History Buffoons Podcast
Two buffoons who want to learn about history!
Recent Episodes
Aug. 4, 2025
Threadbare Underwear: Hetty Green
The tale of America's wealthiest woman reads like fiction, yet Hetty Green's extraordinary life defied all expectations of Gilded Age wealth. Born in 1834 to a prosperous Quaker family, young Hetty wasn't groomed for society balls—she was trained in finance, reading financial newspapers to her gran…
July 30, 2025
The Origin of Weird: Humphry Davy
Ever wonder how laughing gas went from Victorian party entertainment to dental offices? Our journey through the life of Humphrey Davy reveals the surprisingly wild origin story behind one of medicine's most unusual discoverie...
July 28, 2025
The Whole Thing’s a Latrine: Henry Gunther
What drives a soldier to charge toward enemy lines one minute before a ceasefire? Henry Gunther's tragic story serves as a haunting reminder of war's senseless waste. Born to German-American parents and growing up in a predominantly German neighborhood in Baltimore, Gunther was drafted into WWI in …
July 21, 2025
See Something? Don't Say Something: The Shelton Brothers Gang
The forgotten criminal dynasty that ruled Illinois before Capone even knew their names. Meet the Shelton brothers – Carl, Earl, and Bernie – three farm boys who transformed themselves into the most powerful bootleggers in sou...
July 16, 2025
The Origin Of Weird: Lawn Chair Larry
Ever wondered what would happen if you tied 45 giant weather balloons to a lawn chair? In 1982, truck driver Larry Walters answered this question with an adventure that transformed him from an ordinary man with a dream into a...
July 14, 2025
Slabalanche: Dyatlov Pass Incident Part 3
The mystery of Dyatlov Pass has haunted us for over 60 years, presenting one of history's most perplexing unsolved cases. Nine experienced hikers from the Ural Polytechnic Institute ventured into Russia's Ural Mountains in 1959, only to be found dead under circumstances so bizarre they've spawned 7…