Stuff You Missed in History Class

The first installment of the deeper examination of Charles Sumner's life begins with his early years, including his close relationships with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Samuel Gridley Howe.

Research:

• "Sumner, Charles (1811-1874)." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A148425674/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=95485851. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
• “Roberts v. City of Boston, 5 Cush. 198, 59 Mass. 198 (1849).” Caselaw Access Project. Harvard Law School. https://case.law/caselaw/?reporter=mass&volume=59&case=0198-01
• “The Prayer of One Hundred Thousands.” https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/PrayerofOneHundredThousand.pdf
• Alexander, Edward. “The Caning of Charles Sumner.” Battlefields.org. 3/6/2024. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/caning-charles-sumner
• Beecher, Henry Ward. “Charles Sumner.” Advocate of Peace (1847-1884) , MAY, 1874. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27905613
• Berry, Stephen and James Hill Welborn III. “The Cane of His Existence Depression, Damage, and the Brooks–Sumner Affair.” Southern Cultures , Vol. 20, No. 4 (WINTER 2014). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26217562
• Boston African American National Historic Site. “Abiel Smith School.” https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/abiel-smith-school.htm
• Boston African American National Historic Site. “The Sarah Roberts Case.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-sarah-roberts-case.htm
• Child, Lydia Maria. “Letters of Lydia Maria Child.” Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 1883. https://archive.org/details/lettersoflydiam00chil
• Commonwealth Museum. “Roberts v. The City of Boston, 1849.” https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/commonwealth-museum/exhibits/online/freedoms-agenda/freedoms-agenda-8.htm
• Frasure, Carl M. “Charles Sumner and the Rights of the Negro.” The Journal of Negro History , Apr., 1928, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr., 1928). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2713959
• Gershon, Livia. “Political Divisions Led to Violence in the US Senate in 1856.” JSTOR Daily. 1/7/2021. https://daily.jstor.org/violence-in-the-senate-in-1856/
• History, Art and Archives. “South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks’s Attack on Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts.” U.S. House of Representatives. https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/South-Carolina-Representative-Preston-Brooks-s-attack-on-Senator-Charles-Sumner-of-Massachusetts/
• Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site. “An Era of Romantic Friendships: Sumner, Longfellow, and Howe.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/an-era-of-romantic-friendships-sumner-longfellow-and-howe.htm
• Lyndsay Campbell; The “Abolition Riot” Redux: Voices, Processes. The New England Quarterly 2021; 94 (1): 7–46. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/tneq_a_00877
• Mahr, Michael. “Sumner vs. Cane.” National Museum of Civil War Medicine. 5/24/2023. https://www.civilwarmed.org/sumner-vs-cane/
• Meriwether, Robert L. “Preston S. Brooks on the Caning of Charles Sumner.” The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine , Jan., 1951, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Jan., 1951). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27571254
• Mount Auburn Cemetery. “Charles Sumner (1811-1874): U.S. Senator, Abolitionist, & Orator.” https://mountauburn.org/notable-residents/charles-sumner-1811-1874/
• National Park Service. “Charles Sumner and Romantic Friendships.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/charles-sumner-and-romantic-friendships.htm
• Potenza, Bob. “Charles Sumner.” West End Museum. https://thewestendmuseum.org/history/era/west-boston/charles-sumner/
• Ruchames, Louis. “Charles Sumner and American Historiography.” The Journal of Negro History , Apr., 1953, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Apr., 1953). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2715536
• Senate Historical Office. “Senate Stories | Charles Sumner: After the Caning.” United States Senate. 5/4/2020. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/senate-stories/charles-sumner-after-the-caning.htm
• Sinha, Manisha. “The Caning of Charles Sumner: Slavery, Race, and Ideology in the Age of the Civil War.” Journal of the Early Republic , Summer, 2003, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Summer, 2003). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3125037
• Sumner, Charles. “Barbarism of Slavery.” 6/4/1860. https://dotcw.com/documents/barbarism_of_slavery.htm
• Sumner, Charles. “Freedom National; Slavery Sectional.” 8/26/1852. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Freedom_National;_Slavery_Sectional
• Sumner, Charles. “The equal rights of all.” Washington, Printed at the Congressional globe office. 1866. https://archive.org/details/equalrightsofall00sumn
• Tameez, Zaakir. “Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation.” Henry Holt and Co. 2025.
• United States Senate. "The Crime Against Kansas.” https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Crime_Against_Kansas.htm
• United States Senate. “REPORT.” 5/28/1856. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/SumnerInvestigation1856.pdf
• United States Senate. “The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner.” https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm
• Various, “Southern Newspapers Praise the Attack on Charles Sumner,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed October 31, 2025, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1548.

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This 2019 episode covers Thomas Cook, a pioneer of the idea of a travel agency to manage tourist holidays. But Cook was initially motivated by his support of the temperance movement and his deeply held religious beliefs. 

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Tracy and Holly talk about the proclivity for destruction that was part of the balloon craze. They also discuss cat trees and how hard it is to find one that's cute. 

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Cat litter, it could be argued, kicked off the pet products industry. After its invention in the 1940s, other inventors started to come up with products that today are standard in the homes of people with pets.

Research:

• Caminiti, Kasey. “Inside the Secret Lives of Pets With Allen Simon.” DuJour. https://dujour.com/life/allen-simon-founder-wee-wee-pad-pet-products/
• “Clays.” U.S. Geological Survey. https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025-clays.pdf
• Crow, Frank. L. “Cat Tree.” Nov. 25, 1969. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/65/fa/30/1290601d5476ab/US3479990.pdf
• Edward Lowe Foundation. https://edwardlowe.org/
• Gross, Daniel A. “How Kitty Litter went from happy accident to $2 billion industry.” Washington Post. Feb. 2, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/you-wont-believe-how-old-that-kitty-litter-is/2015/02/02/9ecac9ea-a1b4-11e4-903f-9f2faf7cd9fe_story.html
• Holding, Ray. “Cassopolis Man Valet for 10,000 Cats.” The Kalamazoo Gazette. Sept. 4, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1145480706/?match=1&terms=Ed%20Lowe%20Kitty%20Litter
• “Kitty Litter.” (ad) The Ann Arbor News. Feb. 16, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1178883937/?match=1&terms=Ed%20Lowe%20Kitty%20Litter
• “Kitty Litter Maker Selling Operations.” The New York Times. Sept. 13, 1990. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/13/business/company-news-kitty-litter-maker-selling-operations.html
• “New Boon for Cat Owners.” Delaware County Daily Times. Nov. 16, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/image/53207968/?match=1&terms=Ed%20Lowe%20Kitty%20Litter
• “PetProducts.com | CEO Allen Simon & Kevin Yamano, VP Business Development | Innovators.” LilaMax Media. April 23, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsHhyEcz-pQ
• Simon, Allen. “Allen Simon.” LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-simon-592115111/
• Simon, Allen. “Dog Toy.” U.S. Patent Office. Dec. 16, 2008. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/40/31/65/61af50ca84b654/USD583113.pdf
• Simon, Allen. “Scoop for Cat Littler.” U.S. Patent Office. Jan. 19, 1993. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/c2/f4/01/b378f00dd92e8c/USD332675.pdf
• Simon, Allen. “Bristled Grooming Glove.” U.S. Patent Office. Jan. 28, 2014. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b6/83/22/143c9b9392d608/USD698159.pdf
• Thomas, Robert Mcg., Jr. “Edward Lowe Dies at 75; a Hunch Led Him to Create Kitty Litter.” New York Times. Oct. 6, 1995. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/06/us/edward-lowe-dies-at-75-a-hunch-led-him-to-create-kitty-litter.html
• United Press International. “Ed Lowe Owes His Fortune to Kitty Litter.” L.A. Times Archive. June 16, 1985. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-06-16-sp-2907-story.html
• “U.S. pet ownership statistics.” American Veterinary Medical Association. 2024. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/reports-statistics/us-pet-ownership-statistics

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Ballooning became a huge fad starting in the late 18th century, and there was a surprising amount of rioting associated with it. Fervor, excitement, and intoxication in some instances, meant that balloon events were prone to get out of control.

Research:

• Bond, Elizabeth Andrews. “Popular Science and Public Participation.” From The Writing Public: Participatory Knowledge Production in Enlightenment and Revolutionary France. Cornell University Press. 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv310vktg.8
• Branson, Susan. “Scientific Americans.” Cornell University Press, 2022. Cornell University Press, 2022.
• Coxwell, Henry Tracey. “My Life and Balloon Experiences.” W.H. Allen. 1889. https://archive.org/details/mylifeandballoo02coxwgoog/
• Daily National Intelligencer. “The Balloon, and Conflagration of Vauxhall.” 9/14/1819. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83026172/1819-09-14/ed-1/?sp=2&q=vauxhall&r=0.48,-0.027,0.621,0.225,0
• Franklin, Benjamin. “Benjamin Franklin to Ingenhousz, 16 January 1784.” https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-41-02-0310#BNFN-01-41-02-0310-fn-0005
• “Hot-Air Balloon: Jean-François Janinet (1752–1814).” https://www.getty.edu/publications/artists-things/things/hot-air-balloon/#fnref8
• Gillespie, Richard. “Ballooning in France and Britain, 1783-1786: Aerostation and Adventurism.” Isis, Vol. 75, No. 2 (June, 1984). https://www.jstor.org/stable/231824
• Glaisher, James. “Travels in the Air.” R. Bentley. 1871. https://archive.org/details/ldpd_7245144_000
• Holman, Brett. “The Melbourne balloon riot of 1858.” Airminded. 3/23/2017. https://airminded.org/2017/03/23/the-melbourne-balloon-riot-of-1858/
• Jackson, Joseph. “Vauxhall Garden.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. LVII. No. 4. 1933.
• Keen, Paul. “The ‘Balloonomania’: Science and Spectacle in 1780s England.” Eighteenth-Century Studies , Summer, 2006, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Summer, 2006). https://www.jstor.org/stable/30053707
• Magazine Monitor. “Victorian Strangeness: The great balloon riot of 1864.” BBC. 8/9/2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-28674654
• Robbins, John. “Up in the Air: Balloonomania and Scientific Performance.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 48, No. 4, Special Issue: Performance. Summer 2015. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24690309
• Robson, David. “The Victorians who flew as high as jumbo jets.” BBC. 4/20/2016. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160419-the-victorians-who-flew-as-high-as-jets
• Smith, Zoe. “Disaster at 37,000 feet.” University of Cambridge. https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/balloon-disaster
• Soth, Amelia. “Hot Air Balloon Launch Riot!” JSTOR Daily. 2/3/2022. https://daily.jstor.org/hot-air-balloon-launch-riot/
• Sparrow, Jeff. “Wrath and awe: a short history of balloons and their power to fire up mob fury.” The Guardian. 2/14/2023. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/15/wrath-and-awe-a-short-history-of-balloons-and-their-power-to-fire-up-mob-fury
• Sydney Morning Herald. “The Balloon Riot in the Domain: Death of Thomas Downs.” 12/19/1856. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12990254
• Sydney Morning Herald. “The Sydney Balloon.” Trove. 12/16/1856. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12990120
• The Rhode-Island American. “Riotous Proceedigns.” 9/14/1819. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83025442/1819-09-14/ed-1/?sp=3&q=vauxhall&r=-0.14,1.265,0.686,0.248,0
• Tucker, Jennifer. “Voyages of Discovery on Oceans of Air: Scientific Observation and the Image of Science in an Age of ‘Balloonacy.’” Osiris, 1996, Vol. 11, Science in the Field (1996). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/301930
• Wroth, Warwick. “Cremorne and the Later London Gardens.” London. Elliot Stock. 1907.

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This 2018 episode covers the period in the late 1820s when north Georgia became the site of a gold rush that predated the California gold rush by two decades. It's also tied to some of the darkest parts of U.S. history regarding the treatment of Native Americans.  

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Tracy shares the surprising benefit of not having access to a lot of specifics regarding the work of Mary Golda Ross. Holly talks about Marjorie Merriwether Post being a serial monogamist.

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Marjorie Merriweather Post is most often mentioned today as the person who built Mar-a-Lago. But she was a unique figure as a woman who helmed a huge corporation when she was still in her 20s in the early 20th century.

