unbelievable events of recent years, we're touching on as much of it as we can. Realistically, it's impossible. Don't let that stop us! It's a very special episode. Share it with your friends!

Thank you for enjoying our first April Fools' episode. The calendar says this won't happen again for a good long time. We'll be back with our regularly scheduled reliable facts on the 16th.

Fellowship 2nd Edition on Kickstarter

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Reading Rainbow

Tue, 19 Mar 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina is back after a birthday break to teach us the history behind something you're probably familiar with: Reading Rainbow. Over 21 seasons LeVar Burton and dozens of guests shared a love of reading with children inside their homes. Now a beloved memory, some people are trying to continue that mission in new media. How can innocuous-sounding parts of legislation have out-sized effects? What good is having a skill without a passion for using it? What effects does having a better-read society produce?

Links!

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Riot Grrrl

Tue, 26 Feb 2019 02:00:00 -0500

The early 1990s gave rise to many fads, trends, and subcultures. Riot Grrrl has been dismissed as just another of them, but had far greater ambitions and achieved far greater things. Motivation, inspiration, and cooperation led a group of activists to change the conversation, until the structures they railed against stepped in to change it back. What's the difference between having a message and controlling the narrative? Can the information we're giving you, filtered through the years, be trusted to make an accurate picture of an underground scene that was unfairly covered in the media? How can digital spaces replicate the conditions that fostered Riot Grrrl?

Links!

Logo by Marah Intro and outro by Thylacinus Bikini Kill "Double Dare Ya" Bratmobile "Girl Germs" Heavens to Betsy "Firefly" Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Leopold and Loeb

Tue, 12 Feb 2019 02:00:00 -0500

They thought they were peerless. They thought they planned the perfect crime. Lots of twenty-year-olds overestimate themselves. Alaina tells the story of Leopold and Loeb, two University of Chicago students who decided to kill for fun. Is a drive for fame compatible with a drive for being unfindable? When will America deal with the moral epidemic of rich young men? Why do we keep going back to that lagoon?

Links!

Castle Farms, Loeb's family's previous land
Bobby Franks' home
Bobby Franks' grave
Church of the Brethren article on Leopold
Clarence Darrow's final address to the court
Old Joliet Prison Historical Site

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The Endangered Species List

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Grant turns his focus closer to biology, as we look at the history and the meaning of two lists of endangered species. What does the scope of the Endangered Species Act reveal about the national imagination when compared to its predecessors? How can listing turn to recovery? What can we claim to know about the status of biological life when a majority of creatures are not assessed?

Links!

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Office Supplies

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Vacation is over, and Alaina takes us back to the land of cubicles and time sheets. There are secret origins, intrigue, and controversy inside every supply closet and catalog. How does an idea go from a novelty to a necessity? Is credit more important than royalties? Who is responsible for paper clips?

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A Look Back at '18

Tue, 01 Jan 2019 02:00:00 -0500

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2019, full of promise and hope. We send off the year that was with a pair of remembrances. First, Alaina teaches us about the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, the deadliest disease known to mankind. Then, Grant tells the story of the Second Defenestration of Prague, and how a 1618 disagreement over building a pair of churches sparked the Thirty Years War.

Links!

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Brazil's Military Regime

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Brazil's 20th century was turbulent. The rules of government were rewritten often, and coups seized and transferred power regularly. Grant talks about a 20-year period where the military ruled directly, through hand-picked presidents taken from their own top ranks. How can you define "democracy" to defend the suspension of representative government? What responsibility does the United States have to deal with the aftermath of Cold War policy? Why do we keep going back to ideas that were a disaster the first time?

Links!

Ambassador Gordon's March 31 cable to Washington
CIA memo on Institutional Act 5
Grupo Tortura Nunco Mais (Torture Never Again) A Brazilian Human Rights Organization
Exposing the Legacy of Operation Condor (2014, New York Times)
Burning Bluebeard at the Neofuturarium

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The Dionne Quintuplets

Tue, 04 Dec 2018 02:00:00 -0500

The Dionne Quints were a miracle and a media sensation. Born to an already large family in Depression-era Ontario, their lives were on display for as long as interest continued. Alaina leads us through their lives and asks "who benefits?".

Links!

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The Perry Expedition

Tue, 20 Nov 2018 02:00:00 -0500

We've been spending a lot of time with US history and it's time to head abroad. Grant gets meta with an episode that does just that! Japan spent hundreds of years isolating itself (from a certain point of view) until an American fleet gave them the opportunity (from a certain point of view) to open their society to the colonial powers. What's the difference between diplomacy and coercion? How can you maintain tradition in a changing world? Is an equal exchange even possible?

Links!

Fillmore and Perry's letters to the Emperor, and Perry's letter enclosed with the white flag
Japanese depictions of Commodore Perry (center) and his fleet
A thread of images from a Japanese illustrated history of America from 1861
Pacific Overtures, a 1970s musical dramatizing the events discussed

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 65 prompt is: tell us something you were surprised your government did!

