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,...

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...

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...

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...

A Columbus biographer once wrote that the famous navigator had an "an imperfect understanding of the line between truth and falsity." The Genoese mariner had a habit of lying, exaggerating, or revising history in service of what he believed were his "higher ends." The fact that Columbus is such an unreliable narrator makes retracing his voyages particularly challenging. The first voyage across the Atlantic would nearly disintegrate as Columbus lost control of his subordinates and lost his...

There are few historical figures whose reputation has swung in as many extreme directions as Christopher Columbus. The Genoese mariner once credited with "discovering America" has in recent years been called out as genocidal conqueror and slave trader. In 2020 many statues of Columbus across the United States were toppled by protestors, quite literally taking the man off of his pedestal. Why does the figure of Christopher Columbus continue to inspire so much passion from both his detractors...

On today's show Sebastian has the opportunity to talk to one of his favourite film critics, podcasters, and cultural observers, the great Amy Nicholson. Amy writes about film for the New York Times and is featured regularly in Variety, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and The Guardian. She is also the co-host of the wonderful movie podcast Unspooled, that she makes with actor and comedian Paul Sheer. Amy and Sebastian explore the importance of accuracy in historically themed movies, the...

If you managed to get through elementary school math then you have almost certainly heard the name Pythagoras. The ancient Greek thinker has been celebrated as the man who first discovered the mathematical relationship between the sides of a right triangle. This has been known for centuries as the Pythagorean Theorem. But, if you poke your nose a little deeper into his story you will discover that he was also worshipped by some as a nearly divine figure who could communicate with animals,...

The myth of Mata Hari would have us believe that she was a turn-of-the-century super-spy. She has been celebrated as a master of the "honey trap" tactic, where a beautiful spy seduces her mark and extracts sensitive information over pillow talk. But, in reality Mata Hari was a remarkably ineffective spy. In short time dabbling in the world of espionage, she did very little that could be considered "spying." Her career as a "secret agent" lasted just over a year. There is very little evidence...

Between 1905 and 1908 the dancer professionally known as Mata Hari was one of the best known entertainers in Europe. Her nearly-nude dances were given an air of respectability thanks to her presentation as Javanese temple dancer performing sacred religious rites. But by the outbreak of WWI her star had started to fade. To maintain her lavish lifestyle she began to rely heavily on her wealthy lovers. These lovers were often military men who fought on opposing sides of the war. This made Mata...

In 1905 a woman claiming to be a Javanese temple dancer rocketed to fame in Europe. Her name was Mata Hari and her nearly-nude dances were presented as profound religious experiences. But, Mata Hari was selling a fantasy. She was actually a Dutch woman born Margaretha Zelle. Her real origins were considerably less glamorous than the fiction she presented on stage. If there is anything more surprising than Mata Hari's meteoric rise, it's her tragic fall. In 1917 Margaretha Zelle would be...

In the 1580's Japan was a on the precipice of a massive transformation. For over a century the country had been embroiled in war, but by 1581 the end seemed to be in sight. The powerful Lord Oda Nobunaga was on the path to unifying the fractured nation. It was at this time that a remarkable man from East Africa, known as Yasuke, came into his service. Nobunaga would take a shine to this foreigner and would eventually honour him with a ceremonial sword and a monthly stipend. For many...

Near the end of Japan's "Warring States" period a remarkable visitor arrived in the country with a group of European Jesuit missionaries. He was a soldier originally from East Africa acting as a bodyguard for the ranking Jesuit in Japan. The Japanese would come to know this man as Yasuke and through a surprising series of events he would go on to become the first non-Japanese person to be recognized as a Samurai. Unfortunately, sources concerning the life of Yasuke are few. With only a...

Houdini had a truly impressive run as an entertainer. In the decade between 1904 and 1913 he developed a number of escapes and illusions that are still considered the gold-standard for stage magicians. Houdini's "Milk Can" and "Chinese Water Torture" escapes are still inspiring magicians to this day. Houdini's stock and trade was deception and yet by the early 1920's he became tireless campaigner against people he considered frauds. He became convinced that "spiritualist mediums" were using...

