Episodes

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  • How hard was it to steal the Mona Lisa? What does the word "ponzi" actually mean?

    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, 
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  • (Chronic health problems sometime require an encore performance of a past episode.)
    Hundreds dead, thousands homeless, entire communities wiped out, yet most of us have never heard of what happened in Rosewood 1923, Tulsa 1921, or Chicago 1919.
    Music by Kevin MacLeod  
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  • What do limestone, leather, plastic and mulberry tree bark have in common? They've all been used to make money, plus lots of other materials besides! Join me for a quick jaunt around the world and through history and we look at a fraction of the history of currency.
    Shirt raising money for Ukraine Red Cross
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, Steve Oxen
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  • Who was General Tsao of chicken fame? Where do Danish pastries come from? Is pad Thai actually Thai food? All that and more in this patron-voted episode!
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    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, 
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  • How did rubber ducks go from lumps of rubber that didn't even float to a cheerful childhood staple? Let's look at where they came from, where they're going, and why they keep showing up at violent political protests.
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    00:38 Bit of backstory
    07:13 Bert's best buddy
    10:25 Review, patrons, thanks!
    12:00 Ducks for charity or science
    17:58 Giant ducks, wild and domestic
    20:16 Can You Hear The Duckies Sing?
    22:45 THE Rubber Duck
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, 
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  • Finally, I get to the subtopic that launched not one but two episodes, the Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet, as well as the most interesting boring thing I could find and why science didn't get a handle on scurvy until nearly WWII.
    (Apologies in advance because I was red-lining my mic throughout and I have no idea why -- I'd been doing VO jobs all day with no such issue.)
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    01:03 Ye scurvy dog
    08:27 Gratitude et al
    11:30 The doldrums
    15:49 Livestream for the Cure
    17:46 The Gentleman Pirate, Stede Bonnet 
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, 
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  • What started as a need to tell the real story of "Gentleman Pirate" Stede Bonnet has turned into a myth vs history two-parter! I love when that happens. Hear about pirate pensions, the makeup of the mariners, and civil unions on the seven seas. Special thanks to Charlie and Jesse over the in Brainiac Breakroom for help with the title.
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    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt.
    Music: Kevin MacLeod, and Tabletop Audio
    Calm History Podcast
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  • It's the return of our occasional series, We Can't Have Nice Things. This week, we look at radio contest and promotions that went badly wrong, often at the draft stage. Free nude wedding anyone?
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     02:45 Radio Luxembourg's Ice Block Challenge
    06:02 Bait & switch
    10:12 Rules are rules
    17:36 Review and news
    20:40 No accounting for taste
    22:15 Library of Chaos
    27:27 Good, better, breast
    30:08 Playing matchmaker 
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, Bobby Richards .
     
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  • Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear leather jackets with chains, long hair, and lots of eyeliner! Today we look at three times heavy metal musicians said "We're not gonna take it" and defended the freedom of speech, but were they "Breaking the Law" and just "Howl(ing) at the Moon"?
    0:42 Twisted Sister vs Congress
    17:07 Reviews and news
    19:58 Ozzy Osbourne's Suicide Solution
    26:20 Judas Priest, Better Than You
    28:28 Subliminal back-masking
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    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
    Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 
    Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt.
    Music: Kevin MacLeod,
     
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  • People used to say "If you believe that, I have some swampland in Florida to sell you," but they really should have said, "I have some lovely acres in the Republic of Poyais you can buy, but you have to act now!" Presenting one of my favorite con artists ever, the man who declared himself prince of a South American country that didn't exist, Gregor MacGregor (yes, that's really his name).
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt.
    Music: Kevin MacLeod, 
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    Remember back in episode 155, Hate to Burst your Bubble, we talked about, among other things, the Florida real estate boom and bust of the 1920s? It’s where we get the phrase, “if you believe that, I have some real estate in Florida to sell you.” 100 years before that, we could have been saying, “I have some acreage in Poyais to sell you.” Never been to Poyais? Trust me, it’s amazing. The weather is always perfect, sunny and warm. Located along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras, the soil of Poyais is so fertile, you can get three harvests of corn a year. The trees are heavy with fruit and the forests teem with entrees in the form of game animals. If you look into the rivers, you’ll not only see water cleaner and more pure than you’ve ever seen in your life and more fish than you could hope to catch, but in the river bed, the sparkle of gold fills your eyes, not from flecks and dust, but nuggets as big as walnuts, just laying there, waiting for you to scoop them up. The only thing missing is settlers to develop and leverage its resources to the fullest. Wanna get your share? Better hurry; hundreds of people are investing all their savings in a piece of the perfect Poyais. All you have to do is [] to the Cazique or prince. Who is the prince of this equatorial new world paradise? A Scotsman named Gregor MacGregor.  
     
