Stuff You Missed in History Class
Episodes
Behind the Scenes Minis: Soyer and Mercator
10 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about Alexis Soyer's legendary charm, Emma Jones, and famine soup. They also talk about the globes and maps they grew up with.See...
Gerardus Mercator’s Groundbreaking Projection
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Mercator projection gets a lot of grief for distorting the relative sizes of different land masses, but Mercator’s map was actually pretty g...
Alexis Soyer
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At a young age, Alexis Soyer became a very well-known chef in both France and England, as popular for his fun personality as for his cooking. But he a...
SYMHC Classics: Anne Lister
04 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2018 episode covers Anne Lister, who was looking for a wife at a time when many women sought husbands to ensure financial stability. She was also...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Jack and Ponzi
03 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly talk about the folklore aspects of Jack Sheppard's story, and how a mustache drawn on a photo of Charles Ponzi was part of Pulitzer Pr...
Charles Ponzi’s Schemes
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
He’s synonymous with fraud today, but the most famous scheme Charles Ponzi pulled in his lifetime was surprisingly short-lived. Research: ...
Jack Sheppard, Prison-Breaker
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jack Sheppard became sort of a serial breakout artist in 18th-century England. He was a real person who became a folk hero, but many of the accounts o...
SYMHC Classics: Anne Bonny & Mary Read
28 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2016 episode covers famed lady pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who have been often requested as a topic by listeners. But telling their story r...
Behind the Scenes Minis: M & M
27 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly discuss online disagreements over the origin of the science-fiction genre of literature and the nature of Margaret Cavendish’s m...
Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a teenager, Mabel Lee fought for the women’s vote in the U.S. even though she wouldn’t benefit from it. As an adult, she continued to l...
Margaret Lucas Cavendish’s Blazing World
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Cavendish was a prolific poet, playwright, and natural philosopher. She published multiple works under her own name before that was common for a woman...
SYMHC Classics: John Dillinger
21 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2011 episode from previous hosts Sarah and Deblina covers John Dillinger, whose robbery career actually began when he was paroled in 1933. Severa...
Behind the Scenes Minis: All the Teeth
20 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about their experiences with dentists, and the legacy of Crawford Long in Atlanta.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
A Brief History of Dentistry and Oral Health, Part 2
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As promised, part two covers dental chairs and amalgams, as well as support careers in dental medicine, and a bit about orthodontics. Research: Brit...
A Brief History of Dentistry and Oral Health, Part 1
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This first episode covers the earliest ways humans cared for their teeth, including the belief that demons might have something to do with tooth decay...
SYMHC Classics: Veterinary Medicine
14 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers how animals and humans have been living together for centuries, but standardized veterinary care developed over a long period...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Rabies and Jailbreaks
13 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly discuss their knowledge of rabies and how often it appears in popular culture. They then talk about touring former prisons and how var...
Six Impossible Episodes: Prison Breaks
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dramatic prison escapes often have some common themes -- they often include a lot of tunneling. Here are six highly ingenious and low-violence prison ...
A Brief History of Rabies
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s rabies prophylaxis is almost 100% effective at preventing human death from the bite of a rabid animal. How did people come to understand...
SYMHC Classics: Ruth Harkness and the First Panda in the U.S.
07 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2014 episode covers a 1930s a New York socialite with a dream. She wanted to be the first person to capture a panda from Asia and return to the w...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Okapi and Theda
06 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy discuss the ways Europeans explorers wrote about the indigenous peoples of Africa, and just how good the okapi's natural camouflage is...
The Invention of Theda Bara
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Theda Bara is often referenced as the first sex symbol, or the first celebrity to have an entire persona crafted by a PR team. Photos of her are synon...
The Okapi and the Western World
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The okapi became known to European explorers in the late 19th century, and then several explorers tried and failed to even see a live okapi. Sir Harry...
Holly Frey In Conversation With Seneca Women to Hear Winner: Lola Omalola
01 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly Frey, host of Stuff You Missed in History Cass, sits down with Lola Omalola, one of the ten winners of Seneca Women to Hear: Search for the Next...
