Something True

Guillaume le Gentil didn’t find purpose in the church, seeking it instead in the stars. In 1761, he participated in a global astronomical mission to observe the Transit of Venus from various stations across the globe. But the course of science never did run smooth, and le Gentil’s travels would scatter him far and wide, across time and space, and from toilet-bound depression to true illumination. The Something True season finale. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Chris Zabriskie – But Enough About Me, Bill Paxton* Lee Maddeford – Le petit jardin (with Les Gauchers Orchestra)* Dan Warren – Instrumental - Son of God* Jelsonic – Breeeze* Jahzzar – Silver * Scanglobe – Westerlund 1* David Szesztay – Sweeper Chris Zabriskie – John Stockton Slow Drag* Scott Holmes – Green Fields* *modified for the podcast.

Richard Welsh thought he could squeeze in a quick drink with his mates after work, but one thing led to another, and he was conscripted into the English army to fight in a global war. His wife, not thrilled, dropped the kids off with a babysitter and set out to bring Richard home. Thus began Christian Welsh's epic, decades-long quest through the battlefields of Europe to find her husband, and herself. And a pet pig, which was a bonus. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Kai Engel – Summer Days* David Szesztay – Crime Story Jason Shaw – Back to the Woods* Gillicuddy – Adventure Darling* Gablé – humm ok* Gablé – mont* Alan Singley – Tulum* Kevin MacLeod – Reaching Out Jon Watts – Don't Give Up* Jahzzar – Last Dance* Chris Zabriskie – The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan* *modified for the podcast.

Nobody in France had seen anything like it. The boy, Tarrare, could eat whatever he wanted, in enormous quantities, and never felt full or put on weight. Tarrare was just hungry. He was hungry all the time. And as he wandered Paris, eating anything he pleased, he would, in turn, be swallowed up by forces great and sinister. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: David Szesztay – Above Us 2* Kevin MacLeod – Enchanted Journey* Oskar Schuster – Sneeuwland* Robert Farmer – Turn the old; return to them* Jahzzar – Guilty* Scott Holmes – Close To The Distance* *modified for the podcast.

Together they set out to chart wildest Canada: a management consultant, a dental student, a Hollywood cinematographer, an ex-sniper, a mysterious treasure hunter, and a cowboy. Nobody believed in their expedition, saying things like, “You don't have the experience” and, “Your horses are diseased.” But Charles E. Bedaux was determined. For him this trip wasn’t about making maps, but the measure of a man. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Lloyd Rogers – Draw Me A Sheep (Act I)* lo-fi is sci-fi – Phase IV* Gablé – grate ok* Jason Shaw – Plantation* Kai Engel – Puddles and Bars* Jahzzar – Dummy* Josh Woodward – Hollow Grove (instrumental Version)* *modified for the podcast.

In the 16th century, the Oda and Tokugawa clans sought to unite feudal Japan under their rule. These were big and dangerous boys, but the biggest threat to their political alliance wasn’t any enemy clan, but a rude mother-in-law and a young woman who would do anything to protect her family. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: David Szesztay – In The Sun Lee Maddeford – Back to Bulgaria Sergey Cheremisinov – Fog* Jahzzar – Liar* Circus Marcus – Cadiquo tu noï* *modified for the podcast.

The stars themselves proclaimed Timothy Dexter to be a great man, so why wouldn't the Newburyport, Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce? Dexter, a wealthy merchant, wanted nothing more than the respect of Massachusetts high society. And he'd do anything to get it, even if it meant blurring the line between being a great man and a bad guy. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: A. A. Alto – Skip Song* Kai Engel – Twinkling Stars Won't Answer Me* Kai Engel – Brooks* A. A. Alto – Canyon* Lloyd Rogers – Ground Machine (After Purcell)* Jahzzar – Storyteller* *modified for the podcast.

What if Genghis Khan died, just before he really got going? Thanks to a blacksmith's son called Jelme, we don't have to wonder. We might, however, wonder why Jelme's heroic rescue required so much blood and so little clothing—but thanks to a blacksmith's podcast called Something True, we don't have to wonder. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Jahzzar – The Last Ones* Gablé – Gloria* Gablé – Douch OK* Lee Maddeford – Tom's Lullaby (with Les Gauchers Orchestra)* David Szesztay – Bizarre Waltz* *modified for the podcast.

Something True is back, with the story of a celebrated opera singer who set fire to a convent and whipped the buttocks of Parisian lotharios. Luciano Pavarotti? No, Julie d'Aubigny, who in 17th century Paris delighted the upper classes from the stage and duelled them in the streets. Join us for the dramatic, passionate tale of a life lived fast and furious. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something True on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Kai Engel – Sunset* Lee Maddeford – BAM* Gillicuddy – Springish* Podington Bear – Blue Highway* Sunsearcher – Flamenco Rhythm* Jelsonic – Saying Goodbye In The Rain (piano) Francesco Paolo Tosti - Aprile (backing) *modified for the podcast.

The opera singer who burned down a convent. A naked man who saved the life of Genghis Khan. An astronomer who ate bad beef. These are true stories, but they aren't about people who changed the world. You won't read about them on the Wikipedia page for "history", or hear them on a podcast about trains. These stories are of weird creeps and unlucky management consultants, whose lives and legacies crumbled underneath the indifferent march of time. On July 16th, Something True returns, with these stories, and more, from the footnotes of history. Subscribe at somethingtrue.net.

