Half-Arsed History
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Half-Arsed History
Half-Arsed History's second book, The Most Interesting People You've Never Heard Of, is now available for pre-order: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/bkq2G9Welcome along to Half-Arsed History! It's a weekly podcast highlighting absurd and entertaining stories from history. Twice a week, it helps host Ri...
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Apologies to Apple Podcasts Subscribers
I can't log into my Apple Podcasts account - the 2FA code thing isn't working while I'm overseas (despite me setting it up with my overseas number bef...
Episode 422: Athens vs. Sparta - the Peloponnesian War
In this week's episode, learn all about one of the most important and iconic conflicts from the history of Ancient Greece: the Peloponnesian War, when...
Week 30: Tobacco Comes to England
This week in history we’ve skulls being made into drinkware, we’ve got German nobles drowning in sewage, we’ve got the death of the last Sapa Inca, an...
Episode 421: The Successful Failure of Apollo 13
In this week's episode, learn all about the disasters that beset the Apollo 13 mission to the Moon, and how the astronauts aboard and the ground team...
Week 29: The Football War
This week in history we’ve got the birth of a famous conqueror, we’ve got the dawn of the atomic age, we’ve got a giant leap for mankind - and we’ve g...
Episode 420: The History of Cannabis
In this week's episode, explore the history of the cannabis plant, including its role in historical and modern textile industries, as well as its medi...
Week 28: The First Ascent of the Matterhorn
This week in history we’ve got an iconic moment from the French revolution, we’ve got a famous historical duel, we’ve got someone trying to get to the...
Episode 419: Mata Hari, the Seductress-Turned-Spy
In this week's episode, meet Mata Hari, the internationally-renowned exotic dancer who became a spy for... someone... during the First World War.
Week 27: Oxford University’s 500-Year Grudge
This week in history we’ve got the origin of Independence Day, we’ve got a slightly-bungled assassination, we’ve got a bloke who used to surgically at...
Announcing: The Most Interesting People You've Never Heard Of, the second Half-Arsed History book
The Most Interesting People You've Never Heard Of, the second Half-Arsed History book, releases on the 29th of September across the Australia and Aote...
Episode 418: The Stonewall Riots, the Origin of Pride
In this week's episode, learn about the Stonewall Riots, which took place in the wake of a police raid on a NYC gay bar and catalysed the growing gay...
Week 26: The Tunguska Event
This week in history we’ve got the battle that unified Japan, we’ve got the death of a famous detective, we’ve got the event that kicked off the Firs...
Episode 417: The History of the FIFA World Cup - Part 3
In this week's episode, conclude the tour of World Cup history with the details of the tournaments from 1990 onwards - all the highlights and lowlight...
Week 25: The Hand of God
This week in history we’ve got decisive battles for the East India Company and for friend of the show Napoleon, we’ve got a river of burning whiskey f...
Episode 416: The History of the FIFA World Cup - Part 2
In this week's episode, continue to discover the story of the FIFA Men's World Cup, from the postwar return of the tournament in 1950, across years of...
Week 24: The 1955 Le Mans Disaster
This week in history we’ve got the reason the Taj Mahal was built, we’ve got the debut of the world’s first bike, we’ve got the delivery of the Statue...
Episode 415: The History of the FIFA World Cup - Part 1
In this week's episode, get across the early history of the FIFA Men's World Cup, from its forerunners and precursors to its early emergence and devel...
Week 23: The Treaty of Tordesillas
This week in history we’ve got an unlucky French astronomer, an absurd religious festival, and a riotous baseball game where beer was ten cents a cup...
Episode 414: The Hindenburg Disaster
In this week's episode, learn all about the Hindenburg Disaster, when a German rigid airship went up in flames in Lakehurst, USA - and the very signif...
Week 22: The Disappearance of Maurice Wilson
This week in history we’ve got French heroes burning and Byzantine cities falling, we’ve got the birthdays of singers and spies and activists - that’s...
Episode 413: J.R.R. Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings
In this week's episode, meet J.R.R. Tolkien, the immensely influential fantasy author whose works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, revolutionise...
Week 21: Pepsi Number Fever
This week in history we’ve got assassinations and defenestrations and the release of a hugely popular global franchise, we’ve got the birthdays of pal...
Episode 412: The Seven Voyages of Zheng He
In this week's episode, get to know the famed Chinese admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages at the head of a huge treasure fleet for the glory of Mi...
Week 20: The Fall of Acre
This week in history we’ve got the test of the first-ever vaccine, and the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, we’ve got the birthdays of artists...
Episode 411: The True Story of Pocahontas
In this week's episode, meet Pocahontas, the famous Indigenous American woman, and uncover the truth of her story - or as much of it as we know, at an...
Update: I'm Really Sick So Episodes Will Be Delayed
Just got back from an overseas trip and I'm absolutely cooked, there is going to be some delays in getting the next few episodes out. Sorry about this...
Week 19: The Assassination of Spencer Perceval
This week in history we’ve got the theft of the crown jewels and of a Confederate steamboat, we’ve got the birthdays of nurses and composers and artis...
Episode 410: John Harrison’s Marine Chronometer
In this week's episode, get to know John Harrison, and understand how his pioneering marine chronometers finally solved the famous longitude problem a...
Week 18: George Psalmanazar and the Formosa Hoax
This week in history we’ve got the union of crowns, the beginning of a revolution, and an aeronautical disaster, we’ve got the birthdays of political...
Episode 409: The Donner Party
In this week's episode, hear the gruesome tale of the Donner Party, when a group of westward migrants became trapped in snow on the Sierra Nevada, for...
Week 17: The Battle of Clontarf
This week in history we’ve got famous mutinies, huge canals, and wartime invasions, we’ve got the birthdays of writers of philosophy and plays and nov...
Episode 408: The 1973 Oil Crisis
In this week's episode, explore the lasting consequences of the 1973 Oil Crisis, and compare it with the current energy crisis the world is experienci...
Week 16: The Death of the Red Baron
This week in history we’ve got several important or at least interesting chapters in Australian history, we’ve got the birthdays of actors and queens...
Episode 407: The Avignon Papacy
In this week's episode, learn all about the Avignon Papacy, to understand why and how the US recently invoked it as a threat against the Vatican.
Week 15: The Invention of Cornflakes
This week in history we’ve got maritime disasters caused by iceberg and by toilet, we’ve got the death of a president and the birth of a mother of kin...
Episode 406: The East India Company - Part 6: Legacies and Lessons
In this week's episode, explore the historical and contemporary legacies of the British East India Company, examined through nationalist, political, e...
Week 14: The Rescue of Poon Lim
This week in history we’ve got volcanic eruptions and famous statues, we’ve got the birthdays of royals, representatives, and root rats, and we’ve got...
Episode 405: The East India Company - Part 5: Downfall and Dissolution
In this week's episode, discover how and why the British East India Company, an immensely powerful and wealthy imperial institution, came crashing dow...
Week 13: The Spaghetti Tree Hoax
This week in history we’ve got the origin of gerrymandering, the renaming of Constantinople, we’ve got the birthdays of composers and scientists and p...
Episode 404: The East India Company - Part 4 Expansion and Empire
In this week's episode, hear about the phase of conquest and expansion that transformed the British East India Company into one of the largest and mos...