Research:

• Britannica Editors. "C.W. Post". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/C-W-Post
• “C.W. Post a Suicide in California Home.” New York Times. May 10, 1914. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/05/10/100089022.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
• “The Diplomatic Legacy of Marjorie Merriweather Post.” National Museum of American Diplomacy. April 8, 2021. https://diplomacy.state.gov/stories/the-diplomatic-legacy-of-marjorie-merriweather-post/
• Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. https://hillwoodmuseum.org/
• “Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post Is Dead at 86.” New York Times. Sept. 13, 1973.
• Gruson, Kerry. “Post Home for Sale for $20 Million.” New York Times. July 16, 1981. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/07/16/195929.html?pageNumber=59
• Martin, Roland. "Marjorie Merriweather Post". Encyclopedia Britannica, 8 Sep. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marjorie-Merriweather-Post
• Merolle, Guilhem. “Marjorie Merriweather Post’s most famous jewels.” Collectissim. Dec. 15, 2024. https://www.collectissim.com/en/marjorie-merriweather-post-most-famous-jewels/
• Reid, Jan. “C.W. Post.” Texas Monthly. March 1987. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/c-w-post/
• Stuart, Nancy Rubin. “American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Meriweather Post.” Villard. 1995.
• Stuart, Nancy Rubin. “Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Philanthropic Heiress Who Built Mar-a-Lago.” Saturday Evening Post. November 14, 2023. https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/11/marjorie-merriweather-post-the-philanthropic-heiress-who-built-mar-a-lago/

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Mary Golda Ross was the first Indigenous woman in the U.S. known to have become an engineer. Her impact on the field of aerospace engineering is hard to quantify, because much of her work is still classified.

Research:

• Agnew, Brad. “Cherokee engineer a space exploration pioneer.” Tahlequah Daily Press. 3/27/2016. https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/golda-ross-left-teaching-to-support-war-effort/article_c500cbc4-eeba-11e5-9b57-2b127651fcb5.html
• Agnew, Brad. “Golda’ Ross left teaching to support war effort.” Tahlequah Daily Press. 3/20/2016. https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/golda-ross-left-teaching-to-support-war-effort/article_c500cbc4-eeba-11e5-9b57-2b127651fcb5.html
• Brewer, Graham Lee. “Rocket Woman.” Oklahoma Today. July/August 2018.
• Cochran, Wendell. “Cherokee Tear Dress Facts.” The People’s Paths. https://www.thepeoplespaths.net/Cherokee/WendellCochran/WCochran0102TearDressFacts.htm
• Hogner-Weavel, Tonia. “History of the Cherokee Tear Dress.” Cherokee Nation. Via YouTube. 9/15/2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90V5fM0DiMk
• Lake, Timothy. "Mary Golda Ross". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Golda-Ross. Accessed 21 October 2025.
• Margolis, Emily. A. “Mary Golda Ross: Aerospace Engineer, Educator, and Advocate.” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/mary-g-ross-aerospace-engineer
• Museum of Native American History. “Historic Trailblazer: Mary Golda Ross.” Via YouTube. 12/17/2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzC14hGbPug
• National Park Service. “Mary G. Ross.” https://www.nps.gov/people/mary-g-ross.htm
• New Mexico Museum of Space History. “Mary Golda Ross: First Native American Aerospace Engineer.” Via YouTube. 3/31/2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT9r5trwZEs
• Oklahoma Hall of Fame. “Mary Golda Ross Induction Ceremony Video.” 11/22/2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bovabx6ITW4
• Rosengren, Paul Lief. “Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars.” IEEE-USA and Paul Lief Rosengren. 2025.
• Schroeder, Mildred. “A Far-out Cherokee Chick.” San Francisco Examiner. 4/16/1961.
• Smith, Betty. “Pure Cherokee Gold.” Tahlequah Daily Press. 6/26/2008. https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/archives/pure-cherokee-gold/article_44c0a25a-94e2-53d8-b80c-be1ff86305e7.html
• Viola, Herman. “Mary Golda Ross: She Reached for the Stars.” American Indian: Magazine of Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. Vol. 19, No. 4. Winter 2018. https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/mary-golda-ross-she-reached-stars
• Wallace, Rob. “Mary Golda Ross and the Skunk Works.” National World War II Museum. 11/19/2021. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/mary-golda-ross-and-skunk-works
• Watts, Jennifer. “John Ross: Principal Chief of the Cherokee People.” Tennessee State Museum. https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/john-ross-principal-chief-of-the-cherokee-people
• Yang, John. “The cutting-edge work of Native American aerospace engineer Mary Golda Ross.” 11/26/2023. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-cutting-edge-work-of-native-american-aerospace-engineer-mary-golda-ross
• Zhorov, Irina. “Years Later, Miss Indian America Pageant Winners Reuniteg.” NPR Code Switch. 7/12/2013. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/07/12/201537264/Years-Later-Miss-Indian-America-Pageant-Winners-Reunite

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This 2019 episode covers Alexandre Dumas, who wrote hundreds and hundreds of works, including “The Three Musketeers,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,”  and even a dictionary of cuisine.

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Tracy discusses the challenge of parsing all the nuance of the French Revolution. Holly talks about how little Clarence Birdseye shared of his interior thoughts.

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Before Clarence Birdseye, frozen food was perceived as being low-quality and kind of gross. But after spending time in extremely cold climates, Birdseye figured out that speed freezing was the key to retaining freshness.

Research:

• “$1,900,000 Fraud Attempt Alleged in Insurance Deal.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 2, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/138253870/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22
• “Alleged Clean-up of $1,900,000 in Two Days.” The Bennington Evening Banner. May 2, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/546110078/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22
• Birdseye, C. “Animal Food Product.” U.S. Patent Office. Aug. 12, 1930. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ff/f3/e3/ea3d0a5d1b6b7a/US1773080.pdf
• Birdseye, C. “METHOD OF PRESERVING PISCATORIAL PRODUCTS.” U.S. Patent Office. April 18, 1924. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b7/d9/5a/aeb7fae023f47e/US1511824.pdf
• Birdseye, Clarence, 1886-1956. Some Common Mammals of Western Montana in Relation to Agriculture and Spotted Fever, pamphlet, 1912; Washington D.C.. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc87555/
• Britannica Editors. "Clarence Birdseye". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Clarence-Birdseye
• “Celebrating American Innovation: Clarence Birdseye.” Council for Innovation Promotion. Sept. 14, 2023. https://c4ip.org/celebrating-american-innovation-clarence-birdseye/
• “Clarence Birdseye.” Lemelson-MIT. https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/clarence-birdseye
• “Clarence Birdseye Is Dead at 69; Inventor of Frozen-Food Process; Developed Method for Quick Freezing and Also Devised System for Dehydrating.” New York Times. Oct. 9, 1956. https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/09/archives/clarence-birdseye-is-dead-at-69-inventor-of-frozenfood-process.html
• “Frozen Food Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Frozen Ready Meals, Frozen Seafood & Meat Products, Frozen Snacks & Bakery Products, and Others), Distribution Channel (Supermarkets/Hypermarkets, Specialty Stores, Convenience Stores, and Online Retail), and Regional Forecast, 2025-2032.” Fortune Business Insights. Oct. 6, 2025. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/frozen-food-market-10413
• “How Did Clarence Birdseye Shape the American Diet?” National Inventors Hall of Fame. Nov. 28, 2022. https://www.invent.org/blog/inventors/clarence-birdseye
• Kile, O.M. “Food That Is Fresh Though Frozen: New Preserving Process Aims to Maintain Cell Structure.” The Baltimore Sun. Nov. 10, 1929. https://www.newspapers.com/image/373627550/?match=1&terms=%22quick-frozen%22%20
• Kurlansky, Mark. “Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man.” Thorndike Press. 2012.
• “Reinsurance for Policyholders in Defunct Concerns.” New-York Tribune. Nov. 11, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/894239796/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22
• “Supervisory Methods Lax.” The Kansas workman. Nov. 1, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/480092568/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22
• “Who invented frozen food?” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/technology/item/who-invented-frozen-food/

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The Great Fear was a panic during the French Revolution that spread through rural areas. It all started with a conspiracy theory.

Research:

• Davies, Alun. “The Origins of the French Peasant Revolution of 1789.” History, 1964, Vol. 49, No. 165 (1964). https://www.jstor.org/stable/24404527
• Elster, Jon. “The Two Great Fears of 1789.” Prepared for the Conference on “Emotions and Civil War”, Collège de France June 10-11 2010. https://www.college-de-france.fr/media/jon-elster/UPL13205_LePillouerThe_two_great_fears_of_1789.pdf
• Hill, Henry Bertram. “An Aftermath of the Great Fear.” The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Dec. 1950). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1875896
• Kasal, Krystal. “Mapping out France's 'Great Fear of 1789' shows how misinformation spreads like a virus.” Phys.org. 8/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-france-great-misinformation-virus.html
• Lefebvre, Georges. “The Great Fear of 1789; rural panic in revolutionary France.” Joan White, translator. Pantheon Books. 1973.
• Lenharo, Mariana. “An abiding mystery of the French Revolution is solved — by epidemiology.” Nature. 8/27/2025. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02739-9
• Mark, Harrison W. “Great Fear.” World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Great_Fear/
• Markoff, John. “Contexts and Forms of Rural Revolt: France in 1789.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution , Jun., 1986, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Jun., 1986), pp. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/174254
• Pelz, William A. “The Rise of the Third Estate: The French People Revolt.” From A People's History of Modern Europe. Pluto Press. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1c2crfj.8
• Tackett, Timothy. “Conspiracy Obsession in a Time of Revolution: French Elites and the Origins of the Terror, 1789-1792.” The American Historical Review , Jun., 2000, Vol. 105, No. 3. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2651806
• Zapperi, Stefano et al. “Epidemiology models explain rumour spreading during France’s Great Fear of 1789.” Nature. 8/27/2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09392-2

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This 2019 episode is about general Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, who sounds like a character out of one of his son’s books. His life was a series of dramatic and daring adventures, including his rise up through the ranks of the French military.

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Holly talks about the unsubstantiated stories associated with the Villa de Vecchi in northern Italy. Tracy talks about getting angry about a passage she read in Wednesday's show. 

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In late 1803, accounts of ghost sightings began to circulate in Hammersmith, England. This led to a tragic event, and a legal case that revealed some limitations in existing English law. 

Research:

• “The case of the murdered ghost.” BBC News. January 3, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3364467.stm
• “Fears of a Ghost and the Fatal Catastrophe.” The Morning Chronicle. Jan 5, 1804. https://www.newspapers.com/image/394016127/?match=1&terms=Francis%20Smith
• Feikert-Ahalt, Clare. “The Case of a Ghost Haunted England for Over Two Hundred Years.” Library of Congress Blog. In Custodia Legis. Law Librarians of Congress. Oct. 30, 2015. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/10/the-case-of-a-ghost-haunted-england-for-over-two-hundred-years/
• Castle, Terry. “Phantasmagoria: Spectral Technology and the Metaphorics of Modern Reverie.” Critical Inquiry. Autumn, 1988, Vol. 15, No. 1.pp. 26-61. The University of Chicago Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1343603
• “FRANCIS SMITH. Killing; murder. 11th January 1804..” Proceedings of the Old Bailey.
• “The Hammersmith Ghost: London’s Paranormal Murder.” Discovery UK. Jan. 7, 2025. https://www.discoveryuk.com/mysteries/the-hammersmith-ghost-londons-paranormal-murder/
• “The Hammersmith Ghost.” Cambridge Chronicle and Journal. Jan. 14, 2804. https://www.newspapers.com/image/975790052/?match=1&terms=Hammersmith%20ghost
• Kirby, R.S. “Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum: Or, Magazine of Remarkable Characters, Volume 2.” 1804. https://books.google.com/books?id=ggMhkDz-33EC&source=gbs_navlinks_s
• Medland, W.M. and Charles Weobly. “A Collection of Remarkable and Interesting Criminal Trials, Actions at Law, &c: To which is Prefixed, an Essay on Reprieve and Pardon, and Biographical Sketches of John Lord Eldon, and Mr. Mingay, Volume 2.” Badcock. January 1804. Accessed online: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=c5YuAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-c5YuAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1
• Mitchell, Edwin Valentine, ed. “The Newgate calendar :
  comprising interesting memoirs of the most notorious characters who have been convicted of outrages on the laws of England.” Garden City Pub. Co. 1926. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006759756
• “Murder – Hammersmith Ghost.” The Bury and Norwich Post. Jan. 18, 1804. https://www.newspapers.com/image/394552157/?match=1&terms=Hammersmith%20ghost
• “The Reath Hammersmith Ghost.: The Bath Journal. Jan. 16, 1804. https://www.newspapers.com/image/975620428/?match=1&terms=Hammersmith%20ghost
• “Regine v. Gladstone Williams.” Transcript of the Shorthand Notes of Marten Walsh Cherer Ltd., 36-38 Whitefriers Street,
  Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8BH. Telephone Number: 01-583 7635, Shorthand Writers to the Court. https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Crim/1983/4.html

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Today’s topic is an abandoned mansion, but it was once a gorgeous and luxurious home designed for a prominent citizen of northern Italy. It’s often described as haunted and as having a dark history, but there are some interesting contradictions regarding that story.