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Haunted Honeys: Antarctic Spookums

Tue, 30 Oct 2018 02:00:00 -0500

The night grows long, but far away is a place where the sun stays in the sky for six months at a time, drawing lazy circles and never crossing the horizon. Such a place could drive one mad. We talk about disasters, suspicious deaths, and a waterfall of blood in our annual Haunted Honeys episode. This year, Alaina takes us on ice.

Links!

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The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Tue, 16 Oct 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Continuing our string of connected episodes, Grant dives into one of the events referenced in our previous topic: The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. Among the deadliest events in American history, it was a watershed moment. Disaster relief, seismology, and the city itself all changed completely in 1906. Is efficency more valuable than dignity? Is the region prepared for the next one?

Links!

Eyewitness reports, compiled by the Museum of the city of an Francisco
San Francisco Earthquake And Fire - April 18, 1906; a newsreel of footage shot in May, 1906
Article on temporary "earthquake shacks" still in the housing market
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 63 prompt is: Give us a spooky story! Especially if it happened to you.

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Angels in America

Tue, 02 Oct 2018 02:00:00 -0500

In the 1980s a plague struck America, and because of who it hit hardest, America was happy to let it run its course and let them die. The arts are how we make sense of that, and point toward what comes next. Alaina takes us through the conception and reception of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, perhaps the most highly-regarded play of the 20th Century. We also learn more about the real person depicted in it, and share our personal connections to the work. Is it possible to separate the personal from the political, or the path of history from faith? Can a work revitalize its medium, or should credit go to the historical moment that produced it? Can something still be too long even if every part of it is brilliant?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Tue, 18 Sep 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Grant takes us back to mid-century America to talk about an emblematic episode of the Cold War. During the Second World War, a number of Americans went behind the government's back to aid an ally. Less than ten yers later, two of them were blamed for millions and millions of deaths, and sentenced to death on coerced and extremely tenuous testimony. Can the letter of the law stand against its use as a weapon? Did an act of state cruelty feed further cruelty, and could clemency have reduced fear? Is this just a game of chicken gone wrong?

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Wingfoot Air Express Disaster

Tue, 04 Sep 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina discusses a less-known Chicago disaster, but first provides some wide-ranging background. We cover the history of airships and the Zeppelin company up until one of their airships crashed through a skylight into a bank, on the first day it flew. It was the largest air crash to date, 18 years before the crash of the hindenberg was broadcast live. Why did anybody think this was a good idea?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Public Broadcasting Service

Tue, 21 Aug 2018 02:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Grant talks about the United States' Public Broadcasting Service, the most trusted institution in the country. A need for non-commercial programming became a need for a federally-supported structure, which quickly became a national treasure. How does the profit motive shape content? What will it take for public broadcasting to continue? How much time could we spend just reminiscing?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Live-Action Disney Films of the 1960s

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina picks up from where a recent episode left off, and continues the story of Disney's live-action productions through the 1960s. We spend our time following the lives and careers of recurring talent, as well as the films themselves and the trends they set. How many films did it take to pay for the enduring classics? How profitable does a star need to be to evade studio control? What size tennis shoes did the computer wear?

Links!

Logo by Marah Intro and outro by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus "Let's Get Together" by The Sherman Brothers, performed by Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello

Supplemental 2

Tue, 31 Jul 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Apolgies! Life caught up with us in a big way lately, and rather than skip this week entirely we put together a little surprise instead. This supplemental episode is a collection of bloopers, digressions, and other outtakes from almost the entire run of our show so far. Enjoy this collection of things we consider good enough to keep, even if they didn't quite fit in the episodes they were recorded for. Next week, the 7th of August, a regular episode will go up, and we'll resume our biweekly schedule from there.

The Voyage of the Damned

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Grant tells us the story of the MS St Louis's cruise in the spring of 1939. A cruise ship filled with 937 passengers left Nai Germany to escape persecution. In the end, most of them returned to it. How do you recognize a genocide before active extermination begins? What is stopping us from caring for those in danger? What does this have to do with 2018 America?

Links!

Logo by Marah Intro and outro by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Guinness World Records

Tue, 03 Jul 2018 02:00:00 -0500

When you want to learn the best, the biggest, the most, there's one resource that stands above the rest. Alaina teaches us the origin and developmentof the Guinness World Records, with a look at the lives of the founders and some large-scale failed attempts. How do you balance accuracy, reliability, and responsibility? What drives people to be the best at something? Are all our episodes this sumer going to be about people who hate the Irish?

Links!

Logo by Marah Intro and outro by Thylacinus

Operation Ajax

Tue, 19 Jun 2018 02:00:00 -0500

In the last days of the English empire, the people of Iran wanted to shake off the economic imperialism of British Petroluem. The movement spread, and the Americans got involved to defend the status quo. Grant teaches us about the factions in play, the tactics used, and the beginning of the US's policy of regime change. When has imperialism improved the lives of people living under it? How can we accept the narrative that inciting chaos creates stability? Who's next?

Links!