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  • (Get Surfshark VPN at https://surfshark.deals/MOXIE - Enter promo code MOXIE for 83% off and 3 extra months free!)

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    There are four Sundays a month, but more than a dozen days we call "Black Sunday." Here are three -- two forces of nature and one parade of schadenfreude.
    02:42 Black Blizzard
    12:45 Bondi Beach
    24:42 Disneyland
    Quote reader: Vlado from It's Not Rocket Surgery
    Promo: Remnant Stew
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Dan Lebowitz, Kevin MacLeod, 
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  • Who you gonna believe -- me or your lying eyes? Today we look at court cases where people try to avoid taxes by arguing that things aren't the things that they clearly are.
    00:50 Tomato
    08:18 Jaffa Cakes
    17:48 Hydrox vs Oreo
    37:40 X-Men
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
    Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs. 
    Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 
    Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt.
    Music: Kevin MacLeod, 
    Want to start a podcast or need a better podcast host? Get up to TWO months hosting for free from Libsyn with coupon code "moxie."
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  • Our Patrons have a nose for good topics, so today we 
    07:04 Smells and space 
    14:40 Ham-sniffer
    21:17 It's the pits
    30:48 Aromatherapy
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, and The Mini Vandals.

     Sources:
    https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/premium-iberian-ham-sniffers-are-tired-from-sniffing-so-much-ham
    https://www.rd.com/article/outer-space-smell/
    https://www.gentside.co.uk/food/spains-ham-sniffers-prepare-for-a-hectic-season-sniffing-800-hams-daily_art8817.html
    https://www.rd.com/article/outer-space-smell/
    https://www.rd.com/list/foods-banned-space/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EBdhpSh7_I&ab_channel=Mashable
    https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/chemical_terrorism/cyanide_tech.htm
    https://science.howstuffworks.com/nasas-sniffer-job.htm
    https://theconversation.com/six-curious-facts-about-smell-128533
    https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-associate-memories-so-strongly-with-specific-smells-5203963
    https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/smell-disorders
    https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-does-food-taste-bad-on-airplanes.html
    https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/sfa/aac/silver-snoopy-award
    https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/smell-disorders#2
    https://theplaidzebra.com/odour-tester-chocolate-taster-strange-careers-diverge-traditional-9-5/
    https://www.communitynews.org/princetoninfo/coverstories/this-job-stinks-from-one-who-knows/article_66ce8eb0-7066-51be-8081-be9bcc24c8be.html
    https://www.statista.com/topics/5174/essential-oils/
    https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-associate-memories-so-strongly-with-specific-smells-5203963
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-smelling-test-the-genetics-of-olfaction-2192370.html
    https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/blog/essential-oils-cats/
    https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/aromatherapy/faq-20058566
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  • Why did no one tell me about Moms Mabley?!! Hear about her and other 'living loud and proud' ladies (Dorothy Parker, Mae West, Tallulah Bankhead) on this International Women's Day.
    01:00 Tallulah Bankhead
    13:00 Mae West
    23:00 Moms Mabley
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
    Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs. 
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    Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesilyan, Dan Henig. and/or Chris Haugen.

    Sources:
    https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/204532%7C103917/Mae-West/#biography
    https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mae-West
    https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52283/13-things-you-might-not-know-about-mae-west
    http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/04/this-day-in-history-mae-west-is-sentenced-to-10-days-in-prison-for-writing-directing-and-performing-in-the-broadway-play-sex/
    https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tallulah-Bankhead
    https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/05/real-cruella-de-vil-tallulah-bankhead
    https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/09/theater/theater-the-pain-behind-the-laughter-of-moms-mabley.html
    https://dorothyparker.com/gallery/biography
    https://bookshop.org/books/your-brain-on-facts-things-you-didn-t-know-things-you-thought-you-knew-and-things-you-never-knew-you-never-knew-trivia-quizzes-fun-fa/9781642502534?aid=14459&listref=books-based-on-podcasts
    https://www.mamamia.com.au/tallulah-bankhead-cruella/
     
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  • Voted on by our Patreon, we dive into the deadly side of sculpture, painting, ballet and more!
    01:36 Blucifer
    04:00 Get the lead out
    10:00 Ballet blazes
    20:45 Death by a thousand face
    26:43 The Conqueror and the conquered
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
    Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs. 
    Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 
    Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt.
    Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesilyan, Dan Henig. and/or Chris Haugen.

