Breaking news about possible new discoveries under the Giza Pyramid Complex have people asking, do we really know who built the pyramids? The answer is yes we really know who built the pyramids. A bunch of blue-collar Egyptians who, much like many construction workers today, were kind of drunk while they were doing it. We break down the well-docume…

After the American Civil War, a large group of Union veterans weren't ready to say goodbye to the battlefield. So, they picked a fight north and attempted multiple invasions on our neighbors in Canada -- all in the name of Irish independence from the Crown. The Fenian Brotherhood and their raids on the Canucks proved life in the 19th century was wh…

In honor of Irish Heritage Month we delve into the most offensively stereotypical Irish historical event of all time: The Dublin Whiskey Fire of 1875. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Rob Fox https://w…

Alesiter Crowley was an English magician of the dark arts, dirty poet, mountaineer, liberal sex haver, and founder of the Thelema religion. He traveled the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and shocked or banged every human being he came across. Crowley claims to have been contacted by the Egyptian God Horus through a messanger named …

If you think social media is unhealthy for people, you’re right. But it’s not a new phenomenon. From the invention of the printing press kicking off 300 years of witch trials, to doctors blaming depression in young girls on unrealistic lifestyles portrayed in cheap 18th-century romance novels, it turns out people have never handled the ability to c…

*We had a problem with the audio card so we had to pull sound from the camera. Just think of it as a throwback to our garage band days in 2020. I apologize in advance. - Dan* Jack the Ripper has finally been caught thanks to some incredibly intimate DNA evidence. Polish barber Aaron Kosminski is allegedly the famed killer, but are we convinced? Jes…

After being threatened with a replacement governor for the territory of Utah, Bringham Young and his Mormon coalition went to war against the U.S. Government from 1857 to 1858. Tensions were high and most of the casualties were innocent civilians passing through the region -- most notably the Baker-Fancher wagon party. Subscribe to the Softcore His…

Throughout history, men have always complained that men from the past were WAY more manly, especially in Ancient Rome. And today we're talking about the one time that might have actually been undeniably true. The first hero of the Roman Republic, Mucius Scaevola, did something so astoundingly manly that it changed the course of Roman history foreve…

Iraq War vet Jack Mandaville joins the show to talk about his experience invading Iraq in 2003 with the 1st Marine Division, what he saw, how he was greeted by the Iraqis, and fighting alongside the guys from Generation Kill. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history question…

In 1897, Swedish engineer and aeronaut Salomon August Andrée led two other men on a hot air balloon expedition to the North Pole that quickly went incredibly awry. After crashing their balloon in a literal no man's land, the three had to fend off the harsh elements, polar bears, and the decay of their own sanity for months before ultimately succumb…

What's the most important battle in American history? Gettysburg? D-Day? Saratoga? Nah. It's the Battle of St. Louis, a little-known Revolutionary War battle between St. Louis's drunken, anti-social citizens and a British and Indian force looking to take the Mississippi River for King George. The battle's outcome forever changed the course of histo…

Pope Benedict IX is often regarded as one of the worst men to take the papal throne. He ascended to the chair of Saint Peter at the age of twenty in 1032 after his old man bought him the position and he proceeded to indulge in habitual sins of the flesh, theft, murder, and even sold his power to the highest bidder. Benny was pontiff three times ove…

Enjoy the original Softcore History sketches "Hole Ball" and "The Diary of Helen Slaggerman" and subscribe to our Patreon -- patreon.com/softcorehistory -- for YEARS of evergreen history content including more sketches like these, podcasts, game shows, watch-alongs, and more.Softcore History által

To fully end the Roman Republic and become Emperor Caesar Augustus, the young, wealthy patrician Octavian needed to get rid of the last man standing in his way: Mark Antony. But how could Octavian turn Rome against the Republic’s most decorated war hero and combat veteran — and Julius Caesar’s top lieutenant? Launch a propaganda campaign that said,…

The practice of rectal fumigation was a common medical practice in the 17th and 18th centuries that included tobbaco and smoke enamas to treat bowel obstruction, constipation, and even attempt to resusitate still born babies. We dive into one of the many reasons no one trusted doctors for a very, very long time. Subscribe to the Softcore History Pa…

Herodotus was a Greek historian and geographer often regarded as the "Father of History" who detailed the Greco-Persian War and his explorations throughout the ancient world. Many peers of his time found his works to be greatly exaggerated, misunderstandings, or totally false. Modern historians have grown to appreciate his accounts of events and se…

