Stuff You Missed in History Class

Interview: Dr. Calinda Lee of the Atlanta History Center

26 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Holly was joined in the studio by historian Dr. Calinda Lee to talk about her work with the Atlanta History Center, and specifically the new exhibit "...

Leicester Hemingway

24 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Leicester Hemingway's life was very much lived in the shadow of his brother. It isn’t until after Ernest Hemingway’s death that Leicester made his...

SYMHC Classics: The Sham Battle and Cochecho Massacre

22 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This 2015 episode revisits an event that was half performance for the British troops, and half actual sham. It led to an attack on Dover by the Pennac...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Croquet and King Philip

21 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Holly and Tracy cover their experiences with croquet and historical stories that didn't fit into the episode, and then discuss the challenges in resea...

King Philip’s War

19 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

King Philip’s War was an armed conflict primarily between English colonists and Indigenous nations in what’s now New England, although there were ...

Croquet History

17 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Croquet's origins are murky, but because of its relative ease of play and low barrier of entry, it went through a surge in popularity almost as soon a...

SYMHC Classics: Archaeology and Harvard Indian College

15 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're revisiting a 2015 episode, where Holly chats with archaeologists Patricia Capone and Diana Loren about Harvard's Indian College, the school's im...

Behind the Scenes Minis: ERA and Paul Cuffe

14 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tracy and Holly discuss the nuances of the Equal Rights Amendment's history, and the whaling industry that we discussed in the biography of Quaker Pau...

Paul Cuffe: Sea Captain, Philanthropist, Pan-Africanist

12 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Cuffe protested taxation, built wealth for himself in whaling, became a Quaker and used his fortune for the betterment of others. He was also an advoc...

(Almost) 100 Years of the Equal Rights Amendment

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The first version of the equal right amendment was first proposed almost 100 years ago. This amendment has been through cycles of support and oppositi...

SYMHC Classics: Jamaica's Maroon Wars

08 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This 2017 episode delves into the story of the Jamaican Maroons. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Jamaica's Maroon communities clashed with British col...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Sand and Activism-ins

07 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Holly and Tracy talk about George Sand's defiance against social convention, and the difficulty in discussing certain aspects of their most recent epi...

Six Impossible Episodes: Other Ins

05 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We've talked about sit-ins on the show before. This time, we’re looking at other -ins – direct action demonstrations and similar protests that hav...

George Sand: Novelist, Muse and Gender Bender

03 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

She was an incredibly famous writer of incredible output. Her behavior and personal style were almost as talked about as her novels, and these factors...

SYMHC Classics: Freedom Riders

01 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Freedom Rides were happening at about the same time as the sit-in movement of the 1960s that we talked about this week – and involved some of th...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Friedrich and the Greensboro Sit-ins

31 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Holly and Tracy discuss one of Caspar David Friedrich's paintings that wasn't part of the episode on him. They also discuss Tracy's experience in scho...

Upcoming Special Edition of The Soundtrack Show

30 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

David W. Collins recently sat down for a conversation with Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez to talk about their Oscar-nominated songwriting wor...

The Lunch Counter Sit-ins, Greensboro and Beyond

29 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Feb. 1, 1960, four students sat down at a segregated lunch counter at the F.W. Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina. It started with just fo...

Caspar David Friedrich

27 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Friedrich's painting career, most closely associated with the German romantic movement, continues to influence and inspire artists today. In his own t...

SYMHC Classics: Wallis Simpson & Nazi King

25 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This is two 2010 classics from previous hosts Katie and Sarah, covering the relationship of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, the abdication crisis that...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Lord Elgin

24 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In today's casual Friday chat, Tracy and Holly discuss the Elgin marbles and the complex issues that museums face regarding the repatriation of artifa...

Lord Elgin and the Parthenon Sculptures, Part 2

22 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode covers how the removal of Ancient Greek artifacts from Greece by Lord Elgin played out, how these sculptures became part of the collec...

Lord Elgin and the Parthenon Sculptures, Part 1

20 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Starting in 1801, the Seventh Earl of Elgin removed many classical Greek sculptures from Greece, particularly from the Parthenon and other monuments a...

SYMHC Classics: The Ghost Army

18 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We’re revisiting a 2015 episode about the U.S. Ghost Army, a top-secret group assembled to create confusion and mislead Axis forces during WWII.  ...

Behind the Scenes Minis: André Le Nôtre

17 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Holly and Tracy discuss the great master gardener's work, delve into the moral implications of opulence, and weigh those against the value of the resu...

