History Lessons for Misanthropes

In this episode we discuss the 1940s Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr. Born in Austria, she got her start in Germany cinema before fleeing ro the US during the war to escape her marriage. As well as an extensive filmography, Hedy was an inventor who designed military grade weapons solutions.

In this episode we discuss the life of Mary Ann Shadd, a teacher, activist, and journalist in the mid-1800s. She was a freeborn black woman who was exposed to the abolitionist movement from a young age, which inspired her to spend her life fighting for the rights of black people in Canada and the United States. While one would think the abolitionist community would welcome any supp

The last episode of 2022! In this bawdy and often silly episode, we discuss the life of 19th century entertainer, Joseph Pujol, better known as le Petomane. Joseph's skill was that he had a masterful contron of his GI system, and could pass gas in myriad and entertaining ways. We're ending the year with an absurd and happy story. music by V►LH►LL vlhll.bandcamp.com

In this episode, we look at the life and troubled career of Maila Nurmi, who created the Vampira character in 1954. Before creating her iconic glamour ghoul, Maila had a hard time breaking into show business both in Hollywood and Broadway. She struggled with a strict upbringing while not fitting into the expected life for young women. We discuss the relationships she had with elite

In this episode we discuss a possession in New France, when a young women named Barbe Hallay was tormented by demons. This is a story of colonization in the 17th century, a land that is trying to keep it's colonial population Catholic in the face of hardships, and a nun who desperately wants sainthood. Was Barbe really possessed? Was it her way of maintining bodily autonomy in a wa

This is the second part of the story of Kenneth Anger. The episode begins after Kenneth parts ways with Bobby Beausoleil, and decided to leave San Francisco. His time in England was spent wooing rock stars and socialites, and establishing himself as a man of mystery, magick, and LSD. All the while he was making films and chasing the fame he refused to bend for. We also think this

In this first part of a 2-part series, we discuss the early life of Kenneth Anger. Born in Santa Monica, California in 1927, Kenneth was a queer film-maker who idolized Aleister Crowley. He was at the cutting edge of counter-culture, capturing the zeitgeist of gay culture, occulture, and hippie culture. He made films that would inspire film makers from Stan Brakhage to John Waters,

In this episode, Lou discusses the life, achievements (both good and bad) of German chemist Fritz Haber. Fritz Haber is a Nobel Laureate who devised a method to extract nitrogen from the air into a form that would be used in farming, feeding billions of people. However, his contributions to science also included warfare that would brand him as the inventor of chemical warfare, and

In this episode we discuss the Affair of the Poisons, a brief period in late 17th century Paris where some of the top courtiers got a little bit murder-y. It's a fascinating look at how laws are different for the wealthy and beautiful, and how lower class men and women are prosecuted differently. The story is filled with jealousy, sacrilige, murder, and a plot against King Louis XI

This episode begins with sharing news about the end of a long fought border dispute between Canada and Denmark, known as the Whiskey War. The main subject of the episode is the work of Magnus Hirschfeld, the German doctor who established the first institue of sexual science in Berlin in 1918. The foundation of his medical practice was fighting for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, figh