There are some family history stories that you just know you should take with a grain of salt. Like the one about how your ancestor was bffs forevah with George Washington. Or the one where you are omg we totes swear a descendant of a queen.

I am Not Making This Up: Ep. 55 Thomas Jefferson’s Murder Sheep

Feb 11th, 2019 9m 7s

Depending on who you ask, Thomas Jefferson is either much loved, or the founding father you love to hate. Not only did he write the Declaration of Independence, but he also presided over the Louisana Purchase and pushed for the Lewis and Clark

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 54 That Time When A Lot Of People Mailed Their Children.

Jan 8th, 2019 4m 30s

100 years ago was a simpler time. A time when you could pin postage on your four year old’s coat and send them on a mail train to Grandma. Back then people would laugh about it and go “Oh, You!” Now trying something similar would probably le

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 53 How Charlie Brown Killed The Aluminum Christmas Tree

Dec 17th, 2018 6m 6s

In 1964, one of the hottest selling items around Thanksgiving was the aluminum Christmas tree. The Aluminum Specialty Company manufactured an estimated 150,000 trees that year. Then in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired. By 1970 the Alumi

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 52 They Knew Their Place

Nov 6th, 2018 4m 11s

Susan B. Antony and Nine Friends managed to vote for Ulysses S. Grant. For her trouble, Anthony was arrested, sent to court and fined. She swore she would never pay the fine, and she didn’t. Today’s podcast is about all the people who drew a

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep.51 Julie or Julia?

Oct 15th, 2018 3m 7s

It’s the season of ghosts, ghouls and goblins. So let’s tell a story. This is the story of Julie, or possibly Julia Brown, or possibly Black, or maybe even White. A Voodoo practitioner said to have taken a whole town with her when she died. O

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 50 Why We Don’t Live In The United States Of Columbia

Oct 1st, 2018 7m 39s

Rightly or wrongly (and these days, everyone considers it wrongly) Columbus is known as “The Man Who Discovered America.” For many of us, that is how history is taught: Columbus set out to prove that the Earth wasn’t flat, landed in the Caribb

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 49 She Had Style, She Had Grace, She Would Punch You In The Face

Sep 17th, 2018 5m 10s

A well-worn Hollywood plot is one where the President’s daughter is kidnapped, so a hero has to rescue her. In real life, this never would have happened to Alice Roosevelt. Not just because her father, Teddy Roosevelt was a badass who could ha

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 48 The Greatest Loss of Knowledge that Never Happened.

Sep 10th, 2018 5m 56s

On September 2, a fire destroyed the National Museum of Brazil, taking with it 90 percent of the museum’s collection. This included recordings of dead languages and zoological and botanical specimens. When we think about large, destructive los

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 47 How An Earthquake Helped Shape Missouri

Aug 21st, 2018 4m 13s

When Thomas Jefferson envisioned westward expansion, he wanted the new states to be neat and orderly, unlike the 13 colonies. Jefferson wanted each state boundary to lay along latitude and longitude markers. As anyone who has ever seen a map

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 46 When One Apex Predator Meets Another

Aug 6th, 2018 5m 39s

The attacks came in the night. Monsters came into the very tents, undaunted by campfire and torchlight. The monsters dragged fully grown men from their beds, taking them away in the night to satisfy their bloodlust. It sounds like the plot of a

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 45 Little Jack Horner Sat In His Corner Making a Chickenosarus

Jul 16th, 2018 3m 29s

The archaeopterx is considered the link between dinosaurs and modern birds. A Chickenosarus might resemble one of these extinct creatures. After working as a consultant on Jurassic Park, a paleontologist wants to bring back the dinosaurs. Clea

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 44 Baseball’s Murky Origins

Jul 3rd, 2018 5m 12s

Inspired by the holiday, and by my Arkansas Razorbacks Baseball Team going to the college world series (where, despite my wishes in the podcast, they did not win) I focused on the history of Baseball for this episode. Or what we think we know.

I am Not Making This Up: Ep. 43 Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!

Jun 18th, 2018 4m 33s

For something that could be considered the poster child for processed food, hot dogs have a very organic origin.

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 42 George Washington Loved Him Some Ice Cream

Jun 4th, 2018 4m 50s

There is a story (definitely not true) that Martha Washington invented ice cream. Regardless of the story’s truth or fiction, George Washington loved ice cream. So much that he and Martha served it to guests both at Mt. Vernon, and when they we

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 41 Marie Antoinette Was The Ultimate Cosplayer

May 22nd, 2018 6m 3s

You would think that Comicon attendees invented cosplay, but Queen Marie Antoinette would tell you au contraire. When she was Queen of France, rocked the milkmaid look while visiting her personal village on the grounds of Versailles.

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 40 Like Taking Crown Jewels From A Baby

May 7th, 2018 5m 26s

When something is easy, we say that it’s like taking candy from a baby. Maybe we should say that it’s like stealing the French Crown Jewels. Because stealing the French Crown Jewels was just that easy. Allegedly. I wouldn’t know personally.

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 39 Cattle Kate, The Outlaw Who Never Existed

Apr 16th, 2018 7m 59s

One of the most infamous outlaws of the Old West may not have existed, but may have been invented by real murderers to cover up the lynching of an innocent rancher and her husband. This is the story of who Cattle Kate was, and who she was not.

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 38 The Cobra Effect

Apr 2nd, 2018 3m 49s

Ever hear of the cobra effect? Sadly, it’s not an episode of GI Joe. But if you listen to this episode, you’ll know what it is. And knowing is half the battle.

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 37 The Greatest Lion Tamer

Mar 19th, 2018 8m 2s

When you think of a lion tamer, you probably imagine a guy in a safari outfit, pith helmet and wielding a chair and whip. That’s because the most famous lion tamer ever, Clyde Beatty, dressed in safari gear, and wielded a chair. Beatty was so

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 36 The Wild Horses of South Carolina

Mar 5th, 2018 4m 31s

If you visit the Outer Banks of South Carolina, you may see the descendants of some of the first immigrants to our country, still living in the area where their ancestors first settled. These descendants are still living as their ancestors liv

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 35 Sarah Winchester, The Crazy Cat Lady of Architecture

Feb 19th, 2018 9m 44s

We all think we know the story of Sarah Winchester. Folklore states that the heiress of the Winchester fortune was told by a psychic to go west and build a house for the spirits of everyone who had ever been killed by a Winchester rifle. In t

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 34 Vladimir Putin Liked It (So He Allegedly Took A Ring)

Feb 5th, 2018 5m 36s

If Russian hackers crash this podcast and website, you’ll know that this episode is why. Yesterday, the New England Patriots met the Philadelphia Eagles in the Superbowl for the first time in 13 years. The last time the two met, the Patriots n

I Am Not Making This Up: Ep. 33 That Time Bunnies Attacked Napoleon

Jan 16th, 2018 6m 18s

Napoleon is widely regarded as one of the greatest military leaders of all time, up there with Alexander the Great. But one of his most humiliating defeats actually came from a pack of domesticated rabbits.