André Le Nôtre, Part 2

15 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In part one, we talked about Le Nôtre's early years and his work at Vaux-le-Vicomte. Today, we'll pick up with his incredible achievements designing ...

André Le Nôtre, Part 1

13 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Le Nôtre's work defined the French formal garden in the 17th century. Today in part one, we’re going to cover his life up to a project that was con...

SYMHC Classics: Hokusai

11 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're revisiting our 2015 episode on Hokusai, who lived during a time when there was not a lot of contact between Japan and the West. But even so, he ...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Joan Curran and Murasaki Shikibu

10 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On today's casual Friday talk, Tracy and Holly talk about the surprising level of recognition Joan Curran got from male contemporaries, war debris, an...

Murasaki Shikibu and the Tale of Genji

08 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Murasaki Shikibu, sometimes known in English as Lady Murasaki, lived during Japan’s Heian period. She was a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shoshi, and i...

Joan Strothers Curran and Radar Countermeasures

06 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Curran was a Welsh scientist who developed a system of thwarting radar for the Allied forces in WWII. What we know of her work is entirely pieced toge...

SYMHC Classics: The Riotous Life of Caravaggio

04 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This classic from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina explores the controversial life of Caravaggio. He may not be as well-known as Leonardo da Vinci, bu...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Unearthed! in December 2019

03 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In discussing this week's episodes, Tracy explains how she tracks news stories on her Unearthed! Pinterest board, and she and Holly theorize about why...

Unearthed! in December 2019, Part 2

01 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It’s part two of our year-end Unearthed! Today, we have some longtime listener favorites, including edibles and potables, Otzi, and exhumations. And...

Unearthed! in December 2019, Part 1

30 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for the end-of-the-year edition of Unearthed! Today we have episode updates, books and letters, shipwrecks, and animal finds, among a few ...

SYMHC Classics: Haile Selassie

28 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Haile Selassie wasn't just the last emperor of Ethiopia -- he is also hailed as a messiah. In this classic episode from 2011, previous hosts Deblina a...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Aspirin and Lalibela

27 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On this casual Friday chat, Tracy and Holly share their thoughts on the history of aspirin, as well as the amazing churches carved from stone in Ethio...

Ethiopia's Rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela

25 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The complex at Lalibela was excavated from volcanic rock about 700 years ago, and has been in continuous use since then. It's connected to the overall...

Holiday Bonus! NORAD Tracking Santa: A Cold War History

24 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Just a little Christmas Eve cheer for our listeners as everyone keeps an eye out for Santa! It's our 2017 episode about how NORAD started tracking San...

The Invention of Aspirin

23 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

From its natural base substance, salicin, to the invention of its synthetic derivative form that we still use, the story of aspirin has its own contro...

SYMHC Classics: Not Ned - Bushrangers in Later Years

21 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This 2011 episode from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina continues the bushranger discussion. After 1853, many bushrangers were native-born. Ben Hall s...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Chien-Shiung Wu and Helium

20 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's easy to marvel at the work of scientists, both in terms of the scientific concepts themselves and in the ways scientists behave. Both of those th...

The Discovery of Helium

18 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Helium and humankind's understanding of it sits at the earliest intersection of astronomy and chemistry. The story of its discovery also features two ...

Chien-Shiung Wu, First Lady of Physics

16 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

She was one of the greatest experimental physicists of her era, publishing influential papers before she was even out of graduate school. She made mul...

SYMHC Classics: Not Ned - Early Australian Bushrangers

14 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

While Ned Kelly may be the most famous bushranger, he's certainly not the only one. Join previous hosts Deblina and Sarah as they explore the lives of...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Wegener and Italian Hall

13 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tracy and Holly spend a few moments discussing the career of Alfred Wegener, and the needless tragedy of the events of the Italian Hall Disaster. Lea...

Italian Hall Disaster

11 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Italian Hall disaster happened during a strike in Michigan’s copper country, which lasted from the summer of 1913 to the early spring of 1914. ...

Alfred Wegener, Beyond the Drift Dispute

09 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Alfred Wegener had a HUGE career outside of his ideas around what we now understand as plate tectonics, which had both detractors and supporters. He d...

SYMHC Classics: Ned Kelly's Last Stand

07 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In 2011, previous hosts Sarah and Deblina talked about Ned Kelly, Australia's most famous bushranger. He became an outlaw in 1878, and his gang succes...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Barbecue and Holiday Figures

06 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On today's casual chat, Tracy and Holly discuss their Texas tour, regional barbecue styles, and the holiday figures in the fourth installment of the K...

Krampus and Friends Holiday Special, Part 4

04 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Our holiday special is back! We're once again looking at holiday figures from around the world. Today, we’re going to have a mix of Scandinavian and...

