The co-creator of Batman has admitted that there would be no caped crusader had it not been for the inspiration of masked-avenger Zorro. In turn, the character of Zorro could not have existed without the inspiration of real California outlaws. In 1848 the Mexican-American War came to a close and a year later gold was discovered in the newly American territory of California. Tens of thousands of former Mexican citizens suddenly became Americans and thousands more soon flooded across the border, lured by the promise of gold. But, both native Californios and newly arrived Mexicans soon found them ..read more

The Salem witch panic of 1692 can sometimes feel more like a natural disaster than a human event. When the crisis reached its peak in the late summer of 1692 it had become as chaotic and destructive as any extreme storm. The return of Governor William Phips from England with a new colonial charter in May 1692 meant that the official proceedings of the witch trials could finally get underway. However, the prosecution and execution of the first batch of Salem witches didn't seem to slow the rate of accusations. The more people who were hanged in Salem, the larger the Satanic conspiracy seemed to ..read more

In 1692 in the town of Salem Village, Massachusetts, two young girls started acting very strangely. The girls suffered from uncontrollable fits, bouts of incoherence, and odd outbursts including barking and choking sounds. A physician summoned to examine them concluded that the only explanation was that the girls were "under an evil hand." They were bewitched. This sparked a full fledged witchcraft panic that ended up claiming the lives of 25 people and destabilizing the entire Massachusetts Bay Colony. The ensuing Salem Witch Trials have been pointed to as a pivotal moment in American colonia ..read more

In 1906 an ex-convict named Wilhelm Voigt living pulled off one of the most audacious heists in European history. After cobbling together a realistic looking Captain's uniform, he convinced ten German soldiers to follow his commands and help him rob a townhall in the Berlin suburb of Köpenick. The heist played like a perfect piece of satirical theatre that revealed uncomfortable truths about Imperial German society.  After his arrest Wilhelm Voigt was celebrated as a folk hero all around the country. All the German papers agreed that the caper had been hilarious, but they just couldn't ag ..read more

In the world of pseudo-historical theories there are few more radical than the Phantom Time Hypothesis and the New Chronology. These theories propose that hundreds of years of human history never actually occurred. Our current chronology has been inflated with fake events and “phantom time.” These theorists would have us believe that most of our history has been faked by chroniclers and unscrupulous historians. Could it be that most of human history is a fraud? Tune-in and find out how golf course owners, weird math, and Russian pride all play a role in the story ..read more

Most professional wrestling fans have accepted the scripted nature of wrestling for decades, but are we truly living in a post-kayfabe world? This week's guest, RJ City, thinks that maybe kayfabe never died. RJ City is a comedian, wrestler, bon vivant, the host of AEW’s Hey!(EW). You may have seen him beating up David Arquette, winning Celebrity Family Feud, mocking children on Nickelodeon’s Splatalot, or making coffee in his underwear on YouTube. RJ shares the insights he has gained working in the wrestling business over the course of 17 years. Can RJ act as Sebastian's "decoder ring" for the ..read more

In 1957 the French philosopher Roland Barthes called professional wrestling a "spectacle of excess." That may be the most beautifully succinct description of sports entertainment ever written. For decades professional wrestling has existed as an athletic form of melodramatic theatre rather than an honest athletic competition. But has that always been the case? When and how did wrestling transform from a typical sport into a "spectacle of excess?" Tune-in and find out how weird carnival slang, a fake hanging, and a man with a pet 2x4 all play a role in the story ..read more

In 1721 the first Hell-Fire club caused a scandal in London and quickly disbanded, but the story did not end there. Soon new blasphemous rake's clubs were being founded all over England, Scotland and Ireland. Some of these second-generation clubs became even more infamous than the original. Did these new Hell-Fire clubs earn their reputation as satanic blights on society, or was this just more of the same aristocratic excess? Tune-in and find out how incorporeal party guests, demonic kitty-cats, and naughty Latin puns all play a role in the story ..read more

In Britain in the early 18th century private social clubs were all the rage. These societies grew out of the emerging coffeehouse culture and soon became an integral part of the social life of the British upper crust. The most notorious of all these groups was the so-called Hell-Fire Club. In 1721 a near panic was fueled by the English press, who reported that this club hosted orgies, encouraged blasphemy, and held rude pantomimes of sacred religious rituals. Even King George I himself became concerned that these clubs were corrupting British society. But how much of this was real and how much ..read more

There is a long tradition of writers comparing Christopher Columbus to mythical figures. 16th century historian Peter Martyr believed Columbus was like a later-day Aeneas, the Trojan hero who travelled west to found a society in Italy that would one day become Rome. Over the centuries many Americans gravitated to the idea of Columbus as Aeneas--- a man who brought civilization west and gave it a new headquarters in America. However, more recently one historian has argued that Columbus is more like the tragic Greek hero Oedipus. In his estimation Columbus, like Oedipus, was a hero who brought a ..read more