Logo by Marah Intro and outro by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Fair

Tue, 05 Jun 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina returns to another small piece of 1893's Columbian Exposition, and look at the Woman's Building. Designed and decorated by trailblazing women, and filled with work and exhibits by women from around the world, it was one of the most popular buildings at the fair. The fair also hosted the World’s Congress of Representative Women, a week-long convention on women's issues and a landmerk in early feminist history. Did it fulfill its purpose? Who benefited the most? What can women's movements today learn from the successes and mistakes of 1893?

[Note: The murals were 58x12 feet, not inches]

Links!

Logo by Marah Intro and outro by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Bonus: Firsthand Cedar Point

Tue, 29 May 2018 02:00:00 -0500

After learning about the nealry 150 year history of Cedar Point, we went there ourselves! In this bonus episode, we talk about the rides we experienced, the places we shopped, and the things we saw on our trip!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Surrealism

Tue, 22 May 2018 02:00:00 -0500

As Dada began to burn itself out in the 1920s, a splinter movement rose from within: Surrealism. What we know now as an art movement began as a mode of thought, a philosophy, a practice. In this episode Grant teaches us about their goals, their political program, and where they all went once the band broke up. Can you exercize control over a movement meant to break boundaries and hierarchies? Is the most famous surrealist the worst at Surrealism? Which art movement would win in a fight?

Links!

Logo by Marah Intro and outro by Thylacinus Interstitial music: Parade, by Erik Satie Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Girl Scouts of the USA

Tue, 08 May 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA has become "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". As a lifetime member, Alaina tells us about Juliette Gordon Low's life, the development of the program, and the current challenges they face. Also, cookies. When does an organization develop past its roots? How do two very similar programs take such different stances to the changing times?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Bonus! C2E2 2018

Sun, 29 Apr 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Our annual trip to our local comic (and etc.) convention was a great time, and we'd like to share it with you! Here's what we saw, did, and bought at 2018's Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo. Below are links to just about everything we mention:

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Charles Guiteau and Leon Czolgosz

Tue, 24 Apr 2018 02:00:00 -0500

In 1881, a man killed the President of the United States. In 1901, another man killed another President of the United States. Grant teaches us about these two: their motivations, their preparations, their trials, and the effects of their acts. Is assassination a part of American politics? How do such different people meet at the same conclusion?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Ballad of Guiteau and Ballad of Czolgosz by Stephen Sondheim, performed by Neil Patrick Harris and Denis O'Hare

Live-Action Disney Films of the 1950s

Tue, 10 Apr 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina turns her Disney series toward the company's best known product! Well, maybe second-best-known. Following tentative steps, an accounting issue led to the studio's first entirely live-action films, establishing some trends that have fallen away, and others that have continued for nearly 70 years. Are today's teen Disney stars the last echo of the old studio system? What is lost in the selective memory of media? How much room is there for art on an assembly line?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Convicts in Australia

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Grant opens his horizons and shares what he's taught himself about one of the few things he knows about Australian history: its beginnings as a penal colony. Over 80 years, on 806 ships, over 164,000 convicts were sent to the colonies of Australia, which were built on their backs. Who defines crime, and who benefits from it? How does a nation's founding legend shape its identity? Did they earn more than an expunged record?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Tue, 13 Mar 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina treats herself on her birthday episode by talking about a tragic fire in the early 1900s. After the (primarily women and immigrant) workers of the New York garment industry began winning better conditions and pay, one factory lagged behind. Then, it burned down, killing 146 people in under 20 minutes. In the end, the owners made a profit on the insurance as the victims' families were left without their income. Is preparedness a substitute for systemic prevention? How do we focus grief into action? How do you place a value on human life?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus

Cedar Point

Tue, 27 Feb 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Grant helps us lighten up and have some fun for once! Cedar Point is one of America's oldest and greatest amusement parks, changing and growing along with, and then setting, the trends of family entertainment. Would Boeckling recognize what's happened to his summer resort, or feel pride at the continued reinvention? Is history cyclical no matter where you look? How many past episodes have connections to this one?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

HH Holmes

Tue, 13 Feb 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Happy Valencrimes Day! Alaina teaches us about Chicago's famed serial killer: HH Holmes. A career swindler and criminal, Holmes left a trail of wives, properties, and bodies in his wake. The question is, how reliable are these stories, and how can we be sure when so much evidence was destroyed or lost?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Four American Socialists

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 02:00:00 -0500

As people get mythologized, the ideas they had and work they did that go against the dominant narrative are left behind. In this episode, Grant takes a look at the politics of four people cast in other roles since their deaths. Does issue activism in the US lead to anti-capitalism, or the other way around? How can these beliefs create alliances when the details can be so very different? Will the FBI ever just, like, chill out?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina launches another series as we look at the fiasco that was the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis, Missouri! The fiar contained many notable firsts, but was also a center of scientific racism and mismanagement. What horrors has Judy Garland been disguising all these years?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus

A Look Back at '17

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 02:00:00 -0500

Happy New Year! Another New Year's special, another pair of topics. First, Grant takes us back 600 years to resolve the Great Western Schism and make sure we have the proper amount of Popes. Then, Alaina tells the story of a mine disaster in Butte Montana, bookended by the labor disputes that set the stage for it, and were set off by it.

