Yes or BS

Who wants a Christmas present? Well, instead you’ve got this. Just in case you thought 2020 couldn’t get any worse, we’re back with this year’s Yes or BS Christmas special! As always, the rules are simple: six facts, each as unbelievable as the other, only some of which are true. Can you sort the Yes from the BS? This time around, we’ve got Icelandic troll children, festive spouse-conjuring baking, Ben Jonson’s tale of Captain Gregory Christmas, and, of course, a magical 3ft platypus who saved the crew of some hapless shipwrecked Australian whalers. What is true? What is untrue? What is genuine? What is nonsense? And does anyone really care? Happy Christmas everybody! And we’ll see you again in 2021...

Will Ant recover from his 6-0 defeat at the start of the series? (Unlikely.) Will Paul have a fact about a Victorian eccentric? (Very likely.) And will Ant really manage to go an entire season without a Roman history fact? (Impossible.) It’s time for the Season 4 finale of Yes or BS! Brace yourself for six more rounds of true-or-false trivia, from an Ancient Greek naval mishap to a globe-trotting presidential candidate, and from an anonymous helmet-wearing bigamist fraudster who turned down the king’s autograph to a treasonous Ottoman vizier who successfully managed to commute his own death sentence by running a race against the sultan’s gardener. Which might just be the strangest sentence we’ve ever written. Enjoy – and we’ll see you all again for Season 5 very soon!

It’s fair to say Yes or BS covers quite a few knowledge bases each week, but seriously – where else would you find facts about Frank Sinatra, porridge oats and sentient octopuses all nestled up against one another? Or, for that matter, where would you *want* to find facts like that nestled alongside one another? Right here, that’s where! If you thought international coronavirus lockdown procedures would stop Yes or BS, then you were wrong! Welcome to the very first remotely recorded, socially distant episode of the podcast where everything is true (except all the parts that aren’t). Did a helpful dolphin guide ships through New Zealand’s waters for 24 years? Has artificial intelligence learnt how to dream? Is the Eye of Sauron watching over us all from billions of miles away in space? And who in their right mind would offer the role of John McClane to 73-year-old Hollywood legend Frank Sinatra? The truths and untruths behind all these facts and a whole lot more besides – all in Episode 26 of Yes or BS.

Yes or BS reaches its quarter century with one of the strangest and most eclectic episodes yet. (And that’s saying something.) Besides Noah’s Ark, this week we’re finding out about dinosaurs, classical music, Asian history, and humorously crude farm animals. Did Bach write a cantata about how much he liked coffee? Did Tibet once have an empire to rival China? Was history’s biggest ichthyosaur bigger than the blue whale? Does Hungarian have a set of jokes about an impossibly rude pig? And was Noah’s Ark accidentally discovered during the Cold War? The answers to all these and more, in Episode 25 of Yes or BS!

This week on Yes or BS, we’re covering everything from Star Trek to nuclear warfare. Never let it be said we’re not eclectic. Among the facts you’ll have to decipher this week is a tale about a group of Spanish guerrillas, who may or may not have been terrorized by unseen demonic forces during the Napoleonic War. Was a nuclear explosion narrowly averted by a North Carolina plane crash? Was there a 1920s craze for oxygen-depriving ‘isolation helmets’? And did a 19th century anatomist publish an account of a local murder case in a book bound with the murderer’s skin? Think that all sounds a bit too macabre? You can blame Anthony. But don’t worry – there’s also a fact here about domestic cats, the naming conventions of astronomical objects, and, er... Mr Spock.

Season 4 of Yes or BS continues apace! This week Ant (@VoiceoverTony) and Paul (@HaggardHawks) cover another eclectic mix of topics, from the monsters of traditional Japanese folklore to the Frankish king Charlemagne’s lengthy wars against the ancient Saxons – who may, or may not, have once worshipped a god called Geoffrey. Did downtown Newark, NJ, grind to a halt for a pet canary’s funeral in 1920? Is snowball fighting the official state sport of Alaska? And did Socrates keep fit by dancing on his own, without a note of music being played? It’s either Yes, or BS.

We’re back! Another six rounds of absolute nonsense, courtesy of Ant (@VoiceoverTony) and Paul from Haggard Hawks (@HaggardHawks). In this opening episode, topics covered include Mesopotamian letters, the world’s most inbred monarch, and a hand-pumped precursor to the modern car. Did Calvin Coolidge keep fit in an, er, unorthodox way inside the White House? Did the world’s oldest vending machine dispense holy water in the temples of Roman Egypt? And were 19th century Americans really actively discouraged from sending their family members in the mail? Take an hour out of your day and find out. And as always, let us know how you score over on Twitter at @Yes_or_BS.