Research:

• “Caravan Journal, the rediscovered manuscript. The Orient through the eyes of a forgotten Milanese patriot: Felice De Vecchi.” Arte.IT: The Map of Art in Italy. https://www.arte.it/calendario-arte/milano/mostra-giornale-di-carovana-il-manoscritto-ritrovato-l-oriente-attraverso-gli-occhi-di-un-patriota-milanese-dimenticato-felice-de-vecchi-4835
• “Cesare Maria De Vecchi in Rhodes.” Palace of the Grand Master. https://grandmasterpalacerhodes.gr/cesare-maria-de-vecchi/
• Claus, Patricia. “Mussolini's Old Villa on Rhodes Still on Real Estate Market.” Greek Reporter. July 17, 2020. https://greekreporter.com/2020/07/17/mussolinis-old-villa-on-rhodes-still-on-real-estate-market/
• Britannica Editors. "Aleister Crowley". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aleister-Crowley
• Frigo, Marco. “Villa De Vecchi: the haunted mansion inhabited by ghosts not far from Milan with a mysterious, dramatic and fascinating past.” Milano Segreta. Oct. 6, 2025. https://milanosegreta.co/en/villa-de-vecchi-ghost-mansion/
• Linstrom, Emily. “Villa de Vecchi.” Atlas Obscura.
• Lecco, Alberto, Foot, John. "Milan". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Milan-Italy
• Linstrom, Emily. “Villa de Vecchi.” Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/villa-de-vecchi
• “History of Milan.” Civitatis Milan. https://www.introducingmilan.com/history
• Imam, Maham. “ATHENAEUM: Adaptive reuse of Villa De Vecchi into a public Library.” University of Management and Technology, Lahore. 2023. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j3dhAHK8v4i-vV_IkAB8WXWMXpCEP_BQ/view?pli=1
• Philip, Lizzie. “The Real Story Behind Northern Italy’s Abandoned ‘Ghost Mansion.’” Atlas Obscura. Oct. 17, 2018. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ghost-mansion-in-northern-italy#:~:text=Place-,Villa%20de%20Vecchi,explore%20more%20Atlas%20Obscura%20videos.
• Pitzalis, Bruno. “Step Inside an Abandoned ‘Ghost Mansion’ of Northern Italy. Atlas Obscura. Oct. 9, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTP2erZ7CBc&t=38s
• Santarelli, Enzo. “DE VECCHI, Cesare Maria.” Biographical Dictionary of Italians. https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/de-vecchi-cesare-maria_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
• “Sidoli, Alessandro  (1812-1855), Architekt, Maler und Graphiker.” Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon. Austrian Center for Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage. (Translated.) https://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_S/Sidoli_Alessandro_1812_1855.xml
• Smee, Taryn. “The Red House – Italy’s Most Haunted Villa Which Lies Abandoned and Off Limits.” The Vintage News. Nov. 20, 2018. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/11/20/villa-de-vecchi/
• “Villa De Vecchi, Italy: A Timeless Masterpiece of Architectural Splendor.” Rethinking the Future. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/articles/villa-de-vecchi-italy

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This 2021 episode covers Aleister Crowley, a truly prolific and deliberately transgressive occultist whose practices included sex and drug use. He influenced modern Satanism, as well as other new religious movements.

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Holly and Tracy talk about ghost experiences in their lives. Tracy thanks all the listeners who suggested ghost towns for this week's episode.

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We've had a lot of listener requests related to ghost towns, so this Halloween season, we've got six places in the U.S. that could be labeled as such. But not not all are empty today.

Research:

• Knutson, Julie. “The End of Centralia’s Abandoned, Colorful, Anarchic ‘Graffiti Highway.’” Atlas Obscura. 9/14/2020. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/centralia-graffiti-highway-buried
• California State Parks. “Bodie State Historic Park.” https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
• California State Parks. “Bodie State Historic Park.” https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/509/files/BodieSHPFinalWebLayout2016.pdf
• Severn, Carly. “This Ghost Town’s 'Curse' Isn't What You Think.” KQED. 7/12/2018. https://www.kqed.org/news/11640709/how-this-ghost-towns-curse-backfired-on-park-rangers
• Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail. “The Mound at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.” https://alabamamoundtrail.org/mound-site/old-cahawba/
• Alabama Historical Commission. “History of Old Cahawba.” https://ahc.alabama.gov/CahawbaHistoryFacts.aspx
• Jones, James. “Cahawba Listed as One of World’s 10 Spookiest Ghost Towns.” Selma Times Journal. 10/19/2023. https://www.selmatimesjournal.com/2023/10/19/cahawba-listed-as-one-of-worlds-10-spookiest-ghost-towns/
• Pykles, Benjamin C. “Iosepa, Utah’s Pacific Islander Pioneers.” Utah Historical Society. https://history.utah.gov/iosepa-utahs-pacific-islander-pioneers/
• Chapman, Hannah. “Iosepa: Utah’s Little Hawai'i.” Intermountain Histories. https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/388
• Fitisemanu, Nafanua. “Iosepa: Utah Ghost Town.” https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a9e6a54ef1124c4e80d8eecfac09263d
• Schirer, David L. “Iospa.” Utah History Encyclopedia. https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/i/IOSEPA.shtml
• Utah American Indian Digital Archive. “History: The Goshutes.” https://utahindians.org/archives/goshute/history.html
• Atkin, Dennis H. “A History of Iosepa, the Utah Polynesian Colony.” https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4489/
• Heinrich, Kieth. “Pithole City.” Pennsylvania Heritage. Fall 2015. https://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/pithole-city/
• Comet, Jorge Navarro. “Pithole: The Rapid Rise and Sudden Fall of an Oil Boomtown.” AAPG. 7/1/2022. https://www.aapg.org/news-and-media/details/explorer/articleid/63602/pithole-the-rapid-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-an-oil-boomtown
• Town of Jerome. “Jerome: Then and Now.” https://jerome.az.gov/jerome-then-and-now
• Penn State. “Anthracite Coal Mining Region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.” https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/anthracite
• Turino, Mitchell. “Centralia Mine Fire.” Environment and Society. https://www.environmentandsociety.org/tools/keywords/centralia-mine-fire
• Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. “The Centralia Mine Fire” https://files.dep.state.pa.us/mining/Abandoned%20Mine%20Reclamation/AbandonedMinePortalFiles/Centralia/CentraliaFrequentlyAskedQuestions.pdf
• Blakemore, Erin. “This Mine Fire Has Been Burning For Over 50 Years.” History. 5/27/2025. https://www.history.com/articles/mine-fire-burning-more-50-years-ghost-town
• Currie, Tyler. “Zip Code 00000.” Washington Post. 4/2/2003. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2003/04/02/AR2005033108150.html
• Lewis, Herbert J. “Cahaba.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. 5/20/2008. https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/cahaba/
• Shahin, Alexandra Kennon. “Alabama's Ghost Capital.” 9/21/2018. https://countryroadsmagazine.com/travel/getaways/alabama-s-ghost-capital/
• Alabama Tourism. “Tour of Old Cahawba.” 10/25/2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L18GAP-vQY
• Splain, Shelby Weaver. “Pithole or Bust!” 7/24/2024. https://pahistoricpreservation.com/pithole-bust/

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This episode features several ghosts all associated with one place. And that place is a specific building with its own interesting history – the Theater Royal Drury Lane of London.

Research:

• Appleton, William Worthen. “Charles macklin: An Actor’s Life.” Cambridge, Harvard University Press. 1960. https://archive.org/details/charlesmacklinac00appl/page/n11/mode/2up
• Benjamin, Victor D. “The history of the theatres of London, from the year 1760 to the present time. Being a continuation of the Annual Register of all the new tragedies, comedies farces, pantomines that have been performed within that period. With occasional notes and anecdotes.” London. Printed for T. Becket. 1771. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/historyoftheatre00victiala/page/n7/mode/2up
• Cibber, Colley. “An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber.” Chiswick Press, London. 1889. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/44064/pg44064.txt
• “Dan Leno: A Victim to Overwork.” The People (London.) June 7, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/811209994/?match=1&terms=dan%20leno
• “Dan Leno Dead.” New York Times. Nov. 1, 1904. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/11/01/101241446.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
• Dickson, Andrew. “Inside the world's most haunted theatre.” The Guardian. Oct. 29, 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/oct/29/most-haunted-theatre-ghosts-superstitions-theatre-royal-drury-lane
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Colley Cibber". Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Dec. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Colley-Cibber
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Dan Leno". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Dec. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dan-Leno
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Drury Lane Theatre". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Jan. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Drury-Lane-Theatre
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Thomas Killigrew". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Killigrew
• “Ghost of Dan Leno.” The Register. (Adelaide, SA.) Dec. 15, 1923. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65060035
• Hoge, Warren. “A Major New Role As Theater Mogul For Lloyd Webber.” New York Times. Jan. 10, 2000. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/10/arts/a-major-new-role-as-theater-mogul-for-lloyd-webber.html
• "The humorous lieutenant, or, Generous enemies a comedy as it is now acted by His Majesties servants, at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane." In the digital collection Early English Books Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/A39804.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.
• “Interregnum (1649-1660).” The Royal Family. https://www.royal.uk/interregnum-1649-1660
• “Leno, Dan, 1860-1904.” University of Sheffield Archives. https://archives.sheffield.ac.uk/agents/people/308?&filter_fields[]=subjects&filter_values[]=Wild+west
• Lloyd, Arthur. “The Theatre Royal Drury Lane - Main Entrance situated on Catherine Street, Westminster, London.” Arthur Lloyd’s Music Hall. http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/DruryLane.htm#1
• Maitland, Hayley. “Murder, Musicals, and Royal Romance: The History of Drury Lane, London’s Oldest—And Most Haunted—Theater.” Vogue. Sept. 14, 2023. https://www.vogue.com/article/the-history-of-drury-lane-londons-oldest-and-most-haunted-theater
• Milhous, Judith, and Robert D. Hume. “The Drury Lane Actors' Rebellion of 1743.” Theatre Journal , Mar., 1990, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Mar., 1990), pp. 57-80. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3207558
• Morley, Sheridan. “Theatre's Strangest Acts.” Robson Books. 2014.
• Mullan, Kevin. “Charles Macklin (McLaughlin/MacLochlainn): The Donegal theatre radical and playwright who revolutionised Covent Garden in the 1700s.” Derry Journal. Sept. 24, 2024. https://www.derryjournal.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/charles-macklin-mclaughlinmaclochlainn-the-donegal-theatre-radical-and-playwright-who-revolutionised-covent-garden-in-the-1700s-4795038
• “The Newly Renovated Theatre Royal Drury Lane Wins At The Stage Awards.” Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals. https://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/news/the-newly-renovated-theatre-royal-drury-lane-wins-at-the-stage-awards
• Planer, Nigel. “The Ghosts of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.” Huffpost. Feb. 10, 2014. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/nigel-planer/nigel-planer-drury-lane-ghosts_b_4426092.html
• Simon, Ed. “Here We Are Again!—How Joseph Grimaldi Invented the Creepy Clown.”   JSTOR. May 4, 2022. https://daily.jstor.org/here-we-are-again-how-joseph-grimaldi-invented-the-creepy-clown/
• Shand, John. “Drury Lane: London’s Oldest Theater. A Tercentenary?” The Guardian. July 8, 1939. https://www.newspapers.com/image/259462987/?match=1&terms=drury%20theatre%20ghost
• Shipp, L. “Charles Fleetwood, the 1744 Drury Lane Riots, and Pricing Practices in Eighteenth-Century British Theatre.” Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 47: 405–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/1754-0208.12956.
• “The Story So Far.” LW Theatres. https://lwtheatres.co.uk/theatres/theatre-royal-drury-lane/about-theatre-royal-drury-lane/
• “The Story So Far …” Theatre Royal Drury lane. https://thelane.co.uk/the-history
• Wyatt, Benjamin Dean. “Observations on the design for the Theatre royal, Drury lane, as executed in 1812: accompanied by plans, elevation, & sections, of the same.” London, printed for J. Taylor. 1813. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=o58NAAAAQAAJ&rdid=book-o58NAAAAQAAJ&rdot=1
• Zagha, Muriel. “The Puritan Paradox.” The Guardian. Feb. 15, 2002. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/feb/16/artsandhumanities.highereducation

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This 2020 episode covers three of the many supernatural canines and hellhounds in our collective storytelling. Two are similar and from England, and one is a fun figure from southern Louisiana.

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Holly asks follow-up questions about a paper Tracy mentioned in the episodes this week. Tracy talks about the use of the Nintendo 3DS as a Louvre guide. 