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Studio System

Tue, 05 Dec 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Hollywood's Golden Age was built on a particular set of conditions. Studios owned the entire chain of production, distribution, and exhibition; and what they couldn't own, they used their influence to control. The dream factory made miracles, but it had a terrible appetite. Why are B-movies emulated, when their original purpose was to provide cheap thrills and fill holes in the schedule? What is the real price of stardom? What happens when you make art, and sell it like hog feed?

Links!

Please remember: Our next episode is in 4 weeks time, instead of the usual two. Thank you for understanding, and we'll see you in January!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina's Disney series is back with an episode on the 4th and (so far) final theme park at Walt Disney World Resort: Disney's Animal Kingdom. Work began just after Hollywood Studios opened, and took 8 years and nearly a billion dollars to finish. Over a relatively short life this park has had it's own share of oddities and development, growing into one of the finest park experiences anywhere. Is the direct approach the best approach to make an attraction educational? Who really owns bones? Have we all been brainwashed by Happy Meals?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus "Tonight" by Leonard Bernstein, arranged by George Wilkins

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Tue, 07 Nov 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Grant combines two of his running themes with an armed rebellion staged by an unusual Christian sect. The mid-1800s were a time of global upheaval, that in China manifested as the deadliest civil war of all time, hastening the end of the Imperial dynasties. Millions died in battle. Millions were executed by armies. Millions more died due to man-made famine. How thin is the line between a silly cult, a tragic disaster, and a new dynasty?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Haunted Honeys - Indiana Spookums

Tue, 24 Oct 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Welcome back to our annual bone-chilling Halloween special! Alaina teaches us about graveyard traditions, haunted theaters, and the dark beginnings of farmersonly.com in the state of Indiana. Enjoy the season of spookums!

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus

The Roswell UFO Incident

Tue, 10 Oct 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Grant starts October with a creepy topic. In 1947 a rancher thought he may have found pieces of a flying disk, and a military press release agreed. Over the decades to come this story blossomed into a wide-reaching global conspiracy with bodies, buried treasure, and the keys to every mystery since. How do legends develop? How does fact intersect with belief? Who names their child Trudy Truelove?

Links!

Images of Roswell debris, and weather baloon demonstration
Transcript of the Roswell Daily Record's July 8th story
Compilation of stories run on the Roswell Incident based on the July 9th AP story
Roswell Daily Record's July 9th story, including Brazel's description of the debris
Air Force report on Project MOGUL
NSA report on the Roswell Incident
1994 NY Times article on Project MOGUL theory
Jesse Marcel: The Evolution of a Roswell Witness by Bruce Hutchinson
Unsolved Mysteries covering Roswell; Unsolved Mysteries would often re-package popular segments, and I did not find a link for the original 1989 version.
Alien Autopsy
The Roswellian Syndrome: How Some UFO Myths Develop, by Joe Nickell and James McGaha
Do You Want to Believe? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios
International UFO Museum and Research Center
SEX ARCHIE (iTunes/Stitcher/RSS) twitter

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus Here With Me (Roswell Theme) by Dido The X-Files Theme by Mark Snow

The Prairie Avenue District

Tue, 26 Sep 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina brings the show close to home. In fact, withing walking distance of our home! The Prairie Avenue District is a small part of Chicago's Near South Side neighborhood that was the hottest piece of real estate around at the end of the 19th century. We learn about the history of the neighborhood, some buildings that survive from the period, and some of the misadventures of their residents.

Links!

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The Carnation Revolution

Tue, 12 Sep 2017 02:00:00 -0500

In 1974, Portugal's autocratic regime was overthrown by a nearly bloodless coup. Rather than descent into chaos or public executions, it was a revolution of steady transition to democracy and soldiers wearing flowers. Can democracy come from an undemocratic act? Who holds the responsibility in decolonization? Can you crack the song code?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Golden Age of Piracy

Tue, 29 Aug 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina brings us tales of high seas adventure! For an 80 year period, conditions were right for a wave of piracy. This era has been romanticized and fictionalized to the point it's synonymous with piracy itself. We also take a look at a few specific individuals from the time. Be sure to listen for the end for a followup discussion on an element from our 1933 World's Fair episode that's back in the news.

Links!

Library of Congress resource guide
Gextra Life 2017 donation page, promo video
Ciaran's articles on The Agapemonite Messiahs, and Cheung Po Tsai and Ching Shih
The Silent Scream of Melania Trump on Inkshares

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus

The Millerites

Tue, 15 Aug 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Grant takes us back to the 1800s to talk about the end of all things. William Miller believed he had concrete evidence that the end was nigh, and his friends built a movement that grew to reinterpret all kinds of orthodoxy. Despite their specific predictions having no clear result, the faith continues. Is the truest faith that which survives evidence to the contrary? What holds a community together, the good times or the tough? Can we be trusted to ever speak on this topic respectfully?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The 1933 World's Fair

Tue, 01 Aug 2017 02:00:00 -0500

In the depths of the Depression, and the shadow of an earlier event, Chicago staged the A Century of Progress International Exposition, better known as the 1933 World's Fair. Alaina takes us through an overview of the Fair's conception, some notable exhibits, and the surviving remains. How much success comes down to blind luck? How much should seeing babies cost? How do you solve a problem like Mussolini?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Sherlock Holmes

Tue, 18 Jul 2017 02:00:00 -0500

In 1886 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle changed the world. Aided by a perfect demographic moment, English literature, pop culture, criminal science, and the way we comminucate about media were all shaped by Sherlock Holmes.

