Alcohol, as troublesome as it can be, is a prominent drink in modern society. It tends to be a large part of social interactions. But how did that happen? In this episode, we address the rise of alcohol in history, the historic beer brewing process, and other bevvies that developed along the way. Title from The Hudribrastick Brewer Or, A Preposterous Union Between Malt and Meter. A Satyr Upon the suppos'd Author of the Republican Procession; or the Tumultuous Cavalcade, by Edward Ward, 1714 Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana Cover Art: Emily Noble Day Find ..read more

In this final episode of season three, we review Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas by noted geneticist, Jennifer Raff. While the book is about the first peopling of the Americas, something that the study of DNA and mtDNA has drastically changed, a large portion of the book is also devoted to the development of physical anthropology and the archaeological evidence for the earliest peopling of both Americas. This book gives a graduate course in interdisciplinary studies of who the first people were, where they came from, and how they got here in a readily accessible and sympathetic style ..read more

Have you ever looked at something on your plate and wondered how it got there? In this episode, our guest, Misti Furr, talks about the movement of goods between the Americas, Africa, and Europe that had a significant impact on the world, both positively and negatively. The Columbian Exchange goes far beyond the humble potato or peanut! Intro Music: Zac Bell Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana Cover Art: Emily Noble Day ..read more

N.B.- This episode contains quotes from primary sources and may contain language considered offensive today. Continuing on the topic of revolution and freedom, in this episode, we ask if the revolutionary rhetoric, the language used to discuss freedom from Britain, had any impact on slavery. Many founding fathers tended to compare British treatment of white male citizens of the colonies to slavery, yet slavery as an institution continued well into the 19th century in the newborn United States. Was there any sort of understanding of the hypocrisy involved? Did the prevailing themes of freedom a ..read more

Have you ever wondered about how some events in history could have turned out differently? In this episode, we introduce a counterfactual, or according to the Cambridge Dictionary, "a mental simulation where you think about something that happened, and then imagine an alternate ending." Just in time for the Fourth of July, our guests, Sam McGinty and Davis Tierney, discuss how the British could have won and what could have been the result. Intro Music: Zac Bell Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana Cover Art: Emily Noble Day ..read more

Continuing our abolition series, Mark Mazzochi joins us to discuss the Haitian Revolution. While the revolt over slavery drastically impacted Haiti and it's economic conditions today, it had a surprising effect on the rest of the world as well. Intro Music: Zac Bell Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana Cover Art: Emily Noble Day ..read more

It's finally summer and that means it's time to indulge in some vacation reading. But have you ever picked up that guilty pleasure book or the classic you swear you'll make it through this year and wondered just how novels and fictional stories came to be? In this episode, we talk about how the art of fiction has changed forms over the centuries and just how the novel developed and proliferated. We'll also talk about the chronology of each genre, and some of those will surprise you with how far back they go! Intro Music: Zac Bell Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana Cover Art: Emily Noble Day ..read more

How many times have you stopped a conversation to either groan at or admire a pun? We all drop inadvertent puns into conversation. Sometimes we don't even catch them. Wordplay has been around as long as there has been language, but English really seems to lend itself to sly wit. In this episode, we discuss the rise and fall of the much maligned pun, playing with logic for riddles, and the advent of slang. Intro Music: Zac Bell Transition Music: Saint-Saens, The Carnival of The Animals- XIV. Finale, Seattle Youth Orchestra  Exit Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana Cover Art: Emily Noble Day ..read more

Have you ever wondered just how the interpreters at the Frontier Culture Museum are able to talk about the why and how people left their homes for America? In this podcast, we talk about, and read from, primary sources about immigration. Letters, diaries, memoirs and more provide a detailed look into not only the push/pull factors behind the decision to leave Europe, or indeed return home, but also the fierce propaganda wars that were being waged. Accounts from enslaved persons provide a counterpoint to the relative luxury of choice the Europeans had in deciding whether or not to relocate to t ..read more

Smallpox is no joke. Having just experienced a world-wide pandemic of a virulent virus, we have a little more inkling about what people in the past faced with smallpox, but nowhere near on the same scale. Smallpox, while eradicated as an infectious agent at large, remains one of the deadliest diseases yet known. In this episode our guest, Lucy Abell, discusses just how dreadful smallpox was to historic populations, but also how smallpox was the inspiration behind our modern understanding of infections and vaccines. Intro Music: Zac Bell Transition Music: Saint-Saens, Danse Macabre Op. 20, The ..read more