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Part 2 of this installment of Unearthed! features animals, swords, art, shoes, shipwrecks, and the miscellany category of potpourri.

Research:

• Abrams, G., Auguste, P., Pirson, S. et al. Earliest evidence of Neanderthal multifunctional bone tool production from cave lion (Panthera spelaea) remains. Sci Rep 15, 24010 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08588-w
• Addley, Esther. “English warship sunk in 1703 storm gives up its secrets three centuries on.” The Guardian. 7/31/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/31/british-warship-hms-northumberland-1703-storm-archaeology
• Alberge, Dalya. “New research may rewrite origins of the Book of Kells, says academic.” The Guardian. 9/26/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/26/new-research-may-rewrite-origins-of-the-book-of-kells-says-academic
• Alex, Bridget et al. “Regional disparities in US media coverage of archaeology research.” Science Advances. Vol. 11, No. 27. July 2025. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt5435
• American Historical Association. “Historians Defend the Smithsonian.” Updated 8/15/2015. https://www.historians.org/news/historians-defend-the-smithsonian/#statement
• Anderson, Sonja. “Underwater Archaeologists Capture Photos of Japanese Warship That Hasn’t Been Seen Since It Sank During World War II.” Smithsonian. 7/23/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-capture-photos-of-japanese-warship-that-hasnt-been-seen-since-it-sank-during-world-war-ii-180987026/
• “Ancient DNA provides a new means to explore ancient diets.” Via PhysOrg. 7/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-ancient-dna-explore-diets.html
• Archaeology Magazine. “Roman Workshop Specialized in Manufacturing Nails.” 9/11/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/09/11/roman-workshop-specialized-in-manufacturing-nails-for-army-boots/
• Arnold, Paul. “DNA analysis reveals insights into Ötzi the Iceman's mountain neighbors.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-dna-analysis-reveals-insights-tzi.html
• Arnold, Paul. “Prehistoric 'Swiss army knife' made from cave lion bone discovered in Neanderthal cave.” Phys.org. 7/9/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-prehistoric-swiss-army-knife-cave.html
• Associated Press. “Divers recover artifacts from the Titanic’s sister ship Britannic for the first time.” 9/16/2025. https://apnews.com/article/britannic-titanic-shipwreck-recovery-9a525f9831bc0d67c1c9604cc7155765
• Breen, Kerry. “Woman's remains exhumed in Oregon's oldest unidentified person case.” CBS News. 9/24/2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oak-grove-jane-doe-remains-exhumed-oregon-unidentified-person-homicide/
• Croze, M., Paladin, A., Zingale, S. et al. Genomic diversity and structure of prehistoric alpine individuals from the Tyrolean Iceman’s territory. Nat Commun 16, 6431 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61601-8
• Davis, Nicola. “Even Neanderthals had distinct preferences when it came to making dinner, study suggests.” The Guardian. 7/17/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/17/even-neanderthals-had-distinct-preferences-when-it-came-to-making-dinner-study-suggests
• Durham University. “Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production.” EurekAlert. 9/17/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1098278
• “Archaeologists discover four at-risk shipwrecks on colonial waterfront at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.” 8/4/2025. https://news.ecu.edu/2025/08/04/archaeologists-discover-four-at-risk-shipwrecks-on-colonial-waterfront-at-brunswick-town-fort-anderson-state-historic-site/
• Fratsyvir, Anna. “Polish president-elect urges Ukraine to allow full exhumations of Volyn massacre victims, despite resumed work.” 7/12/2025. https://kyivindependent.com/polands-president-elect-urges-zelensky-to-allow-full-exhumations-in-volyn-as-work-already-resumes/
• Fry, Devin and Jordan Gartner. “Coroner’s office identifies man 55 years later after exhuming his body from cemetery.” 7/19/2025. https://www.kltv.com/2025/07/19/coroners-office-identifies-man-55-years-later-after-exhuming-his-body-cemetery/
• Guagnin, Maria et al. “12,000-year-old rock art marked ancient water sources in Arabia's desert.” Phys.org. 10/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-year-art-ancient-sources-arabia.html
• History Blog. “Medieval leather goods found in Oslo.” 7/15/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73641
• Jana Matuszak, Jana. “Of Captive Storm Gods and Cunning Foxes: New Insights into Early Sumerian Mythology, with an Editoin of Ni 12501.” Iraq. Vol. 86. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/of-captive-storm-gods-and-cunning-foxes-new-insights-into-early-sumerian-mythology-with-an-edition-of-ni-12501/391CFC6A9361C23A0E7AF159F565A911
• Kuta, Sarah. “Cut Marks on Animal Bones Suggest Neanderthal Groups Had Their Own Unique Culinary Traditions.” Smithsonian. 7/17/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cut-marks-on-animal-bones-suggest-neanderthal-groups-had-their-own-unique-culinary-traditions-180987002/
• Kuta, Sarah. “Seventy Years Later, They Finally Know What It Is.” Smithsonian. 8/1/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-found-sticky-goo-inside-a-2500-year-old-jar-70-years-later-they-finally-know-what-it-is-180987088/
• Kuta, Sarah. “Underwater Archaeologists Were Looking for a Lost Shipwreck in Wisconsin. They Stumbled Upon a Different Vessel Instead.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-were-looking-for-a-lost-shipwreck-in-wisconsin-they-stumbled-upon-a-different-vessel-instead-180986990/
• Linköping University. “Ancient crop discovered in the Canary Islands thanks to archaeological DNA.” Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ancient-crop-canary-islands-archaeological.html
• Lucchesi, Madison. “More layoffs at GBH as ‘Defunded’ sign goes viral.” Boston.com. 7/24/2025. https://www.boston.com/news/media/2025/07/24/gbh-layoffs-defunded-sign/
• Luscombe, Richard. “‘It’s incredibly exciting’: ancient canoe unearthed after Hurricane Ian stormed through Florida.” The Guardian. 9/28/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/28/florida-ancient-canoes
• Margalida, Antoni et al. “The Bearded Vulture as an accumulator of historical remains: Insights for future ecological and biocultural studies.” Ecology. Volume 106, Issue 9. 9/11/2025. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70191
• Metcalfe, Tom. “300-year-old pirate-plundered shipwreck that once held 'eyewatering treasure' discovered off Madagascar.” Live Science. 7/3/2025. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/300-year-old-pirate-plundered-shipwreck-that-once-held-eyewatering-treasure-discovered-off-madagascar
• Mondal, Sanjukta. “Ancient Romans likely used extinct sea creature fossils as amulets.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-ancient-romans-extinct-sea-creature.html
• Morris, Steven. “Iron age settlement found in Gloucestershire after detectorist unearths Roman swords.” The Guardian. 7/4/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/04/roman-swords-gloucestershire-villa-iron-age-settlement-discovery
• Mullett, Russell et al. “Precious finger traces from First Nations ancestors revealed in a glittering mountain cave in Australia.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-precious-finger-nations-ancestors-revealed.html
• Ocean Exploration Trust. “Expedition reveals 13 shipwrecks from WWII battles off Guadalcanal.” Phys.org. 8/4/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-reveals-shipwrecks-wwii-guadalcanal.html
• Oster, Sandee. “Study translates fragmentary ancient Sumerian myth around 4,400 years old.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-fragmentary-ancient-sumerian-myth-years.html
• Paul, Andrew. “130-year-old butter bacteria discovered in Danish basement.” Popular Science. 9/15/2025. https://www.popsci.com/science/old-butter-basement-discovery/
• Penn, Tim. “Big Roman shoes discovered near Hadrian's Wall—but they don't necessarily mean big Roman feet.” Phys.org. 7/20/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-big-roman-hadrian-wall-dont.html#google_vignette
• Pogrebin, Robin and Graham Bowley. “Smithsonian Responds to Trump’s Demand for a Review of Its Exhibits.” New York Times. 9/3/2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/arts/design/smithsonian-bunch-trump.html
• Preston, Elizabeth. “Scientists found a 650-year-old shoe in a vulture nest. That’s just the start of it.’ National Geographic. 10/1/2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/vulture-nest-was-hiding-a-650-year-old-shoe
• Reilly, Adam. “GBH lays off 13 staff at American Experience, pauses production of new documentaries.” GBH. 7/22/2025. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-07-22/gbh-lays-off-13-staff-at-american-experience-pauses-production-of-new-documentaries
• Richmond, Todd. “Searchers discover ‘ghost ship’ that sank in Lake Michigan almost 140 years ago.” Associated Press. 9/15/2025. https://apnews.com/article/lake-michigan-schooner-shipwreck-door-county-ccff930d8cd87f3597483938f8fb4fd6
• Savat, Sarah. “Discovery expands understanding of Neolithic agricultural practices, diets in East Asia.” EurekAlert. 9/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1099662
• Seb Falk, James Wade, The Lost Song of Wade: Peterhouse 255 Revisited, The Review of English Studies, Volume 76, Issue 326, October 2025, Pages 339–365, https://doi.org/10.1093/res/hgaf038
• Smith, Kiona N. “Oldest wooden tools in East Asia may have come from any of three species.” Ars Technica. 7/7/2025. https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/07/did-denisovans-or-homo-erectus-make-the-oldest-wooden-tools-in-east-asia/
• The Catholic Herald. “Plans in train to exhume holy remains of martyr St Thomas More.” 7/14/2025. https://thecatholicherald.com/article/plans-in-train-to-exhume-holy-remains-of-martyr-st-thomas-more
• The History Blog. “1600-year-old iron scale, weights found in Turkey.” 7/10/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73597
• The History Blog. “2,500-year-old honey identified in ancient offering.” 7/31/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73776
• The History Blog. “Kushan vessel inscribed with woman’s name found in Tajikistan.” 7/8/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73582
• The History Blog. “Medieval sword fished out of Vistula in Warsaw.” 7/7/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73574
• The History Blog. “Unique 3D mural 3,000-4,000 years old found in Peru.” 7/30/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73769
• The White House. “Letter to the Smithsonian: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials.” 8/12/2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/08/letter-to-the-smithsonian-internal-review-of-smithsonian-exhibitions-and-materials/
• Thorsberg, Christian. “A Tiny Typo May Explain a Centuries-Old Mystery About Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ and ‘Troilus and Criseyde’.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-tiny-typo-may-explain-a-centuries-old-mystery-about-chaucers-canterbury-tales-and-troilus-and-criseyde-180986991/
• University of Cambridge. “Scholars just solved a 130-year literary mystery—and it all hinged on one word.” 7/16/2025. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250716000855.htm
• Vindolanda Trust. “Magna Shoes.” 7/2/2025. https://www.vindolanda.com/news/magna-shoes
• Whiddington, Richard. “$2 Thrift Store Plate Turns Out to Be Rare Chinese Porcelain Worth Thousands.” Artnet. 8/21/2025. https://news.artnet.com/market/chinese-porcelain-uk-thrift-store-auction-2680013
• Whiddington, Richard. “Famed Antikythera Shipwreck Yields More Astonishing Discoveries.” Artnet News. 7/16/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/antikythera-shipwreck-more-discoveries-2668217
• Whiddington, Richard. “Scholars Crack 130-Year-Old Mystery Behind a Lost Medieval Epic.” 7/17/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/song-of-wade-mystery-chaucer-2668558
• Whiddington, Richard. “Sunken Clues Reveal Identity of Mysterious Scottish Shipwreck.” Artnet. 7/25/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/scotland-shipwreck-sanday-2671342

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Part one of this quarter's installment of Unearthed! features things related to books and letters, and edibles and potables, and as we usually do, we are starting this installment of Unearthed with updates. 

