Stuff You Missed in History Class

This 2019 episode covers Baron Franz Nopcsa, who lived an adventurous, scholarly life, funded entirely by his family money. He identified dinosaurs, inserted himself into Albanian politics, and wrote volumes and volumes of books and papers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly waxes rhapsodic about fruit. Tracy talks about planning an episode about William Henry Dorsey but then finding she needed to include his father. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thomas J. Dorsey liberated himself from enslavement and became one of the most sought-after caterers in Philadelphia. His son William Henry Dorsey was born a free Black man before the Civil War, and became an artist, collector and scrapbooker. Research: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This installment of eponymous food stories is entirely about fruits. We’ve got a berry, a pome, and a citrus, all with varying degrees of documentation. Research: Encyclopedia BritannicaEncyclopedia BritannicaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2019 episode covers Hatshepsut, who sent a huge expedition to Punt in the 15th century B.C.E. The expedition to Punt is also an important and illustrative part of Hatshepsut’s reign. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holly shares a theory on why Wanda Gág didn’t drink. There is also discussion of Gág’s medical issues and how they were handled by doctors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After struggling to raise her siblings and start an art career, Wanda Gág’s life changed almost instantly with the publication of her first children’s book. Part two of her story looks at how her books sustained her financially so she could also make the art she wanted. Research: Elementary EnglishJSTORSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an artist and writer Wanda Gág is well known for her children’s books. But this first of two parts about her life covers her own unusual childhood, which went from quirky fun to intense hardship when her father died. Research: Elementary EnglishJSTORSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2022 episode covers Theda Bara, often referenced as the first sex symbol. Photos of her are synonymous with the word vamp, and 100 years later, still have a certain mysterious appeal. But what was she really like? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy talks about how current events are causing disruptions in work on the podcast. She also discusses the way headlines often misrepresent alleged discoveries. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part two of the spring 2025 installment of Unearthed! features the potpourri category, plus drones/radar/lidar, books and letters, animals, edibles and potables, shipwrecks, swords (sort of) and cats. Research: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first part of our springtime edition of Unearthed! for 2025 features so many updates! There are also finds related to Egypt and artwork. Research: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2016 episode covers George Wallace, one of the most prominent voices against the Civil Rights Movement and its objectives. He spent multiple campaigns for both governor and president on an explicitly pro-segregation platform. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy shares how she went from concern that there wouldn't be enough research material for an episode to developing this week's topic into two. Both Tracy and Holly discuss their family connections to the war. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vandalism at draft board offices as U.S. involvement in Vietnam was escalating was deeply divisive. Opponents of the war were stereotyped as dirty hippies and sanctimonious white college kids, but the anti-Vietnam-war movement in the U.S. was really broad. Research: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The draft board raids were part of an antiwar movement, largely grounded in Catholic religious convictions, that spanned almost four years. Part one covers the basic context of the Vietnam War and why the U.S. was involved in the first place, and the earliest raids on draft boards. Research: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This 2017 episode covers Lucille Ball, the grande dame of American comedy. The famed star worked in modeling, radio and film, but she really made her mark in television, and her work set the standard for the TV sitcom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy and Holly talk about Dorothy Arzner's reluctance to talk about her past projects. Holly questions some of the statistics about strawberry consumption. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The story of how strawberries went from small forage item to one of the world’s most popular fruits – though they're technically not a true fruit – involves lots of crossbreeding experimentation, as you might expect, but also a bit of spy craft. Research: Encyclopedia BritannicaEncyclopedia BritannicaNew World Objects of Knowledge: A Cabinet of CuriositiesJSTOREncyclopedia BritannicaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dorothy Arzner wasn’t the first female film director in the U.S., but she was really the only one working in the studio system during most of the period that’s known as the Hollywood Golden Age. Her short career was still incredibly prolific. Research: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.