Unlikely Explanations

Who named the dinosaurs? We know! It was Richard Owen, a plagiarizing, grasping, conniving jerk. Let's dive into dinosaurs, evolution, public education and the question of what constitutes scientific fact.Support the show

Steamboat Springs finds an unlikely savior in Karl Hovelsen, or, as he was known in the United States, Carl Howelsen. He kicked off the skiing craze in Colorado that continues to this day. But the natural wonders of the area continue to be damaged by tourism and construction. Hear how local conservationists are working to stop this alarming trend.Support the show

In this episode I finally answer why Steamboat Springs blew up the Steamboat Spring. For money. It was a capitalist house of cards built on future investment. Spoilers. Just listen to the episode; I explain it all.Support the show

A single figure served as the turning point for the Ute in Colorado: Nathan Meeker. This episode explores his legacy and motives to better understand how Colorado was transformed.Support the show

With success in the Civil War, the Republican and northern vision for the West won out. Americans were encouraged to individually colonize the West through the Homestead Act. Despite their anti-slavery stance, they were happy to join with southern peers in oppressing the American Indians. This is how Colorado and Steamboat Springs came to be settled by Whites.Support the show

Part 2 of "Why did Steamboat Springs blow up the Steamboat Spring". In this episode we explore this history of humanity in the Americas and Colorado, specifically the development of Ute identity, and early encroachment by White Europeans and Americans.Support the show

1 of 6 on Colorado History. To understand why Steamboat Springs blew up the Steamboat Spring we go deep into the past to unravel the geology of the Rockies.Support the show

Although this is a history podcast, human crushes are not a thing of the past. In this episode we consider the recent Astroworld disaster and what can be done to improve crowd safety moving forward.Sources and images at UnlikelyExplanation.com: https://www.unlikelyexplanation.comFollow on social media: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

Nightclub fires and crushes continue through the 20th century up through today. In this episode, we explore the tragedies at the Rhythm Night Club, the Cocoanut Grove, The Station, and the Thomas Restobar to understand how crush safety remains paramount for indoor events and what we still get wrong about human stampedes.Sources and images at UnlikelyExplanation.com: https://www.unlikelyexplanation.comFollow on social media: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

Stampedes cause a large portion of the deaths in building fires. We'll explore the fires at the Theatre Royal, the Brooklyn Theater, and the Iroquois Theater to see how crushes interact with disasters inside of buildings and why it's probably not a good idea to remain calmly seated as a theater catches fire.Sources and images at UnlikelyExplanation.com: https://www.unlikelyexplanation.comFollow on social media: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

A police conspiracy. Unquestioned prejudice. Long-standing misunderstandings. This is an in-depth explanation of the causes, outcomes, and conceptions of the Hillsborough crush. Sources and images at UnlikelyExplanation.com: https://www.unlikelyexplanation.comFollow on social media: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

Every year, millions of Muslims gather to celebrate Hajj. It is the largest gathering in the world and in many years it was the deadliest.Sources and images at UnlikelyExplanation.com(https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/)Follow on social media: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

Most crushes in the world happen in India. When did they occur, how did they kill, and what is being done to stop them?Sources and images at UnlikelyExplanation.com(https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/)Follow on social media: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

Two exceptionally deadly crushes happened in Moscow. What caused them?Sources and images at UnlikelyExplanation.com(https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/)Follow on social media: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

What causes human crushes and stampedes? What are they like? Are you more likely to be trampled or squeezed to death? These answers and more, as well as a look at an early human  stampede at the wedding of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVISources and images at Unlikely Explanation.com https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/Follow UE on social media for more stories: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

