Our Fake History
A podcast about myths we think are history and history that might be hidden in myths! Awesome stories that really (maybe) happened!
Episode #212 - Was "The Man Called Intrepid" a Fraud?
In 1976 the bestselling biography A Man Called Intrepid made the Canadian spy Sir. William Stephenson something close to a household name. The book claimed that the previously obscure Stephenson had secretly been the head of one of WWII's most important espionage agencies. Some even gave him credit for inspiring Ian Fleming's beloved fictional spy, James Bond. But, despite it's success, the book soon met with a wave of criticism from historians. The most vocal critics decried Stephenson as an "intrepid fraud" who "fooled the world into believing he was a master spy.” Was Stephenson truly an important part of British Intelligence, or was he just a Winnipeg con-man who duped his gullible biographers. Tune-in and find out how secret Canadian commando camps, stolen can openers, and the Butcher of Prague all play a role in the story.
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Podcast Episodes
Episode #249 - Who Built Rome? (ft. Dr. Emma Southon)
The Roman Empire is often remembered for it's grand works of architecture and formidable military. However, for most of its history Rome's economy was underpinned by the labour of millions of individuals who had been for…
Bonus Episode - Minor Miners, Activist Entertainers, and Spanish Painters
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes question from the listeners about the recent episodes on Henry Box Brown and Snow White. First, we hear some comments from a listener in Iceland who wanted to weigh in on the North A…
Episode #248 - Was There a Real Snow White?
The Brothers Grimm once write that "Snow White" was Germany's best known folktale. When the beloved fairytale served as the inspiration for the famous 1937 Disney film the story reached new levels of international recogn…
Episode #247 - Was Box Brown Magically Emancipated?
One of the most celebrated stories from the Underground Railroad is that of Henry Box Brown, the man who mailed himself to freedom. In 1849 Henry Brown successfully had himself shipped out of slavery in a packing crate f…
Bonus Episode - Disappearing Doppelgängers, Viking Thralls, and the Comedy of the Sagas
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent series on the Viking voyages to North America. In it he reckons with the history of slavery in the Norse world, guesses at why the southern Vinland of sett…
Episode #246 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part III)
For centuries the western Norse colony of Vinland was known only to scholars of the Icelandic Sagas. But in the 19th century the work of a few Scandinavian historians helped revive interest in these previously obscure ta…
Episode #245 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part II)
The only literary sources we have about the Viking settlements west of Greenland come from the Icelandic Sagas. The only problem is that the Sagas can be totally off-the-wall. Corpses reanimate and speak prophecies, gian…
Episode #244 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part I)
Between the 9th and 11th centuries Norse explorers undertook a series of remarkable journeys through the North Atlantic. Iceland and Greenland were settled by medieval farmers eager to find new uninhabited lands. But jus…
Bonus Episode - Ponzi Empires, Thieving Saints, and Skin Grafts
In this Bonus Episode Sebastian takes questions from listeners about the series on the original Ponzi Scheme. The host investigates the history of the expression "robbing Peter to pay Paul", locates early usages of the p…
Episode #243 - What Was Ponzi's Scheme? (Part II)
Charles Ponzi's remarkable rise and fall played out over the course of a wild eight month period. He went from being a failed importer-exporter mired in debt to Boston's most talked about self-made millionaire in a matte…