Happy Christmas everyone! Who needs a bumper crop of festive nonsense to go with all your roast parsnips and pigs in blankets? No one, that’s who. But too bad – you’re getting a bumper bonus episode of Yes or BS anyway! As always, here are six suitably festive facts and stories, some of which are entirely true, some of which are complete BS. Did Charles Dickens have a real life moorhen-eating miser in mind when he wrote A Christmas Carol? Was a sleepy Wiltshire village spooked by a UFO one bizarre Christmas morning? Is the Star Wars Holiday Special not actually the weirdest festive entry in the Star Wars canon? And did a pair of donkeys stranded on an island in Yorkshire on Christmas morning in 1806 spark a short-lived nineteenth century catchphrase? You can probably answer that last one already, but why not listen along anyway to find out more!

We’ve made it. You’ve made it. WE’VE ALL MADE IT THIS FAR. It’s the Yes or BS Season 3 finale! And, as always, we’re going out with another bumper last-of-the-series episode... This week, Paul and Ant talk Wild West bandits, bizarre Victorian conservationists, Mother Shipton’s Cave, Ancient Roman gigantism, and 18th century lotteries. As if that weren’t enough, along the way, we’ll discover whether or not Molière achieved his place in French high society through underhand means; whether the Spanish wife of an English nobleman became the first woman in history executed for espionage; and whether or not a squirrel was asked to speak at the funeral of a noted 19th century eccentric. This being the last in the series too, there just might be a callback to a certain Mr Tolkien... Enjoy! Comment! Review! Share! And we’ll see you again very soon!

A Lithuanian shipwreck. A 19th century ballooning hoax. And a queen of England dressed in a cockerel costume. It’s all here this week, in Episode 19 of Yes or BS! Also in this week’s episode, did Wimbledon, England, give its name to Wimbledon, New Zealand, thanks so a sharp-shooting bullock killer? Did the Ancient Persians kickstart an Egyptian invasion by hurling live cats into a walled city? And - perhaps most puzzling of all - do you really want to know the answers to those questions?

Is this the best-titled episode of Yes or BS yet? You bet your Viagra-powered hamster it is. Episode 18 kicks off with facts about sign language and the supposed miracles of a martyred English king, veers somewhere into classic 80s cinema, and comes to a close with the story of something unusual that happened to the King of Spain while he was on holiday in Russia in 2006. Oh, and along the way, there’s something about hamsters, pharmaceutical marital aids, and jet lag. Never let it be said you don’t get your money’s-worth with Yes or BS. Which is probably why we’re free.

We’re halfway through Season 3 of Yes or BS already, and we’re reaching the milestone with facts about palaeontology, psychology, literature, and swearing parrots. Is déjà-vu caused by a misfired fight-or-flight impulse? Was the first automatic washing machine partly made out of parts salvaged from a naval scrapyard? Did the first draft of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory really involve Charlie being encased in solid chocolate? And which President had a pet called Fightin’ Bob Evans? And as always, ynbelievably, some of this BS is actually completely true...

Season 3 of Yes or BS continues apace – and things are as eclectic as ever... Is there a gigantic corpse-filled mausoleum hidden under one of Britain’s most famous buildings? Was an international rowing race really interrupted by a flock of ducks? Was ancient Byzantium home to four murderous gangs of rival sports fans? What does the blue P-for-parking sign have to do with the Amsterdam Olympics? And just how big is a velociraptor? All of this and lots, lots more in Episode 16 of Yes or BS!

Yes, we’re back! Season 3 of Yes or BS kicks off with this bumper episode covering everything from Ancient Roman embassies to, er, Walt Disney’s Dumbo. Did a former British Navy lieutenant-general unsuccessfully enter 28 parliamentary elections? Did a famous author invent a device for lighting a cigarette at his bedside? And did Mozart have a beloved pet starling that could repeat the theme of his 17th piano concerto? You might not want to know the answers to those questions, but you’re about to – Yes or BS is back with a vengeance...

