Episodios

  • Introducing: United States of Kennedy
    Jul 2 2025

    Hello, Ridiculous History Fans! We want to share a new show you might like, United States of Kennedy,

    About the show: United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.

    Listen here and subscribe to United States of Kennedy on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    2 m
  • A Ridiculous History of Sex, with Ross Benes
    Jul 1 2025

    Heads-up, folks: this is a PG-13 episode. Ben and the legendary guest producer, also Ben, welcome author and journalist Ross Benes for a wide-ranging discussion on the ridiculous ways in which sex has altered the course of human civilization. We're talking about the origin story of the vibrator, the way the US military accidentally made San Francisco a 'gay mecca,' the fanatical drives of the Puritans, sex scandals and so much more.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    49 m
  • CLASSIC: Back When the Rich Ate Corpses
    Jul 3 2025

    Nowadays it's safe to say that cannibalism isn't a widely-accepted practice, but not so long ago it was considered the bleeding edge (get it?) in medicine throughout Western Europe. Join Ben and Noel as they explore the odd practice of consuming human body parts in hopes of curring all one's ills, through everything such as the King's drops to bandages soaked in human fat, along with related stories of the legendary Mellified Man and the current, tragic phenomenon of Tanzanian criminals hunting down those suffering from albinism to use their body parts in magic rituals.

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    36 m
  • CLASSIC: The Mummies of Guanajuato
    Jun 28 2025

    When the city of Guanajuato instituted a grave tax, they included some harsh penalties for those who couldn't pay -- if you went more than three years without paying the tax on your loved one's resting place, the body would be disinterred and taken from its grave. As gravediggers began removing corpses, they discovered something bizarre: Many of the bodies had somehow naturally mummified. Word of the Mummies of Guanajuato quickly spread, and the gravediggers starting charging locals to take a quick peek at the remains. This was only the beginning. Join Ben and Noel as they explore the strange tale of the Mummies of Guanajuato.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    30 m
  • A Ridiculous History of Brain Science, with Jorge Cham
    Jun 26 2025

    Today, we all generally understand that the brain is responsible for what we call personality and thought -- yet this wasn't always the case. Once humans figured out the brain was more than a weird lump in the skull, it took centuries of trial and error, along with quack science, to really understand how it works. In today's episode, the guys welcome back special guest Jorge Cham, the creator of ScienceStuff, to lear more about the ridiculous history of brain science.

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    56 m
  • Jorge Cham Teaches Us The Universe: Big Bangs and Quantum Hangs
    Jun 24 2025

    What is the universe? Where did it come from, and what happens to it in the future? Humanity has wrestled with these questions since the dawn of civilization -- and though we've made a lot of progress, there's still much more to learn. In today's episode, the guys join special guest Jorge Cham, the polymath, engineer, author, cartoonist, and creator of the hit new show ScienceStuff as he explains the vast (and often ridiculous) history of humans attempting to understand the universe.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    53 m
  • The Ridiclulous Hsitory of Typos
    Jun 20 2025

    Ah, the bane of authors, students and copywriters the world round: the infamous typo! Something as small as a single misplaced letter can call the entire credibility of a book, text, or essay into question. Usually readers can still "get the gist," but every so often an innocent typo sows chaos, hilarity, scandal and disaster. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore some of history's weirdest, funniest -- and most expensive -- typos.

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    39 m
  • CLASSIC: The Curious Rise of SPAM
    Jun 21 2025

    Nowadays the iconic 'SPAM' logo is recognized around the world -- whether you're traveling in the US state of Minnesota or Busan, Korea, you'll more often than not run into a couple of Spam cans in the local grocery store. But what made this particular processed meat so popular? Join Ben, Noel and special guest, Savor cohost Anney Reese as they explore the strange circumstances that paved the way for the rise of Spam in this week's Classic episode.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    47 m