Stuff You Missed in History Class

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.

Episodes

Holly talks about Mary Lease's racism, and the barriers to accessing the one biography that really examines it. Tracy traces the steps she took into the rabbit hole of Mary McLeod Bethune's birth and family story. 

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January 8, 2025 36 mins

Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, activist, and civil servant who dedicated her entire life to the pursuit of racial and gender equality. Her impressive legacy includes schools, legislation, and the formation of the Women's Army Corps.

Research: 

  • Architect of the Capitol. “Mary McLeod Bethune.” https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/mary-mcleod-bethune-statue
  • Bethune, Mary McLeod. “Dr. Bethune...
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January 6, 2025 35 mins

Mary Elizabeth Lease was a progressive political activist who fought big business, worked on behalf of the common man, and believed strongly in the importance of third parties in the U.S. political system. But there are also some really problematic parts of her story and ideology.

Research:

  • Barnes, Donna A. “Farmers’ Alliance.” Texas State Historical Association. Jan. 1 1995. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbo...
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This 2021 episode covers G.J. Griffith, who today is associated with the Los Angeles park and the observatory. But during his time, Griffith was associated with other things: real estate, social climbing, and a horrifying domestic abuse scandal.

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Holly and Tracy talk about sewing machines in their lives. Tracy talks about how she thought hangover research would be easy, but it turned out to be quite challenging. 

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January 1, 2025 42 mins

Humans probably started fermenting things on purpose by about 10,000 BCE. But when did they start discussing the aftereffects that come from drinking too much?

Research:

·       Beringer, Guy. “Brunch: a plea.” Harper's Weekly, 1895. https://archive.org/details/archive_charlyj_001

·       Bishop-Stall, Shaughnessy. “Hung Over: The Morning Af...

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A lot of sewing techniques being taught and used today came from the mind of one innovator: Helen Blanchard. She held 28 patents, most related to sewing, and she shaped the way the garment industry functioned.

Research:

  • “1854 – Walter Hunt’s Patent Model of a Sewing Machine.” Smithsonian. National Museum of American History. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1070410
  • “1873 - He...
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December 28, 2024 32 mins

This 2019 episode covers F.W. Murnau, most well known for directing the first vampire film. But the German-born creator went on to make a number of influential films before his early death.

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Tracy and Holly discuss the seasonal nature of pumpkin spice, and medicinal uses of nutmeg. They then talk about artificial versus real Christmas trees.

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December 25, 2024 37 mins

This episode looks at the early days of Christmas trees, the origin of glass ornaments, and the practice of mounting lit candles on trees before electric bulbs were invented. 

Research:

·     “36 Perish as Party Guests Stampede to Flee Flames.” The Minneapolis Star. Dec 25, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/178762039/ 

·     “Accident From a Chri...

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December 23, 2024 39 mins

Nutmeg is native to the Banda Islands in Indonesia. Once Europeans discovered nutmeg, they had an enormous - often violent - impact on the islands it was growing on.

Research:

  • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "nutmeg". Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Oct. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/nutmeg. Accessed 22 November 2024.
  • Esarey, Logan. “The Literary Spirit Among the Early Ohio Valley Settlers.” The Miss...
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December 21, 2024 46 mins

This 2020 episode covers the iconic figure of mysticism, Madame Blavatsky. She was the founder of the theosophical movement, and lived a life of adventure that's hard to believe.

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Holly talks about the many, many organizations that Joaquín Torres-García formed. Tracy discusses how there was no plan in place before the SL-1 accident to deal with radioactive bodies.

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December 18, 2024 43 mins

The Stationary Low-Power Plant Number 1 was a small boiling-water reactor built at the National Reactor Testing Station, west of Idaho Falls, Idaho. On January 3, 1961, during a restart of the reactor, a catastrophic tragedy unfolded when the reactor went supercritical. 

Research:

  • Divison of Technical Information Extension, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. “SL-1 The Accident, Phases I and II.” https://www.osti.g...
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December 16, 2024 33 mins

Joaquín Torres-García was Uruguayan-born artist who wanted to bring Constructivism and Modernism to Latin America, and worked for much of his life promoting the idea that Latin-American voices should be part of the Modernist art movement. 

Research:

·     Bollar, Gorki. “Primitive Paintings: Connections to Realism and Constructivism.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 1, 1984, pp....

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December 14, 2024 34 mins

This 2020 episode covers the sphere of plutonium-gallium alloy that the U.S. made for use in an atomic bomb during World War II known as the Demon Core was  It was the source of two fatal criticality accidents. 

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December 13, 2024 6 mins

Tracy relays how Sarah Winnemucca's story inspired this week's episodes, though they were recorded about a month apart, and also how Ely S. Parker is one of the most complicated figures she has ever written about. 

 

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December 11, 2024 43 mins

While working for the Treasury Department, Ely S. Parker met someone who would become a big part of much of the rest of his life – Ulysses S. Grant. It was through this connection that Parker gained a good deal of power, and cemented a controversial legacy.

Research:

·       Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Museum of the American Indian. Fall 2011.

...

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Ely S. Parker was instrumental in the creation of President President Ulysses S. Grant’s “peace policy." Parker was Seneca, and he was the first Indigenous person to be placed in a cabinet-level position in the U.S. and the first Indigenous person to serve as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Research:

·       Adams, James Ring. “The Many Careers of Ely Parker.” National Mu...

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December 7, 2024 37 mins

This 2020 episode covers scurvy, a deficiency in vitamin C. Its story goes way back in history – all the way to our evolutionary ancestors living more than 60 million years ago. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Tracy V. Wilson

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Holly Frey

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