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SPILLED.

Delaney & Kendyl Florence

Kendyl and Delaney Florence are bringing you history’s hottest gossip, every other Tuesday. SPILLED. brings you the tea you didn’t know you needed through a light-hearted and (somewhat) educational podcast on historic scandals, betrayals, rumors, and more. Each episode will focus on a new - well, old - story that will leave you with the coolest fun facts at your next dinner party. Join us to make history a bit more fun, and a lot juicier.


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  • 21 episodes
  • fortnightly
  • Avg 57 min
  • English

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  • August 20 · 57 min

    More Than Mulan: A History of Cross-Dressing for War

    We're covering seven real female warriors and soldiers across four continents and almost 1,900 years of history — women who disguised themselves as men to fight, and women who didn't have to. Featuring Hannah Snell (the British soldier who enlisted to hunt down her husband), Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (a Civil War soldier who kept her secret to the grave), Nadezhda Durova (the Russian cavalry officer awarded the St. George Cross), the Trung sisters (who led an army of 80,000 to overthrow Han China), Mai Bhago (the Sikh warrior who turned back an army of deserters), and Yaa Asantewaa (the Ashanti queen mother who led her people to war). Plus: what Deborah Sampson's story has in common with all of them. A history podcast episode on women warriors, female soldiers, and women in war — from the American Revolution and the Civil War to the Napoleonic Wars, the Mughal-Sikh Wars, and the Ashanti Empire. Sources: Hannah Snell: Hannah Snell — Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Snell Forces News: “Hannah Snell, A Female Soldier In Disguise” Royal Marines History: “Hannah Snell Joins the Marines, 1747” British Tars, 1740–1790: “Hannah Snell, A Woman and a Marine” The Hunterian Blog: “Hannah Snell — Cross Dressing in the 1700s” Academic: “Body and Gender Expressed by the Cross-Dressing of Hannah Snell…” (Academia.edu) Primary: Robert Walker (attrib.), The Female Soldier; or, The Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell (1750) Deborah Sampson: American Battlefield Trust: Deborah Sampson National Women's History Museum: Deborah Sampson Massachusetts Historical Society: “Deborah Sampson, Soldier in Disguise” Paul Revere House: “Quitting the Male Habit” (Revere's 1804 pension letter, digitized at MHS) Historic New England: “Deborah Sampson, Fighting for Recognition” Just Teach One: The Female Review (1797) — annotated teaching edition Hanna Lauren Kawamoto, The Female Soldier: Gender Performance and National Identity (UC Irvine MA thesis, 2025) — open access, escholarship.org/uc/item/5wr4x7h5. Covers Sampson plus Margaret Cochran Corbin & Anna Maria Lane. Georgina K. Lock, “Honouring the Wound…” Linguaculture, Issue 2 (2011) — open access, covers Snell & Sampson plus Pauline Cushman. Sarah Rosetta Wakeman: American Battlefield Trust: Sarah Rosetta Wakeman Sarah Rosetta Wakeman — Wikipedia Emerging Civil War: “From History's Shadows — Sarah Rosetta Wakeman” Lauren Cook Burgess, ed., An Uncommon Soldier: The Civil War Letters of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman… (Oxford University Press, 1994) DeAnne Blanton & Lauren M. Cook, They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the American Civil War (LSU Press, 2002) Nadezhda Durova: Reddit r/badhistory writeup on Durova scholarship [non-historian source — use with caution] Ruth Averbach, “The Unmaking of a Man: Aleksandr Aleksandrov/Nadezhda Durova,” Slavic Review (Cambridge Core) UBC lecture on Soviet-era erasure of the gender identity question (open.library.ubc.ca) Primary: Nadezhda Durova, The Cavalry Maiden (memoir, various translated editions) Trung Sisters: Primary: Book of the Later Han (Fan Ye, 5th c.); Dai Viet Su ky toan thu (Ngo Si Lien, 15th c.) Keith Weller Taylor (Cornell) — commentary on women's status and the disputed Thi Sach execution narrative [locate specific published piece before recording] Mai Bhago: General Sikh history sources — record is thin and contested; flag on air. Recommend a targeted search for Sikh studies journal articles on Mai Bhago / Chali Mukte before recording if a stronger citation is needed. Synthesis / Institutional Context: “Monstrous Regiment” — History Today (1793 French decree) “Women and Military Institutions in Early Modern Europe: A Reconnaissance,” Signs journal Rudolf Dekker & Lotte van de Pol, The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe (Macmillan, 1989) — open access copy at Erasmus University repository (repub.eur.nl/pub/16934) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • August 6 · 1 hr 4 min

    Human Sacrifice | not just the Aztecs

    Human sacrifice gets a bad rap in the history books, and we're here to spill the tea. This week we're digging into who was really practicing ritual sacrifice across history. From Mesopotamia's royal tombs to Aztec blood debts, Celtic wicker men to Japanese seppuku and why the "savage civilization" narrative doesn't hold up. Sources: General / Context: Caldararo, Niccolo. "Human Sacrifice, Capital Punishment, Prisons & Justice." Historical Social Research 41, no. 4 (2016): 322–46. Løvschal et al. "Human Sacrifice and Value." Antiquity 93, no. 370 (2019). Schwartz, Glenn M. "The Archaeological Study of Sacrifice." Annual Review of Anthropology 46 (2017): 223–240. Mesopotamia / Ur: Recht, Laerke. "Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East and Egypt." The Ancient Near East Today 8, no. 2 (2020). Egypt: Campbell, Roselyn Anne. Kill Thy Neighbor: Violence, Power, and Human Sacrifice in Ancient Egypt. PhD diss., UCLA, 2019. Nielsen, Nicky. "In Ancient Egypt, Human Sacrifice and Shabti Figures Ensured an Afterlife of Servitude." Atlas Obscura, October 17, 2023. Celtic / Druid / Greco-Roman: Caesar, Julius. The Conquest of Gaul. Translated by F. P. Long, 2005. Allen, Stephen. Celtic Warrior — 300 BC–AD 100. Osprey Publishing, 2001. Davies, John. The Celts: Prehistory to Present Day. Sterling Publishing, 2005. "Human Sacrifice." Digital Medievalist, Opinionated Celtic FAQs. digitalmedievalist.com Aztec: Pennock, Caroline Dodds. "Mass Murder or Religious Homicide?" Historical Social Research 37, no. 3 (2012): 276–302. Neiburger, E. J. "The American Ball Game Court." Central States Archaeological Journal 62, no. 2 (2015): 74–77. Japan: Roberts, Michael, and Arthur Saniotis. "Introduction: Empowering the Body and 'Noble Death.'" Social Analysis 50, no. 1 (2006): 7–24. India: BBC News. "India Outrage after Man Acquitted over Wife's Sati Death." September 10, 2024. Chakravorty, Ranes C. "British Abolish Suttee in India." EBSCO Research Starters, 2023. Dhungel, Suraj. "Sati System in Hinduism." Academic Voices 8 (2018): 95–99. The New York Times. "Suttee in India Still Occurs Despite British Prohibition." January 1, 1928. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • July 8 · 58 min

