Podcast

From March 2014 to November 2021, my wife Sharon and I hosted a weekly podcast featuring “forgotten stories from the pages of history” — surprising and curious tales from the past.

We’re no longer producing new episodes, but all the old ones are still available — you can use the streaming players below or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Thanks for listening!

Podcast Episode 105: Surviving on Seawater

alain bombard

In 1952, French physician Alain Bombard set out to cross the Atlantic on an inflatable raft to prove his theory that a shipwreck victim can stay alive on a diet of seawater, fish, and plankton. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll set out with Bombard on his perilous attempt to test his theory.

We’ll also admire some wobbly pedestrians and puzzle over a luckless burglar.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 104: The Harvey’s Casino Bombing

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harveys_bombing.jpg

In August 1980, an extortionist planted a thousand-pound bomb in Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino in western Nevada. Unless the owners paid him $3 million within 24 hours, he said, the bomb would go off and destroy the casino. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll describe the tense drama that followed and the FBI’s efforts to catch the criminal behind it.

We’ll also consider some dubious lawn care shortcuts and puzzle over why a man would tear up a winning ticket.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 103: Legislating Pi

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detroit_Photographic_Company_(0340).jpg

In 1897, confused physician Edward J. Goodwin submitted a bill to the Indiana General Assembly declaring that he’d squared the circle — a mathematical feat that was known to be impossible. In today’s show we’ll examine the Indiana pi bill, its colorful and eccentric sponsor, and its celebrated course through a bewildered legislature and into mathematical history.

We’ll also marvel at the confusion wrought by turkeys and puzzle over a perplexing baseball game.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 102: The Bunion Derby

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kaibabnationalforest/5734775201
Image: Flickr

In 1928, 199 runners set out on a perilous 3,400-mile footrace across America, from Los Angeles to Chicago and on to New York. The winner would receive $25,000 — if anyone finished at all. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll follow the Trans-American Footrace, better known as the Bunion Derby, billed as the greatest footrace the world had ever known.

We’ll also learn some creepy things about spiders and puzzle over why one man needs three cars.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 101: Jerome

jerome

In 1863 the residents of Sandy Cove, Nova Scotia, discovered a legless man on the shore of St. Mary’s Bay. He spoke no English and could not tell them who he was or where he had come from. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll tell the story of “Jerome” and what is known or guessed of his past.

We’ll also learn about explosive rats in World War II and puzzle over a computer that works better when its users sit.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 99: Notes and Queries

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Line5125_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg

In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll take a tour through some oddities and unanswered questions from our research, including whether a spider saved Frederick the Great’s life, a statue with the wrong face, and a spectacularly disaster-prone oil tanker.

We’ll also revisit the lost soldiers of World War I and puzzle over some curiously lethal ship cargo.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 98: The St. Albans Raid

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Albans_Raiders.gif

Seemingly safe in northern New England, the residents of St. Albans, Vermont, were astonished in October 1864 when a group of Confederate soldiers appeared in their midst, terrorizing residents, robbing banks, and stealing horses. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll tell the story of the St. Albans raid, the northernmost land action of the Civil War.

We’ll also learn about Charles Darwin’s misadventures at the equator and puzzle over a groundskeeper’s strange method of tending grass.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 97: The Villisca Ax Murders

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jingerelle/5180105661
Image: Flickr

Early one morning in 1912, the residents of Villisca, Iowa, discovered a horrible scene: An entire family had been brutally murdered in their sleep. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll describe the gruesome crime, which has baffled investigators for a hundred years.

We’ll also follow the further adventures of German sea ace Felix von Luckner and puzzle over some fickle bodyguards.

See full show notes …

Podcast Episode 96: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oppenheim_-_Kidnapping_of_Edgardo_Mortara_-_1862.jpg

On June 23, 1858, the Catholic Church removed 6-year-old Edgardo Mortara from his family in Bologna. The reason they gave was surprising: The Mortaras were Jewish, and Edgardo had been secretly baptized. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll tell the story of little Edgardo and learn how his family’s plight shaped the course of Italian history.

We’ll also hear Ben Franklin’s musings on cultural bigotry and puzzle over an unexpected soccer riot.

See full show notes …