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Lost Disney

Tue, 04 Jul 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina brings us back to her Disney series, talking about things you won't find there anymore. Is Walt Disney World a living time capsule? What obligation is there to the memories of past guests? Why are some species of birds treated so differently?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus

Richard J Daley

Tue, 20 Jun 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Six months ago, Grant mentioned he'd come back to talk more about a significant person, and now he's making good! Hizzoner, Richard J Daley, was Da Mare for over 20 years. Last and perhaps greatest of the big city bosses, he wielded unchallenged power in the city which came with national influence. Even so, he was always the South Side altar boy, diligently studying the financials. Where there is power, must there be ambition? If everybody's getting a piece, is it still corruption? Who doesn't love the Sox?

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus "South Side Irish" by The Irish Choir Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Great Lakes Shipwrecks

Tue, 06 Jun 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Happy Anniversary honey bunches! We're going back to where our show began and hitting some of our favorite themes as Alaina teaches us about some famous shipwrecks of the Great Lakes! Each of these events has at least one folk song about them, too. How much history is lost on lakebeds? IF folk music preserves these stories, do musicians have a duty to the facts? Will anyone from Cleveland ever listen to our show again?

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Cochabamba Water War

Tue, 23 May 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Bolivia, just like most of the developing world, spent the end of the 20th century pursuing a neoliberal agenda to gain the benefits promised by wealthier nations. In 1999 that meant privatizing a city's water supply, and the people revolted. By mid-April 2000 the country's trajectory had changed. Why weren't Americans interested in the involvement of American interests? What is the path for improving the lives of Cochabamba residents? Is Tank Girl worth a rewatch?

Links!

Leasing the Rain, PBS Frontline
Timeline: Cochabamba Water Revolt
¡Cochabamba!: Water War in Bolivia by Oscar Olivera
Jim Shultz's reports from Cochabamba
"Leasing the Rain" by William Finnegan for the New Yorker

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Tue, 09 May 2017 02:00:00 -0500

It's part 3 of our Disney series. Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, dedicated to the art, craft, and magic of the movies. Today it has a new name and new focus. Alaina teaches us about how the park came to be and how it transitioned. How does creativity shine through a web of license agreements and legal challenges? If the working studios were so needed at the time, why weren't they sustainable? How important is a consistency of experience in planning a park?

Links!

Bonus! C2E2 2017

Thu, 27 Apr 2017 02:00:00 -0500

As we mentioned in the last episode, we spent the weekend at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo! Here's an account of what we did, what we bought, and who we met during the show! Don't forget to look at the links below for a bunch of stuff we talk about:

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Soviet Space Dogs

Tue, 25 Apr 2017 02:00:00 -0500

The Space Race was contested by governments and scientists, but the first explorers were a cadre of stray dogs from the streets of Moscow. These dogs sit at the intersection of mid-century optimism, political posturing, and questionable ethics.

Links!

A Chapter on Laika's pop culture memory
Soviet Space Dogs, a book of merchandise and tributes to the dogs.
Gallery of images from Soviet Space Dogs

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 26 prompt is: favorite film production fact! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus

Newsies

Tue, 11 Apr 2017 02:00:00 -0500

In 1899 two newspaper giants were fighting for control of the New York readership, and tried to squeeze their distributors for an extra advantage. Those distributors were self-employed child laborers, who organized themselves and halted the entire distribution system until their demands were met. This drama, a nearly forgotten footnote in US labor history, was dramatized in a commercial flop of a film, and re-dramatized in a successful Broadway musical. Can a success set a precedent if it's forgotten? Does an adaptation have a duty to be accurate; and what if the facts are lost? How can an unpopular work become more sucessful after being changed for the worse?

Links!

Newsies (1992)
Newsies the Musical
Artemisia Gentileschi, Renaissance Painter, by listener Ciaran
SEX ARCHIE (iTunes/Stitcher/RSS) twitter
Warcraft on Alcohollywood
Mouse Guard by Six Feats Under

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 25 prompt is: favorite historical dog! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Impressionism

Tue, 28 Mar 2017 02:00:00 -0500

Fine art has been carefully curated with standard and expectations passed down through the generations with change coming at a glacial pace. Then, in the 1860s, a set of conditions and a cadre of artists combined to make new art and more. How can a movement be defined without any set membership, ideology, or aesthetic? Is there a place for hierarchy in paining? What the heck is Degas' whole deal?

Links!

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 24 prompt is: favorite play (or musical) based on a historical event!

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Jim Henson

Tue, 14 Mar 2017 01:00:00 -0500

In his short life, Jim Henson re-invented an art form, taught millions to read, and entertained the world. His life, career, and philosophy were even broader than that. Why does a work's intended audience devalue its creativity? How do you escape your image to break new ground? How would you make a children's show to end war? Happy Birthday, Alaina!