    The Founding MOTHERS: Women of the American Revolution

    Paul Revere gets all the glory, but he wasn't the only one riding through the night to save the American Revolution. This Fourth of July, Delaney and Kendyl are spilling the tea on the women history left out of the story: 16-year-old Sybil Ludington, who rode twice as far as Paul Revere through a rainstorm to warn the Continental Army; Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man to fight in combat and removed a musket ball from her own leg; and Abigail Adams, the original "Mrs. President," who ran the family finances, advised a president, and told her husband to "remember the ladies." In honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we're giving America's founding mothers the credit — and the chaos — they deserve. Happy Fourth of July, besties. Sources: Sybil Ludington: Hunt, Paula D. "Sybil Ludington, the Female Paul Revere: The Making of a Revolutionary War Heroine." The New England Quarterly 88, no. 2 (2015): 187–222. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24718670 American Battlefield Trust. "Sybil Ludington." https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/sybil-ludington Smithsonian Magazine. "Did the Midnight Ride of Sibyl Ludington Ever Happen?" March 2022. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-midnight-ride-sibyl-ludington-ever-happen-180979557/ Deborah Sampson: Young, Alfred F. Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier. New York: Vintage Books, 2004. [Definitive scholarly biography] Mann, Herman. The Female Review: Life of Deborah Sampson, the Female Soldier in the War of Revolution. 1797. [Primary source, published during her lifetime] Massachusetts Historical Society. Letter from Paul Revere to William Eustis, February 20, 1804. https://www.masshist.org/database/326 National Women’s History Museum. "Deborah Sampson." Michals, Debra. 2015. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/deborah-sampson Museum of the American Revolution. "Biography of Deborah Sampson." https://www.amrevmuseum.org/collection/biography-of-deborah-sampson George Washington’s Mount Vernon. "Deborah Sampson." https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/deborah-sampson American Battlefield Trust. "Deborah Sampson." https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/deborah-sampson Paul Revere House. "Quitting The Male Habit: Paul Revere and Deborah Sampson’s Appeal for a Military Pension." https://www.paulreverehouse.org/quitting-the-male-habit-paul-revere-and-deborah-sampsons-appeal-for-a-military-pension/ Abigail Adams: Shields, David S. and Fredrika J. Teute. "The Court of Abigail Adams." Journal of the Early Republic 35, no. 2 (2015): 227–35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24486730 Britannica. "Abigail Adams." https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abigail-Adams Miller Center. "Abigail Adams." https://millercenter.org/president/adams/adams-1797-abigail-firstlady National Women’s History Museum. "Abigail Smith Adams." https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/abigail-adams Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • June 16 · 1 hr 7 min

    Should You Trust a Short King? Leprechauns & Irish Folklore

    You've been lied to by Lucky Charms. The leprechaun you know — jolly, green, guarding gold at the end of a rainbow — is about 150 years old. The leprechaun from Irish folklore is about 1,300 years old, and they are not the same creature. This week we're tracing how the original lucharpán went from a fearsome red-coated water sprite who'd drag a sleeping king into the sea, to the cereal-box mascot Americans invented in the 1840s. We get into the medieval Celtic oral tradition, the professional storytellers who kept it alive, the pot of gold as a lesson about human greed, and how Irish immigration during the potato blight turned a misunderstood trickster into a symbol of Irish pride. New episodes every other Tuesday. 🍀 🎧 Share it with a friend — 40% of podcast discovery is still word of mouth. 📚 Books we mention live on the Spilled Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/SPILLED Academic & Institutional Sources: EBSCO Research Starter: "Leprechauns." Oí Giolláin, Diarmuid. "The Leipreachán and Fairies, Dwarfs and the Household Familiar: A Comparative Study." Béaloideas 52 (1984): 75–150. https://doi.org/10.2307/20522237 Winberry, John J. "The Elusive Elf: Some Thoughts on the Nature and Origin of the Irish Leprechaun." 1976. Mulligan, William H., Jr. "Review: Alive and Well: New Perspectives on Irish America." 2012. National Folklore Collection, University College Dublin (UNESCO Memory of the World Register). Primary source accounts. https://www.duchas.ie Primary Sources Referenced: "The Adventure of Fergus Son of Léti" (8th century). Earliest known reference to the luchorpán. "The Death of Fergus" (13th–14th century). Lupracan civilization account. Lover, Samuel. Legends and Stories of Ireland. 1831. Croker, Thomas Crofton. Fairy Legends and Traditions of The South of Ireland. 1825. Hardy, Philip Dixon. 1837 description. Referenced via Oí Giolláin (1984). Mr and Mrs Hall. 1843 account. Referenced via Oí Giolláin (1984). O’Donnell, Edward T. 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History. Yeats, W.B. Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. [Referenced for solitary vs trooping fairy color distinction] General Reference: "The Jolly Leprechaun’s Sinister Origins." History.com. "Leprechaun: From Gold-Loving Cobbler to Cultural Icon." PBS. The Pale Horse Substack: "In Red Caps and Green Coats" and "The Leprechaun: From Trickster to Icon." Note: not peer-reviewed. Used for thematic framing only, not factual claims. Wikipedia: "Slieve Foy" entry. Used to verify EU protection date (2009). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • June 3 · 1 hr 9 min

    Pocahontas: Literally Everything You Know is Wrong!