Over the course of 1899 Harry Houdini went from being an obscure circus performer to being one of the best known entertainers in America. He became known as the "Handcuff King" and made headlines challenging police departments to lock him in a pair of cuffs that could hold him. His rise to fame was aided by his savvy understanding of the media and an ability manipulate the papers. These manipulations would overtime become part of the Houdini myth. Houdini lived a life filled with...

The word "iconic" gets thrown around pretty loosely these days, but there are some figures who truly earn the descriptor. Micheal Jordan and Mohammed Ali are icons because they truly transcended their sport. In the same way Harry Houdini is bigger than magic. Houdini is easily the best remembered performer in the history of stage magic. Despite his enduring fame his life story remains clouded by myth. Houdini was a professional liar, but he also considered himself to be deeply moral. He took...

In 1703 a curious character arrived in London claiming to be a native of the island of Formosa. These days Formosa is better known as Taiwan, but in early 18th century it was a place barely understood by most Europeans. The Formosan visitor, George Psalmanazar, was eager to teach his English hosts everything there was no to know about his home island. The only problem was that Psalmanazar was a fraud. He was a European who had never travelled east of Germany. He concocted elaborate tales...

Some of the most legendary figures to emerge from the history of the American West were the rough-and-ready "mountain men". But, the most legendary mountain man of all had to be the cannibal, Liver Eating Johnson. Stories would have us believe that sometime in the mid-1800's Johnson waged a one-man war against the indigenous Crow tribe to avenge the killing of his pregnant wife. Along the way he developed a taste for human flesh and started eating the raw livers of those that he killed. It's...

There is a story that as Galileo stood in front of the Inquisition and listened as they declared that the Earth did not revolve around the Sun, he whispered under his breath "and yet, it moves". This moment of defiance has been celebrated as Galileo's true "martyr" moment. But, there is no way that Galileo ever said that. While the official records produced by the Inquisition might make it seem like the "Galileo Affair" had been about the question of the Earth's motion, a closer look at the...

Galileo is often credited with inventing the telescope, but he never made that claim. He simply whipped up his own take on the device and sold it to the Republic of Venice before his Dutch competitors could beat him to the punch. Galileo also gets credit for being the first person to point the telescope at the night sky. This is also untrue, but when he did start observing the moon, stars, and planets, his observations would turn astronomy on its head. In 1610 Galileo published Sidereus...

The Pisan scientist Galileo Galilei has been remembered as the "father of modern science." The discoveries he made with his telescope led to a completely new understanding of Earth's place in the cosmos. The theory first put forward by the Polish mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus, that the Earth revolved around the Sun, was affirmed by Galileo. The works published by Galileo expounding on these findings eventually led to him accused of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. Galileo has gone...

Did you know that the Amazons once waged war on Atlantis? According to the ancient historian Diodorus of Sicily, the Amazons conquered Atlantis while carving out an empire in Northern Africa. This may have all been pure legend, but Diodorus, like most ancient historians, believed that the Amazons had been an historical people. Other historians believed that the Amazons eventually interbred with the nomadic Scythians were slowly integrated into their society on the Eurasian steppe. In fact,...

When the conquistador Francisco Orellana was attacked by a band of female warriors deep in the heart of South America, he thought immediately of the Amazons of Greek mythology. His encounter with this group would end up inspiring the name for the river he was navigating: the Amazon. The original Amazons were said to be society of ferocious female warriors who lived at the edge of the known world. In myth the Amazons tangled with many of greatest Greek heroes. Their all-female society stood...

In this OFH throwback episode Sebastian is throwing you back to Episode #61 - What's the Problem with Socrates? Socrates has been celebrated as the “father of western philosophy”. This is particularly remarkable when you consider the fact that we know almost nothing about him for sure. What we consider “Socratic Philosophy” is what has been reported to us by his students. Should we trust what they are telling us about him? Tune in and find out how ancient fart jokes, free lunch, and a...

In this "throwback episode" we look back at episode #96. In the 1930’s a famous California history professor thought he had discovered a long lost historical treasure. It was a brass plate apparently inscribed by the famous English adventurer Sir. Francis Drake. The plate was heralded as an amazing discovery, but it was actually an elaborate hoax orchestrated by an irreverent secret society. The group behind the hoax is known as E Clampus Vitus and it may be America’s weirdest secret society....