Blog

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Six Schizophrenic Brothers: In this case, a .500 average is very bad. Quick synopsis: The story of a family of 12 children of which 6 would turn out to be schizophrenic. Fact for Non-History People: Schizophrenia is one of the top 15 causes of disability worldwide. Fact for History Nerds: In […]

Let’s find love in the last place you’d expect! Author Keren Blankfeld joins me to discuss her book Lovers in Auschwitz: A True Story. It’s as unbelievable as you think. Come listen! Buy Lovers In AuschwitzCheck out Keren’s website

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Hunger to Kill: A one-way love story. Quick synopsis: The story of how Detective Kim Mager helped put away an Ohio serial killer. Fact for Non-History People: From 1992-2019, Ohio has had 505 victims of serial killers. Fact for History Nerds: In that same time period, California leads the U.S. […]

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Lovers in Auschwitz: They found love in a hopeless place. Quick synopsis: The story of the two people who fell in love and survived Auschwitz in World War II. Fact for Non-History People: In 1941, the Warsaw ghetto covered 2.4% of the city but housed 30% of the city population. Fact […]

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Mission: Should have listened the first two times. Quick synopsis: The story of missionary John Chau who died attempting to evangelize to the people of North Sentinel Island. Fact for Non-History People: We know so little about the North Sentinelese that we don’t even know how many of them there […]

Let’s cool it down! The host of the award winning Cold War Conversations podcast, Ian Sanders, joins me to nerd all the way out about history, how he got started, and what makes for a great podcast. Come listen!

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for L.A. Birdmen: Like their aircraft, these people had at least one screw loose. Quick synopsis: The story of the first airshow in America. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The longest flight the Wright brothers accomplished on their first successful day flying was 59 seconds and a height of 852 feet. […]

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Rent Collectors: Better pay up. Quick synopsis: The story of gang violence in L.A. and a botched murder. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: Pray you never have to find out what it is to “keister” something. Fun Fact for History Nerds: When the lake at MacArthur Park was drained, […]

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ren Faire: It’s like Succession but nerdy. Quick synopsis: The story of a succession battle for the control of the Texas Renaissance Festival. Fact for Non-History People: The Texas Renaissance Festival draws about 500,000 people per year. Fact for History Nerds: The festival itself takes up over 55 acres. My Take […]

Let’s save some art! Author and journalist Adam Brookes joins me to discuss his book Fragile Cargo: The World War II Race to Save the Treasures of China’s Forbidden City. Come listen! Buy Fragile CargoCheck out Adam’s website

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Mighty Moo: A very moooooving story. (I said what I said!) Quick synopsis: The story of the USS Cowpens aircraft carrier in World War II. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Mighty Moo was caught in Typhoon Cobra which has 70 foot waves and winds of 120 knots. Fun […]

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Last Island: Leave them alone. Quick synopsis: The story of North Sentinel Island and the isolated tribe that calls it home. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Andaman Island chain contains nearly 600 islands and thousands of species that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Fun Fact for […]

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Perfect Wife: Perfect at being a narcissist. Quick synopsis: The story of the disappearance of Sherri Papini. Fact for Non-History People: The crime of kidnapping is hard to number because many people just become missing persons. There were 70,000 missing persons over the age of 18 cases in 2001 for instance. […]

Let’s do it for Marm! Author Margalit Fox returns to talk her new book, The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized Crime Boss. So good. Come listen! Buy The Talented Mrs. MandelbaumCheck out Margalit’s website

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ask Not: Ask not what this family did to women, ask why they got away with it. Quick synopsis: The story of all the women destroyed by the Kennedy family. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The firefighter who retrieved Mary Jo Kopechne’s body at Chappaquiddick estimated she stayed alive for […]