    She was eleven years old when the English arrived. Disney made her twenty-something with a love story. History gave her a name that wasn't hers. This week we're spilling the real story of Pocahontas — or Amonute, as she was actually named — and it's nothing like what you were taught. We're breaking down the Powhatan Confederacy (one of the most powerful empires on the eastern seaboard), what John Smith actually wrote versus what he claimed seventeen years later, and the kidnapping, forced conversion, and suspected poisoning that the Disney movie conveniently left out. Spoiler: she didn't save him. She was sent there. And the love story was invented by men who needed a myth more than they needed the truth. If you've ever wanted to understand Native American history, Indigenous women, or colonization in the Americas beyond what you learned in school — this one's for you. Want more? Check our our book reccomendations: https://bookshop.org/shop/SPILLED Sources: Aron, Paul. "Pocahontas & John Smith: The Love Story Was Fiction...But Loved." Trend & Tradition Magazine (Colonial Williamsburg), July 2, 2025. https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/discover/resource-hub/trend-tradition-magazine/trend-tradition-summer-2025/pocahontas-and-john-smith/ Historic Jamestowne. "Meeting the English." Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation. https://historicjamestowne.org/history/pocahontas/meeting-the-english/ Mansky, Jackie. "The True Story of Pocahontas Is More Complicated Than You Might Think." Smithsonian Magazine, updated February 20, 2024. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-pocahontas-more-complicated-than-you-might-think-180962649/ National Park Service. "Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend." Jamestown National Historic Site, last updated September 4, 2022. https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/pocahontas-her-life-and-legend.htm Paul, Heike. "Pocahontas and the Myth of Transatlantic Love." In The Myths That Made America. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wxsdq.6 Silverman, David. "John Smith’s Bold Endeavor." Interview by Lisa Q. Wolfinger. NOVA: Pocahontas Revealed, PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pocahontas/silverman.html Smith, John. Excerpts from The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624). Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/primary-documents/john-smith-and-pocahontas-in-england-an-excerpt-from-the-generall-historie-of-virginia-new-england-and-the-summer-isles-by-john-smith-1624 Wood, Karenne. "Prisoners of History: Pocahontas, Mary Jemison, and the Poetics of an American Myth." Studies in American Indian Literatures 28, no. 1 (2016): 73–82. https://doi.org/10.5250/studamerindilite.28.1.0073 van der Straet, Jan (Stradanus). Allegory of America, ca. 1587–89. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/343845 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • May 22 · 1 hr 3 min

    WWII & Lesbian Step-Sisters: Men Wish They Knew These 4 Stories

    You loved our first WWII episode, so we're back with MORE! This week we're covering stories that your history teacher definitely skipped: women in codebreaking, queer resistance, and psychological warfare. Think cracking Nazi spy rings from behind a desk, two lesbian stepsister artists using "paper bullets" to take down an occupying army, and a 21-year-old Jewish refugee who had German soldiers writing her love letters. No dry lectures. Just the drama, the gossip, and the stories that actually deserved the spotlight. Haven't listened to Part 1 yet? Start there — that's where we lay the context on the origin of and players in WWII. Obsessed? Want more? Check our fiction & nonfiction book recommendations here: https://bookshop.org/shop/SPILLED Research Documents: BBC Future. “The Female Code Breakers Who Were Left Out of History Books.” bbc.com/future, October 9, 2017. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20171009-the-female-code-breakers-who-were-left-out-of-history-books BBC. “The Bletchley Girls: Cracking Women.” bbc.co.uk. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/Q3lFn2vTv9JMgxX98bRhL/the-bletchley-girls-cracking-women The Art Newspaper. “How Artist Couple Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore Resisted the Nazis with Their Paper Bullets.” November 4, 2020. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/11/04/extract-or-how-artist-couple-claude-cahun-and-marcel-moore-resisted-the-nazis-with-their-paper-bullets History Extra. “On the Same Side: Homosexuals During the Second World War.” https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/on-the-same-side-homosexuals-during-the-second-world-war/ Putnam, Jennifer, PhD. “V for Victory: A Sign of Resistance.” The National WWII Museum, February 1, 2024. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/v-victory-sign-resistance White, April. “One of the Allies’ Secret Weapons Against the Nazis Was a 21-Year-Old Woman Armed With a Microphone and a Script of Lies.” Smithsonian Magazine, March 2026. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/allies-secret-weapons-against-nazis-woman-armed-microphone-script-lies-180988094/ Context Sources: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Introduction to the Holocaust.” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/introduction-to-the-holocaust National WWII Museum. “WWII by the Numbers.” https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war History.com Editors. “World War II.” https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • May 6 · 1 hr

    Sugar Baby, Then She Led the Black Panther Party: Elaine Brown's Story

    She had a married sugar daddy funding her LA apartment. Then she dumped him and became the first — and only — woman to lead the Black Panther Party. This week we're spilling everything on Elaine Brown: her rise through the Black Panther Party, what black feminism actually looked like in the 1960s, and why history class completely left her out. If you've ever wanted to understand the civil rights movement, intersectionality, or just want to feel smarter at your next dinner party — this one's for you. Sources: Brown, Elaine. "A Woman Black Panther." PBS American Experience: Eyes on the Prize. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/eyesontheprize-woman-black-panther/ Fremon, Celeste. "41st and Central, 1969 – The Black Panther Shootout & the Birth of SWAT." WitnessLA, April 6, 2011. https://witnessla.com/41st-and-central-1969-the-black-panther-shootout-the-birth-of-swat/ Henry, Carmel. "A Brief History of Civil Rights: The Black Panther Party." Howard University School of Law. http://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/bpp Jernigan, Cameron. "A Taste of Power: The Rhetorical Potency of Elaine Brown." UNC JOURney, Spring 2017. https://uncjourney.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13377/2017/05/JOURneySpring2017vol1Digital-1.pdf Maynard, Alicia. "The Assassination." The Assassination of Fred Hampton. Digital Chicago, 2019. https://digitalchicagohistory.org/exhibits/show/fred-hampton-50th/the-assassination National Archives. "Elaine Brown (March 2, 1943)." https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/individuals/elaine-brown NBCUniversal. "Elaine Brown: A Black Panther’s Journey in Breaking New Ground." Voices of the Civil Rights Movement, 2021. https://voicesofthecivilrightsmovement.com/articles/elaine-brown Seither, Robert James. "Women in the Black Panther Party." TCNJ Journal of Student Scholarship 17 (April 2015). https://mapped.tcnj.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/176/2015/04/2015-Seither.pdf Verge, Shane Trudell. "Revolutionary Vision." Meridians 2, no. 2 (2002): 101–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40338509 The Guardian. "Activist Elaine Brown: You Must Be Willing to Die for What You Believe In." March 27, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/27/activist-elaine-brown-you-must-be-willing-to-die-for-what-you-believe-in Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • April 21 · 1 hr 16 min

