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History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.
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Words are everywhere -- and we're grateful, because we can't do this show without them. But all words were, at some point, just made up. So how does society decide what counts as a "real" word? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the history of language, and the oddly specific systems dictionaries put in place to decide whether a given word or phase is legitimate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What if you could hop from France to New York in less than four hours? Traveling twice the speed of sound, with caviar, lobster, champagne and cigars? This was the pitch of the Concorde jet -- a revolutionary, utterly ridiculous and brilliant craft that promised to fundamentally change air travel. Spoiler: it's not around anymore. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max figure out why.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In late 17th-century England, it was almost impossible for anyone outside of the upper class to successfully get a divorce -- the process was expensive and required approval from both the church and the government. As a result, some couples agreed to end their unhappy marriages through a bizarre practice known as 'wife selling'. And, unfortunately, it's exactly what it sounds like.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As the Western world embarks on 2026, Ben, Max and Noel welcome everyone's New Year's resolutions. (Here's hoping that gym schedule continues through February!) In celebration of a "New Year, New Me" mentality, the boys return to the Ridiculous History of Fad Diets.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nowadays beef, chicken and pork are the most common meats in the US -- but, not so long ago, that could have all changed. Join the guys as they travel back to the early 1900s, when Louisiana congressman Robert Broussard proposed an unorthodox solution to the nation's crippling meat shortage: the introduction of African Hippopotamuses to Gulf Coast swamplands. What convinced Broussard that the world's deadliest land mammal could become America's next culinary craze? Tune in to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today, most people probably don't remember the career of once-famous charioteer Gaius Appuleius Diocles -- however, in his day we was a cultural icon, one of the most famous athletes in Rome. Join the guys as they explore the story Diocles and trace one professor's quest to figure out exactly how much cash Diocles made in modern terms.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1Happy New Year! It's no secret that MTV fundamentally changed the nature of media and entertainment. But how did it actually get started? What made the world so obsessed with the concept of "Music Television"? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max get to learn the true origin story of MTV from none other than the legendary co-founder, Tom Freston. As an author, a businessman, a philanthropist and a world traveller, Tom shares not only his origin story ... but, get this: he also gives the guys some insider tips on how to pursue a life worth living (and pitches a wild idea to get them promoted).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Join Ben, Noel, Casey and returning guest Christopher Hassiotis as they continue exploring the strange life and times of George Washington in the second part of this two-part series. Listen in to learn more about Washington's weird hair routine, his bizarre, lifelong medical issues, and his family's troubling history in early America.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Returning special guest Christopher Hassiotis joins the guys today for a round-robin discussion of the very weird life of George Washington, first President of the United States. (As you may have guessed from the title, there's more weirdness than we could fit in a single episode.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hey there, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Ben, Noel and Max here: as we travel to hang with our friends and family, we like to do a little thing at the end of the year where we explore various tangents and trivia we didn't get to in our first run of a show. So, as you're hugging or dodging your own family -- and just maybe having some adventures with your cousins -- join us for a wild ride through the history of hair spray, inventors who accidentally died due to their own inventions, a load of holiday banter, and so much more. (Ben here: by "so much more," I mean, like, two other things.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome to the end of the year, fellow Ridiculous Historians! As Ben, Noel and Max look back on the events of 2025, they discovered historians do, in fact, have one year singled out as "the worst year in human history." But... why? Join the guys as they explore how DXXXVI absolutely wrecked Europe, the Middle East and Asia -- with consequences that reverberate in the modern day.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For centuries most people in Europe thought of rhinos as another form of mythical creature, like unicorns or griffins. However, this all changed when an enterprising sea captain brought a young, orphaned rhino named Clara back to his home country after his travels abroad. It's often said that fame can have a powerful effect on the average human being, but how does it affect rhinos? Join the guys and special guest Katie Goldin, host of the podcast Creature Feature, as they unravel the mystery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What's the strangest Christmas tradition you practice? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max ring in the end of the year with an exploration of Christmas celebrations across the world -- and speculate on inventing a few of their own.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
