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 #250 - Is Macbeth Cursed?
Every theatre kid can tell you that Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth is a cursed play. Some believe that even saying the name of the play in a theatre where it is not being performed can jinx a production. Stories of misfortune, injury, and death haunt productions of Macbeth like the ghost of a slain friend. It has been suggested that the curse of Macbeth goes all the way back to it's first performance in 1606. However, evidence of this is sketchy at best. When did people start believing that there was a hex on Macbeth? Does it date to the 17th century or is something else going on here? Tune-in and find out how an arrow through Laurence Olivier's leg, Shakespeare in drag, and Charlton Heston's flaming thighs all play a role in the story.
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Podcast Episodes
Episode #194- Who Killed Mozart? (Part III)
In 1791 Wolfgang Mozart was one the verge of a comeback. After being the toast of Vienna for half a decade, his music was starting to be considered passé by the late 1780's. A turbulent war between Austria and Turkey and…
Episode #193- Who Killed Mozart? (Part II)
Wolfgang Mozart made the transition from child prodigy to adult artist fairly seamlessly, but that does not mean there weren't road bumps. Many musicians were skeptical of the boy from Salzburg. Was he more than just a m…
Episode #192- Who Killed Mozart? (Part I)
There are few artists who are praised with the same level of hyperbole as Wolfgang Mozart. The German poet Franz Alexander von Kleist once said “Mozart's music is so beautiful as to entice angels down to earth.” The famo…
Episode #191- Who Was The Real Zorro? (Part II)
The character of Zorro clearly had a number of inspirations, some literary and some historical. But the proto-Zorro with the deepest mythology is undoubtedly the Mexican bandit Joaquin Murrieta. The outlaw was allegedly…
Episode #190- Who Was The Real Zorro? (Part I)
The co-creator of Batman has admitted that there would be no caped crusader had it not been for the inspiration of masked-avenger Zorro. In turn, the character of Zorro could not have existed without the inspiration of r…
Episode #189- What Bewitched Salem? (Part III)
The Salem witch panic of 1692 can sometimes feel more like a natural disaster than a human event. When the crisis reached its peak in the late summer of 1692 it had become as chaotic and destructive as any extreme storm.…
Episode #188- What Bewitched Salem? (Part II)
Can a psychological illness become contagious? Many experts believe that in rare cases a phenomenon known as a "mass psychogenic illness" can break out in a population. Can this strange quirk of group psychology help us…
Episode #187- What Bewitched Salem? (Part I)
In 1692 in the town of Salem Village, Massachusetts, two young girls started acting very strangely. The girls suffered from uncontrollable fits, bouts of incoherence, and odd outbursts including barking and choking sound…
Episode #186- Who Was Germany's Greatest Imposter?
In 1906 an ex-convict named Wilhelm Voigt living pulled off one of the most audacious heists in European history. After cobbling together a realistic looking Captain's uniform, he convinced ten German soldiers to follow…