Surprise! Ahead of Season 3 of Yes or BS arriving this September, here’s something a bit special – our very first team episode, featuring the brilliant Aven and Mark from The Endless Knot! For one week only, Ant and Paul are are working together as Team Yes or BS, taking on (and being utterly outclassed by)Team Endless Knot, Aven and Mark, playing live down the line from Canada. The Endless Knot is a brilliant podcast, YouTube channel, and Instagram feed dedicated to classical and mediaeval history, literature, language and linguistics – and how these fields (as well as a great many more) are interconnected in often obscure and fascinating ways. Track it down via all the usual podcast providers, as well as online at alliterative.net: Website: www.alliterative.net Twitter: @AllEndlessKnot, @Alliterative, @AvenSarah Facebook: www.facebook.com/alliterativeendlessknot Instagram: www.instagram.com/alliterativeendlessknot YouTube: www.youtube.com/Alliterative Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheEndlessKnot So who will come out victorious today? Will Ant finally run out of Ancient Rome facts? Will Paul ever learn anything about popular culture? Will Team Yes or BS manage to set aside their natural competitiveness and work together?! You’ll have to listen in to find out the answers to all those questions – as well as what the priciest finger in mediaeval blood money reparations was, and whether or not the biggest theatre in London once played host to a ridiculously perilous revolving horse race... Stay tuned for Season 3 of Yes or BS coming very soon!

It’s the last episode of Season 2 of Yes or BS, so we’re going out in style with a bumper episode revisiting some previous, er... glories? So. Is there a giant Buddha statue carved into a Chinese mountainside? Did a German performance artist try to stake a claim to 1500 square kilometres of the Moon? Was the humble teabag invented entirely by mistake? And did JRR Tolkien go to the cinema with CS Lewis, and hate every single second of the Disney film they watched? Hey, it wouldn’t be a season finale without a Tolkien/Lewis fact — just count yourselves lucky his narcoleptic cat isn’t getting a mention. And, never fear — we will be back later in the spring with Season 3...

In the penultimate episode of Season 2, the Yes or BS facts on offer cover everything from an ancient Tang Dynasty credit card to a mysterious 100-mile chain of cloven footprints and a political treaty the covers the weaponization of the moon. Not that we’re eclectic, of course. Finishing things off this week, did a 12-year-old Scottish schoolboy once successfully pass himself off as Prime Minister HH Asquith? And, more importantly, what the hell was Ant doing answering the door to 10 Downing Street? As always, let us know how you score over on Twitter @yes_or_BS, and we’ll see you for the season finale next week...

We’ve reached the halfway point in Season 2 of Yes or BS, and things are just as eclectic as ever... This week, Ant and Paul decide whether there was once a Nigerian terracotta army, whether Florence Nightingale’s protégé used carbolic acid to clean Crimean War wounds, whether hyperinflation addled the brains of German accountants, and if Sir Antony Eden once accidentally went on holiday with one of 20th century history’s most famous characters.

This week on Yes or BS, Ant and Paul have to decide whether a double decker bus once jumped the gap in Tower Bridge, and whether JS Bach once investigated a haunting at Weimar Cathedral. This game really does get stranger as the weeks go by...

Did a Polish composer leave his skull to the Royal Shakespeare Company? And did a Brazilian explorer really think the Amazon river was 1/25th its actual size because he took a wrong turn at Manaus? Paul and Ant take on six more rounds of unbelievable facts, and totally believable BS, in the second episode of Yes or BS, Season 2.

We’re back! And more eclectic than ever... In this, the first episode from Season 2 of Yes or BS, Paul and Ant talk Hadrian’s Wall, ghost ships, The Blob, and whether or not CS Lewis had a narcoleptic cat.

Happy Christmas from Yes or BS! Ahead of Season 2 in the New Year, Ant and Paul discuss Japan’s festive fondness for Beethoven, the financial nightmare that was Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and what connects Dr Seuss to Kellogg’s Frosties...

Did a 19th century Scottish poet open a museum to himself? And do possums realise they’re playing dead? More believable unbelievables in the Season 1 finale of Yes or BS...

Episode 5 of Yes or BS has landed - along with George Orwell’s plaster cast, a misfiring lawyer and Queen Victoria’s wedding cheese...

A mobile phone that runs on Coca Cola. The urinary habits of lobsters. And JRR Tolkien’s fancy dress party. This week, Episode 4 of the Yes or BS podcast really does have it all...

In Episode 3 the 1896 Olympics, Mark Twain’s bra clasp and a man who fell in a volcano all come under the Yes or BS spotlight...

Episode 2 of Yes or BS sees Ant and Paul discuss Edward VI’s mission to the Arctic, a cat that was made into a telephone, and an early entry in Dr Seuss’ back catalogue...

In the very first episode of Yes or BS, Ant and Paul try to convince each of 17th century space programs, car-driving pigs, and gold-eating pelicans...