    The Secret Lives of Henry VIII's Wives

    Henry VIII's six wives — Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Katherine Parr — were more powerful, more capable, and more fascinating than Tudor history ever gave them credit for. Let's fix that. SOURCES Catherine of Aragon: Bergenroth, G. A., ed. "Introduction." Calendar of State Papers, Spain. London, 1868. British History Online. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/supp/vols1-2/vii-lxxx Bridge, Mark. "Katherine of Aragon’s Military Nous Helped Defeat Scots Invasion." The Times, May 27, 2020. Britannica Editors. "Catherine of Aragon." Encyclopedia Britannica, January 3, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catherine-of-Aragon Brown, Rebecca Starr. "The Upbringing of Katherine of Aragon & Her Siblings." RebeccaStarrBrown.com, March 5, 2018. https://rebeccastarrbrown.com/2018/03/05/the-childhood-of-katherine-of-aragon/ Glasgow Museums Collections Online. "Catherine Aragon." https://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/mwebcgi/mweb?request=record;id=82029;type=701 Prendergast, Maria Teresa. "King, Confessor, and Princess: Contesting Catherine of Aragon’s Dowry and Soul in Her 1507 Letters." Solly, Meilan. "When Catherine of Aragon Led England’s Armies to Victory Over Scotland." Smithsonian Magazine, October 14, 2020. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-catherine-aragon-led-englands-armies-victory-over-scotland-180975982/ Zarevich, Emily. "Catherine of Aragon: Europe’s First Female Ambassador." Daily JSTOR, January 2, 2023. https://daily.jstor.org/catherine-of-aragon-europes-first-female-ambassador/ Anne Boleyn: "Anne Boleyn." Historic Royal Palaces. https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/anne-boleyn/ "Anne Boleyn Timeline." Hever Castle. https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/visit/hever-castle/timelines/anne-boleyn-timeline/ Percy, Henry. "Henry Percy." Spartacus Educational. https://spartacus-educational.com/Henry_Percy.htm Toscani, Melissa. "Anne Boleyn." Prof. Pavlac’s Women’s History Resource Site. http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/anneboleyn.html Jane Seymour: Britannica Editors. "Jane Seymour." Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Seymour EBSCO Research. "Jane Seymour." History Research Starters, 2022. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/jane-seymour "Jane Seymour: Henry VIII’s Favourite Queen?" Historic Royal Palaces. https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/jane-seymour/ Walsh, Alexandra. "The Scandalous Seymours." Historia Magazine, July 26, 2022. https://historiamag.com/the-scandalous-seymours/ Anne of Cleves: "Anne of Cleves." Historic Royal Palaces. https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/anne-of-cleves/ "Anna of Cleves: Early Life and Court Culture." Maidens and Manuscripts, September 22, 2021. https://maidensandmanuscripts.com/2021/09/22/anna-of-cleves-early-life-and-court-culture/ Nunn, Hillary. "‘It Lak’th but Life’: Redford’s Wit and Science, Anne of Cleves, and the Politics of Interpretation." Comparative Drama, vol. 33, no. 2, 1999. JSTOR. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41153970 Catherine Howard: "Catherine Howard." Historic Royal Palaces. https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/catherine-howard/ Britannica Editors. "Catherine Howard." Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catherine-Howard "Catherine Howard: Facts About Her Life, Death and Marriage to Henry VIII." History Extra. https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/catherine-howard-facts-life-death-marriage-henry-viii-execution-ghost/ "Catherine Howard: Why Was She Executed?" Thirteen/WNET. https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/sixwives/meet/ch_handbook_why.html Katherine Parr: "Katherine Parr." Historic Royal Palaces. https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/katherine-parr/ Kulik, R. M. "Lady-in-waiting." Encyclopedia Britannica, July 13, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/topic/lady-in-waiting Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • April 11 · 58 min

    What To Say When a Man is Mansplaining WWII

    CORRECTION: In this episode we reference Audie Murphy as the "most decorated American soldier in WWII." His kill count was 240, not 33 -- we misspoke, he had 33 awards. In this episode, we get into what to say when a man starts mansplaining WWII… and the stories he’s probably leaving out. We talk about Lyudmila Pavlichenko, known as Lady Death, and how she became one of the deadliest snipers of the war, the Soviet Night Witches who flew nighttime bombing missions in near-silent planes, double agent Juan Pujol García (Garbo) who helped mislead the Nazis, and Wojtek the bear, a literal bear enlisted by Polish troops who carried ammunition during battle. If you’re into World War II history, this episode has a mix of overlooked figures, spy chaos, and stories that sound fake but are very real. It’s part history lesson, part unhinged commentary, and fully the kind of context you’ll wish you had the next time this topic comes up. Sources: National WWII Museum. “Night Witches: The Soviet Women Pilots Who Terrified Nazi Soldiers.” October 2025. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/night-witches-soviet-women-pilots-who-terrified-nazi-soldiers National WWII Museum. “Lady Death of the Red Army: Lyudmila Pavlichenko.” March 2021. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/lady-death-red-army-lyudmila-pavlichenko MI5. “Agent GARBO.” mi5.gov.uk. https://www.mi5.gov.uk/history/world-war-ii/agent-garbo BBC News. “Wojtek the Bear.” https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4nd3n33yeo United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Introduction to the Holocaust.” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/introduction-to-the-holocaust National WWII Museum. “WWII by the Numbers.” https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war History.com Editors. “World War II.” https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • March 24 · 47 min

