The Secret Agent
Did That Really Happen?
This week we're traveling back to 1970s Brazil with The Secret Agent! Join us as we learn about deaths at Carnival, the legend of the Hairy Leg, indigenous servants, and more! Sources: Da-Silva, Elidiomar. (2025). A PERNA CABELUDA, DE RECIFE, PERNAMBUCO: POSSÍVEIS DIÁLOGOS COM A ZOOLOGIA CULTURAL - Barbante - Revista Literária (ISSN 2338-1414) (Da-Silva, Elidiomar. 2025). 13. 20-27. 10.5281/zenodo.17655754. Diario de Pernambuco, Issue from 10 December 1975: https://memoria.bn.gov.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=029033_15&pagfis=78246 Diario de Pernambuco, Issue from 11 December...
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The Ghost Bride
Did That Really Happen?
We don't have a new episode this week, so we're cracking open the Patreon vault and releasing one of our bonus episodes on The Ghost Bride! Join us on our journey to 1890s Malacca, and learn about the ghost bride custom, clothing, currency, and more! Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37103447 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-07/ghost-marriages-in-rural-china-continue-to-thrive/9608624 Wenzhang Zhou and Yang Feng, "When Religious Folk Practice Meets Karl Marx: Courts' Response to Ghost Marriage in Modern China," Religions, 14 (2023) Myron L. Cohen, "Souls and Salvation:...
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Good Night, and Good Luck
Did That Really Happen?
**Note: Due to technical difficulties, there were issues affecting Jamie's audio quality this week. We apologize and promise it will be fixed on our next episode.** This week we're traveling back to 1950s America with Good Night, and Good Luck! Join us as we learn about Red Scare-Era figurse like Annie Lee Moss, Joe and Shirley Wershba, Milo Radulovich, Don Hollenbeck, and more! Sources: Loren Ghiglione, Why Don Hollenbeck Fascinated Me Enough to Write His Biography. History News Network. Available at https://www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/why-don-hollenbeck-fascinated-me-enough-to-write-h...
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Blue Moon
Did That Really Happen?
This week we're traveling back to 1940s New York with Blue Moon! Join us as we learn about the relationship between Rogers and Hart, air raid blackouts, EB White, going on the wagon, and more! Sources: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%22off+the+wagon%22&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=%22on+the+wagon%22&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3 Jellinek, Elvin Morton. Phases in the Drinking History of Alcoholics: Analysis of a Survey Conducted by the Grapevine, Official...
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Train Dreams
Did That Really Happen?
This week we're covering the history of the Pacific Northwest from the late 19th century to 1968 with Train Dreams! Join us as we learn about boot memorials, Chinese and Chinese-American railroad workers, women working as fire lookouts, and more! Sources: Dina Gachman, "The History of Lady Lookouts," Smithsonian Magazine, available at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/female-fire-lookouts-have-been-saving-wilderness-over-century-180977352/ Photo of Hallie Daggett and Her Dog, Fish and Wildlife: https://www.fws.gov/media/hallie-daggett ...
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Hedda
Did That Really Happen?
This week we're traveling back to the 1950s with Hedda! Join us as we learn about pretty little things, 1950s fashion, sparklers, women working as professors, and more! Sources: "Celebrating the Legacy of England's First Female Professor," King's College, available at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/celebrating-legacy-of-englands-first-female-professor "Gender Breakdown for Teachers in History," Making History, available at https://archives.history.ac.uk/makinghistory/resources/statistics/gender.html Peter West, "Five Lessons on Bringing Truth Back to Politics from Britain's First Female Philosophy...
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The Book of Clarence
Did That Really Happen?
This week we're traveling back to first-century Jerusalem with The Book of Clarence! Join us as we learn about Mary Magdalene, Barabbas, Biblical sick burns, and more! Sources: Martínez-Cruz, B., Mendizabal, I., Harmant, C. et al. Origins, admixture and founder lineages in European Roma. Eur J Hum Genet 24, 937–943 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2015.201 Gresham D, Morar B, Underhill PA, Passarino G, Lin AA, Wise C, Angelicheva D, Calafell F, Oefner PJ, Shen P, Tournev I, de Pablo R, Kuĉinskas V, Perez-Lezaun A, Marushiakova E, Popov V, Kalaydjieva L. Origins and divergence of the...
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Akira
Did That Really Happen?
It's a new year, so it's time for our New Year's tradition of taking a look at movies that tried to predict the future. This year, we're traveling to the year 2019 with Akira! Join us as we learn about the Tokyo Olympics, biker gangs, technical schools, riots, and more! Sources: 2020 Host City Election Announcement: https://www.olympics.com/ioc/2020-host-city-election Image of the Stadium: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1087204/olympic-stadium-for-tokyo-2020-completed' January 2019 image, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kokuritsu_Kasumigaoka_Rikujo_Kyogijo-23a.jpg...
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Frankenstein (2025)
Did That Really Happen?