Links!

Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus

Copper Country Strike

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 01:00:00 -0500

On Christmas Eve, 1913, in the city of Calumet, 73 people died in a panicked stampede, crushed under each other's weight in a narrow staircase. It remains the largest mass murder in Michigan history. But, this is only one episode inside a greater story about the fight for collective action. How much money is it worth to maintain power? Are wins counted in the short term, or the long term? Will Alaina get a puppy for her birthday?

Links!

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 22 prompt is: favorite puppet! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 01:00:00 -0500

Happy Valentine's Day! In this holiday special, Alaina talks about the most romantic thing she knows: gruesome murder. How are movie gangsters different from the real guys? Why can't rival operations just get along? Who actually did the dang thing, anyway?

Links:

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 21 prompt is: favorite labor union! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

Stan Lee!

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:00:00 -0500

Face front, True Believers! Grant takes us through the life and career of every nerd's grandpa, Stan Lee! From humble beginnings as a teenage office assistant, to luminary of the field, to midlife crisis, to global celebrity! His talent, bluster, and talent for bluster carried him through it all. Who deserves credit for a collaboration? Which characters were really being sold? What is the value of a figurehead that has no contact with the rest of the ship? Excelsior!

Links!

Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee
Marvel Comics: The Untold Story
The Bullpen Bulletins Index
Merry Marvel Marching Society record skit
More on Funky Flashman
Ads and press from A Marvel-ous Evening with Stan Lee, the Carnegie Hall event
Footage of the Spider-Wedding
Stan ripping on Liefeld and McFarlane
Walk of Fame star
The Stan Lee Foundation
POW! Entertainment
Mad Fuzz; Proceeds from purchases made before Februaey 11th will go to the ACLU. Please mention ACLU in the "notes to seller" area when ordering.

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 20 prompt is: favorite historical couple! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus 'Nuff said

EPCOT

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 01:00:00 -0500

Alaina continues her Disney Parks series with an episode on Walt Disney World Resort's second gate: Epcot. Walt Disney's original idea for all that Florida land was a planned city so unique that the world would come to see how his people lived and worked. After his death, some of those ideas, and the name, were recycled to be a theme park that serves as a permanent World's Fair. Is high modernism the path to despotism? Even so, could it have worked? How can you hit a forever-moving target: the future? Who needs rides when you can visit 11 themed gift shops and drink?

Links!

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 19 prompt is: favorite superhero! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus "One Little Spark" by the Sherman Brothers "The Three Caballeros" by Manuel Esperón and Ray Gilbert

A Look Back at '16

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 01:00:00 -0500

Happy New Year! Our New Year's special has two topics for you. First, Grant takes us back to 1816, the Year Without a Summer, to tell the story behind the story of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Next, Alaina pops into 1916 to share the foundations and highlights of Dada. How does a geological event on one small island shape all of Western culture? If art is created by war, can art go to war?

Links!

Frankensten; or, the Modern Prometheus at Project Gutenberg
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Chronology and Resource Site
Villa Dilotati, where the group summered
Fuseli’s The Nightmare
The Cabaret Voltaire (website in French)
Hugo Ball's Dada manifesto
Tristan Tzara's Dada manifesto
Duchamp's Fountain
Ballet "Parade"
http://www.chumba.com/
Copy Kitty on Steam Early Access

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 18 prompt is: favorite future! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Battle of Michigan Avenue

Tue, 20 Dec 2016 01:00:00 -0500

In 1968, the Democratic Party nominated a loyal member of the party leadership that did not reflect their members' views and could not present a compelling vision of the future. Meanwhile, prophesies of civil unrest became self-fulfilling as protests provoked a police riot miles away from the convention itself. What sort of protest makes the most change? How do you make leaders listen? Does democracy end on election day?

Links!

Footage of Wednesday's Police Riot
Photos of the week's events: Chicago Tribune, Time Magazine
The Yippies' nomination newsreel for Pigasus
Dan Rather's report from the floor after being punched
Excerpts of Ribicoff's nomination speech, and Daley's reaction
The Walker Report (An excerpted summary)
Famous American Trials: The Chicago 8 including transcripts and audio of the trial and its participants
The Whole World was Watching: An Oral History of 1968
Bobby Seale's website
The MadFuzz store; use coupon code "hh2016" before 12/31 for 16% off.

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 17 prompt is: positive 2016 history! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus "Prologue, August 29, 1968" by Chicago "I'll be There" by Phil Ochs

The Sound of Music

Tue, 06 Dec 2016 01:00:00 -0500

It's the Holidays, and we'd like to share one of our traditions with you. Alaina tells us about the creation of a classic film, The Sound of Music. First, we delve into the creation of the fictional family Von Trapp, then look at their actual lives which inspired it. How much fidelity is owed to the truth in an adaptation? What lengths would you go to in resisting a fascist takeover? What unexpected benefits come with accepting refugees?

It's also been exactly six months since episode 1! Thank you for all the love and support!

Links!