    Ancient Greece's Gay Army (and Their Swords) | The Theban Sacred Band

    In this episode, we get into the Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite ancient Greek army made up of 150 pairs of male lovers who quite literally fought side by side. We talk about why the Thebans believed love made soldiers stronger, how this unit became one of the most feared forces in Greece, and how they went head to head with Sparta at the height of its power. If you loved The Song of Achilles, this story has the same mix of battlefield devotion, loyalty, and heartbreak. It is part military strategy, part love story, and fully chaotic in the way only ancient history can be. We break down the rivalry, the battles, and the real history behind the idea that couples who fight together might actually win together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • March 10 · 59 min

    The Watergate Scandal was MESSY - Do You Really Know What Happened?

    Watergate is one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history, but do you actually know what happened? This week we spill the story behind the Watergate break-in, the cover-up, and how it all led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. We also get into the wild side of the scandal, including the outspoken Martha Mitchell and the mysterious source known as Deep Throat. Lies, secret tapes, political drama, you're in for a wild ride. SOURCES: Colodny, Len, and Robert Gettlin. Silent Coup: The Removal of a President. St. Martin's Press, 1991. Dwyre, Diana, and Robin Kolodny. "Corruption and Campaign Finance in the U.S." The Fundamentals of Campaign Finance in the U.S.: Why We Have the System We Have, University of Michigan Press, 2024, pp. 29–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.9813302.8. Gormly, Kellie B. "Martha Mitchell Was the Brash 'Mouth of the South' That Roared." Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Apr. 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/martha-mitchell-was-the-brash-mouth-of-the-south-that-roared-180979951/. HISTORY.com Editors. "Identity of 'Deep Throat,' Source Who Helped Unravel the Watergate Scandal, Is Revealed." History.com, 13 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-31/deep-throat-is-revealed. Lineberry, Cate. "Martha Mitchell: The Socialite Turned Watergate Whistleblower." History.com, 25 Apr. 2022, http://history.com/articles/martha-mitchell-watergate-kidnapping. Morgan, Ruth P. "Nixon, Watergate, and the Study of the Presidency." Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 1, 1996, pp. 217–238. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551561. National Security Archive. "Six Things You Didn't Know About Watergate." nsarchive.gwu.edu, 27 May 2021, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/2021-05-27/six-things-you-didnt-know-about-watergate. National Security Archive. "Haldeman Diary Transcript, April 29, 1973." nsarchive.gwu.edu, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/21240-730429-haldeman-diary-transcript. O'Connor, John D. "I'm the Guy They Called Deep Throat." Vanity Fair, July 2005, https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2005/7/im-the-guy-they-called-deep-throat. Richard Nixon Foundation. "Watergate Explained." Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.nixonfoundation.org/watergate-explained/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026. Shepard, Alicia C. "Deep Throat's Legacy to Journalism." NPR, 19 Dec. 2008, https://www.npr.org/2008/12/19/98532461/deep-throats-legacy-to-journalism. Smoller, Fred. "Watergate Revisited." PS: Political Science and Politics, vol. 25, no. 2, 1992, pp. 225–227. https://doi.org/10.2307/419713. U.S. National Archives. "Nixon and the Environment." Prologue Magazine, Winter 2012, http://archives.gov/publications/prologue/2012/winter/nixon-homefront. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • February 28 · 56 min

    The Peaky Blinders Were Real? Everything You Need To Know

    Even if you haven't seen the show (Kendyl hasn't), you're going to want to tune in to this one. This week we’re getting into the real history behind Peaky Blinders. Inspired by the hit series Peaky Blinders, we break down who the Peaky Blinders actually were, the true gang wars of early 1900s Birmingham, and the core figures who built the gang’s reputation long before TV dramatized it. We talk bad accents (ours included), the iconic outfits, what the show gets right (and wrong), and how much of the Shelby story is rooted in fact. If you’ve ever wondered about the real Peaky Blinders, their history, and the crime culture that inspired the series — this one’s for you. SOURCES Gooderson, Philip. The Gangs of Birmingham. Milo Books, 2010. Our History. "The Shocking History Behind the Real Peaky Blinders." YouTube, 25 Oct. 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUJibuwsImI. Sharpe, James. "Who Were the Real Peaky Blinders?" Smithsonian Magazine, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-were-real-peaky-blinders-180973328/. "The Real Peaky Blinders." FindMyPast, www.findmypast.com/blog/discoveries/real-peaky-blinders. West Midlands Police Museum. Criminal Records and Mugshots Collection. Birmingham, England. Wu, Yang. "Coal Resources Distribution and Its Influence on Industrial Development and Underground Water in UK." Journal of Coastal Research, vol. 94, 2019, pp. 97–101. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26853258. Primary Sources: "Peaky Blinders Gang Activity." Birmingham Mail, 24 Mar. 1890. "Thomas Walters Criminal Record." Cheltenham Chronicle, 12 Jan. 1901. "Birmingham Gang." Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser, 2 Nov. 1929. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • February 11 · 48 min

    F*ck, Marry, Kill: Aqua Tofana, The Original Husband Poison

    This week, we’re talking Giulia Tofana and the infamous Aqua Tofana — the legendary 17th-century poison rumored to be colorless, tasteless, and almost impossible to detect. We break down the history, the myths, and why this story still fascinates people today, especially its ties to women secretly poisoning abusive husbands in a time when divorce wasn’t an option. Plus, because it’s us, we’re playing Fuck, Marry, Kill inspired by the episode. If you love dark history, true crime legends, and chaotic commentary, this one’s for you. SOURCES: Griffiths, Arthur. “Female Criminals.” The North American Review 161, no. 465 (1895): 141–52. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25103561. Review of Inorganic Poisons, by Paul Dittrich, Franz Erben, and R. v. Jaksch. The British Medical Journal 2, no. 2556 (1909): 1802–3. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25289004. Johann Wilhelm Archenholz recounted the story of “Aqua Tofana” in his travel narrative England und Italien (1785) https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/women-and-early-modern-poison/ Dash, Mike. “Aqua Tofana,” n.d. From the greater book “Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance” Ferraro, Joanne M. “The Power to Decide: Battered Wives in Early Modern Venice.” Renaissance Quarterly 48, no. 3 (1995): 492–512. https://doi.org/10.2307/2862872. Monson, Craig A. The Black Widows of the Eternal City: The True Story of Rome’s Most Infamous Poisoners. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2020. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • January 27 · 1 hr 5 min