Whatever you eat this holiday season, it won’t be anything like this. Something True returns for the holidays with the story of a monstrous pie, cooked by an English village in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s coronation. It was the largest pie ever made. Larger than reason. Larger than dreams. Large enough to hide a secret. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Stephan Siebert – when* Lee Maddeford – Embellir (with Les Gauchers Quintet) Jason Shaw – HOEDOWN* Chris Zabriskie – Prelude No. 15* Silence is Sexy – Holiday (instrumental)* *modified for the podcast.

In the season finale of Something True, we crack the seal on Jack Parsons—a legendary rocket scientist, drummed out of the profession for his overbearing interest in the occult magick of Aleister Crowley. Parsons devoted his early retirement to a full-throated study of the arcane arts. His ambitions were nothing less than to coax an ancient, beautiful goddess from her primal dimension into the spare bedroom of his Pasadena bungalow. Everything proceeded to plan, until Parsons made a famous friend who would not only change his life, but the world... and all the worlds beyond. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Anamorphic Orchestra – Stop the Clocks Pictures of the Floating World – Ash Gray* David Szesztay – Cheese Cory Gray – Medieval Tension 60s* Pictures of the Floating World – Cold* Paniks – Clavire Pictures of the Floating World – A Thousand Stars* *modified for the podcast.

Elias Mortimer, a construction lobbyist, needed to land his firm a fat government contract to build veterans' hospitals. Luckily for him, the chief of the Veterans' Bureau had three great loves: getting bribed, misappropriating government funds, and intense 24/7 partying. They thought there was no way anything could go wrong. But what happened nearly destroyed them both. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Jahzzar – Take Me Higher* Latché Swing – Swing 39* Alialujah Choir – Kings and Queens* Latché Swing – Menilmontant* Costa and Nero – Rast’e Tou Teke* Podington Bear – Starling* Nick Jaina – High Beams* *modified for the podcast.

Who was this mysterious boy from the city of Gävle? Johan came to Stockholm in 1676, an orphan. His mother had been executed. Executed because Johan accused her of being a witch. And he was just getting started. Stockholm was in trouble. Trouble with a capital T. And that rhymed with G... which stood for Gävle Boy. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Jahzzar – No-End Ave* Caligine – Mε Πιάνουνε Ζαλάδες Josh Spacek – Six Weeks to Live Advent Chamber Orchestra – How Beautiful are the Feet (Handel)* Fabrizio Paterlini – Profondo Blu* Weinland – People Like You* *modified for the podcast.

John Swartwout was minding his own business—scheming against the United States government with his friend, vice president Aaron Burr—when a senator slandered him as a scoundrel. A scoundrel! What was Swartwout to do? Challenge the senator to a duel, of course. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Fabrizio Paterlini – Veloma Jahzzar – Fastest Man on Earth* Josh Woodward – Oh Mallory* Yair Yona – Pharoah 2011 Chris Zabriskie – Prelude No. 23 *modified for the podcast.

The prince was murdered, and the princess given two demands: surrender the kingdom, and marry the enemy prince. She said yes—but what she did instead, nobody saw coming. If this were a video podcast, it'd be banned in all territories. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Kosta T – Red in Black Jon Luc Hefferman – Ascent* Free Piece of Tape – Burning School* Paniks – Homage* Kosta T – The Spirit of Russian Love (violin) Paniks – Jelena* *modified for the podcast.

In 1852, one of the wealthiest landowners in California drowned crossing a river. The ensuing scramble for his fortune spilled blood and broke hearts. Note: The area in which this story takes place is now Gilroy, California, home of the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. Adult general admission is $20, parking $10 per day. Wear comfortable shoes. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Tate Peterson – Theme in G Cory Gray – Low Rollers Josh Woodward – I’m not Dreaming Krackatoa – Long White Cloud Blue Dot Sessions – Stillness Josh Woodward – Invisible Light* *modified for the podcast.

What is history's greatest prank? There's the intimate—perching a bucket of water over the door. And the grandly ambitious—say, humiliating an entire navy. These are some good pranks indeed. But history's greatest prank was something much stranger... and much darker. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: Jahzzar – Roads that Burned our Boots Jahzzar – Railroad’s Whiskey Co Josh Woodward – Water in the Creek Alialujah Choir – After All Abunai! – Dreaming of Light Josh Woodward – Crazy Glue (All tracks have been modified for the podcast)

Our debut episode brings you the story of a good boy. A very good boy. Laddie Boy, the First Dog of the United States. A wonderful, charming terrier whom Americans loved even more than they hated his owner: Warren G. Harding, one of the worst presidents the country has ever known. Read a full transcript of this episode on the Something True website. Follow Something true on Twitter @atruepodcast. (Or just follow Duncan and Alex.) Music on this week’s episode: The U.S. Marine Corps Band – Stars and Stripes Forever* Jason Shaw – Jenny’s Theme* Latché Swing – Rythme Gitan* U.S. Army Band – America the Beautiful* Dave Depper – Heartstrings* *modified for the podcast.

Incredible and bizarre stories from the footnotes of history. A dog in the United States Cabinet. A leading rocket scientist who quit his job to make a moonchild. Virginia Woolf donning blackface to prank a navy. Something True brings you these and more. Music on this week’s episode: Podington Bear – Good Times (modified for the podcast)