Research: 

• Abrams, G., Auguste, P., Pirson, S. et al. Earliest evidence of Neanderthal multifunctional bone tool production from cave lion (Panthera spelaea) remains. Sci Rep 15, 24010 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08588-w
• Addley, Esther. “English warship sunk in 1703 storm gives up its secrets three centuries on.” The Guardian. 7/31/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/31/british-warship-hms-northumberland-1703-storm-archaeology
• Alberge, Dalya. “New research may rewrite origins of the Book of Kells, says academic.” The Guardian. 9/26/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/sep/26/new-research-may-rewrite-origins-of-the-book-of-kells-says-academic
• Alex, Bridget et al. “Regional disparities in US media coverage of archaeology research.” Science Advances. Vol. 11, No. 27. July 2025. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adt5435
• American Historical Association. “Historians Defend the Smithsonian.” Updated 8/15/2015. https://www.historians.org/news/historians-defend-the-smithsonian/#statement
• Anderson, Sonja. “Underwater Archaeologists Capture Photos of Japanese Warship That Hasn’t Been Seen Since It Sank During World War II.” Smithsonian. 7/23/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-capture-photos-of-japanese-warship-that-hasnt-been-seen-since-it-sank-during-world-war-ii-180987026/
• “Ancient DNA provides a new means to explore ancient diets.” Via PhysOrg. 7/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-ancient-dna-explore-diets.html
• Archaeology Magazine. “Roman Workshop Specialized in Manufacturing Nails.” 9/11/2025. https://archaeology.org/news/2025/09/11/roman-workshop-specialized-in-manufacturing-nails-for-army-boots/
• Arnold, Paul. “DNA analysis reveals insights into Ötzi the Iceman's mountain neighbors.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-dna-analysis-reveals-insights-tzi.html
• Arnold, Paul. “Prehistoric 'Swiss army knife' made from cave lion bone discovered in Neanderthal cave.” Phys.org. 7/9/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-prehistoric-swiss-army-knife-cave.html
• Associated Press. “Divers recover artifacts from the Titanic’s sister ship Britannic for the first time.” 9/16/2025. https://apnews.com/article/britannic-titanic-shipwreck-recovery-9a525f9831bc0d67c1c9604cc7155765
• Breen, Kerry. “Woman's remains exhumed in Oregon's oldest unidentified person case.” CBS News. 9/24/2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oak-grove-jane-doe-remains-exhumed-oregon-unidentified-person-homicide/
• Croze, M., Paladin, A., Zingale, S. et al. Genomic diversity and structure of prehistoric alpine individuals from the Tyrolean Iceman’s territory. Nat Commun 16, 6431 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61601-8
• Davis, Nicola. “Even Neanderthals had distinct preferences when it came to making dinner, study suggests.” The Guardian. 7/17/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/17/even-neanderthals-had-distinct-preferences-when-it-came-to-making-dinner-study-suggests
• Durham University. “Bronze and Iron Age cultures in the Middle East were committed to wine production.” EurekAlert. 9/17/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1098278
• “Archaeologists discover four at-risk shipwrecks on colonial waterfront at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.” 8/4/2025. https://news.ecu.edu/2025/08/04/archaeologists-discover-four-at-risk-shipwrecks-on-colonial-waterfront-at-brunswick-town-fort-anderson-state-historic-site/
• Fratsyvir, Anna. “Polish president-elect urges Ukraine to allow full exhumations of Volyn massacre victims, despite resumed work.” 7/12/2025. https://kyivindependent.com/polands-president-elect-urges-zelensky-to-allow-full-exhumations-in-volyn-as-work-already-resumes/
• Fry, Devin and Jordan Gartner. “Coroner’s office identifies man 55 years later after exhuming his body from cemetery.” 7/19/2025. https://www.kltv.com/2025/07/19/coroners-office-identifies-man-55-years-later-after-exhuming-his-body-cemetery/
• Guagnin, Maria et al. “12,000-year-old rock art marked ancient water sources in Arabia's desert.” Phys.org. 10/1/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-10-year-art-ancient-sources-arabia.html
• History Blog. “Medieval leather goods found in Oslo.” 7/15/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73641
• Jana Matuszak, Jana. “Of Captive Storm Gods and Cunning Foxes: New Insights into Early Sumerian Mythology, with an Editoin of Ni 12501.” Iraq. Vol. 86. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/of-captive-storm-gods-and-cunning-foxes-new-insights-into-early-sumerian-mythology-with-an-edition-of-ni-12501/391CFC6A9361C23A0E7AF159F565A911
• Kuta, Sarah. “Cut Marks on Animal Bones Suggest Neanderthal Groups Had Their Own Unique Culinary Traditions.” Smithsonian. 7/17/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cut-marks-on-animal-bones-suggest-neanderthal-groups-had-their-own-unique-culinary-traditions-180987002/
• Kuta, Sarah. “Seventy Years Later, They Finally Know What It Is.” Smithsonian. 8/1/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-found-sticky-goo-inside-a-2500-year-old-jar-70-years-later-they-finally-know-what-it-is-180987088/
• Kuta, Sarah. “Underwater Archaeologists Were Looking for a Lost Shipwreck in Wisconsin. They Stumbled Upon a Different Vessel Instead.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-were-looking-for-a-lost-shipwreck-in-wisconsin-they-stumbled-upon-a-different-vessel-instead-180986990/
• Linköping University. “Ancient crop discovered in the Canary Islands thanks to archaeological DNA.” Phys.org. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ancient-crop-canary-islands-archaeological.html
• Lucchesi, Madison. “More layoffs at GBH as ‘Defunded’ sign goes viral.” Boston.com. 7/24/2025. https://www.boston.com/news/media/2025/07/24/gbh-layoffs-defunded-sign/
• Luscombe, Richard. “‘It’s incredibly exciting’: ancient canoe unearthed after Hurricane Ian stormed through Florida.” The Guardian. 9/28/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/28/florida-ancient-canoes
• Margalida, Antoni et al. “The Bearded Vulture as an accumulator of historical remains: Insights for future ecological and biocultural studies.” Ecology. Volume 106, Issue 9. 9/11/2025. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70191
• Metcalfe, Tom. “300-year-old pirate-plundered shipwreck that once held 'eyewatering treasure' discovered off Madagascar.” Live Science. 7/3/2025. https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/300-year-old-pirate-plundered-shipwreck-that-once-held-eyewatering-treasure-discovered-off-madagascar
• Mondal, Sanjukta. “Ancient Romans likely used extinct sea creature fossils as amulets.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-ancient-romans-extinct-sea-creature.html
• Morris, Steven. “Iron age settlement found in Gloucestershire after detectorist unearths Roman swords.” The Guardian. 7/4/2025. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/jul/04/roman-swords-gloucestershire-villa-iron-age-settlement-discovery
• Mullett, Russell et al. “Precious finger traces from First Nations ancestors revealed in a glittering mountain cave in Australia.” Phys.org. 7/28/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-precious-finger-nations-ancestors-revealed.html
• Ocean Exploration Trust. “Expedition reveals 13 shipwrecks from WWII battles off Guadalcanal.” Phys.org. 8/4/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-reveals-shipwrecks-wwii-guadalcanal.html
• Oster, Sandee. “Study translates fragmentary ancient Sumerian myth around 4,400 years old.” Phys.org. 7/22/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-fragmentary-ancient-sumerian-myth-years.html
• Paul, Andrew. “130-year-old butter bacteria discovered in Danish basement.” Popular Science. 9/15/2025. https://www.popsci.com/science/old-butter-basement-discovery/
• Penn, Tim. “Big Roman shoes discovered near Hadrian's Wall—but they don't necessarily mean big Roman feet.” Phys.org. 7/20/2025. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-big-roman-hadrian-wall-dont.html#google_vignette
• Pogrebin, Robin and Graham Bowley. “Smithsonian Responds to Trump’s Demand for a Review of Its Exhibits.” New York Times. 9/3/2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/arts/design/smithsonian-bunch-trump.html
• Preston, Elizabeth. “Scientists found a 650-year-old shoe in a vulture nest. That’s just the start of it.’ National Geographic. 10/1/2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/vulture-nest-was-hiding-a-650-year-old-shoe
• Reilly, Adam. “GBH lays off 13 staff at American Experience, pauses production of new documentaries.” GBH. 7/22/2025. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-07-22/gbh-lays-off-13-staff-at-american-experience-pauses-production-of-new-documentaries
• Richmond, Todd. “Searchers discover ‘ghost ship’ that sank in Lake Michigan almost 140 years ago.” Associated Press. 9/15/2025. https://apnews.com/article/lake-michigan-schooner-shipwreck-door-county-ccff930d8cd87f3597483938f8fb4fd6
• Savat, Sarah. “Discovery expands understanding of Neolithic agricultural practices, diets in East Asia.” EurekAlert. 9/24/2025. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1099662
• Seb Falk, James Wade, The Lost Song of Wade: Peterhouse 255 Revisited, The Review of English Studies, Volume 76, Issue 326, October 2025, Pages 339–365, https://doi.org/10.1093/res/hgaf038
• Smith, Kiona N. “Oldest wooden tools in East Asia may have come from any of three species.” Ars Technica. 7/7/2025. https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/07/did-denisovans-or-homo-erectus-make-the-oldest-wooden-tools-in-east-asia/
• The Catholic Herald. “Plans in train to exhume holy remains of martyr St Thomas More.” 7/14/2025. https://thecatholicherald.com/article/plans-in-train-to-exhume-holy-remains-of-martyr-st-thomas-more
• The History Blog. “1600-year-old iron scale, weights found in Turkey.” 7/10/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73597
• The History Blog. “2,500-year-old honey identified in ancient offering.” 7/31/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73776
• The History Blog. “Kushan vessel inscribed with woman’s name found in Tajikistan.” 7/8/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73582
• The History Blog. “Medieval sword fished out of Vistula in Warsaw.” 7/7/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73574
• The History Blog. “Unique 3D mural 3,000-4,000 years old found in Peru.” 7/30/2025. https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/73769
• The White House. “Letter to the Smithsonian: Internal Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions and Materials.” 8/12/2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/08/letter-to-the-smithsonian-internal-review-of-smithsonian-exhibitions-and-materials/
• Thorsberg, Christian. “A Tiny Typo May Explain a Centuries-Old Mystery About Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ and ‘Troilus and Criseyde’.” Smithsonian. 7/16/2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-tiny-typo-may-explain-a-centuries-old-mystery-about-chaucers-canterbury-tales-and-troilus-and-criseyde-180986991/
• University of Cambridge. “Scholars just solved a 130-year literary mystery—and it all hinged on one word.” 7/16/2025. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/07/250716000855.htm
• Vindolanda Trust. “Magna Shoes.” 7/2/2025. https://www.vindolanda.com/news/magna-shoes
• Whiddington, Richard. “$2 Thrift Store Plate Turns Out to Be Rare Chinese Porcelain Worth Thousands.” Artnet. 8/21/2025. https://news.artnet.com/market/chinese-porcelain-uk-thrift-store-auction-2680013
• Whiddington, Richard. “Famed Antikythera Shipwreck Yields More Astonishing Discoveries.” Artnet News. 7/16/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/antikythera-shipwreck-more-discoveries-2668217
• Whiddington, Richard. “Scholars Crack 130-Year-Old Mystery Behind a Lost Medieval Epic.” 7/17/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/song-of-wade-mystery-chaucer-2668558
• Whiddington, Richard. “Sunken Clues Reveal Identity of Mysterious Scottish Shipwreck.” Artnet. 7/25/2025. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/scotland-shipwreck-sanday-2671342

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Paul Robeson’s stances on political and civil rights issues and his communist affiliations catalyzed protests that were fueled with an undercurrent of racism and antisemitism.

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Holly discusses the complicated nature of the Loudun possessions. Tracy talks about the ways that entertainment media can cause fear.

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Peter Stubbe or Peter Stumpp, also known as the Werewolf of Bedburg, was part of a case in Germany where the concepts of witchcraft and lycanthropy were interconnected. 

Research:

• Baillie, Nathan. “Monstrous Lessons: Peter Stumpp, the Werewolf of Bedburg.” University of Saskatchewan Undergraduate Research Journal Volume 9, Issue 2, 2024.
• Baring-Gould, Sabine. “The Book of Were-wolves: Being an Account of a Terrible Superstition.” London. Smith, Elder and Co. Cornhill. 1865. https://archive.org/details/thebookofwerewolvesbarin/
• Barker, Sara. “Time in English Translations of Continental News.” News Networks in Early Modern Europe. Brill. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctt1w8h1ng.21
• Beck, Melinda. “Before America Had Witch Trials, Europe Had Werewolf Trials.” History. 10/15/2021. https://www.history.com/articles/werewolf-trials-europe-witches
• Crabb, Jon. “Woodcuts and Witches.” The Public Doman Review. 5/4/2017. https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/woodcuts-and-witches/
• Davidson, Jane P. and Bob Canino. “Wolves, Witches, and Werewolves: Lycanthropy and Witchcraft from 1423 to 1700.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 1990, Vol. 2, No. 4 (8) (1990). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43308065
• de Blécourt, Willem. “Monstrous Theories:: Werewolves and the Abuse of History.” Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural , Vol. 2, No. 2 (2013). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/preternature.2.2.0188
• Dinwiddie, Gerda, trans. “The Execution of Werewolf, Peter Stump: A Translation.” Dana K. Rehn. https://danakrehnblog.wordpress.com/2021/05/22/the-execution-of-werewolf-petter-stump/
• Dinwiddie, Gerda, trans. “Truthful and Frightening Description of the many Sorcerers or Witches: An English Translation.” Dana Rehn. https://danakrehnblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/02/truthful-and-frightening-description-of-the-many-sorcerers-or-witches-an-english-translation/
• Priest, Hannah. “The She-wolves of Julich.” History Today. Vol. 65, Issue 6. June 2015.
• Summers, Montague. “The Werewolf in Lore and Legend.” Dover Publications. 1933. https://archive.org/details/TheWerewolfInLoreAndLegend/page/n273/mode/2up

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In 17th century France a group of nuns described some unsettling visitations at their convent, which developed into a story of possession, political intrigue, and a moment in time that was rife with social tensions.

