Grim & Mild Presents

 Getting from East to West was difficult, especially for those who chose the Oregon Trail. Survival meant timing their passage and path just right. Those who didn’t served as a dire warning to others.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With westward expansion came the Homestead Act. What followed was nothing short of horrific for the people already occupying the land. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Stetson hats to barbed wire, this episode sheds some light on little-known Wild West icons and how they came to be.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The French, Spanish, and the Americans believed that heading west was a divine calling. This is the story of when beliefs cross the line into territory more dangerous than the land itself. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Gold Rush became a beacon of hope for many. They headed West to seek their fortunes. But Americans weren’t the only ones looking for a better life.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 One of the most horrific times in history came when treaties and deals with Native Americans were broken. In 1836, US troops rounded up Cherokee tribes with acts of extreme violence and forced them across the country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the Spanish to the French, to the British — everyone had their eye on the vast expanse of America’s western frontier. Then, in the early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson saw an opportunity and made a deal no one expected.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to tales of the Wild West, there’s one tale that surfaces again and again — and for good reason. Join us for the story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The one guarantee in life is that it will end—we can anticipate that, and we have tried to cope with that truth forever. But when the suffering overextends itself, we’ve always tried to find ways to adapt.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humans have been mothering and midwifing since the beginning of humanity. Why, then, did something so natural become so fiercely under fire?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Florence Nightingale set out to change the course of nursing as the world knew it… and ended up getting more than she ever bargained for.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone poops. And for thousands of years, as civilizations have risen and fallen, humans have been trying to figure out exactly what to do with it all. The story of waste is one of ingenuity and class, of innovation and epidemic – and it is one that is deeply human.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A doctor might dismiss your concerns by saying that something is all in your head…as if the brain doesn’t play host to many kinds of illness. Some  of our oldest corpses bear physical evidence that directly cutting into the brain is one way to attempt healing the mind. But what happens when our modern attempts at this become a bit more…misguided? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Poets have been writing about the madness of love for thousands of years. We love to be in it; we hate to be without it. But what if this wasn’t just hyperbole, and there is something indeed bigger happening to a brain in love? Where does love and madness meet? And, perhaps, where does one end, and another begin?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the world of healing, there have always been folks willing to make money off of the suffering of others. And it was often seen that the more shameful the secret, the more profitable these problems would be for cunning charlatans.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.