When the United States entered World War 1 no one was quite sure what to expect. What the Germans definitely didn't expect was a bunch of Doughboys armed with Winchester Model 97 pump-action shotguns -- aka Trench Brooms -- blasting gaping holes in their soldiers. The use of these shotguns became so infamous and terrifying that the Kaiser complaine…

Mithridates VI was the King of Pontus from 120 to 63 BC who biohacked his body into immunity from poison, survived being struck by lightning with nothing more than a tiny scar, and became a huge thorn in the side of the Roman Empire. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history …

Never meet your heroes? How about never try to be friends with your fans. Charles Dickens found this out the hardest way possible when he let his fanboy and fellow famous author Hans Christian Andersen (The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling) stay at his house for what was supposed to be a two-week visit. Five weeks later the Danish fairy tale autho…

Baldwin IV was King of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185 and had the crusader state thriving despite constant attacks from outside Muslim forces led by the great Saladin and struggles with his own body turning on him from leprosy. Despite the physical limitations he still led his army out on the battlefields, made savvy decisions with the high court, and…

With J.D. Vance winning the Vice Presidency you'll probably hear about his wife Usha Vance being the first non-white Second Lady. This is true, but she is NOT the first non-white woman to be married to a Vice President. This is the story of Vice President Richard Johnson -- a legendary hero of the War of 1812 and the ninth Vice President of the Uni…

Teddy Roosevelt was one of the most important U.S. Presidents of the 20th century and a complete lunatic who was always up for an unneccesary challenge. Matt Cooper and Joel Benner join the show to talk about his deranged life outside of politics, The Colonel willing the Rough Riders to glory at San Juan Hill, and how he shaped football into the ga…

Béla Kiss is one of the most prolific serial killers you’ve never heard of. He had it all — great looks, his own successful business in tin, a mother that loved him too much — but when he caught his second wife cheating on him with a younger man, it unlocked a dark beast within. Jessie Wiseman joins to talk about how this once charismatic, well-lik…

Ross Bolen joins the show to talk about the ghosts that still linger from The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, the most infamous mafia killing in American history. The victims of Al Capone's henchmen still haunt the area to this day, including the most unfortunate location (and people) you can imagine. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for h…

Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily from 1198 to 1250, was a curious man. Curious in that he loved doing medical experiments, no matter how totally useless and violent those experiments were. Suffice it to say the amateur surgeon learned a lot, but almost all of it was useless. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundr…

The Bell Witch of Robertson County, Tennessee, on whom the horror film classic ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was based, tormented the Bell family farm from 1817 to 1828. In the meantime, the disembodied spirit attracted thousands of tourists, skeptics, and more. One visitor was none other than Old Hickory himself, determined to see if one of Satan’s un…

The Lemp Mansion in St. Louis, Missouri is one of the most haunted homes in the United States. Learn the history of the fabulously wealthy family of 19th-century beer magnates who lived in the mansion, how many of them came to their tragic ends within its walls, and how their ghosts now torment the mansion's visitors -- especially any women using t…

We start Halloween Horror Month 2024 with an infamous and unsolved mystery about three lighthouse keepers who went missing in the Flannan Isles of Scotland. Was it banshees? A ghost ship? Murder-suicide? Listen and decide for yourself. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener histor…

In 1751 Benjamin Franklin wrote "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind," a letter with a number of interesting observations and ideas, and also one head-scratcher (at least to readers from the present). In it, Franklin noted that he was tired of all the non-white immigrants coming to the New World and ruining white society in Pennsylvania…

Hatshepsut is the female Pharaoh you've never heard of. Why? Because the Egyptians erased her. But the queen turned queen regent turned full-on Pharaoh ruled for two decades and accomplished as much as just about anyone who ever sat on the throne, from conquering Kush to opening exotic trade routes in East Africa. There was also some brother-bangin…

Titanic Thompson would bet on anything, and usually win. And usually because he was cheating. It's one of the many reasons Titanic is the greatest gambler in American history. He hustled golf at country clubs with a young Ben Hogan. He hustled pool halls across the country with Minnesota Fats. He even cheated the man who fixed the 1919 World Series…

Winston Churchill was one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century, taking power over the United Kingdom in the midst of World War II. Jack Mandaville joins us to talk about the Last Lion's unhinged upbringing, blood ties to the United States, his storied military and writing careers, and his rise to power through British parlia…

Kyle Bandujo, podcaster and author of the new sports movie book "Movies With Balls", joins the show to talk about one of the most famous figures in American sports scandal history: Arnold Rothstein. Though he was most famous for allegedly fixing the 1919 World Series (a.k.a. the Black Sox Scandal), this distinction does the man's criminal history a…