Research:

• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Wars of Religion". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Wars-of-Religion
• “Hawthorn.” National Institute of Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/hawthorn
• Cameron, Teagan. “A Diabolical Martyrdom: Urbain Grandier, the Transgressive Outsider, and the Surrogate Victim in The Possession at Loudun.” Constellations. Vol. 13, no. 2. Aug. 2022, doi:10.29173/cons29475
• deCerteau, Michel. “The Possession at Loudun.” University of Chicago Press. 2000.
• Dumas, Alexandre, Pere. “Urbain Grandier – 1634.” 1910. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2746/2746-h/2746-h.html
• Ferber, Sarah. “Demonic Possession and Exorcism in Early Modern France.” Routledge. 2013.
• Hunter, Mary Kate. “Loudun Possessions: Witchcraft Trials at The Jacob Burns Law Library.” Newsletter of the Legal History & Rare Books Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries. Volume 16 Number 3. Hallowe’en 2010. https://www.aallnet.org/lhrbsis/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/lhrb-16-3.pdf
• Huxley, Aldous. “The Devils of Loudun.” London. Chatto & Windus. 1952. Accessed online: https://ia601400.us.archive.org/3/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.469712/2015.469712.The-Devils_text.pdf
• Niau, Des and Edmund Goldsmith (tr.) “The history of the devils of Loudun; the alleged possession of the Ursuline nuns, and the trial and execution of Urbain Grandier, told by an eye-witness.” Edinburgh. Private Printing. 1887. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/historyofdevilso00desn/page/n31/mode/2up
• Sluhovsky, Moshe. “The Devil in the Convent.” The American Historical Review , Vol. 107, No. 5 (December 2002), pp. 1379-1411. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association. https://.www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/532851
• Soth, Amelia. “A Mother Superior’s Demons.” JSTOR Daily. Oct. 31, 2024. https://daily.jstor.org/a-mother-superiors-demons/

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This 2016 episode covers a haunting story from the early 1800s. Many narratives have blossomed from the Bell Witch story, but when you really try to look at the facts, they're few and far between.

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Tracy shares a story about getting poor directions from GPS. Holly talks about her theory regarding William Outlaw's confession, and both hosts discuss the spiders in their yards.

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Alice Kyteler's witchcraft trial shocked 14th century Ireland. Today, the charges against her are seen largely as nonsense, and more about personal vendettas and struggles for power. 

Research:

• Bailey, Michael D. “HISTORICAL DICTIONARY of WITCHCRAFT.” Scarecrow Press. 2003.
• Callan, Maeve Brigid. “The Templars, the Witch, and the Wild Irish: Vengeance and Heresy in Medieval Ireland.” Cornell University Press. 2015.
• “Dame Alice Kyteler.” Historic Kilkenny. https://www.historickilkenny.com/alice-kyteler
• Iribarren, Isabel. “Black Magic to Heresy: A Doctrinal Leap in the Pontificate of John XXII.” Church History , Mar., 2007, Vol. 76, No. 1 (Mar., 2007), pp. 32-60. Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27644923
• “Kilkenny Witch Trials.” Kilkenny Heritage Forum and Kilkenny Heritage Plan. https://kilkennyheritage.ie/2024/12/kilkenny-witch-trials/#:~:text=On%203rd%20November%201324%2C%20Petronilla,world%20for%20centuries%20to%20come.
• Pavlic, Brian A. “Lady Alice Kyteler Is Found Guilty of Witchcraft.” EBSCO. 2022. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/lady-alice-kyteler-found-guilty-witchcraft
• Ledrede, Richard. “A contemporary narrative of the proceedings against Dame Alice Kyteler, prosecuted for sorcery in 1324.” London. Printed for the Camden Society, by John Bowyer Nichols and Son. 1843. https://archive.org/details/b33096831/page/n11/mode/2up
• “A Medieval History.” Kyteler’s Inn. https://www.kytelersinn.com/history-of-the-inn/
• Murphy, Mrs. C.J. “Alice Kyteler.” Old Kilkenny Review. 1953. https://kilkennyarchaeologicalsociety.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/OKR1953-09-Claire-Murphy-Alice-Kyteler.pdf
• Neary, Anne. “The Origins and Character of the Kilkenny Witchcraft Case of 1324.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Archaeology, Culture, History, Literature , 1983, Vol. 83C (1983), pp. 333-350. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25506106
• Riddell, William Renwick. “First Execution for Witchcraft in Ireland.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Vol. 7, Issue 6. 1917. https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/jclc/article/1500/&path_info=83_7JAmInstCrimL_Criminology828_May1916toMarch1917_.pdf
• Seymour, John Drelincourt. “Dame Alice Kyteler the Sorceress of Kilkenny A.D. 1324 (Folklore History Series).” Read Books. 2011.
• Walsh, James. “The Popes and Science: THE HISTORY OF THE PAPAL RELATIONS TO SCIENCE DURING THE MIDDLE AGES AND DOWN TO OUR OWN TIME.” NEW YORK
  FORDHAM UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1915. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/34019/34019-h/34019-h.htm
• Williams, Bernadette. “The Sorcery Trial of Alice Kyteler.” History Ireland, vol. 2, no. 4, 1994, pp. 20–24. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27724208

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These diseases - West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - are named for the places where outbreaks happened. But they're also all things you get from being bitten by mosquitoes or ticks.

Research:

• Balasubramanian, Chandana. “Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF): The Deadly Tick-borne Disease That Inspired a Hit Movie.” Gideon. 9/1/2022. https://www.gideononline.com/blogs/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/
• Barbour AG, Benach JL2019.Discovery of the Lyme Disease Agent. mBio10:10.1128/mbio.02166-19.https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02166-19
• Bay Area Lyme Foundation. “History of Lyme Disease.” https://www.bayarealyme.org/about-lyme/history-lyme-disease/
• Caccone, Adalgisa. “Ancient History of Lyme Disease in North America Revealed with Bacterial Genomes.” Yale School of Medicine. 8/28/2017. https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/ancient-history-of-lyme-disease-in-north-america-revealed-with-bacterial-genomes/
• Chowning, William M. “Studies in Pyroplasmosis Hominis.("Spotted Fever" or "Tick Fever" of the Rocky Mountains.).” The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 1/2/1904. https://archive.org/details/jstor-30071629/page/n29/mode/1up
• Elbaum-Garfinkle, Shana. “Close to home: a history of Yale and Lyme disease.” The Yale journal of biology and medicine vol. 84,2 (2011): 103-8.
• Farris, Debbie. “Lyme disease older than human race.” Oregon State University. 5/29/2014. https://science.oregonstate.edu/IMPACT/2014/05/lyme-disease-older-than-human-race
• Galef, Julia. “Iceman Was a Medical Mess.” Science. 2/29/2012. https://www.science.org/content/article/iceman-was-medical-mess
• Gould, Carolyn V. “Combating West Nile Virus Disease — Time to Revisit Vaccination.” New England Journal of Medicine. Vol. 388, No. 18. 4/29/2023. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2301816
• Harmon, Jim. “Harmon’s Histories: Montana’s Early Tick Fever Research Drew Protests, Violence.” Missoula Current. 7/20/2020. https://missoulacurrent.com/ticks/
• Hayes, Curtis G. “West Nile Virus: Uganda, 1937, to New York City, 1999.” From West Nile Virus: Detection, Surveillance, and Control. New York : New York Academy of Sciences. 2001. https://archive.org/details/westnilevirusdet0951unse/
• Jannotta, Sepp. “Robert Cooley.” Montana State University. 10/12/2012. https://www.montana.edu/news/mountainsandminds/article.html?id=11471
• Johnston, B L, and J M Conly. “West Nile virus - where did it come from and where might it go?.” The Canadian journal of infectious diseases = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses vol. 11,4 (2000): 175-8. doi:10.1155/2000/856598
• Lloyd, Douglas S. “Circular Letter #12 -32.” 8/3/1976. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/departments-and-agencies/dph/dph/infectious_diseases/lyme/1976circularletterpdf.pdf
• Mahajan, Vikram K. “Lyme Disease: An Overview.” Indian dermatology online journal vol. 14,5 594-604. 23 Feb. 2023, doi:10.4103/idoj.idoj_418_22
• MedLine Plus. “West Nile virus infection.” https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007186.htm
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. “History of Rocky Mountain Labs (RML).” 8/16/2023. https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/rocky-mountain-history
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. “Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.” https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever
• Rensberger, Boyce. “A New Type of Arthritis Found in Lyme.” New York Times. 7/18/1976. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/18/archives/a-new-type-of-arthritis-found-in-lyme-new-form-of-arthritis-is.html?login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock
• Rucker, William Colby. “Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.” Washington: Government Printing Office. 1912. https://archive.org/details/101688739.nlm.nih.gov/page/
• Sejvar, James J. “West Nile virus: an historical overview.” Ochsner journal vol. 5,3 (2003): 6-10. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3111838/
• Smithburn, K.C. et al. “A Neurotropic Virus Isolated from the Blood of a Native of Uganda.” The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Volume s1-20: Issue 4. 1940.
• Steere, Allen C et al. “The emergence of Lyme disease.” The Journal of clinical investigation vol. 113,8 (2004): 1093-101. doi:10.1172/JCI21681
• Steere, Allen C. et al. “Historical Perspectives.” Zbl. Bakt. Hyg. A 263, 3-6 (1986 ). https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/281837/1-s2.0-S0176672486X80912/1-s2.0-S0176672486800931/main.pdf
• World Health Organization. “West Nile Virus.” 10/3/2017. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/west-nile-virus
• Xiao, Y., Beare, P.A., Best, S.M. et al. Genetic sequencing of a 1944 Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine. Sci Rep 13, 4687 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31894-0

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This 2014 episode covers the collision of the S.S. Arctic with another ship in a fog in 1854. The resulting panic led to the deaths of most of the passengers.

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Holly talks about the many survivor accounts of the Medusa shipwreck, which were questioned regarding bias and intent. There's also a follow-up on what happened to Géricault's son.

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In the aftermath of the shipwreck, France was scandalized by what had happened as the details emerged. And artist Théodore Géricault became obsessed with it.

Research:

• Amigo, Ignacio. “How a biologist turned amateur sleuth to solve a century-old art riddle.” The Guardian. Oct. 23, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/oct/27/how-a-biologist-turned-amateur-sleuth-to-solve-a-century-old-art-riddle
• Barran, Julian. “Théodore Géricault, Illustrations to Alexandre Corréard’s ‘Le Naufrage de La Méduse.’” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 119, no. 889, 1977, pp. 311–310. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/878824
• Baudelaire, Charles. “WHAT IS ROMANTICISM?” The Salon of 1848. https://writing.upenn.edu/library/Baudelaire-Salon-1848.pdf
• Burgos, Javier S. “A new portrait by Géricault.” The Lancet Neurology, Volume 20, Issue 2, 90 – 91. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(20)30479-8/fulltext
• Burgos, Javier. S. “In search of Théodore Géricault’s lost monomanias.” Metode. June 3, 2024. https://metode.org/issues/article-revistes/in-search-of-theodore-gericaults-lost-monomanias.html
• Dard, Charlotte Adelaide Picard. “The sufferings of the Picard family after the shipwreck of the Medusa, in the year 1816.” Constable and Co. Edinburgh, Scotland. 1827. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22792/22792-h/22792-h.htm
• Dione, Babacar and Mark Banchereau. “France withdraws from Senegal, ending its permanent military presence in West Africa.” AP. July 17, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/senegal-france-military-withdrawal-57d150687e18cd20ac6a6d7194821208
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Treaties of Paris". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaties-of-Paris-1814-1815
• “The Frigate Medusa … “ The Raleigh Minerva. Nov. 4, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/58081420/?match=1&terms=medusa
• “Gericault.” The Illustrated Magazine of Art, Vol. 2, No. 11 (1853), pp. 282-283 Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20538136
• Géricault, Théodore. “Cuirassier blessé, quittant le feu.” 1814. Louvre. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010059200
• Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses.” 1817. Getty Museum. https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RH8
• Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses at Rome, Study.” 1817. The Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/665793
• Huet, Marie-Hélène. “The Face of Disaster.” Yale French Studies, no. 111, 2007, pp. 7–31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20479368
• “Loss of the French Frigate Medusa.” Hartford Courant. Oct. 29, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1105494685/?match=1&terms=medusa
• Miles, Jonathan. “The Wreck of the Medusa.” Atlantic Monthly Press. 2007.
• Savigny, Jean Baptiste Henri, and Alexandre Correard. “Narrative of the Voyage to Senegal.” London : Printed for Henry Colburn. 1818. https://archive.org/details/narrativeofvoyag00savirich/page/xiv/mode/2up
• Smith, Roberta. “Art Review: Oui, Art Tips From Perfidious Albion.” New York Times. Oct. 10, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/arts/art-review-oui-art-tips-from-perfidious-albion.html

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The first episode of this two-parter covers the French mission to Senegal that the frigate Medusa led in 1816. Soon, the mission fell disastrously apart. 