    The Salem Witch Trials Debunked

    We're back with our MOST requested episode yet -- the Salem Witch Trials! Join us to hear us unpack the biggest misconceptions, implications, and causes of the witch hunts and trials that plagued Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 – May 1693. We cover famous trials, shocking facts, and as always, one too many dirty jokes. SOURCES: Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft, at Salem Village Which happened from the Nineteenth of March to the Fifth of April 1692 (Boston: Benjamin Harris, 1692), p. 9. Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. Alfred A. Knopf, 2002 Georgescu, Sedona. Fear Thy Neighbor: Spatial Relations in 17th Century New England Witch-Hunt Trials. Documents, 2017. https://jstor.org/stable/community.34031178. https://doi.org/10.2307/362849. (A. Scott, personal communication, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #15
    January 13 · 51 min

    We Thought the World Was Ending? Y2K Explained

    Everyone jokes that Y2K was fake. It wasn’t. It was stopped. In this episode, we break down how a tiny design choice made decades earlier put banks, power grids, hospitals, air traffic control, and even nuclear systems on edge as the clock approached January 1, 2000. We explore why the Y2K bug was a real, systemic risk, how hundreds of billions of dollars and years of invisible labor quietly defused it, and why the absence of disaster became proof of success. Drawing on first-hand accounts (from Reddit, obviously) from the programmers who fixed the code and waited on call, we chat aboutY2K as a case study in technological dependence, mass anxiety, and what it actually looks like when prevention works. Sources: Scholarly + Academic / Research Reports Bosch, Olivia. “Expectations in 1999 of Potential Impact of Y2K.” In The Year 2000 Issue and Information Infrastructure Security. Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, 2001. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20291.6. Bosch, Olivia. “Motivations for Dealing with Y2K.” In The Year 2000 Issue and Information Infrastructure Security. Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, 2001. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20291.5. Bosch, Olivia. “What Happened?” In The Year 2000 Issue and Information Infrastructure Security. Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, 2001. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20291.7. Garcia-Feijóo, Luis, and John R. Wingender. “Y2K: Myth or Reality?” Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics 46, no. 3 (2007): 27–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40473301. Romanosky, Sasha, and Jonathan W. Welburn. “Disclosure of Software Supply Chain Risks.” RAND Corporation, 2022. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep41324. Knox, Hannah. “How the Climate Takes Shape.” In Thinking Like a Climate: Governing a City in Times of Environmental Change, 63–66. Duke University Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.33610740.8. Journalism / Magazine / News Kolker, Claudia. “Seeking Y2K Getaway, Some Head for the Hills, in Ozarks.” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1999. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-apr-04-mn-24190-story.html. Radil, Amy. “The Y2K Bust.” Minnesota Public Radio, December 30, 1999. https://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199912/30_radila_y2k-m/. Ratcliffe, Mitch. “Y2K Survivalists Struggle with Reality.” UPI, January 2, 2000. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/01/02/Y2K-survivalists-struggle-with-reality/8815946789200/. Rothman, Lily. “Remember Y2K? Here’s How We Prepped for the Non-Disaster.” Time, December 31, 2014. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://time.com/3645828/y2k-look-back/. (Archive video collection) “25 years since Y2K archive collection.” KSBW. https://www.ksbw.com/article/25-years-since-y2k-archive-collection/63241773 Museums / Educational Reference Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “Y2K.” Accessed January 2, 2026. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/y2k. EBSCO Research Starters. “Y2K Crisis.” https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/computer-science/y2k-crisis. National Geographic Education. “Y2K bug.” https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/Y2K-bug/. Government / Primary Documents Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act. Public Law 105–271 (1998). https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/publ271/PLAW-105publ271.pdf. The White House (Clinton Administration Archives). “The Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act” / related statement and “National Y2K Action Week” materials (October 1998). https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/Work/101998.html Trade / Professional Publication Witherspoon, Roger. “Y2K: The Millennium Mystery.” Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology 14, no. 2 (1999): 50–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43827991. Scholarly Article (Environmental / Public Health angle) Chepesiuk, Ron. “Y2K: The Moment of Truth.” Environmental Health Perspectives 107, no. 5 (1999): A252–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/3434533. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #14
    Dec 23, 2025 · 51 min

    Shrooms, Rome, and Reddit: 10 Christmas Tradition Origins

    Come with us on a holly jolly holiday episode on debunking 10 Christmas traditions and their origins. This episode is a little different, though -- you'll be in charge of guessing if each of the 20 traditions is "Real or Reddit." That's right, Kendyl did her trademark Reddit deep-dive to find 10 family traditions that'll keep you guessing if the origin is Pagan, Nordic, Victorian, or some plain and simple family creativity. We break down the origins of the Christmas Tree, Santa's appearance, why reindeer fly, Christmas cards, and more! Sources: Chastagner, Gary A., and D. Michael Benson. “The Christmas Tree: Traditions, Production, and Diseases.” Plant Health Progress, October 13, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHP-2000-1013-01-RV . Eldridge, Adam, and Ilaria Pappalepore. “Festive Space and Dream Worlds: Christmas in London.” In Destination London, 183–204. 2019. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvhrd0t9.12 . HISTORY.com Editors. “History of Christmas Trees.” History.com, November 28, 2023 (updated December 19, 2025). https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-christmas-trees . Miller, Daniel. \ “Christmas: An Anthropological Lens.” Hau 7, no. 3 (2017): 409–442. https://doi.org/10.14318/hau7.3.027 . Salazar-Porzio, Margaret. “Who Arrives on the 12th Day of Christmas? Three Wise Men, of Course.” National Museum of American History, January 6, 2014. https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/stories/who-arrives-12th-day-christmas-three-wise-men-course . Wachelder, Joseph. “Toys, Christmas Gifts and Consumption Culture in London’s Morning Chronicle, 1800–1827.” Icon 19 (2013): 13–32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23788118 . https://www.ffungi.org/blog/the-influence-of-hallucinogenic-mushrooms-on-christmas V&A. “Victorian Christmas Traditions.” https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/victorian-christmas-traditions History.com Saturnalia: https://www.history.com/articles/saturnalia Britannica Christmas: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas Massachusetts law banning Christmas: https://www.mass.gov/news/massachusetts-law-banning-christmas Smithsonian mistletoe: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mistletoe-the-evolution-of-a-christmas-tradition-10814188/ Pagan origins overview: https://historycooperative.org/pagan-origins-of-christmas/ BBC Newsround: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/59905614 PBS fruitcake: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-misunderstood-fruitcake-has-a-magnificent-shelf-life-and-history Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #13
    Dec 10, 2025 · 51 min

