Claim OwnershipA Popular History of Unpopular Things
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© 2026 A Popular History of Unpopular Things
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A podcast that makes weird, gross, gory, and just generally “unpopular” history more fun and accessible
76 Episodes
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Join Kelli in this shorter history on the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, an early Renaissance-era book written in a made up language (dubbed Voynichese) with strange diagrams that seem... out of this world. I love a good *history mystery* :) Sources Dave Roos, “Why the Voynich Manuscript May Be the World’s Most Mysterious Book” History.com. https://www.history.com/articles/voynich-manuscript-mysteryCipher Manuscript, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. https://colle...
Join Kelli as she goes over the story of a feral boy found in the woods outside of Hamelin, Germany. He was brought to King George I's court in England and named Peter, and he entertained curious onlookers for months. He had strange mannerisms and was an oddity, until he fell out of favor and "retired" to a farm, where he lived peacefully until his 70s. But what was really going on with Peter? Was he really feral as people thought? Did he clamber around on all fours like a beast? Or was ...
Join Kelli as she goes over a strange event from the 17th century Dutch Republic - the time a political leader was killed, strung up, dismembered, and then cannibalized. As always, we set up the history surrounding this event to get a good understanding of the Rampjaar - the disaster year - and why the Dutch people took out their frustrations on Johan de Witt. And we also look into the alleged cannibalism that took place. What does it all mean? What is the bigger picture? What in the wo...
Join Kelli as she goes over the popular legend of Boudica, the short-lived queen of the Iceni peoples in Iron Age Britain. Much of what we know about Boudica comes from heavily-biased Roman sources, written decades or over a century after the events they describe. So how much of her story is fact, and how much is fiction? And was Boudica even a real person? Let's dive into the available written and archaeological sources and analyze why the Romans might have written about her the way they did...
Join Kelli as she talks about Rome's first ever Black Banquet, hosted by Emperor Domitian in 89 CE. Today's episode covers some Roman history including the creation of the Colosseum, the Flavian Dynasty, Cynicism and Stoicism, Memento Mori, and Domitian's spooky banquet - so scary, his guests fled in terror, fearing for their lives! Happy early Halloween, APHOUT fans <3 Referenced Sources: C. Suetonius Tranquillus, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, first composed in 121 CE. https://pe...
Join Kelli as she looks into the weird world of European animal trials, focusing on the French Pig Trial at Savigny in 1457, where a sow owned by Jehan Bailly was put on trial for the murder of 5-year-old Jehan Martin. That's right - the pig was put on trial for murder. Not her human owner. But where does the legal precedent for animal trials come from? Let's find out! Sources Referenced: Alexander Lee, “Pigs Might Try,” 2020. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/natural-histories/pigs-m...
Join Kelli as she goes over the mystery of the Eilean Mòr lighthouse. In December of 1900, the three men keeping the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles - James Ducat, Thomas Marshall, and Donald McArthur - vanished without a trace. The light was out for about two weeks. When a fourth keeper came to relieve one of the men and bring more supplies, he stumbled upon a dark island with an empty lighthouse - and no signs of distress. Let's go over the history of the Eilean Mòr lighthouse, the primary ...
Join Kelli as she goes over the history surrounding Typhoid Mary. We'll go beyond the typhoid-laden peaches and fresh ice cream! When we take a step back and look at her whole story in context, we get a different view of what it must have been like to be "Typhoid Mary," a strong, no-nonsense, Irish immigrant making a living as a cook in NYC and surrounding areas. Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launStart for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase,...
Join Kelli as she goes over the Congo Free State, owned not by Belgium, but by its King - Leopold II. During the 19th century in Africa, seven European countries - Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, met to divide up Africa; they had already encroached on about 10% of it, mostly the coasts, but now they wanted more. In this episode we discuss why, and what happened to the Congolese men, women, and children who were suddenly under the control of King Leopold. Intro ...
Join Kelli as she goes over the history of the English Peasant's Rebellion, 1381. The Black Death had severely impacted England - not just in high mortality rates, but also its ability to function within its strict feudal order. To help compensate for the drop in workers, and to try and get the economy back on track, Edward III passes the Statute of Laborers in 1351. But what this did was set in motion a rage against feudalism, government intervention, and inequality that manifested as the Pe...
