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Stuff You Missed in History Class
iHeartPodcasts · Culture
Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.
More from this show
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Montague Summers
Montague Summers wrote numerous books on witches, werewolves, vampires, black magic, and ghosts, and he edited and published numerous works and claimed to be a clergyman. But who was he, really?
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SYMHC Classics: William Palmer
This 2021 episode covers William Palmer, who was convicted in 1855 as a poisoner though there wasn't any hard evidence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Behind the Scenes Minis: Delayed News
Tracy talks about the frequency of news from research institutions getting reported years after the fact. She also clears up a misunderstanding Holly had about a painting that was discussed this week. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Unearthed! in October 2026, Part 2
Part two of the autumn 2026 edition of Unearthed! kicks off with the catch-all potpourri category, then covers edibles and potables, shipwrecks, art, and Halloween-appropriate topics.
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Unearthed! in October 2026, Part 1
Part one of this autumn edition of Unearthed! covers updates, medical finds, animals, and lots books and letters.
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SYMHC Classics: Original Six Impossible Episodes
This 2015 kickoff to the Six Impossible Episodes series features Stagecoach Mary, Edward Mordrake, Robert the Haunted Doll, the London Beer Flood, the Lost Army of Cambyses and La Maupin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Behind the Scenes Minis: Pistols and Candy Corn
Holly shares an odd detail about the red barn murder case. She and Tracy also discuss the way Forrest Mars may have affected the way his father's life is described. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Eponymous Foods: Full Bars
This installment of the eponymous foods series covers candy bars, including Snickers, Mars Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and some side mentions of other candies.
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Red Barn Murder
In the spring of 1828, a news story broke in Suffolk, England about the horrific murder of Maria Marten. Her paramour was the only suspect, but he evaded authorities for some time before he was captured and put on trial.
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SYMHC Classics: Giordano Bruno
This 2022 episode covers Giordano Bruno, a mathematician, philosopher, astronomer, occultist, and according to the Catholic church of 16th-century Italy, a heretic. He met a bad end because of his views, but he started out as a friar. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Behind the Scenes Minis: Martian Skulls
Tracy ponders how Sara Weiss knew some of the things she knew and whether her husband characterized her as less informed than she was. Holly talks about a possible relative of Theophilus Brome. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Two Screaming Skulls
Screaming skull lore is something that is unique to Britain, though specific skull lore varies. The first episode has roots in the English Civil war, and the second is tied to colonialism in the Caribbean and the slave trade.
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Sara Weiss’s Journeys to the Planet Mars
Sara Weiss wrote a lengthy account of life and afterlife on Mars, a place she said she visited through psychic travels starting in 1892.
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SYMHC Classics: Charles Colchester
This 2021 episode covers Colchester, who claimed to be psychic and may have warned President Abraham Lincoln that he was going to be assassinated. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Behind the Scenes Minis: Lager, Ale, Emo Girl
Tracy talks about how the beer riots may sound silly, but were underpinned by serious issues. Holly talks about the Elizabeth Fry’s daughters polishing their mother’s image when publishing her diaries. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry is lauded as an early 19th century prison reformer. But she had no formal background or training in prison or social work.
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Two Beer Riots
The Munich Beer Riot of 1844 was a reaction to the price of beer set by the Bavarian government. The Lager Beer Riot took place in Chicago in 1855, and was a response to municipal policies put in place by mayor Levi Boone that targeted the city’s Catholic and immigrant populations.
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SYMHC Classics: Nuclear Close Calls
This episode from 2017 covers several moments in history when the world came perilously close to a full-scale nuclear war, due to false alarms or miscommunication. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Behind the Scenes Minis: Busses and Overpasses
Holly and Tracy unpack the accusation that Robert Moses purposely built overpass bridges too low for busses to drive under them as a way to keep Black New Yorkers away from Jones Beach. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Robert Moses and the Shaping of New York, Part 2
The second part of our two-parter on Robert Moses looks at the vast amount of power he amassed in New York’s government, and the many controversies that surrounded the second half of his career.
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Robert Moses and the Shaping of New York, Part 1
Robert Moses is responsible for so much of the infrastructure of New York, including parks, bridges, highways and more. And he remains a divisive figure. The first part of this two-parter covers his rise in New York government.
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SYMHC Classics: Eradication of Smallpox
This 2021 episode covers smallpox, a viral disease that has existed for millennia. But it’s now one of only two diseases that’s been eradicated through human activity, and a global plan was enacted to do it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Behind the Scenes Minis: Progressive Medicine
Holly talks about the lack information about Pinel’s family, and how much she’d like to see Oscar Wilde use social media. Tracy discusses the way the Cooley episode narrowed down the scope of her originally planned topic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Coley's Toxins and the Origins of Immunotherapy
William B. Coley started using a bacterial infection to treat cancers in the late 19th century, one of the earliest uses of immunotherapy.
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Philippe Pinel
Pinel’s work is considered the precursor to psychiatry. In the late 18th century, he overhauled the asylum system of Paris with his groundbreaking ideas about mental health.
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SYMHC Classics: Flexner Report
This 2020 episode covers the Flexner Report, which is often credited with changing the medical field and shaping what medical education looks like today. But this document negatively impacted medicine in the Black community. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Behind the Scenes Minis: Paddles and The British Museum
Tracy and Holly talk about corporal punishment in schools and student loans. Tracy relays her experience at the British Museum. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal was the ruler of the Assyrian empire in the 7th century BCE. His 38-year reign was marked by both scholarship and a terrifying brutality.
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Six Impossible Episodes: Back-to-Court
This episode takes a quick look at six U.S. Supreme Court cases that all have to do with the rights of children in public primary and secondary schools.
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SYMHC Classics: Olympe de Gouges
This 2021 episode covers Olympe de Gouges, known primarily for her 1791 pamphlet “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Citizen.” But her writing and political activity went far beyond that one pamphlet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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