These are the stories that may have slipped through the cracks - the odd detours that have shaped our history and culture in small, but sometimes significant, ways.
The tip of Lake Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg that spins out into a war between the states. Two states, that is.
THIS ONE'S GOT IT ALL, FOLKS - hucksters, country music, goat testicles, pirate radio, patent medicines, wire fraud, William Jennings Bryan...you name it! This is the bizarre story of how rural America fell in love with country music.
Meet Herman Hollerith - the founder of your digital world and archnemesis to The Count on Sesame Street.
We all know that THE story about George Washington isn't true, but what if what we've been wrong about all this time is that the story is KINDA true-ish?
Sometimes American cultural greatness runs in very concentrated pockets.
"Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again..." - George W. Bush.
There's one order that holds the record for maybe the most antisemitic government act in American history, and it both complicates and haunts the legacy of someone otherwise perceived as a hero.
Attacking the Union from the south just wasn't cutting it. So why not attack from the north instead? GENIUS.
Lincoln loved the theater, although he might have a different opinion in retrospect. Yes, we're doing another Lincoln one. Yes, it includes some startling coincidences.
This one is about Beyoncé's stepfather's ex-wife's uncle. (It's also the incredible story of a family that lifted each other to unheard-of heights.)
She broke the invisible barriers in early American aviation with little more than a wing and a prayer.
The Napkin of Consequence emerges to define 50 years of American policy.
These are the losers of the losers - the ones who tried to do something stupid and failed in the attempt. Look at them - look at them and laugh. Also, it's a very serious subject, and your laughter is highly inappropriate. Grow up.
If you set out to make your mark on the world, don't half-ass it.
It was a dramatic and chaotic campaign for the presidency, dominated by fake news, procedural problems, and a particularly problematic pundit. That doesn't narrow it down at all, either, does it? Ahh, America...
Juvenility ensues over the 16th #1's #2. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
There are famous ghosts and ghosts of famous people, but rarely do you find a ghost famous for being non-famous, as our subject today is. Be ready for the tragic theories behind the ghost known only as "The Thing."
It was a quick sales call that would go on to change everything and shape the world to come, until it all came to a fiery halt.
Is something setting off my Geiger counter, or are you just happy to see me? Sometimes, our usual methods of measurement just won't do.
You got your prehistoric beach in my voting patterns! No, you got your voting patterns in my prehistoric beach! Hmm...maybe these are two great tastes that taste great together!
It's not just A national anthem. It's THE national anthem of all national anthems. But it isn't ours. At least, not anymore. But it kind of was. Twice. In different ways.
No person is above the law. Not even the president. Especially when street racing.
Look, getting it right is hard. Sometimes we have to settle for "close to right" or "sort of right" or even "not remotely right, but a good story nonetheless." This one features an interview with a special guest, Stuart Fisk Johnson, Esq., of the Aaron Burr Association, who has some things to say about we've treated Mr. Burr.
In which men once again learn which is the superior sex. You may have never heard of the Smith sisters, but after this, you won't forget them. Or their cows.
An inquisition that everybody expects uses its greatest weapon - surprise - against its worst enemy - itself. It begins with a reign of terror but ends in a very different place.
The intersection of the National Mall's biggest eyesore and its ultimate revenge on its most consequential critic.
In the fourth of four episodes on our nation's capital, new heroes emerge to drag Washington, D.C., kicking and screaming into the 20th century via a plan from the 18th century. In other words, the D.C. you know is a lot younger than you think.
In the third of four episodes on our nation's capital, it takes a century for the nation's capital to become...the national toilet. Follow the federal city as it grows and decays simultaneously.
If you think Washington, D.C., is a joke, well...it came by it honestly.
In the second of four episodes on our nation's capital, one man's ego gave us a grand plan for our capital city, but it also led to his downfall. Come for the French fuss, stay for George Washington micromanaging real estate negotiations instead of presidenting.
In the first of four episodes on our nation's capital, a struggling new nation pulls itself together over dinner. Literally. Three men enter, two plans leave. Witness the most consequential dinner party in history.
Hey, just because something isn't true doesn't mean we should just ignore its historical importance, right? Also, contains vague discussions of prior episodes and one use of the world's mildest profanity. Your great-grandma has been warned.
What could possibly overshadow a tragic and eerie event that would cost the lives of 22 people in a government office building?
In this mini-sode of what were already short episodes, learn the origins of how Chicago learned how to turn brown into green.
The duel may have been the end of Alexander Hamilton's story, but it was only the beginning of Aaron Burr's descent into treasonous lunacy and at least a little karma.
Get ready to build your multimillion-dollar international business empire - here's a dollar and fifteen years. Can't do it? Sarah Breedlove did - this is her story.
A fierce love, a bold plan, and a desperate need - but will it be enough for Robert Smalls to rescue his family and escape the Confederacy?
They tried to keep her silent, but instead gave her something to sing about, along with the most incredible stage in the world from which to sing it.
If it were a work of fiction, you wouldn't believe it. This is the story of an epic feat of strength, bravery, and compassion.
Our First was their third - the Bill of Rights that Congress sent to the states for ratification had twelve amendments, not ten, so what happened to those extra two?
The story of how one man during the Cold War accidentally wound up tracking the wrong kind of red airspace invader. And if you've heard the story before, you probably heard it wrong.
A beloved Christmas classic may not have always been so beloved, which is what directly led to it becoming beloved. Beloved.
Our national obsession with a cheezy pasta dish began in the kitchens of Monticello, but it isn't Jefferson to whom we owe the credit.
This is the story of the world's greatest heist - the time the CIA stole a Soviet submarine in full view of the entire world with the help of an eccentric billionaire.
Look, we don't know why we keep coming back to Lincoln, either. But this one has a ghost train, so there's that.
On a Saturday morning in 1971, it took one word to bring many across the nation to the brink of utter panic. Blame Wayland Eberhardt.
Thirteen original colonies smiling and holding hands? Nope. Twelve colonies and one knock-down, drag-out fight with one stubborn holdout.
All it takes is one idiot to make your local street corner a radioactive hot zone. Note: this one is both gross and cruel towards dogs; we're less concerned with the people.
This is the story of a nation scorned taking delicious - and extraordinarily petty - revenge.
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