OFH Throwback - Episode #145 - Real Gryphons?

OFH Throwback - Episode #145 - Real Gryphons?

Author: PodcastOne July 28, 2026 Duration: 1:13:39
In this Throwback Episode Sebastian revisits one of his favourite episodes from Season 7 and brings in some new critiques that did not make it into the original show! The legendary hybrid creature known as the gryphon was said to have the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Despite this fantastical descriptions the ancient Greeks and Romans truly seemed to have believed that gryphons were real animals. It was thought that gryphons lived in arid steppes and deserts of central Asia where they guarded stashes of gold. Stories of gryphons made their way to Mediterranean by way of the nomadic Scythian people, who hunted for gold in the gryphon’s homeland. Stanford Professor Adrienne Mayor thinks she may have solved the mystery of this puzzling creature. Could the gryphon stories be an early form of paleontology? Tune-in and find out how giant hoaxes, paleo-art, and one eyed gold hunters all play a role in the story.Read Mark Witton's blog Here See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A podcast about myths we think are history and history that might be hidden in myths! Awesome stories that really (maybe) happened!
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Our Fake History
Podcast Episodes
Episode #245 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part II) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:08
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) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:27
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 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:41
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) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:04
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…
Episode #242 - What Was Ponzi's Scheme? (Part I) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:21:06
The name Charles Ponzi has become synonymous with financial frauds. In 1920 the formerly obscure Italian immigrant suddenly became one of the most famous men in Boston when his Securities Exchange Company started offerin…
Episode #241 - Who Invented the Wild West? (Part II) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:08
Buffalo Bill's Wild West first started touring outdoor arenas in 1883. What started as a western themed circus soon grew in ambition. In the quest to appeal to respectable middle-class family audiences Buffalo Bill was s…
Episode #240 - Who Invented the Wild West? (Part I) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:17:46
Buffalo Bill would eventually develop his frontiersman act into the Wild West Show, an outdoor exposition that was part circus, part rodeo, and part historical reenactment.
Bonus Episode - Messy Duels, Welsh Pride, and Famous Firsts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:42
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent episodes on Thailand's legendary elephant duels and the seafaring Welsh Prince Madoc. The host does his best to pinpoint the "real" last elephant duel and…
Episode #239 - Did a Welsh Prince Beat Columbus to the New World? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:09
There's a story that in the year 1170 a Prince from Wales, named Madoc, led a group of Welsh colonists over the Atlantic to North America. This group allegedly mingled with the local indigenous people and eventually assi…