SYMHC Live: A Brief (U.S.) History of Barbecue

02 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In November, we toured Texas! So we selected the very apt topic of barbecue. Barbecue is deeply tied to language and history and culture, especially i...

SYMHC Classics: The Booth Conspiracy

30 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This 2012 episode from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina covers John Wilkes Booth's escape, his co-conspirators' attacks against other officials, and t...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Belinfante and Chutz-POW!

29 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's Chutz-POW! week! Tracy and Holly discuss some of the details about Frieda Belinfante's life that didn't make it into Monday's episode, and talk a...

Interviews: The Team Behind 'Chutz-POW!'

27 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're joined by three members of the team that works on the "Chutz-POW!" comic books series. Birdie Willis, Jackie Reese and Marcel Walker join Holly ...

Frieda Belinfante – Musician and Resistance Agent

25 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Frieda Belinfante is inspiring as a musician, breaking gender barriers in becoming a conductor. She was also a member of the Dutch resistance, who ris...

SYMHC Classics: Alice Roosevelt

23 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we revisit a 2015 episode about Alice Roosevelt. The eldest daughter of Theodore Roosevelt was a firebrand who never shied away from the public ...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Occupation of Alcatraz

22 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Tracy and Holly talk about the episodes that made up this week's two-parter on the Occupation of Alcatraz, including how they learned about Native Ame...

The Occupation of Alcatraz, Part 2

20 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Occupation of Alcatraz started 50 years ago on November 20, 1969 and went on for a year and a half. Last time, we talked about context and the eve...

The Occupation of Alcatraz, Part 1

18 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This episode gives context for the Occupation of Alcatraz, including a brief survey of U.S. government policy toward Native people from the colonial p...

Our Sister Show: This Day In History Class

17 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Holly and Tracy wanted to share a sample of the spinoff of Stuff You Missed in History Class: This Day in History Class. Every day, host Yves Jeffcoat...

SYMHC Classics: Johann Dippel and the Elixir of Life

16 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This 2012 episode from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina covers Johann Dippel. Originally a theology student, Dippel began dabbling in chemistry, medic...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Photos, Quakes and Fires

15 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Holly and Tracy talk casually about the week's episodes, featuring the photography career of Frances Johnston and the devastation of San Francisco in ...

San Francisco 1906: The Great Quake and Fires

13 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On the morning of April 18, 1906, an event that lasted less than a minute changed San Francisco forever. An earthquake and a series of fires devastate...

The Photography of Frances Benjamin Johnston

11 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Fannie Johnston is tied to SO MANY people and events that we have talked about on the show before. She’s like a history nexus point. And she was abl...

SYMHC Classics: The Tulsa Race Riot and Black Wall Street

09 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This 2014 episode came up recently because of the event's inclusion on a television show. "Black Wall Street" was a nickname for Greenwood, a vibrant ...

Behind the Scenes Minis: Witchfinder and Baby Sideshow

08 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This is a new feature for the show! On these Friday minisodes, Tracy and Holly will talk in more candid terms about the week's episodes and their rese...

Dr. Couney's Baby Sideshow

06 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Couney ran incubator sideshows, featuring premature babies. This is complicated -Couney was making money from these attractions, and his medical exper...

Matthew Hopkins and The Discovery of Witches

04 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

England’s largest and deadliest set of witch trials were largely influenced by one man – Matthew Hopkins, who was known as the Witchfinder General...

SYMHC Classics: Maria Tallchief

02 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Reaching back to a 2014 episode on Maria Tallchief, a Native American dancer who was the first grand ballerina of the United States. Through her partn...

SYMHC Live: William Mumler's Spirit Photography

30 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1860s, Mumler rose to fame as a photographer of spirits. Whether Mumler was earnest or was just fleecing people is a tricky question, in part b...

The Greenbrier Ghost

28 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The story of Zona Heaster Shue's death and subsequent appearances to her mother as an apparition are often referred to as the only case in the U.S. wh...

SYMHC Classics: Accused by a Ghost!

26 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This 2012 episode is from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina. In the early 1760s, the so-called Cock Lane Ghost haunted a London home, communicating thr...

The Catacombs of Paris

23 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Catacombs contain the bones of an estimated 6 to 7 million people. Their history is really two interconnected stories of mines and human remains, ...

F.W. Murnau, Director of the Nosferatu

21 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Murnau is most well known for directing the first vampire film, but the German-born creator went on to make a number of influential films before his e...