Bleeding Kansas was a series of conflicts between abolitionists and pro-slavery forces after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. Election fraud, murder, and guerilla warfare were rampant during this five year window that decided whether Kansas would enter the union a free or slave state. Many historians consider it the prequel to the Am…

19th Century Southern lawyer-turned-sociologist and noted shut-in George Fitzhugh was "too online" 140 years before the internet was even invented. He stayed inside all day reading newspapers, books, and political pamphlets, rarely leaving home. As with anyone who shapes their worldview only by consuming media, Fitzhugh started to believe some pret…

The Wars of Roses were a series of civil wars fought for the English crown from 1455 to 1487. These bloody and nasty conflicts between the Houses of Lancaster and York inspired George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series to the point that you can make direct connections between the real historical figures and characters in his books. Subscribe to t…

An American meat shortage in 1910 caused people to get real desperate, real fast. Enter Louisiana Representative Robert F. Broussard, who proposed the American Hippo Bill, which would import hippos from Africa to be raised for food on Louisiana swamp ranches. Oh, what could have been. For this show and TWO additional ad-free episodes every week fol…

Presidents aren't only passive victims. Helpless bystanders as gunmen attempt to kill them. This week we discuss every American president who TOOK lives, from the ones you know like Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt, to the ones you never would've guessed. And these kills aren't by order or drone strike but, rather, done with their own bare hands.…

Gilded Age Americans were hungry for entertainment and because of this, somehow, the simple hobby of walking captivated the country. So much so that it briefly developed into our national sport and the most gambled-on athletic competition during the Victorian era. Pedestrianism was the name of the game and its athletes were looking to get any perfo…

Not all Protestant movements in the 16th Century had Martin Luther's success. Enter the Münster Rebellion, in which a bunch of anti-Catholic, anti-Lutheran lunatics took over a city, enacted full-on communism (except for its leaders, of course), legalized polygamy so hard it became a sport, and ultimately inspired some of the most metal church deco…

The First Punic War was the first of three conflicts between the established Carthaginians and the rising, upstart Roman Empire. For 23 years these two forces slugged it out in the Mediterranean Sea, Siciliy, and North Africa and suffered immense loses on both sides before the Romans ultimately pulled off the upset and laid the foundation for their…

If you’ve ever wondered why whale sightings are such a big deal or why we need to “save the whales”… it’s because the Soviet Union killed them all. Find out why the communist super power had such a lust for whale blood in this week’s episode. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener…

For decades Americans have sneered at the French for taking a big, fat L in World War 2 -- but are we too hard on France? How many of their contributions to this country -- let alone its freedom -- have we overlooked?? Special guest Jack Mandaville helps us dive in. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history co…

A brief overview of warfare's long, rich tradition of using animals in creative and horrifying ways, from Alexander the Great's war pigs all the way up to... pretty much modern day, actually. It's not great. Featuring special guest host Jessie Wiseman of Crime Corner. Listen to Crime Corner wherever you get podcasts! Subscribe to the Softcore Histo…

Joshua Norton was a 19th century English immigrant who became financially ruined after a deal went south with a Peurivian rice company. After a long legal battle that reached the California Supreme Court, banks took all of his assets and he wandered the streets of San Francisco for the next 20 years. Not one to accept his fate in the gutter, Joshua…

King Mannesah of Judah is considered one of the worst kings in the Old Testament but is that the reality of the situation or just the perspective of the authors of the Bible? It turns out he might have had some surprisingly good reasons for doing (some) of the supposedly egregious things he did. DONATE to Iris Faust's College Fund GoFundMe Here Sub…

In Jake’s final episode, he takes us down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories -- and the history behind them -- that range from somewhat plausible to totally insane, and what unifies all of them. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs…

Just about every Native tribe has passed down legends of a race of white giants that they defeated to take the Americas. The Cherokee call them the Moon People. The Utes and Paiutes spoke of a group of ten-feet-tall beings living in caves and ironically referred to them as "savages" and "cannibals." We discuss this mysterious society of mountain si…

Yasuke was a 16th century African slave that found his way to the far east working for Italian missionaries and became an obsession and friend to one of the most influential warlords in Japan. Yasuke eventually took over as Oda Nobunaga's personal weapon bearer, body guard, and -- many speculate -- earned full samurai status in just 15 months. But …

Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it, but the Chinese are studying history with the explicit hope that they do, in fact, repeat it. National Security and the Rise and Fall of Great Powers is the Chinese Communist Party's examination of how nations over the last 500 years -- from Spain and Portugal to Britain, the Soviet Union, and…