Research:

• Amigo, Ignacio. “How a biologist turned amateur sleuth to solve a century-old art riddle.” The Guardian. Oct. 23, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/oct/27/how-a-biologist-turned-amateur-sleuth-to-solve-a-century-old-art-riddle
• Barran, Julian. “Théodore Géricault, Illustrations to Alexandre Corréard’s ‘Le Naufrage de La Méduse.’” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 119, no. 889, 1977, pp. 311–310. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/878824
• Baudelaire, Charles. “WHAT IS ROMANTICISM?” The Salon of 1848. https://writing.upenn.edu/library/Baudelaire-Salon-1848.pdf
• Burgos, Javier S. “A new portrait by Géricault.” The Lancet Neurology, Volume 20, Issue 2, 90 – 91. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(20)30479-8/fulltext
• Burgos, Javier. S. “In search of Théodore Géricault’s lost monomanias.” Metode. June 3, 2024. https://metode.org/issues/article-revistes/in-search-of-theodore-gericaults-lost-monomanias.html
• Dard, Charlotte Adelaide Picard. “The sufferings of the Picard family after the shipwreck of the Medusa, in the year 1816.” Constable and Co. Edinburgh, Scotland. 1827. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22792/22792-h/22792-h.htm
• Dione, Babacar and Mark Banchereau. “France withdraws from Senegal, ending its permanent military presence in West Africa.” AP. July 17, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/senegal-france-military-withdrawal-57d150687e18cd20ac6a6d7194821208
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Treaties of Paris". Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaties-of-Paris-1814-1815
• “The Frigate Medusa … “ The Raleigh Minerva. Nov. 4, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/58081420/?match=1&terms=medusa
• “Gericault.” The Illustrated Magazine of Art, Vol. 2, No. 11 (1853), pp. 282-283 Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20538136
• Géricault, Théodore. “Cuirassier blessé, quittant le feu.” 1814. Louvre. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010059200
• Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses.” 1817. Getty Museum. https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RH8
• Géricault, Théodore. “Race of the Riderless Horses at Rome, Study.” 1817. The Met. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/665793
• Huet, Marie-Hélène. “The Face of Disaster.” Yale French Studies, no. 111, 2007, pp. 7–31. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20479368
• “Loss of the French Frigate Medusa.” Hartford Courant. Oct. 29, 1816. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1105494685/?match=1&terms=medusa
• Miles, Jonathan. “The Wreck of the Medusa.” Atlantic Monthly Press. 2007.
• Savigny, Jean Baptiste Henri, and Alexandre Correard. “Narrative of the Voyage to Senegal.” London : Printed for Henry Colburn. 1818. https://archive.org/details/narrativeofvoyag00savirich/page/xiv/mode/2up
• Smith, Roberta. “Art Review: Oui, Art Tips From Perfidious Albion.” New York Times. Oct. 10, 2003. https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/10/arts/art-review-oui-art-tips-from-perfidious-albion.html

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This 2013 episode covers the years after the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War when the oyster supply became so scarce that people turned to oyster piracy.

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Holly shares a story about Augustin Fresnel's early career. Tracy discusses an article criticizing the Smithsonian and points out its incorrect contents.

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Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton is known as one of the earliest Mexican-American authors published in English, and her life story is tied closely to the Mexican-American war and the establishment of California as a state.

Research:

• Amero, Richard W. “The Mexican-American War in Baja California.” The Journal of San Diego History. Winter 1984, Volume 30, Number 1. https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1984/january/war/
• Annenberg Learner. “Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton (c. 1832-1895).” https://www.learner.org/series/american-passages-a-literary-survey/masculine-heroes/maria-amparo-ruiz-de-burton-c-1832-1895/
• Brink, Jean R. “María Amparo Ruiz de Burton.” EBSCO Knowledge Advantage. 2023. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/maria-amparo-ruiz-de-burton
• Contreras, Alicia . "María Amparo Ruiz de Burton". In Oxford Bibliographies in American Literature. 3 Sep. 2025. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199827251/obo-9780199827251-0191.xml.
• Contreras, Alicia. "'I'll publish your cowardice all over California': Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton's the squatter and the don in the age of Howells." American Literary Realism, vol. 49, no. 3, spring 2017, pp. 210+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A491311790/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=97ad48d9. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
• Crawford, Kathleen. “María Amparo Ruiz Burton.” The Journal of San Diego History. Summer 1984, Volume 30, Number 3. https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/1984/july/burton/
• Diaz, Ella Maria. "Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton: Critical and Pedagogical Perspectives." Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, vol. 22, no. 2, June 2005, pp. 202+. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A141999447/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=1c4826f6. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
• Dietrich, Lucas. “A Sensational Job: Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, J.B. Lippincott Co., and Commission Printing.” Bibliographical Society of America. Via YouTube. 4/19/2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb6sfXdUyR8
• Hedrick, Joan D. "Who Would Have Thought It?" The Women's Review of Books, vol. 13, no. 7, Apr. 1996, p. 6. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A19140252/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=c31ab587. Accessed 28 Aug. 2025.
• Meylor, Megan. “California Nerves.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language, FALL 2020, Vol. 62, No. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27117136
• Quarstein, John V. “Worden and the Californios.” U.S. Naval Institute. October 2023. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2023/october/worden-and-californios
• Raab, Josef. “The Imagined Inter-American Community of María Amparo Ruiz de Burton.” Amerikastudien / American Studies, 2008, Vol. 53, No. 1. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41158358
• Sánchez, Rosaura and Beatriz Pita, editors. “Conflicts of Interest: The Letters of María Amparo Ruiz de Burton.” Arte Publico Press. University of Houston. 2001.
• Spitzzeri, Paul R. “Article Ten of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848.” Homestead Museum Blog. 5/31/2019. https://homesteadmuseum.blog/2019/05/31/article-ten-of-the-treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo-1848/
• “María Amparo Ruiz, a woman of that century.” Issue 30. 3/8/2017. https://tendenciaelartedeviajar.com/en/2017/03/history/maria-amparo-ruiz-a-woman-of-that-century/
• University of Texas Press. “María Amparo Ruiz de Burton and the Conquered Californios: An Interview With Meagan Meylor.” 11/15/2021. https://utpress.utexas.edu/blog/2021/11/15/maria-amparo-ruiz-de-burton-and-the-conquered-californios-an-interview-with-meagan-meylor/
• Women & The American Story. “Life Story: María Ruiz de Burton (1832–1895).” The New York Historical Society. https://wams.nyhistory.org/industry-and-empire/expansion-and-empire/maria-ruiz-de-burton/

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Augustin Fresnel didn’t live a long life, but he contributed significantly to the understanding of light and to the safety of coastlines. Neither of those had anything to do with his career.

Research:

• Anderson, F.L. “Huygens' Principle geometric derivation and elimination of the wake and backward wave.” Sci Rep11, 20257 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-99049-7
• Aglialoro, Todd. “Jansenism.” Catholic.com. https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/jansenism
• Garcia-Atutxa, Igor, et al. “The epistemological impact of Augustin-Jean Fresnel and his wave theory of light in the 19th century.” History of Science and Technology. Vol. 14, No. 1. 2024. https://www.hst-journal.com/index.php/hst/article/view/616
• Clingan, Ian C.. "lighthouse". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/technology/lighthouse
• Crew, Henry. “The wave theory of light; memoirs of Huygens, Young and Fresnel.” New York. Cincinnati American Book Company. 1900. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/wavetheoryofligh00crewrich/page/n3/mode/2up
• Davidson, Michael W. “Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788-1827).” Molecular Expressions. Florida State University. https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/fresnel.html
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Augustin-Jean Fresnel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Jul. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augustin-Jean-Fresnel
• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "François Arago". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francois-Arago
• “The Genius of Augustin-Jean Fresnel and his Lens.” Ponce Lighthouse & Museum. July 19, 2023. https://www.ponceinlet.org/the-genius-of-augustin-jean-fresnel-and-his-lens/
• Herivel, John. "Christiaan Huygens". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Jul. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christiaan-Huygens.
• “July 1816: Fresnel’s Evidence for the Wave Theory of Light.” Advancing Physics. American Physical Society. https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/201607/physicshistory.cfm
• Linden, Teri Clark. “A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth of the Modern Lighthouse.” W.W. Norton. 2013.
• “May 1801: Thomas Young and the Nature of Light.” Advancing Physics. American Physical Society. https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/200805/physicshistory.cfm
• “Napoleon’s Russian campaign: From the Niemen to Moscow.” Napoleon Foundation. https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/timelines/napoleons-russian-campaign-from-the-niemen-to-moscow/
• Rehman, Ayaz Ur, and Muhammad Sabieh Anwar. “Light Is a Transverse Wave.” LUMS Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering. August 21, 2018. https://physlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/LightTransverse-v2.pdf
• Silliman, Robert H. “Fresnel and the Emergence of Physics as a Discipline.” Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences , 1974, Vol. 4 (1974), pp. 137- University of California Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/27757329.pdf
• Tag, Thomas. “Lens Use Prior to Fresnel.” United States Lighthouse Society. https://uslhs.org/node/1481

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This 2020 episode talks about how Pettenkofer's ideas about cholera's spread weren’t exactly right, but they still had really beneficial impacts on the way we live.

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Tracy talks about her background writing copy for sanitation and cleaning products. She and Holly also discuss how the implementation of the Wells' recommendations could have prevented a lot of illness.

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Husband-and-wife team William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells conducted research that had the potential to make a big difference in the safety of indoor air. But it didn’t really have a significant impact on public health.

Research:

• Associated Press. “Super-Oyster Is On its Way to Dinner Table Bigger and Better Bivalve Sports Pedigree.” 3/13/1927. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84020064/1927-03-13/ed-1/?sp=14
• “Brought Back to Texas.” The Houston Semi-Weekly Post. 12/26/1889. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1196039760/
• Decatur Daily Review. “Scientists Fight Flu Germs with Violet Ray.” 7/30/1936. https://www.newspapers.com/image/94335504/
• Evening Star. “Scientific Trap-shooter.” 6/26/1937. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1937-06-26/ed-1/?sp=7&q=William+Firth+Wells&r=0.668,0.557,0.438,0.158,0
• Fair, Gordon M. and William Weeks Wells. “Method and Apparatus for Preventing Infection.” U.S. Patent 2,198,867. https://ppubs.uspto.gov/api/pdf/downloadPdf/2198867
• Hall, Dominic. “New Center for the History of Medicine Artifact - Wells Air Centrifuge.” Harvard Countway Library. https://countway.harvard.edu/news/new-center-history-medicine-artifact-wells-air-centrifuge
• “Incubator Is Now Oyster Nurse.” Washington Times. 10/1/1925. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026749/1925-10-01/ed-1/?sp=12
• Lewis, Carol Sutton. “Mildred Weeks Wells’s Work on Airborne Transmission Could Have Saved Many Lives—If the Scientific Establishment Listened.” Lost Women of Science Podcast. Scientific American. 5/22/2025. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-public-health-researcher-and-her-engineer-husband-found-how-diseases-can/
• Library and Archives Team. “William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells.” Washington College. https://www.washcoll.edu/people_departments/offices/miller-library/archives-special-collections/archives-blog/Wells%20papers.php
• Molenti, Megan. “The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill.” Wired. 5/13/2021. https://www.wired.com/story/the-teeny-tiny-scientific-screwup-that-helped-covid-kill/
• Perkins JE, Bahlke AM, Silverman HF. Effect of Ultra-violet Irradiation of Classrooms on Spread of Measles in Large Rural Central Schools Preliminary Report. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1947 May;37(5):529-37. PMID: 18016521; PMCID: PMC1623610.
• Randall, Katherine and Ewing, E. Thomas and Marr, Linsey and Jimenez, Jose and Bourouiba, Lydia, How Did We Get Here: What Are Droplets and Aerosols and How Far Do They Go? A Historical Perspective on the Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases (April 15, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3829873
• Riley, Richard L. “What Nobody Needs to Know About Airborne Infection.” American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Volume 163, Issue 1. https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/ajrccm.163.1.hh11-00
• Simon, Clea. “Did a socially awkward scientist set back airborne disease control?” The Harvard Gazette. 3/7/2025. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/03/did-a-socially-awkward-scientist-set-back-airborne-disease-control/
• “Texas State News.” McKinney Weekly Democrat-Gazette. 4/17/1890. https://www.newspapers.com/image/65385350/
• WELLS MW, HOLLA WA. VENTILATION IN THE FLOW OF MEASLES AND CHICKENPOX THROUGH A COMMUNITY: Progress Report, Jan. 1, 1946 to June 15, 1949, Airborne Infection Study, Westchester County Department of Health. JAMA. 1950;142(17):1337–1344. doi:10.1001/jama.1950.02910350007004
• WELLS MW. VENTILATION IN THE SPREAD OF CHICKENPOX AND MEASLES WITHIN SCHOOL ROOMS. JAMA. 1945;129(3):197–200. doi:10.1001/jama.1945.02860370019006
• WELLS WF, WELLS MW. AIR-BORNE INFECTION. JAMA. 1936;107(21):1698–1703. doi:10.1001/jama.1936.02770470016004
• WELLS WF, WELLS MW. AIR-BORNE INFECTION: SANITARY CONTROL. JAMA. 1936;107(22):1805–1809. doi:10.1001/jama.1936.02770480037010
• Wells, W F, and M W Wells. “Measurement of Sanitary Ventilation.” American journal of public health and the nation's health vol. 28,3 (1938): 343-50. doi:10.2105/ajph.28.3.343
• Wells, William Firth and Gordon Maskew Fair. Viability of B. coli Exposed to Ultra-Violet Radiation in Air.Science82,280-281(1935).DOI:10.1126/science.82.2125.280.b
• Wells, William Firth and Mildred Weeks Wells. Measurement of Sanitary Ventilation American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health 28, 343_350, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.28.3.343
• Zimmer, Carl. “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe.” Dutton. 2025.

