Softcore History

Oct 28 2024 222 ep. 77 mins 227

Softcore History Podcast artwork

A podcast for the casual fan of history. The Wikipedia reader. The kids who grew up with a dad who watched the same 10 hours of World War II specials on The History Channel. Join Dan Regester, Rob Fox, and a weekly guest as they tastefully insert themselves into the past. The only thing we don’t show is our research.

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The Mafia Ghosts That Haunted Al Capone

Oct 28 2024 71 mins

Ross Bolen joins the show to talk about the ghosts that still linger from The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, the most infamous mafia killing in American history. The victims of Al Capone's henchmen still haunt the area to this day, including the most unfortunate location (and people) you can imagine. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history

Emperor Frankenstein And The Philosopher's Stone

Oct 21 2024 62 mins

Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily from 1198 to 1250, was a curious man. Curious in that he loved doing medical experiments, no matter how totally useless and violent those experiments were. Suffice it to say the amateur surgeon learned a lot, but almost all of it was useless. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history cont

Andrew Jackson Met The Real Blair Witch

Oct 14 2024 97 mins

The Bell Witch of Robertson County, Tennessee, on whom the horror film classic ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was based, tormented the Bell family farm from 1817 to 1828. In the meantime, the disembodied spirit attracted thousands of tourists, skeptics, and more. One visitor was none other than Old Hickory himself, determined to see if one of Satan’s underlings could truly frighte

The Trust Fund Ghosts of St. Louis

Oct 07 2024 71 mins

The Lemp Mansion in St. Louis, Missouri is one of the most haunted homes in the United States. Learn the history of the fabulously wealthy family of 19th-century beer magnates who lived in the mansion, how many of them came to their tragic ends within its walls, and how their ghosts now torment the mansion's visitors -- especially any women using the bathroom.Subscribe to the Softc

The Curious Case Of The Missing Lighthouse Keepers

Sep 30 2024 62 mins

We start Halloween Horror Month 2024 with an infamous and unsolved mystery about three lighthouse keepers who went missing in the Flannan Isles of Scotland. Was it banshees? A ghost ship? Murder-suicide? Listen and decide for yourself. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-a

Can Germans Use The N-Word?

Sep 23 2024 84 mins

In 1751 Benjamin Franklin wrote "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind," a letter with a number of interesting observations and ideas, and also one head-scratcher (at least to readers from the present). In it, Franklin noted that he was tired of all the non-white immigrants coming to the New World and ruining white society in Pennsylvania. Which non-white immigrants? Germ

The Bearded Queen Egypt Erased

Sep 16 2024 65 mins

Hatshepsut is the female Pharaoh you've never heard of. Why? Because the Egyptians erased her. But the queen turned queen regent turned full-on Pharaoh ruled for two decades and accomplished as much as just about anyone who ever sat on the throne, from conquering Kush to opening exotic trade routes in East Africa. There was also some brother-banging, diabetes, and statue HJs, but m

The Man Who Lived Every Basic Bro's Dream Life

Sep 09 2024 96 mins

Titanic Thompson would bet on anything, and usually win. And usually because he was cheating. It's one of the many reasons Titanic is the greatest gambler in American history. He hustled golf at country clubs with a young Ben Hogan. He hustled pool halls across the country with Minnesota Fats. He even cheated the man who fixed the 1919 World Series out of millions. All while dating

The Rise Of The Last Lion

Sep 02 2024 81 mins

Winston Churchill was one of the most important historical figures of the 20th century, taking power over the United Kingdom in the midst of World War II. Jack Mandaville joins us to talk about the Last Lion's unhinged upbringing, blood ties to the United States, his storied military and writing careers, and his rise to power through British parliament. Subscribe to the Softcore Hi

The Founding Father of Organized Crime

Aug 25 2024 85 mins

Kyle Bandujo, podcaster and author of the new sports movie book "Movies With Balls", joins the show to talk about one of the most famous figures in American sports scandal history: Arnold Rothstein. Though he was most famous for allegedly fixing the 1919 World Series (a.k.a. the Black Sox Scandal), this distinction does the man's criminal history a disservice. In truth, Rothstein w