    They Were the Richest People in the World, then the Murders Started: The Osage Nation

    Imagine becoming the richest community in America overnight—only for people around you to start turning up dead. This episode uncovers the stunning rise of the Osage Nation during the Oklahoma oil boom: how they strategically secured “worthless” land that sat on massive oil reserves, built extraordinary wealth, and shaped a cultural renaissance that most history books barely mention. Then we get into the part everyone tried to hide—the guardianship scams, the coordinated theft, and the string of murders that became the Osage Reign of Terror. We untangle the schemes, the conspirators, and how the FBI used the case to craft its own origin story. A gripping, human look at power, brilliance, and the truth behind one of America’s darkest scandals. Sources: https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/who-we-are/historic-preservation/osage-cultural-history https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/archaeology/native-american/early-middle-woodland-period.html https://biodiversity.ku.edu/archaeology/research/ancient-farming Mack, John. “OSAGE MISSION: THE STORY OF CATHOLIC MISSIONARY WORK IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS.” The Catholic Historical Review 96, no. 2 (2010): 262–81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27806535. Christian, Allison B. “DIGGING DEEPER TO PROTECT TRIBAL PROPERTY INTERESTS: UNITED STATES v. OSAGE WIND, LLC.” American Indian Law Review 43, no. 2 (2018): 411–35. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26789486. Jean Dennison. “The Logic of Recognition: Debating Osage Nation Citizenship in the Twenty-First Century.” American Indian Quarterly 38, no. 1 (2014): 1–35. https://doi.org/10.5250/amerindiquar.38.1.0001. Bone, Corey. “Osage Oil.” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=OS006. Hunter, Andrea A., James Munkres, and Barker Fariss. Osage Nation NAGPRA Claim for Human Remains Removed from the Clarksville Mound Group (23PI6), Pike County, Missouri. Pawhuska, OK: Osage Nation Historic Preservation Office, 2013. Inskeep, Steve. “In the 1920s, a Community Conspired to Kill Native Americans for Their Oil Money.” NPR, April 17, 2017. https://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/523964584/in-the-1920s-a-community-conspired-to-kill-native-americans-for-their-oil-money. McBride, Mike III. “Reconciling Osage Betrayal: Killers of the Flower Moon.” American Bar Association, January 22, 2024. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/resources/human-rights/2024-january/reconciling-osage-betrayal-killers-flower-moon/. National Park Service. “Native Americans and the Homestead Act.” https://www.nps.gov/home/learn/historyculture/native-americans-and-the-homestead-act.htm. Strickland, Rennard. “Osage Oil: Mineral Law, Murder, Mayhem, and Manipulation.” Natural Resources & Environment 10, no. 1 (1995): 39–43. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40923431. Toll, Shannon. “For the Osage Nation, the Betrayal Yet Lingers.” The Conversation. Reprinted in News-Register. https://newsregister.com/article?articleId=47809. Warren, Andrew L. “Earning Their Spurs in the Oil Patch: The Cinematic FBI, the Osage Murders, and the Test of the American West.” The Chronicles of Oklahoma. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40923431?searchText=osage+oil&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Dosage%2Boil%26so%3Drel&ab_segments=0%2Fspellcheck_basic_search%2Ftest&refreqid=fastly-default%3Aabbb5d6739d56fe82e30c6d76968d956&seq=1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #12
    Nov 26, 2025 · 58 min

    The Dancing Plagues - There Wasn't Just One...

    In this episode, we get into the absolutely unhinged Dancing Plague of 1518 — the real moment when hundreds of people in Strasbourg danced for days, weeks, and sometimes literally to death. We look at the dance manias that came before, the political and religious chaos that had everyone on edge, and how it all escalated after Frau Troffea started dancing and just… didn’t stop. We break down the competing explanations of the time — curses, saints, divine punishment, choreomania, humors, ergot, even early “hysteria.” Then we connect it to now: what the dancing plague can teach us about mass psychogenic illness, social contagion, and the way behaviors go viral today, from TikTok tics to doomscrolling spirals. A weird, chaotic, and surprisingly relevant deep dive into one of history’s strangest events. Sources: Andrews, Evan. “What Was the Dancing Plague of 1518?” History, August 31, 2015. Lapinskas, Vincas. “A Brief History of Ergotism: From St. Anthony’s Fire and St. Vitus’ Dance until Today.” Medicina Teorija ir Praktika, 2007. Miller, Lynneth J. “Divine Punishment or Disease? Medieval and Early Modern Approaches to the 1518 Strasbourg Dancing Plague.” Dance Research 35, no. 2 (2017): 149–164. Petlevski, Sibila. “Choreomanic NeuroDance and Its Aesthetics: Dance Research and Controversies Connected to Cognitive Neuroscience and Meme Theory.” In Taboo–Transgression–Transcendence in Art and Science, 650–674. Sweeney, John. “INFECTIOUS CONNECTIVITY: ILLUSTRATING THE THREE TOMORROWS.” In The Postnormal Times Reader, edited by Ziauddin Sardar, 137–58. Turner, Osie. The Dance Manias of the Middle Ages. The Forlorn Press, 2013. Waller, John. “A Forgotten Plague: Making Sense of Dancing Mania.” The Lancet 373, no. 9664 (2009): 624–625. Waller, John C. “In a Spin: The Mysterious Dancing Epidemic of 1518.” Endeavour 32, no. 3 (2008): 117–121. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #11
    Nov 11, 2025 · 45 min