Part 4 explores the explosion of Spiritualism. The belief in ghosts and a fundamentally similar life after death gripped nearly every mind in New York and became the default belief system of the non-Christian American: New Age (and its related beliefs). This episode also includes honorable mentions for weird mystic cults and a trip to meet the greatest New York cult leader of them all: the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz.Americans in the burned-over district of New York took God into their own hands and radically reimagined what Christianity and spirituality were all about. Learn how the spontaneous uprisings and communities of upstate New York affect the religious landscape of America today.Sources and images at Unlikely Explanation.com https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/Follow UE on social media for more stories: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanationsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/unlikelyexplanations)

Part 3 covers the flowering of eccentric spiritualist movements in upstate New York: the Mormons, a non-trinitarian polygamist church that was chased out of the United States, Robert Matthews, Sojourner Truth, and the masculist patriarchy of New Zion, and John Humphrey Noyes' Oneida commune that practiced complex marriage and eugenics.Americans in the burned-over district of New York took God into their own hands and radically reimagined what Christianity and spirituality were all about. Learn how the spontaneous uprisings and communities of upstate New York affect the religious landscape of America today.Sources and images at Unlikely Explanation.com https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/Follow UE on social media for more stories: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanations

Americans in the burned-over district of New York took God into their own hands and radically reimagined what Christianity and spirituality were all about. Learn how the spontaneous uprisings and communities of upstate New York affect the religious landscape of America today.Part 2 covers the first crop of eccentric New York spiritualists: The first trans American, the Public Universal Friend; celibate communists known as Shakers; and William Miller's apocalyptic predictions that created Adventism.Sources and images at Unlikely Explanation.com https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/Follow UE on social media for more stories: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanations

The burned-over district of New York was a time and a place where Americans took God into their own hands and radically reimagined what Christianity and spirituality were all about. Learn how the spontaneous uprisings and communities of upstate New York affect the religious landscape of America today.Part 1 covers initial European settlement in North America; the origin of puritans, Pennsylvania, and quakers; the Longhouse religion of Handsome Lake; and the socio-economic conditions that allowed the burned-over district to flourish.Sources and images at Unlikely Explanation.com https://www.unlikelyexplanation.com/Follow UE on social media for more stories: https://linktr.ee/unlikelyexplanations

After Gilbert and Sullivan, a wave of American writers made the musical truly their own and created what is now called "The American Songbook." Learn how America's racist past met with new ideas about society and set us on the path to the modern musical.

After Gilbert and Sullivan, a wave of American writers made the musical truly their own and created what is now called "The American Songbook." Learn how America's racist past met with new ideas about society and set us on the path to the modern musical.

Americans by and large are unhappy with our parties and our government. But with a few structural changes, we could bring our political system back from the brink of collapse.

Most polar explorers survived while nearly all hauling animals died on polar expeditions. Why did Robert F. Scott die in the antarctic and what does it have to do with eating dogs?

In many times and places, there were more than two options when it came to gender. Eunuchs no longer exist as a class but nonbinary people are starting to assert their identity. What can we learn from nonbinary people of the past?

Part 1 of 2. For most of history, eunuchs were an integral part of imperial administration. Who were eunuchs and what can we learn about gender in politics from them?

We have been quarantining since before the invention of germ theory. Why do we quarantine and what can we learn from pandemics of the past?

Over the 20th Century, superconspiracy theories have infiltrated the American political discourse, particularly on the right. This process reached its climax in the election of our first openly conspiracist president, Donald Trump. This episode explores the history of conspiracy theories in America from Henry Ford to Pat Robertson to Donald Trump.

What is a conspiracy theory? Where do they come from? Why does my grandma keep posting them on Facebook? This is the story of how fringe theories conquered the mainstream.

In 1953 the Canadian government relocated Inuit to the inhospitable far north. Why?

Warning: this episode discusses sexual assault and racist depictions. In the 1870s, the comic opera made the jump into English and started the tradition that made Broadway and West End the theater capitols of the world. This episode takes a close look at the first step of that development: the work of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan.

Two men claimed to be the first to the north pole. One man claimed to be the first to fly over. All three were lying. Hear the bizarre story of who truly reached the north pole first.Read more at unlikelyexplanation.com