    Sources:
    https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/the-ballet-girls-who-burned-to-death/71244/
    https://www.racked.com/2017/12/19/16710276/burning-dresses-history
    https://www.oddee.com/item_99203.aspx
    https://bookshop.org/books/your-brain-on-facts-things-you-didn-t-know-things-you-thought-you-knew-and-things-you-never-knew-you-never-knew-trivia-quizzes-fun-fa/9781642502534
    https://www.armco.org.uk/asbestos-survey-news/asbestos-was-used-as-fake-snow-in-many-old-hollywood-movies/
    https://www.grunge.com/267772/the-amazing-life-and-tragic-death-of-lon-chaney/
    https://www.dogfordstudios.com/killer-art-art-that-has-actually-killed-people/
    https://news.artnet.com/art-world/7-deadly-art-materials-to-watch-out-for-1081526
    https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/11/how-important-is-lead-poisoning-to-becoming-a-legendary-artist/281734/
    https://noahchemicals.com/blog/the-toxic-histories-of-five-famous-pigments/
    https://www.dogfordstudios.com/killer-art-art-that-has-actually-killed-people/
    https://owlcation.com/stem/Cinnabar-A-Beautiful-But-Toxic-Mineral-Ore-and-Pigment
    https://www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org/newsroom/blogs/its-snowing-asbestos-the-haunting-truth-about-the-white-christmas-killer-set-and-continued-imports-and-use/
    https://www.cpr.org/2019/11/04/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-blucifer-the-demon-horse-of-dia
    https://www.burlington-record.com/2021/06/11/blucifer-just-turned-13-but-the-family-of-the-artist-who-died-creating-it-would-prefer-you-dont-call-it-that/
    https://www.livescience.com/64224-sculptor-unknowingly-poisons-herself-with-her-own-art.html
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  • Necessity is the mother of invention and these inventions had real mothers! Hear about Black female inventors, the tribulations of research, and a story I didn't expect to find and couldn't pass up.
    01:00 L'histoire 
    06:36 Martha Jones's corn husker
    07:55 Mary Jones de Leon's cooking apparatus
    08:56 Judy Reed's dough kneader-roller
    10:30 Sarah Goode's folding bed-desk
    11:40 Sarah Boon's ironing board
    17:15 Lyda Newman's hairbrush
    19:33 Madam CJ Walker's Wonderful Hair-grower
    22:03 Biddy Mason
    Links to all the research resources are on the website.
    Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs. 
    Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. 
    Become a patron of the podcast arts! Patreon or Ko-Fi. Or buy the book and a shirt.
    Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesilyan, Dan Henig. and/or Chris Haugen.
    Sources:
    https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mason-bridget-biddy-1818-1891/
    https://la.curbed.com/2017/3/1/14756308/biddy-mason-california-black-history
    https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/biddy-mason-memorial-park
    https://alliesforracialjustice.org/shark-tank-in-the-1800s-black-women-reigned-in-household-inventions/
    https://interestingengineering.com/black-inventors-the-complete-list-of-genius-black-american-african-american-inventors-scientists-and-engineers-with-their-revolutionary-inventions-that-changed-the-world-and-impacted-history-part-two
    https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2021/02/08/revolutionizing-cooking-mary-jones-de-leon/id=129701/
    https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/lyda-newman
    https://interestingengineering.com/black-inventors-the-complete-list-of-genius-black-american-african-american-inventors-scientists-and-engineers-with-their-revolutionary-inventions-that-changed-the-world-and-impacted-history-part-two
    https://laist.com/news/la-history/biddy-mason-free-forever-the-contentious-hearing-that-made-her-a-legend-los-angeles-black-history
     
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