Episodios

  • The Card Catalog That Accidentally Invented How We Search for Information

    The Card Catalog That Accidentally Invented How We Search for Information
    Feb 5 2026
    On February 5, 1885, libraries adopted the standardized card catalog, a system meant to organize books that instead reshaped how humans think about information itself. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, Amy explores the strange true history of the card catalog—why librarians initially hated it, how it confused early users, and how drawers of index cards quietly laid the foundation for modern search, databases, and information systems we rely on today.

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    5 m
  • The Winter Olympics That Almost Failed During the Great Depression

    The Winter Olympics That Almost Failed During the Great Depression
    Feb 4 2026
    On February 4, 1932, the Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid, New York, at the height of the Great Depression — and nearly collapsed before they began. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, Amy explores the true stories behind the smallest Winter Olympics ever held: athletes who paid their own way, competitors housed in local homes, events delayed by weather shortages, controversial rule changes, and a town that held a global event together through improvisation and perseverance. This strange but true history reveals how one fragile Olympics quietly shaped traditions still used today.

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    🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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    6 m
  • February 3 – The Night People Tried to Trap Lightning Indoors

    February 3 – The Night People Tried to Trap Lightning Indoors
    Feb 3 2026
    February 3 sits within a long tradition of winter reports involving ball lightning — glowing spheres of electrical energy that drifted through homes and defied explanation. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, Amy explores the strange true history of ball lightning, why people tried to trap it, and how the phenomenon remains one of science’s most stubborn mysteries.

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    🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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    5 m
  • Anatole Le Braz & Ankou: Breton Death Lore, Ghost Stories, and the Man Who Interviewed Death

    Anatole Le Braz & Ankou: Breton Death Lore, Ghost Stories, and the Man Who Interviewed Death
    Feb 2 2026
    In this chilling mega episode of The Strange History Podcast, host Amy explores the dark, forgotten world of Anatole Le Braz, the Breton folklorist who preserved some of Europe’s most unsettling ghost stories and death traditions. Traveling to Brittany, France, this episode dives deep into Breton culture, oral history, and the eerie figure of Ankou, the Breton personification of Death who walks the roads at night collecting souls. Through rich storytelling and historical detail, we uncover how Le Braz recorded real eyewitness accounts of ghosts, death omens, funeral mistakes, and spirits returning to correct the living. From villages at the edge of the Atlantic to fireside confessions whispered in Breton homes, this episode reveals how an entire culture lived alongside death—not fearing it, but respecting it. If you love strange history, dark folklore, ghost stories, Celtic mythology, or forgotten European legends, this episode is a must-listen journey into a world where death keeps records and the dead sometimes come back to fix clerical errors.

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    9 m
  • The Bretons: Celtic Origins, Breton Language, Ancient Lore, and the People Who Crossed the Sea With Their Stories Intact

    The Bretons: Celtic Origins, Breton Language, Ancient Lore, and the People Who Crossed the Sea With Their Stories Intact
    Feb 2 2026
    In this epic mega episode of The Strange History Podcast, host Amy explores the haunting and resilient history of the Bretons, a Celtic people whose identity survived exile, invasion, and cultural erasure. From their migration across the sea from Britain to Brittany, France, to the survival of the Breton language, this episode tells the story of a culture that refused to disappear. Through immersive storytelling, we uncover Breton folklore, ancient customs, standing stones, sea legends, and the powerful myths surrounding death, saints, and the supernatural. This episode dives deep into Celtic heritage, oral traditions, and the quiet resistance that allowed the Bretons to preserve their identity for over a thousand years—often in defiance of empire and modernization. If you’re fascinated by Celtic history, European folklore, lost languages, ancient cultures, or strange history that blends myth with reality, this episode is a must-listen journey to the edge of the land where stories still remember themselves.

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    🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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    New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.
    Más Menos
    7 m
  • February 2 – The Night People Measured the Future by Firelight

    February 2 – The Night People Measured the Future by Firelight
    Feb 2 2026
    February 2, known as Candlemas, was once one of Europe’s most important midwinter prediction nights, when people used candlelight and shadows to determine how long winter would last. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, Amy explores the strange true history of Candlemas, its pagan roots, its role in survival planning, and how fire became an early form of forecasting.

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    🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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    New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.
    Más Menos
    4 m
  • February 1 – The Day Movies Were Forced to Follow the Sun

    February 1 – The Day Movies Were Forced to Follow the Sun
    Feb 1 2026
    On February 1, 1893, Thomas Edison opened the world’s first motion picture studio, the Black Maria, a rotating building designed to follow the sun for filming. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, Amy explores the strange true story of early cinema, why movies once depended on daylight, and how a spinning shed helped launch the film industry.

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    🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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    New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.
    Más Menos
    4 m
  • January 31 – The Sound Some People Swear Exists

    January 31 – The Sound Some People Swear Exists
    Jan 31 2026
    January 31 closes out the quietest month of the year with one of history’s most unsettling mysteries: the Hum, a low-frequency sound reported by people around the world but rarely recorded or explained. In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, Amy explores the history, science, and folklore behind the Hum and why some mysteries refuse to be confirmed — or dismissed.

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    🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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    New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.
    Más Menos
    4 m