Join Kelli as she goes over the history behind the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic, an event that started with three schoolgirls in late January 1962 and spread to nearby villages. It took roughly 18-24 months for the epidemic to finally stop, and luckily, nobody died. It was determined that this was a case of mass psychogenic illness - the more modern name for "mass hysteria." But how did it start? Why schoolgirls in Tanganyika in early 1962? Let's look to the historical context to get an under...
Join Kelli as she goes over another case where the US government experimented on humans - but this time, they purposefully infected Guatemalans with syphilis, taking what happened with the men of Tuskegee a whole step further. So today we'll do some historical context to figure out why Guatemala - what happened in history that led to such a level of interventionism that the US government would conduct medical experiments on the Guatemalan people? Once that's squared away, we'll briefly ...
Join Kelli as she goes over Stonehenge. We'll start with the basics - what stonehenge is, what it's made of, who might have built it, how they built it, what a henge even is... before talking about some of the more recent explanations for some of its mysteries. We'll also talk about its purpose - a gathering place to celebrate the summer and winter solstices? A burial ground? Both? And does it have a connection with nearby Durrington Walls, only two miles away, and a henge complex that might...
Join Kelli as she goes over a tale of a Scottish incestuous cannibal family - the Beans. As legend goes, they lived in a cave in southwest Scotland, only venturing out to kill passersby and loot them for good - and meat. Over 25 years, it's said they killed over 1,000 people. But how much truth is there to this grisly tale? It sounds a little too gross to be real. Let's dive into the history to find out where the Sawney Bean story comes from, how credible the sources are, and whether th...
Join Kelli as she goes over yet another example of US doctors experimenting on their own people. Starting in the 1950s, dermatology Dr. Albert Kligman came to the Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia and experimented on its prisoners. What started as a simple cure for an athlete's foot outbreak turned into a decades-long series of experiments, ranging from testing lotions and cremes to hallucinogenic drugs to the toxic compounds found in Agent Orange. Though the experiments eventually stopped ...
Happy holidays, APHOUT fans! Join Kelli as she goes over a Welsh Christmas Day Massacre! In 1175, William de Braose committed a massacre against some rival families in Gwent, southeast Wales. De Braose, a Norman who was given control of Abergavenny Castle after his uncle Henry Fitzmiles was killed, decided to seek retribution against the man responsible - Seisyll ap Dyfnwal. Seisyll, his son, and many of his men, came to have a peaceful Christmas dinner at de Braose's Abergavenny keep. Once ...
Join Kelli as she goes over the Ball of the Burning Men, an event during King Charles VI's reign in France where 6 men - charivari dancers dressed as wild men in very flammable costumes - caught fire. And one of the men was the King himself - Charles VI. In today's episode, we go over the historical context of the time, including the Hundred Years War. Then, we look into Charles VI, sometimes called Charles the Mad, to understand how he ended up in a flammable costume on fire at a ball. And...
Join Kelli as she goes over the history of the Wicker Man! The Wicker Man was popularized first by the Christopher Lee movie from 1973, and later with Nicholas Cage's remake. The first was folk horror, the second more action suspense. But was the Wicker Man a real thing? Let's go back into the primary sources to read the first ever mention of a Wicker Man in the historical record - Julius Caesar's Commentary of the Gallic Wars. Once we get all the facts, analyze the sources, and take note o...
Join Kelli as she goes over New Jersey's most famous cryptozoological son - the Jersey Devil. Though the Jersey Devil was the devil-born son of the Leeds Family, not much is known about it; it lives in the Pine Barrens, it looks like a weird, winged amalgamation of animals, and it was once "caught" and put in a Philly museum in 1909 (spoiler: they painted a kangaroo with stripes). But beneath the myth is a real history - who were the Leeds family, and why is there a story about them birthing...
Join Kelli as she goes over the mythology of the Headless Horseman. Most of us associate the headless horseman with Washington Irving's book, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But the idea of a ghostly rider looking for his head, or perhaps a decapitated ghost haunting local villages, goes all the way back to medieval Europe, perhaps even deeper into ancient Celtic mythology. Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic Find him on all streaming services and YouTube! http://www.nedricmusic.co...
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