American Esoterica
American history, bite-sized. These are the stories that may have slipped through the cracks - the odd detours that have shaped our history and culture in small, but sometimes significant, ways.
Episodes
She was the inspiration for the Pinkerton Detective Agency's famous slogan, and all it took was stopping the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Meet the first female private detective in the United States, Kate Warne.
Once more, we play our dangerous game.
Our scientists determined that racism was stupid at least as far back as 1896. Here's the story of the test case that became the ultimate stain on the Supreme Court and the country.
When the baddest man in Madison County did a world of good.
This is a story of a tank. And the vehicle he drove.
WE FEEL THE NEED... Look, this is a self-indulgent mess of an episode that exists solely to talk about how cool planes are. You in, or not?
We learn about history in black and white terms, but the most pivotal moments emerge from the gray. Introducing Arrrbraham Lincoln, almost-pirate.
It could have been a day like any other...but it wasn't.
A pig, Robert's Rules of Order, Vancouver, and George Pickett. And the dumbest pseudo-war until the next one in this series.
There is still YET ANOTHER killing in Lafayette Square to discuss, but this story could've gone in a far worse direction. Come for the oddly pleasant death-dealing, stay for the host yelling at his dog for chewing on the studio acoustic panels.
Forget what you think you know about the deadliest fire in American history.
The real story that likely inspired a fake story, and it's way more heartbreaking. This one is a three-hankie episode.
We actually had genuine royalty in this country once, and no, I don't mean Beyoncé (or Queen Bey, as those of us who are true fans call her). And in New Jersey, of all places.
Remember that time that somebody almost assassinated JFK? Probably not.
A baker's dozen colonies? A regular dozen? Fourteen? Fifteen? Twenty-six? HOW MANY COLONIES WERE THERE?
Here's another round of lightning-fast-ish presidential trivia, from the devil to the Beast and everything in-between.
The tip of Lake Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg that spins out into a war between the states. Two states, that is.
THIS ONE'S GOT IT ALL, FOLKS - hucksters, country music, goat testicles, pirate radio, patent medicines, wire fraud, William Jennings Bryan...you name it! This is the bizarre story of how rural America fell in love with country music.
Meet Herman Hollerith - the founder of your digital world and archnemesis to The Count on Sesame Street.
We all know that THE story about George Washington isn't true, but what if what we've been wrong about all this time is that the story is KINDA true-ish?
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