SYMHC Classics: Maria Montessori
30 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers Maria Montessori, who worked in several fields, though is mostly associated with education. Her theories on early education s...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Pie and Motion Sickness
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about their love of savory pies, the wish for a shepherd's pie with a crust, and efforts to tie pumpkin pie to abolition. Then th...
The Gallaudet 11
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Gallaudet 11 were a group of Deaf men who were subjects in NASA’s research into the human body in the early years of the space program. The ...
A Look at Pies Through History
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The pie has been around for centuries, in both savory and sweet forms. But pies have been perceived and presented in a lot of different ways, and have...
SYMHC Classics: Pauline Sabin
23 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2018 episode covers a key figure in the battle over Prohibition, which was is often framed as a battle of the sexes, with women serving as the mo...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Latest Unearthed!
22 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly talk about the language used when talking about archaeology. They then talk about the domestication of geese. See omnystudio.com/...
Unearthed! in Spring 2022, Part 2
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This second part of our spring Unearthed! two-parter covers some listener-favorite categories: edibles and potables, books and letters, shipwrecks, an...
Unearthed! in Spring 2022, Part 1
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for another two-part edition of things that were unearthed in recent months. Today's episode covers updates, lots of repatriations, some mum...
SYMHC Classics: Vigée Le Brun
16 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2016 episode covers the first woman to ever become a court painter in France. She painted royalty and nobility throughout Europe, including Marie...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Chocolate Chips and Public Relations
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy reminisce about their families' first microwave ovens and their favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. Then they discuss Ivy Lee's ca...
Ivy Ledbetter Lee and the Roots of PR
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ivy Lee was one of the founders of the fields of public relations and crisis communications. His approach to public relations was revolutionary for th...
Two Accidental Inventions
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Often, inventions that are made quite by accident end up becoming an everyday part of life. This episode covers two of those: the microwave oven and t...
SYMHC Classics: Night of the Long Knives
09 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers several days in 1934 during which Adolf Hitler, who was at the time the Nazi Party Leader and Reich Chancellor, directed an a...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Antarctica
08 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly discuss Shackleton's leadership, how unsuited to isolation exploration they both are, and how much trash such exploration can leave be...
Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic Expeditions, Pt. 2
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After Shackleton’s team abandoned the Endurance to the ice, they faced a harrowing journey over the ice of Antarctica. Meanwhile, the support te...
Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic Expeditions, Pt. 1
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Shackleton is famous for his expeditions in Antarctica, but he started his career as a Merchant Marine. Part one of this story covers his early life, ...
SYMHC Classics: Maria Sibylla Merian
02 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers a naturalist illustrator who helped dispel many entomological myths and improved the scientific study of insects and plants. ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Hardy and the Women's March
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about their relationship with Thomas Hardy's writing, homework, and the parts of the story that didn't make it into the regular e...
Women’s March on Pretoria, 1956
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 1956 march was a protest against pass laws that were part of South Africa’s system of apartheid – and specifically the requirement th...
Thomas Hardy, Emma Gifford and Florence Dugdale
28 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Once you know about Hardy’s life, it's natural to see parallels to the events of his life in his writing. Two women were deeply important to his...
SYMHC Classics: 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
26 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2019 episode covers the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which was part of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. The 6888th...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Maria and Bruno
25 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy shares how she learned about Maria Gertrudis Barceló, and then the hosts DO talk about Bruno, and his know-it-all behavior.See omnystudio...
Giordano Bruno
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bruno was a mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, occultist, and according to the Catholic church of 16th-century Italy, a heretic. He met a bad end...
Maria Gertrudis Barceló, Santa Fe’s Gambling Queen
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Doña Maria Gertrudis Barceló was a professional gambler and card dealer in New Mexico in the early 19th century. But the details of her ...
SYMHC Classics: The Race to the South Pole
19 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2010 episode from previous hosts Katie and Sarah covers Scott and Amundsen launching rival expeditions to the South Pole. knowing only one group ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Guillotine
18 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about Eugen Weidmann's executioner, public fixation on the case, and the availability of the images and footage of most gruesome ...
De Koven, Weidmann, and Public Execution in France (Pt. 2)
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Once Eugen Weidmann was in police custody, he confessed to Jean's murder as well as several others. As the trial and execution played out, public inte...