SYMHC Classics: The Lady Who Turned to Soap

19 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're revisiting a 2015 episode on a very fascinating corpse. Saponification is the process of turning to soap, and in certain conditions, cadavers do...

SYMHC Live: Mysteries of the Color Blue

16 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Blue is the most popular color in many parts of the world, and it can seem like it's everywhere. . But many ancient languages didn’t have a word for...

Jeanne Baret

14 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Baret was the first woman known to circumnavigate the globe. But her experience wasn’t just about the travel – she was working, and her work took ...

SYMHC Classics: The Case of the Colorado Cannibal, Alferd Packer

12 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

It's an unsettling 2012 episode! In the winter of 1873, Alferd Packer led gold prospectors into the Rockies, but harsh conditions soon set them off co...

Commercial Aviation in the U.S., Part 2

09 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’ll go from the international agreement that prepared for a global airline industry up to the deregulation of U.S. commercial avi...

Commercial Aviation in the U.S., Part 1

07 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Since the possibility of air travel became a reality, many entrepreneurs were trying to figure out a way to make flight into a business. This first of...

SYMHC Classics: Beast of Gevaudan

05 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This 2014 episode covers attacks on women and children of Gevaudan in the 1760s, which sparked a huge push to hunt and kill the mystery beast behind t...

The Black Sox Scandal

02 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Some of the Chicago White Sox players confessed to taking a bribe to lose the 1919 World Series on purpose, but they never admitted to actually underp...

Unearthed! In Autumn 2019

30 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

As promised in July, we have some Unearthed this fall! We've got past episode updates,  cannonballs, things that are oldests and firsts, textiles, ed...

SYMHC Classics: The Doctors' Riot of 1788

28 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're revising a 2014 episode today. In the late 1700s, medical colleges needed cadavers for educational dissection, but there were no legal means for...

Interview: Sarah Roberts of the Atlanta History Center

25 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Holly sat down with Sarah Roberts, the Vice President of Goizueta Gardens and Living Collections at the Atlanta History Center, to talk about making h...

Robert Liston, Surgical Pioneer

23 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Liston is most known for a tale about how multiple deaths resulted from one of his surgeries. But that means that his entire biography as a surgeon is...

SYMHC Classics: Hetty Green, the Witch of Wall Street

21 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's classic from 2014 features Hetty Green. She was the wealthiest woman in the U.S., skilled when it came to amassing a fortune. But her eccentri...

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

18 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

She was the Spanish empire’s most widely published poet of her time, and her work has survived until today, but not her own thoughts about much of h...

The Success of Pastellist Rosalba Carriera

16 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Venetian portraitist Carriera achieved a surprising level of success in the male-dominated European art world of the early 1700s. Her work helped popu...

SYMHC Classics: John Harvey Kellogg

14 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We're revisiting a 2013 episode about John Harvey Kellogg. His last name is famous for breakfast cereal, but was a 19th-century doctor with some uniqu...

The 1954 Guatemalan Coup Part 2

11 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

United Fruit Company was Guatemala’s largest employer and largest single landowner when the October Revolution took place. It also controlled the ra...

The 1954 Guatemalan Coup Part 1

09 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The 1954 coup that overthrew the democratically elected president of Guatemala was orchestrated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Part one will...

SYMHC Classics: The Sinking of the S-5

07 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today's episode is a classic from November 2014. 1920, the S-5 left the Boston Navy Yard on its first mission, with a crew of 36 officers and enlisted...

The Impious Philosophy of Anaxagoras

04 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Anaxagoras and his work in unraveling the mysteries of the cosmos crossed the boundaries between philosophy and astronomy.. And it was, in many ways W...

The Great English Convent Case of 1869

02 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

This case fed an already growing anti-Catholic movement in England in the 1860s. Additionally, it played on the shock of women being incredibly cruel ...

SYMHC Classics: The Catalpa and the Fremantle Six

31 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we revisit a 2015 episode about an international jailbreak! In the 1860s, a crew from the United States mounted a mission to Western Australia t...

Sarah Josepha Hale & Godey’s Lady’s Book

28 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Godey’s Lady’s Book was the most popular magazine in the U.S. in the middle of the 19th century. Although it’s most well-known for its hand-tint...

John Wilkins and His 1640s Lunar Exploration Plans

26 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1600s, John Wilkins was planning out what he thought it would take for humans to travel to the moon. Wilkins managed to ride out a rocky time i...

SYMHC Classics: Elizabeth Blackwell, America's First Female M.D

24 Aug 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we revisit a 2014 episode. Dr. Blackwell had no interest in medicine as a child. But she paved the way for women who came after her and changed ...