This week we're traveling back to the 19th century with Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein! Join us as we learn about syphilis, big-ass blunderbusses, the Evelyn Tables, Arctic expeditions, and more! Sources: An account of divers schemes of arteries and veins, dissected from adult human bodies, and given to the repository of the Royal Society by John Evelyn, Esq; F. R. S. To which are subjoyn'd a description of the extremities of those vessels, and the manner the blood is seen, by the microscope, to pass from the arteries to the veins in quadrupeds when living: with some chirurgical...
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The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
Did That Really Happen?
This week we're traveling back to a full century of American history with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman! Join us as we learn about naming of enslaved people, "paddy rollers", Black communities in East Texas, and more! Sources: Sparks, Elmer E, and Celia Black. Interview with Celia Black, Tyler, Texas. Tyler, Texas, November , 10, 1974. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1975009_afs17476/. Sparks, Elmer E, and Charlie Smith. Interview with Charlie Smith, Bartow, Florida. Bartow, Florida, None , 3, 1975. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1975023_afs17510/. Jennifer Davis, "A Voice from the...
info_outlineNOTE: Due to a technical mishap, there are some issues with Jamie's audio quality in this episode. We apologize and promise the issue will be fixed in our next episode.
This week we're traveling back to the Middle Ages with Catherine Called Birdy! Join us as we talk about medieval birthing practices, book ownership, citrus, farts, why "butt trumpet" should become a widely used phrase, and more!
Sources:
Butt trumpet marginalia in the Rothschild Canticles, c. 1300, MS 404, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, https://www.flickr.com/photos/beinecke_library/4382703456/in/set-72157623494993704
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-is-a-butt-tuba-and-why-is-it-in-medieval-art-michelle-brown
"Foreign Names and Flatulence: Dodging Censorship in the Book Trade," Untold Lives blog 26 September 2016, https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2016/09/foreign-names-and-flatulence-dodging-censorship-in-the-book-trade.html
Hunter Oatman-Stanford, "Naughty Nuns, Flatulent Monks, and Other Surprises of Sacred Medieval Manuscripts," Collectors Weekly 24 July 2014, https://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/naughty-nuns-flatulent-monks-and-other-surprises-of-sacred-medieval-manuscripts/
Jody Enders, "The Farce of the Fart" in "The Farce of the Fart" and Other Ribaldries (University of Pennsylvania Press), https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fhctm.9
Anatoly Liberman, "Gone with the Wind: More Thoughts on Medieval Farting," Scandinavian Studies 68, no.1 (1996): 98-104. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40919835
Variety, "Lena Dunhamand the Cast of of 'Catherine Called Birdy' at TIFF 2022| Variety Studio" https://youtu.be/kJTzy63FA-4?si=9u4oC42ZsBvelUSx
People, "Catherine Called Birdy } People + Entertainment Weekly TIFF Studio 2022," https://youtu.be/6RDVfofW6NM?si=ZGPxIH7z4ZBNcZwZ
The Hollywood Reporter, "Bella Ramsey Praises Lena Dunham's Writing in Catherine Called Birdy," https://youtu.be/7JClNeIU7kI?si=YWXRkVbWyD781YjW
RT: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/catherine_called_birdy
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/catherine-called-birdy-bella-ramsey-interview-first-look-exclusive
Variety, https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/catherine-called-birdy-review-lena-dunham-1235366493/
https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/catherine-called-birdy-review-lena-dunham-b2172806.html
Lindsey Bahr, https://apnews.com/article/film-reviews-entertainment-mel-brooks-8b9cb0885592f58b34353cf2c39591bb
Tacuinum Sanitatis: Medieval Horticulture and Health - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Tropical-fruits-Vienna-2644-A-lemon-Citrus-limon-folio-19r-B-pomegranate_fig6_267278636 [accessed 20 Aug 2025]
"The history of Citrus in the Low Countries during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age, available at https://books.openedition.org/pcjb/2197
Wouter van der Meer"
Tudor History Q and A blog: https://queryblog.tudorhistory.org/2010/04/question-from-jacob-oranges-in-tudor.html?m=0
Susan Cavanaugh, "A Study of Books Privately Owned in England: 1300-1450," available at https://www.proquest.com/openview/cdf761684489fc60d4b2b93e0df09b04/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Isis Davis-Marks, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-study-shows-medieval-women-used-birthing-belts-180977207/
Andrew Curry, https://www.science.org/content/article/medieval-birthing-girdle-contains-delivery-fluid-milk-and-honey
https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2025/01/permission-to-practise-medicine.html
Karen Smith Adams, "From 'The Help of Grave and Modest Women' to 'The Care of Men of Sense': The Transition from Female Midwifery to Male Obstetrics in Early Modern England" MA Thesis, Portland State University (1988). https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4802&context=open_access_etds
Becky Lawton, "Call the Medieval Midwife," https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2018/03/call-the-medieval-midwife.html