Month: June 2019

  • Secrets of Great British Castles (Netflix)

    Secrets of Great British Castles (Netflix)

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Secrets of Great British Castles: Castles were gross. Quick synopsis: Author Dan Jones tells the stories behind a bunch of old British castles. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Want to know why rich people changed residences so much? Because they stunk, literally. When the privies were used too much, it…

  • Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

    Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Bad Blood: How Elizabeth Holmes made very smart people look very dumb. Quick synopsis: A full investigation of the Theranos scam by the reporter who discovered the corruption. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Elizabeth Holmes’ voice is probably fake! Henry Kissinger got pulled into this! Walgreen’s almost went under because…

  • Musing: Stop Comparing Things to Nazis

    Musing: Stop Comparing Things to Nazis

    What’s this musing about: The misuse and ignorance when it comes to Nazis. (Approaches soapbox, climbs on) Stop comparing things to Nazis. It shows a disturbing misunderstanding of history and annoys the hell out of me. I don’t like speaking on American politics. Nowadays conversations end up with people yelling and spouting ignorant things. Luckily,…

  • Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

    Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Killers of the Flower Moon: Damn, white people look really bad after reading this one. Quick synopsis: Investigation into the Osage Indian murders of the 1920s. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Osage Indians in the 1920s were the richest people per capita in the world because they were settled…

  • Random Musing: George Washington and Slavery

    Random Musing: George Washington and Slavery

    What’s this musing about: Washington and slavery. Warning: White guy giving his opinion on something to do with slavery. George Washington was in many ways a great man. He was beloved by the American people before there even was an “American people.” In multiple instances, he could have easily tried to become “king” of the…

  • The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

    The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Radium Girls: This is why you shouldn’t eat radioactive materials. Quick synopsis: The story of the “Radium Girls.” Two groups of women who worked at plants painting materials with a mixture containing radium. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: File this under, “how can people be so stupid?” Radium was…

  • Battle of the Books on the White Hurricane

    Battle of the Books on the White Hurricane

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline: The perfect storm was a drizzle compared to this. Quick synopsis: The story of the Great Lakes (Snow) Hurricane of 1913. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: This storm was so destructive that 12 ships sank and over 248 people lost their lives. And you’ve probably never heard of it. Fun Fact…

  • Rampage by James M. Scott

    Rampage by James M. Scott

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Rampage: You’ll cancel your hibachi reservation after reading this. Quick synopsis: Story of the battle of Manila in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Nothing “fun” about this subject matter. More people were killed in the Battle of Manila than in the Battle of Britain. Fun Fact for…