De Koven, Weidmann, and Public Execution in France (Pt. 1)
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In July 1937, 22-year-old Jean De Koven vanished while visiting Paris with her aunt. It seemed doomed to be an unsolved missing person case, until an ...
SYMHC Classics: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention
12 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2019 episode is about the man often described as the person who coined the term genocide. He was also the driving force behind the existence of t...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Mary Sidney and Holodomor
11 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy discuss Mary Sidney Herbert and the debate about whether she wrote works attributed to Shakespeare, as well as her late-in-life party ...
Holodomor
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
“Holodomor” is a name that was coined in the 1980s to describe a famine that struck Ukraine in the early 1930s. There were food shortages ...
Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke
07 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
She was a patron of the arts, the first woman to publish an English-language play, and the first woman to publish pastoral poetry. Mary Sidney Herbert...
SYMHC Classics: Aphra Behn
05 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers the life of Aphra Behn, but there's really not a lot concretely known about the her. In addition to being a spy, was a dramat...
Behind the Scenes Minis: William Apess
04 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly talk about Tracy’s research process for the William Apess episodes, and how much of his writing she wanted to include in the epi...
William Apess and the Mashpee Revolt (Pt. 2)
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Apess’s religious work and writing consistently stressed the inherent humanity and worth of Indigenous people, but in the later years of his car...
The Autobiography of William Apess (Pt. 1)
28 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Minister William Apess is often described as the first Native American to publish their own, book-length autobiography. But that is a reductive way to...
Cyrano the Movie
27 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy share interviews with some of the cast and crew behind the new film "Cyrano" to talk about their thoughts on history and historical sp...
SYMHC Classics: Edmonia Lewis
26 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2017 episode covers an American sculptor who was a celebrated artist in her day, but receded from the spotlight; her final years remained a myste...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Egerton and Nika
25 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about some of stories of Egerton that didn't make it into the episode. Then discussion of the Nika Riots touches on modern sports...
The Nika Riots & Massacre
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Large-scale rioting and mass violence were fairly common in Constantinople when this riot – and then massacre – took place in the year 532. But we...
The Eccentric Francis Henry Egerton
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 8th Earl of Bridgewater’s life is a hodgepodge of privileged eccentricity. From deeply spoiled pets to shoes used as a diary to a whole lot of w...
SYMHC Classics: The Bisbee Deportation
19 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This classic episode from 2018 covers a 1917 event with elements of a labor strike, a wartime hysteria, a vigilante mob, and a mass propaganda effort,...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Derby Fury and Complex Lucy
18 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about the angry-making aspects of the Millar will's aftermath, and discuss the only Black participants in the derby. They also di...
Lucy Parsons, American Anarchist
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Parsons was an activist focused on improving the lives of workers, poor people, immigrants, and people who were unemployed or homeless. The Chicago Po...
Great Stork Derby
14 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Toronto’s Great Stork derby of the 1920s and 1930s is often reported with a bit of whimsy. But classism, right to privacy, exploitation, the role of...
SYMHC Classics: Aspasia and Pericles
12 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2018 episode covers what's often held up as one of history's great love stories - Plutarch wrote that Pericles kissed Aspasia every single day. A...
Behind the Scenes Minis: The Bubble and Mr. Moms
11 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly discuss the difficulty in examining sociological texts as part of research. They also recount their first encounters with the work of ...
Moms Mabley
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Moms Mabley’s career lasted more than six decades. She was hugely influential, and inspired so many comedians and other performers who came after he...
The South Sea Bubble
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the early 18th century, Britain needed money. In 1711, the South Sea Company was established to try to manage this debt, and the heart of the debt ...
SYMHC Classics: Shirley Chisholm
05 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2018 episode Shirley Chisolm, who was politically active starting during her college years. Her drive and desire to make positive change led her ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Food and Thesaurus
04 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy discuss their relationships with the various foods from our third eponymous foods episode. They also discuss the surprising aspects of...
Peter Roget and His Thesaurus
02 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Roget was a doctor and scientist who really liked putting things into classification systems. His life was very dramatic well before he came up ...