    Exotic Dancer Turned WWI Spy: Mata Hari

    efore she became the most infamous “female spy” of World War I, Mata Hari was a Dutch dancer who turned her heartbreak and reinvention into performance art. Celebrated across Belle Époque Europe for her seductive “Eastern” dances, she embodied every fantasy — and every fear — men had about powerful women. When war broke out, that fantasy turned fatal. Accused of being a double agent, Mata Hari was tried, convicted, and executed for espionage — though the evidence was almost entirely fabricated. In this episode, we unravel how a woman who blurred the line between performance and identity became the perfect scapegoat for France’s paranoia. Was she a master spy, a myth, or just a woman ahead of her time? Sources: Alfonso, Kristal L. M. “Introduction.” Femme Fatale: An Examination of the Role of Women in Combat and the Policy Implications for Future American Military Operations. Air University Press, 2009. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep13932.6. Anderson, Jack, and Joseph Spear. “Mata Hari Was Framed, Files Show.” Washington Post, November 23, 1985. Central Intelligence Agency. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP90-00965R000100120015-5.pdf. Andrews, Evan. “The Dancer Who Became WWI’s Most Notorious Spy.” History, August 5, 2016. https://www.history.com/articles/the-exotic-dancer-who-became-wwis-most-notorious-spy. “‘Mata Hari’ alias McLeod Margaretha Geertruida (Marguerite Gertrude): Executed by the French in 1917 for Accusations of Spying for Germany, KV 2/1, 1914–1924.” The National Archives (UK). https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-hari-alias-mcleod-margaretha-geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf. Matano, Lisette. “Letters from Mata Hari.” Georgetown University Library, June 24, 2016. https://library.georgetown.edu/special-collections/manuscripts/letters-mata-hari. Myers, Alice. “France Executes Mata Hari.” EBSCO Research Starters, 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/france-executes-mata-hari. Solly, Meilan. “Revisiting the Myth of Mata Hari, From Sultry Spy to Government Scapegoat.” Smithsonian Magazine, November 1, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/revisiting-myth-mata-hari-sultry-spy-government-scapegoat-180967013. Wheelwright, J. “The Language of Espionage: Mata Hari and the Creation of the Spy-Courtesan.” In Languages and the First World War: Representation and Memory, edited by C. Declercq and J. Walker, 164–177. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137550361_11. Wheelwright, J. “Poisoned Honey: The Myth of Women in Espionage.” Queen’s Quarterly 100, no. 2 (2019): 291–309. “Mata Hari.” Fries Museum, https://www.friesmuseum.nl/en/collection/icons/mata-hari. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025. Pitel, Laura. “Cache of Files Unveils British and Irish Conquests in Mata Hari’s Last Summer of Seduction.” The Times, 21 Oct. 2023, https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/cache-of-files-unveils-british-and-irish-conquests-in-mata-haris-last-summer-of-seduction-gp0zc8spp. “‘Mata Hari’ alias McLeod Margaretha Geertruida (Marguerite Gertrude): Executed by the French in 1917 for Accusations of Spying for Germany, KV 2/1, 1914–1924.” The National Archives (UK), https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-hari-alias-mcleod-margaretha-geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025. Andrews, Evan. “The Dancer Who Became WWI’s Most Notorious Spy.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 5 Aug. 2016, https://www.history.com/articles/the-exotic-dancer-who-became-wwis-most-notorious-spy. “Mata Hari.” Vincentian Collections, DePaul University, https://resources.depaul.edu/vincentian-collections/story/footnotes/Pages/MataHari.aspx. Accessed 2 Nov. 2025. “New-York Tribune (New York, NY), June 25, 1905.” Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83030214/1905-06-25/ed-1/. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • #10
    Oct 31, 2025 · 39 min

    Abe Lincoln’s Ghost & White House Seances

    Is Abraham Lincoln still haunting the halls of the White House? This week on SPILLED., we’re talking presidential paranormal activity. He showed up in offices and bathrooms alike. Was Honest Abe trying to warn us… or just checking in on democracy? Join us as we unpack the ghostly lore surrounding Lincoln, the séances held in the White House, and why America’s most solemn president became its most famous spirit. Expect spooky history, dramatic retellings, and our completely unqualified theories. Tune in if you love ghost stories, U.S. history, or the weird overlap between politics and the paranormal. Sources: Bach, Jennifer L. “Acts of Remembrance: Mary Todd Lincoln and Her Husband’s Memory.” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 25, no. 2 (2004): 25–49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20149062. Baker, Jean H. Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1987. DJangi, Parissa. “Séances at the White House? Why These First Ladies Turned to the Occult.” National Geographic, April 24, 2024. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/seances-at-the-white-house. Kommel, Alexandra. “Séances in the Red Room: How Spiritualism Comforted the Nation during and after the Civil War.” White House History, April 24, 2019. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/seances-in-the-red-room. Moore, R. Laurence. “Spiritualism and Science: Reflections on the First Decade of the Spirit Rappings.” American Quarterly 24, no. 4 (1972): 474–500. https://doi.org/10.2307/2711685. Pimple, Kenneth D. “Ghosts, Spirits, and Scholars: The Origins of Modern Spiritualism.” In Out Of The Ordinary: Folklore and the Supernatural, edited by Barbara Walker, 75–89. University Press of Colorado, 1995. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt46nwn8.10. White House Historical Association. “White House Ghost Stories.” White House History. Accessed October 21, 2025. https://www.whitehousehistory.org/press-room/press-backgrounders/white-house-ghost-stories. “Last Hours Of Abraham Lincoln.” The British Medical Journal 1, no. 231 (1865): 569–70. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25204716. West, Nancy M. “CAMERA FIENDS: EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY, DEATH, AND THE SUPERNATURAL.” The Centennial Review 40, no. 1 (1996): 170–206. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23740730. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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