While the career of rhythm-and-blues vocalist Johnny Ace was short, he left a huge mark on the music world. Up until Christmas Day of 1954, Ace seemed set to reach genuine crossover success in pop music -- until, that is, he met his untimely end during an ill-fated game of Russian Roulette. At least, that's the legend. Yet as special guest Jake Brennan, the creator of the hit podcast Disgraceland, reveals: there's much more to the story. Tune in as Jake and the gang explore a strange, disturbing Christmas mystery. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disgraceland/id1275172907Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HeA7PGBai6TQrZLOLzcEi?si=6362c868e1da4ad6See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ben, Noel and Max return with this week's Classic episode! Monopoly is a pretty divisive game, and people tend to either love it or hate it. However, for hundreds of Allied POWs captured during World War II, Monopoly became more than a mere diversion -- it became, instead, their ticket to freedom. Join the guys as they explore the strange sequence of events that led the UK to turn Monopoly into a real-life escape kit.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Let's be honest. If you live in the United States, you probably think fruitcake is ridiculous. It's like the MRE of Christmas, passed around from one family to the next. But what makes it so resilient? How, out of all the cakes in the world,did fruitcake become a thing -- and why does it remain with us today?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Picture this: it's just after World War II -- the world knows nuclear weapons can end civilization. So, how can a government help the public feel safe? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the ridiculous history of that time Uncle Sam tried to make the public build cartoonishly bad fallout shelters.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Language is beautiful and, in many cases, continually evolving. As a result, we end up with hundreds of strange idioms and figures of speech that we use on a daily basis, with little to no understanding of what they originally meant. Join the guys and special guest, Rowan Newbie, the creator of the Pitches podcast, as they explore the bizarre origins of your favorite turns of phrase. (Ben here, with a bonus question: I went through and noted multiple turns of phrase we all used unintentionally - how many can you catch?)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Can people really just, for no discernable reason, catch on fire? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore the centuries old folklore and investigations of a phenomenon known as "spontaneous human combustion" -- and discover the debate continues, even in the modern day.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As Ben, Noel and Max close out another year of Ridiculous History, they return to the patently baffling world of intellectual property. In part three of this series, the guys finally tackle one of the weirdest concepts out there -- a thoroughly confusing thing called a 'copyright'. What is it? Where did this idea come from, how does it work... and what exactly does it protect? Tune in to learn more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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man this spanish ad is drivin me crazy, someone tellme that this will not continue this way...
did he just refer to the crucifixion of Jesus as a fairy tale.?
wrong episode title
they sold them to be housekeepers, farm help and most of them lived in awful condition and abused! most of them were put on trains because they had no one to take care of them parents dead or no money to take care of them they left home to "take care of themselves"! It is crazy but interesting!!
Portland was never the capitol of Oregon.
we are most cussed in the south. drawl and all. y'a ll.
Well, we're all stuck with dogman now. 😒 🤔
Put garlic around your neck. HA.
my first weird movie. Werewolves. horrific.
I live in Alabama, and some of the family names yall said are still here, and I know a few of them.
If you do a shoes episode you could do an entire episode on, Imelda Marcos' now ruined shoe collection.
way too many ads, I unsubscribed I hope the ad money keeps coming as you lose listeners because you're drowning them with more ads than content, pity I liked the podcast but I'm not supporting something that's worse than TV and radio combined with pure stupid ads
The news guy actually pronounced it better. In Russian, his name is Хрущёв. That X is kh, kind of like an Arabic h. The р is the Russian r, у is pronounced oo, ш is pronounced sh, and щ is like a softer version ё is princes yo в is the Russian v So his name is accurately pronounced khroosh’ov. In English his name is Khrushchev, but it’s more accurate to be pronounced Khrushchov. Notice the o noise is made by ё, but it’s not pronounced yo in this word, rather o.
Love cats!
Very effective on the ground floor patio sliding door.
in Canada we call this maneuver the "compressed moon ".
Seniors like me? That means you buy life insurance from high schoolers
Massive?
To anybody who wants to skip the spoiler skip to 6:40
If we survive to some far future, will they call Donald also, the man who got away with everything?