Stuff You Missed in History Class

This 2022 episode covers Moms Mabley, whose career lasted more than six decades. She was hugely influential, and inspired so manycomedians and other performers who came after her.

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Holly and Tracy discuss the idea of autosuggestion and positive self-talk. Tracy shares her thoughts on writings about the Pompey stone. 

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This 2021 episode covers Louis Daguerre, who comes up almost any time we mention photography. Well before he figured out how to capture images through a camera obscura, he was an artist and innovator in entertainment.

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Holly talks about the frustration of not finding any solid evidence of where Richard Peters stood on the issue of slavery. Tracy wonders what Elizabeth Fulhame's relationship with her husband was like.

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This 2021 episode shares how in the U.S., the idea that people should know about the risks involved with the drugs that they are taking is tied directly to the complicated and often troubling history of oral contraceptives. 

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Tracy talks about a "Molly of Denali" episode that references Elizabeth Peratrovich. She then shares her own experience with IUD insertion.

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This 2022 episode covers Lucy Hobbs, later Lucy Hobbs Taylor, who pursued a career in dentistry before that was recognized as an acceptable vocation for a woman.

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Tracy talks about the mixed bag nature of Elizabeth Bisland, and the hosts talk about their own travel experiences. Holly shares the less-than-noble character trait that she shares with Flaubert.

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This 2019 episode explores the difficult-to-study work of Laurencin. In addition to her work not quite falling in line with the artists who were her contemporaries, her personal papers are difficult to access, are censored, and have strict limitations put on their use. 

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Tracy talks about how the show's recording schedule meant that this week's Monday episode got revised repeatedly to reflect current events. Holly talks about the way theater performances during portions of heavy censorship in France incorporated audience participation.

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This 2014 episode covers the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, in which Native Americans rose up against Spanish colonists and missionaries at the turn of the 17th century.

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Holly and Tracy talk about their coffee preferences. Then Tracy traces the path that led her from a listener mail to the topic of Fort Mose.

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Melitta Bentz invented the coffee filter in 1908 and changed coffee culture forever. Through the decades and after reckoning with its relationship with the Third Reich, the company she founded in her Dresden apartment endures today.

Research:

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Part two of this 2020 episode looks at some of the specifics of the COINTELPROs that targeted black liberation organizations and the New Left, as well as how these programs were finally exposed to the public. 

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Holly shares a story of accidentally taking ephedrine. Tracy shares her delight at a pronunciation of the word catastrophe.

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Part 1 of this 2020 two-parter covers background on the FBI and on the origins of its counterintelligence programs, as well as one specific operation, called COINTELPRO-White Hate.

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Tracy shares her desire to see the rest of the letter that was quoted in this week's episodes on Anthony Burns. Talk also turns to the fact that many of the things that are surprising people today are, in fact, precedented.

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This 2019 episode takes a closer look the famous diary of Samuel Pepys, and also at who Pepys was beyond his famous chronicle of life in 17th-century London.

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Tracy talks about her selection of "Fumifugium" as a show topic. Holly shares a mischievous story about Helen Preece.

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This 2019 episode shares how Hennig Brand discovered phosphorous by boiling pee. But he was really thought the secret to the philosopher’s stone might be found in urine. 

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Tracy talks about amusing old illustrations of babies in utero. Holly shares anecdotes about George Stephenson's life that rarely make it into discussions of his life.

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This 2021 episode covers three prank stories, including a joke that became a living legend, a large-scale prank that created havoc, and a televised hoax that reminds us all of the importance of critical thinking. 

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Holly talks about the various inspirations for her love of embroidery. Tracy shares her experiences with movies and her cat while embroidering.

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This 2020 episode covers Paul Cuffe, who protested taxation, built wealth for himself in whaling, became a Quaker and used his fortune for the betterment of others. He also advocated creating a colony in Africa for of African ancestry to immigrate to.