Eponymous Foods, Third Serving
31 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today we’re covering a super yummy comfort food from Italy, and two dishes with debate as to their origin, one on the U.S. East Coast, and one on th...
SYMHC Classics: The Rite of Spring Riot
29 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Riots are a distressingly common part of human history, and the strangest events can trigger widespread violence. In this 2011 episode, previous hosts...
Behind the Scenes Minis: The Trial and the Unicorn
28 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy discuss the woman who Breckinridge hired to spy on Madeline Pollard, and horror of Madeline's writing being read in court. They also d...
A Fanciful History of Unicorns
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You probably know exactly what animal we mean when we say “unicorn,” but descriptions and depictions of unicorns have shifted over the millennia. ...
Madeline Pollard vs. Breckinridge
24 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Madeline Pollard’s relationship with Congressman William C.P. Breckinridge became a national story when it went from a romance to a bit...
SYMHC Classics: Nome Serum Run
22 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2014 episode covers the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska that put a community in grave danger -- without the proper supplies to fight the...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Murder and Benin
21 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy talk about the ire that comes about when examining the press coverage of the Goolds when they were murder suspects. They then discuss ...
The Punitive Expedition of 1897 and the Benin Bronzes
19 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Many cultural objects and works of art were taken from the Kingdom of Benin in western Africa in 1897, in what is typically described as a punitive ra...
Monte Carlo Trunk Murder
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The violent Monte Carlo Trunk Murder is fascinating as a terrifying crime, and its connection to wealth and fame made it global news. But the way it w...
SYMHC Classics: History of Carousels
15 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2015 episode delves into carousels. They're part of childhood, but they were originally billed as an entertainment for adults and children alike....
Behind the Scenes Minis: End of 2021 Unearthed
14 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy shares the logistics of assembling her lists for Unearthed!, and she and Holly talk about criteria for leaving details out of the show on purpos...
Unearthed! Year-end 2021, Part 2
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the second part of the year-end edition of Unearthed! the show covers necropolises and art, and edibles and potables, shipwrecks, and potpourri. Bu...
Unearthed! Year-end 2021, Part 1
10 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for what was unearthed in the last quarter of 2021! Part one this time includes lots of updates to previous episodes, as well as books and l...
SYMHC Classics: The Verreaux Brothers
08 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2014 episode discusses Jules Verreaux and his two brothers, who collected an impressive array of flora and fauna specimens from around the world ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Platypus and Cyrano
07 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly discuss the natural tendency to find the platypus suspect as an animal. They also talk about some of the tangential pieces of the Cyra...
Cyrano de Bergerac
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Cyrano de Bergerac is often called a man of letters, a philosopher, a soldier, a duelist, a playwright and many more things. But what he may have been...
The Platypus Quarrel
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When European naturalists saw a platypus for the first time, they found it so bizarre that they thought it was fake, and then argued about how to clas...
SYMHC Classics: Piltdown Man
01 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This 2016 episode covers the Piltdown Man, which is one of the world's most infamous instances of scientific fraud. It derailed the study of evolution...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Photography Innovators
31 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Holly and Tracy discuss Daguerre's life, and veer off into VR, and the nature of Daguerre's monetization of photography. Then they talk about the famo...
Robert Cornelius: More Than a Selfie
29 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Cornelius is famous for having taken what’s often called the world’s first selfie - and he's noted for how handsome he looks in it. But he was sma...
Louis Daguerre and the Daguerreotype
27 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Daguerre comes up almost any time we mention photography, but we’ve never covered his life story. Well before he figured out how to capture images t...
SYMHC Classics: Christmas Triple-Feature
25 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This 2018 episode takes a look at three creative works that have become staples of the Christmas season. All three of them have played a huge part in ...
Behind the Scenes Minis: Irving and Tull
24 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tracy and Holly discuss Tracy being frightened by Ichabod Crane's fate in the Disney Sleepy Hollow cartoon as a kid, and the letters between Dickens a...
Jethro Tull’s Horse-hoeing Husbandry
22 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You may recognize the name as that of a band, but Jethro Tull was an 18th-century gentleman farmer often credited with inventing the seed drill. Lear...