The Von Trapp family singers (current lineup)
The Von Trapp Family Lodge
The Sound of Music on IMDB
Julie Andrews receiving the Kennedy Center Honors
Lady Gaga's Sound of Music tribute at the 87th Academy Awards
The Forgotten Entrance to Clinton Hall (thanks Sarah!)
MadFuzz store use promo code HH2016 for 16% off until December 31st!

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 16 prompt is: holiday tradition/memory! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus The Lonely Goatherd and Edelweiss by Oscar Hammersten II and Richard Rodgers

The Chicago Cubs

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Sometimes, when you're talking about history, it happens right in front of you. Grant takes hold of the one good thing to happen in this God-forsaken year and goes back to the 1870s to see how it all began. Alaina does her best to feign interest. How does a legacy push a team forward; how can it hold them back? What arcane might lies inside goats?

Links!

Cubs' Website
Wrigley Field
Goats? GOATS!
(Someday We'll Go) All the Way by Eddie Vedder
Ernie Banks' 500th career home run
Harry Caray's final 7th inning stretch
Catching Hell, Inside the Bartman Debacle
The final out of the 2016 World Series
RAT POISON AND BRANDY: THE 1904 ST. LOUIS OLYMPIC MARATHON.
The Dollop: episode 150; James Sullivan and the 1904 Olympic Games (Live)
The MadFuzz store; use coupon code "hh2016" before 12/31 for 16% off.

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 15 prompt is: favorite movie based on a true story! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus "Go, Cubs, Go!" by Steve Goodman. Performed by Steve Goodman and Manic Sewing Circle

Firsthand Philadelphia

Tue, 08 Nov 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina and Grant return home from Philadelphia and the Wyoming Valley to tell tales of all they learned. Is there a minimum length for a street? Or minimum a width? What DIDN'T Benjamin Franklin do? What's better: a ruin; or a preserve? We share these stories of American Independence on election day, so go vote! We're counting on you!
Links:

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Haunted Honeys - Chicago Spookums

Tue, 25 Oct 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Welcome to our bone-chilling Halloween special! Alaina teaches us about haunted hotels, haunted graveyards, and other spookum-scarems in the Windy City.
Links:

John Jay

Tue, 11 Oct 2016 02:00:00 -0500

America's founders have been immortalized, lionized, and mythologized; but one seems to have fallen through the cracks. Grant shares what he's learned about John Jay, the forgotten father. Was he instrumental to the birth of the United States, or did he just happen to be in the right place at the right time? Is he forgotten because he left things half done in his career, or because he used his retirement to rest? Why on Earth is this episode mostly about a horse Alaina made up?
Links:

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Great Lakes Oddities

Tue, 27 Sep 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina takes us on a tour of the Great Lakes, pointing out the strange and unusual on the way. Cryptids, ghost towns, and lake pirates make for a new perspective on America's north coast. How technical does the definition of "pirate" need to be? How many cult leaders have also been in Congress? What was wrong with people in the 19th Century?
Links:

Article with some pictures of Singapore, Michigan, and one with aerial photography
Ciaran's article on Dan Seavey
The Odd Side of Donegal, a series by listener Ciaran!
Grant on Blurry Photos talking about Gävlebocken
Grant on Sunday School Dropouts talking about Ancient Astronauts

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Haymarket

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Grant takes a turn at Chicago tragedy with the Haymarket Affair. In May 1886 a bomb was thrown, igniting a shootout that killed over a dozen people and changed the fight for workers' rights forever. Can equality be gained in a system run by those who profit from inequality? Are the voices of the dead louder than those of the living? While we don't know who started the fight, can we even know who won in the end?
Links!

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 9 prompt is: share your local oddities!
Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Haymarket: The Anarchist's Songbook by Alex Higgin-Hauser & David Kornfeld, excerpts used with permission

Supplemental 1

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 02:00:00 -0500

As promised, here's the bonus episode with more letters and outtakes. Some of our favorite bits from Episode 8 fell on the cutting room floor, and here they are for you to enjoy.
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The Magic Kingdom

Tue, 30 Aug 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Alaina brings us to the Most Magical Place on Earth, Magic Kingdom Park in the Walt Disney World Resort. We learn about the park's inception and development, and follow a number of notable attractions from opening day to the present. Does the Magic Kingdom have a unique identity, or is it just Disneyland 2? How does something so compelling come from the collision of family passion and profit-seeking? Is there really any hope they'll give us a free vacation for saying mostly nice things? This one went pretty long, so look out for deleted and extended conversations in a supplemental episode next Tuesday!
Links!

1965 Press Conference
Yesterland
An article on the history of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
The Florida Project film, presented to the public just before Walt's death.
Interactive map I LOVE MAPS!
The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World, a Wonderful World of Disney special that aired October 29, 1971. A fun source of video of the park as it was, and early 70s television production.
Gextra Life Please tune in, and please consider donating.