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Tracy talks about the events that happened in the gap between writing the latest Unearthed episode and recording it. Holly shares thoughts about art heists.

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This 2015 episode covers the lack of access to public education for children with disabilities in the U.S. until 1975.

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Tracy discusses film ratings and the bias behind them. Talk then turns to clothing in the afterlife.

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This 2021 episode covers Andrew Crosse, who observed a strange thing happening on an electrified rock in his lab in the early 1800s, and was catapulted into the public spotlight.

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Holly and Tracy talk about the pros and cons of self-help writing and whether Ben Franklin would like bullet journaling. They then talk about a past trip they took to Walt Disney World. 

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This 2019 episode covers Paul Julius Reuter, who had a knack for filling in the gaps in communication systems, and making a lot of money doing so.

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Holly talks about the ways Joseph Medill could be both problematic and surprising. Tracy shares her additional thoughts on the book about caroling she used during research that wasn't always about caroling.

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This 2018 episode covers the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia, a massive tragedy for both Canada and the United States. But it was also really overshadowed by the end of World War I and the flu pandemic. 

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Tracy shares her experiences watching the show "Molly of Denali." The discussion then turns to glacier surge. 

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This 2021 episode covers Washington Irving, who is often associated with Halloween. But his writing had a significant influence on the way Christmas is celebrated in the U.S.

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Tracy wonders whether Jack the turkey went to the bathroom in the White House. Holly talks about how much she dislikes people arguing over food preferences. 

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This 2021 episode covers how The Nutcracker is a Russian adaptation of a German story that wasn’t really a Christmas staple in its home country.

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Tracy shares how her Charles Sumner research yielded a three-part episode. Holly mentions that while there's not a lot of scholarly work about Cassius Coolidge's life, he is featured in a lot of newspaper mentions from his time. 

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This 2020 episode covers the Public Universal Friend, who described themself as a genderless spirit sent by God to inhabit the resurrected body of a woman named Jemima Wilkinson. 

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Tracy and Holly talk about their recent podcast trip to Morocco with listeners, arranged by Defined Destinations.

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This 2019 episode covers Thomas Cook, a pioneer of the idea of a travel agency to manage tourist holidays. But Cook was initially motivated by his support of the temperance movement and his deeply held religious beliefs. 

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Tracy and Holly talk about the proclivity for destruction that was part of the balloon craze. They also discuss cat trees and how hard it is to find one that's cute. 

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This 2018 episode covers the period in the late 1820s when north Georgia became the site of a gold rush that predated the California gold rush by two decades. It's also tied to some of the darkest parts of U.S. history regarding the treatment of Native Americans.  

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Tracy shares the surprising benefit of not having access to a lot of specifics regarding the work of Mary Golda Ross. Holly talks about Marjorie Merriwether Post being a serial monogamist.

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This 2019 episode covers Alexandre Dumas, who wrote hundreds and hundreds of works, including “The Three Musketeers,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,”  and even a dictionary of cuisine.

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Tracy discusses the challenge of parsing all the nuance of the French Revolution. Holly talks about how little Clarence Birdseye shared of his interior thoughts.

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This 2019 episode is about general Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, who sounds like a character out of one of his son’s books. His life was a series of dramatic and daring adventures, including his rise up through the ranks of the French military.

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Holly talks about the unsubstantiated stories associated with the Villa de Vecchi in northern Italy. Tracy talks about getting angry about a passage she read in Wednesday's show. 

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This 2021 episode covers Aleister Crowley, a truly prolific and deliberately transgressive occultist whose practices included sex and drug use. He influenced modern Satanism, as well as other new religious movements.

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Holly and Tracy talk about ghost experiences in their lives. Tracy thanks all the listeners who suggested ghost towns for this week's episode.

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This 2020 episode covers three of the many supernatural canines and hellhounds in our collective storytelling. Two are similar and from England, and one is a fun figure from southern Louisiana.

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