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All over the world, for all of human history – and probably going back to our earliest hominid ancestors – people have found ways to try to keep themselves clean. But how did soap come about? 

Research:

• “Soap, N. (1), Etymology.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1115187665.
• American Cleaning Institute. “Soaps & Detergents History.” https://www.cleaninginstitute.org/understanding-products/why-clean/soaps-detergents-history
• Beckmann, John. “History of Inventions, Discoveries and Origins.” William Johnston, translator.
• Bosart, L.W. “The Early History of the Soap Industry.” The American Oil Chemists' Society. Journal of Oil & Fat Industries 1924-10: Vol 1 Iss 2.
• Cassidy, Cody. “Who Discovered Soap? What to Know About the Origins of the Life-Saving Substance.” Time. 5/5/2020. https://time.com/5831828/soap-origins/
• Ciftyurek, Muge, and Kasim Ince. "Selahattin Okten Soap Factory in Antakya and an Evaluation on Soap Factory Plan Typology/Antakya'da Bulunan Selahattin Okten Sabunhanesi ve Sabunhane Plan Tipolojisi Uzerine Bir Degerlendirme." Art-Sanat, no. 19, Jan. 2023, pp. 133+. Gale Academic OneFile, dx.doi.org/10.26650/artsanat.2023.19.1106544. Accessed 18 Aug. 2025.
• Costa, Albert B. “Michel-Eugène Chevreul.” Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michel-Eugene-Chevreul
• Curtis, Valerie A. “Dirt, disgust and disease: a natural history of hygiene.” Journal of epidemiology and community health vol. 61,8 (2007): 660-4. doi:10.1136/jech.2007.062380
• Dijkstra, Albert J. “How Chevreul (1786-1889) based his conclusions on his analytical results.” OCL. Vol. 16, No. 1. January-February 2009.
• Gibbs, F.W. “The History and Manufacture of Soap.” Annals of Science. 1939.
• Koeppel, Dan. “The History of Soap.” 4/15/2020. https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/history-of-soap/
• List, Gary, and Michael Jackson. “Giants of the Past: The Battle Over Hydrogenation (1903-1920).” https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=210614
• Maniatis, George C. “Guild Organized Soap Manufacturing Industry in Constantinople: Tenth-Twelfth Centuries.” Byzantion, 2010, Vol. 80 (2010). https://www.jstor.org/stable/44173107
• National Museum of American History. “Bathing (Body Soaps and Cleansers).” https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/health-hygiene-and-beauty/bathing-body-soaps-and-cleansers
• New Mexico Historic Sites. “Making Soap from the Leaves of the Soaptree Yucca.” https://nmhistoricsites.org/assets/files/selden/Virtual%20Classroom_Soaptree%20Yucca%20Soap%20Making.pdf
• “The history of soapmaking.” 8/30/2019. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/history-science-technology-and-medicine/history-science/the-history-soapmaking
• Pliny the Elder. “The Natural History of Pliny. Translated, With Copious Notes and Illustrations.” Vol. 5. John Bostock, translator. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60688/60688-h/60688-h.htm
• Pointer, Sally. “An Experimental Exploration of the Earliest Soapmaking.” EXARC Journal. 2024/3. 8/22/2024. https://exarc.net/issue-2024-3/at/experimental-exploration-earliest-soapmaking
• Ridner, Judith. “The dirty history of soap.” The Conversation. 5/12/2020. https://theconversation.com/the-dirty-history-of-soap-136434
• Routh, Hirak Behari et al. “Soaps: From the Phoenicians to the 20th Century - A Historical Review.” Clinics in Dermatology. Vol. No. 3. 1996.
• Smith, Cyril Stanley, and John G. Hawthorne. “Mappae Clavicula: A Little Key to the World of Medieval Techniques.” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 64, no. 4, 1974, pp. 1–128. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1006317. Accessed 18 Aug. 2025.
• Timilsena, Yakindra Prasad et al. “Perspectives on Saponins: Food Functionality and Applications.” International journal of molecular sciences vol. 24,17 13538. 31 Aug. 2023, doi:10.3390/ijms241713538
• “Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap.” https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/craftsmanship-of-aleppo-ghar-soap-02132
• “Tradition of Nabulsi soap making in Palestine.” https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-nabulsi-soap-making-in-palestine-02112
• “Soaps.” https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethnobotany/soaps.shtml
• van Dijk, Kees. “Soap is the onset of civilization.” From Cleanliness and Culture. Kees van Dijk and Jean Gelman Taylor, eds. Brill. 2011. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctvbnm4n9.4
• Wei, Huang. “The Sordid, Sudsy Rise of Soap in China.” Sixth Tone. 8/11/2020. https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1006041

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This 2021 episode covers John Dalton, famous for his work in atomic theory. But he wrote one of the first thorough descriptions of what he called “anomalous vision” – he realized he wasn’t perceiving color the same way as other people. 

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Holly talks about nebulous passages in the writing of Jane Croly and her brother. Tracy and Holly talk about watching TV as children. 

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The initial time period where a TV remote control was developed was pretty short. And it shows how two different people perceive their work, and how that work is perceived differently over time by their employer.

Research:

• Adler, R. “Control System.” Dec. 17, 1957. U.S. Patent Office. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/9a/fb/1a/619d2580b08526/US2817025.pdf
• AFX News. “COMPANY NEWS; MOTOROLA TO BUY ZENITH ELECTRONICS NETWORK SYSTEMS.” New York Times. July 20, 2000. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/20/business/company-news-motorola-to-buy-zenith-electronics-network-systems.html
• Benson-Allott, Caetlin. “Remote Control.” Bloomsbury Academic. 2015.
• Dowling, Stephen. “The Surprising Origins of the TV Remote.” BBC. Aug. 31, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180830-the-history-of-the-television-remote-contro
• Fox, Margalit. “Eugene Polley, Conjuror of a Device That Changed TV Habits, Dies at 96.” New York Times. May 22, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/business/eugene-t-polley-inventor-of-the-wireless-tv-remote-dies-at-96.html
• Gertner, Jon. “A Clicker Is Born.” New York Times Magazine. Dec. 30, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/magazine/30Adler-t.html
• Gregory, Ted. “Remote’s Inventor Hopes to Push Buttons of History.” Press of Atlantic City. Feb. 5, 2006. https://www.newspapers.com/image/926298372/?match=1&terms=eugene%20polley
• “Heritage.” Zenith. https://zenith.com/heritage/
• “Man who glued TV watchers to the couch dies.” Cnn.com (via AP). Feb 16, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070219040307/http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/02/16/obit.remote.control.ap/index.html
• “Now … a Flash of Light Without wires!” (Advertisement.) The Salt Lake Tribune. Nov. 20, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/598655702/?match=1&terms=Flash-matic
• Polley, Eugene J. “Control System.” U.S. Patent Office. Sept. 8, 1959. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/f7/02/b1/5716b40ac9c0fc/US2903575.pdf
• “Robert Adler.” National Inventors Hall of Fame. https://www.invent.org/inductees/robert-adler
• “Robert Adler - TV Wireless Remote.” Lemelson-MIT. https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/robert-adler
• Schofield, Jack. “Eugene Polley Obituary.” The Guardian. May 23, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/may/23/eugene-polley
• Slodysko, Brian. “Eugene Polley dies at 96; inventor of wireless TV remote control.” May 23, 2012. https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-eugene-polley-20120523-story.html
• Stroh, Michael. “The Couch Potato’s Best Friend.” Baltimore Sun. Nov. 22, 2006. https://www.newspapers.com/image/173151815/?match=1&terms=eugene%20polley
• “TV remote control inventor Eugene Polley dies at 96.” BBC. May 22, 2012. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-18164200
• “You have to see it to believe it!” (Advertisement.) Syracuse herald-Journal. Sept. 27, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1088093208/?match=1&terms=Flash-matic
• “Zenith Space Command …” Evening World Herald/ Dec. 26, 1956. https://www.newspapers.com/image/883665550/?match=1&terms=%22Space%20Command%22

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Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote under the pen name Jennie June, was a journalist who advocated for equality for women. She is most well known for founding one of the earliest clubs for women in the U.S.

Research:

• Croly, Jennie June. “Jennie June's American Cookery Book, Containing Upwards of Twelve Hundred Choice and Carefully Tested Receipts.” Excelsior. 1878. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jennie_June_s_American_Cookery_Book_Cont/enEEAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
• Croly, J.C. “Sorosis: Its Origin and History.” New York. J.J. Little & Co. 1886. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/sorosisitsorigin00crol/page/n3/mode/2up
• Croly, J.C. “Thrown on her own resources, or, What girls can do.” New York. T.Y. Crowell & Co. 1891. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100170730
• Croly, J.C. “The history of the woman's club movement in America.” New York. H.G. Allen. 1898. https://archive.org/details/historywomanscl00clubgoog/page/n10/mode/2up
• “The Dickens Dinner.” Louisville Daily Courier. April 19, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/119304180/?match=1&terms=%22Jennie%20June%22%20press%20club%20dickens
• https://web.archive.org/web/20120120014321/http://www.gfwc.org/gfwc/Jane_Cunningham_Croly.asp
• “Jane Cunningham Croly.” General Federation of Women’s Clubs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120120014321/http://www.gfwc.org/gfwc/Jane_Cunningham_Croly.asp
• “Jane Cunningham Croly.” National Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/jane-cunningham-croly/
• “Jane Cunningham (“Jennie June”) Croly.” Ebsco. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/womens-studies-and-feminism/jane-cunningham-jennie-june-croly
• “Our Mission.” General Federation of Women’s Clubs. https://www.gfwc.org/who-we-are/
• “Rockford Register (Rockford, Ill.) 1855-187?” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014331
• Morse, Caroline M., ed, and Woman’s Press Club of New York City, “Memories of Jane Cunningham Croly, ‘Jenny June,’” Produced by Ari J Joki and PG Distributed Proofreaders. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12099/pg12099-images.html
• “The New York Sorosis.” The Charleston Daily News. Nov. 5, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/87596013/?match=1&terms=sorosis
• Puchko, Kristy. “Journalist Jennie June Was "Having It All" in the 19th Century.” Mental Floss. April 14, 2015. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62964/journalist-jennie-june-was-having-it-all-19th-century
• “The Sorosis Lunch.” Chicago Evening Post. Sept. 28, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/668238331/?match=1&terms=sorosis
• “Sorosis.” Leavenworth Daily Commercial. Aug. 11, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/425238609/?match=1&terms=sorosis

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This 2022 episode discusses how modern rabies prophylaxis is almost 100% effective at preventing human death from the bite of a rabid animal. How did people come to understand rabies, and then develop a vaccination for it?

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