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. The episode 9 email prompt is: favorite public speech! Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus Baroque Hoedown by Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow by by Richard and Robert Sherman; peformed by Rex Allen

Anabaptists

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Good morning! Today Grant goes for two and talks about the Anabaptists, a movement of related Protestant sects dating back to the early days of the Reformation. Are our civil liberties inspired by people who dropped out of the society they protect? How can small communities survive in isolation, and how could they survive without isolation? Why are people living in modernity fascinated by those who chose not to be?
Links:

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TV ads in Presidential Campaigns

Tue, 02 Aug 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Hello Honey Bunches! This time Grant takes the reigns and teaches us about the history of those campaign ads that plague Americans every four years. We talk about notable examples, trends that come and go, and some points on funding, and how funding impacts form. Is the future of the country sold in the same way as laundry detergent? If big money is the problem, what's the solution? Why did we make an audio program about visual media?

The Living Room Candidate
PBS' :30 Second Candidate
The Selling of the President by Joe McGinniss
Gruen (Thanks Cleretic!)
Some notable ads not mentioned: Confessions of a Republican, Voting Booth, Bear, Journey, Windsurfing, and plenty more. Did we miss one of your favorites?

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it. (Also, it's Grant's birthday Thursday, so... pretty please?). You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, or by emailing us at historyhoneyspodcast at gmail. No listener mail prompt yet, but feel free to write anyway!

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The Iroquois Theatre Fire

Tue, 19 Jul 2016 02:00:00 -0500

In our fifth episode, Alaina teaches us about the fire that claimed Chicago's Iroquois Theatre in 1903, the deadliest single-building fire in history. It's a story with some similarities to the Eastland Disaster, and plenty to set it apart as well. When is a door not a door? Is rational self interest the deadliest force in history? What in this dang city hasn't burned down?
Here's this episode's links!

Panorama photo of the burned theater
Photos of building features
Memorial sculpture (currently in City Hall)
Death Alley

Tuberculosis and Fashion

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Hello everyone! Here's the 4th episode of History Honeys! Alaina catches us up on Tuberculosis, then drills down to how the disease shaped fashion, then shares stories of how other diseases caused fads, and some stories of how fads caused illnesses. Is anything in history truly isolated? Is there any limit to what people will do for fashion's sake? Have we been using a loaded coin all along?
Have some links!

The listener mail prompt for next episode is plays and musicals! Tell us your favorite show and we'll try to read it on air. Send those emails to historyhoneyspodcast at gmail!

Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Tell your friends what you like about it, and send them a link. Rate and review on iTunes and whatever platform delivers you this show so strangers will see it too! We appreciate it so much.
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The Comics Code Authority

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 02:00:00 -0500

The third episode of History Honeys brings Grant to the hot seat to talk about The Comics Code Authority; its beginnings, its effects, and its legacy. If it seems like Alaina doesn't say much, it's because she was too busy trying to keep her composure in the face of the all-too familiar story of misplaced outrage and artistic repression. She made some incredible faces, though. Is scapegoating and censorship the path of least resistance? Can history remember anyone for more than one thing? How long of a shadow can one moment cast?
Recommendations: Saga, I Hate Fairyland, Archie, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Starchie (and all of Will Elder and Wally Wood's work on MAD), The Lee/Kirby run on Fantastic Four (issues 1-102), Figment from the Disney Kingdoms line of books inspired by theme park attractions, and many other books we didn't mention in the recording.
An article about Wertham's manipulation of facts to fit his argument: https://news.illinois.edu/blog/view/6367/204890
And a big thanks to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
As mentioned in the listener mail segment, two articles by Ciaran.
Logo by Marah Music by Thylacinus Censor beep by Frank West of The FPlus

The Eastland Disaster

Tue, 14 Jun 2016 02:00:00 -0500

Hello again and welcome to the second episode of History Honeys! Alaina will be teaching us all about the sinking of the Eastland, a passenger steamer whose sinking was the single greatest loss of life in Great Lakes history. How can a system give rise to terrible things and nobody at fault? Can a plan to promote safety actually create danger? If ghosts aren't real, can anyone actually "lie" about being haunted?

Have some Links!

The listener mail prompt for next episode is moral panics! Tell us which time people lost their heads over something that, in hindsight, turned out to be pointless scapegoating is your favorite and why, and we'll try to read it for the show.
Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Send a link to someone you know and tell them what you enjoy about History Honeys. Rate and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever other platform you use to hear us. It helps so very much and we do appreciate it.
Feeling down? We recommend this cookie recipe, and this baby sloth to help you cheer up.
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Mackinac!

Mon, 06 Jun 2016 01:00:00 -0500

Hello everyone! This is the very first episode of History Honeys, and we're so glad you could join us. Grant and Alaina swap stories about Mackinac Island and the Michilimackinac region. Does it have the world's worst fort? Where would medical science be without accidental gunshot wounds and uncomfortable ethics? Are the straits in danger of ecological disaster?
Have some links!

Mackinac Parks
Oil and Water Don't Mix, the campaign against pipelines in the Great Lakes

The listener mail prompt for next episode is boats! Tell us your favorite history fact about a boat and we'll try to read it on air.
Please help our show succeed by sharing it. Tell your friends what you like about it, and send them a link. Rate and review on whatever platform delivers you this show so strangers will see it too! We appreciate it so much.
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