CLASSIC: The American Soldiers Who Defected to North Korea and Became Movie Stars

CLASSIC: The American Soldiers Who Defected to North Korea and Became Movie Stars

Author: iHeartPodcasts November 1, 2025 Duration: 36:33

In this weekend's Classic episode, Ben quizzes Max on his dreams of being a director, ultimately asking: What would the average person do to become famous? Often described as one of the most isolated countries in the world, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has been ruled by the Kim dynasty since 1948. And while most reports of defectors focus on harrowing stories of North Koreans escaping to freedom in China or South Korea, a handful of people actually traveled in the other direction, defecting to North Korea. Listen in to learn more about the strange journeys American soldiers took, away from the military and straight to the forefront of North Korea's film industry.

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History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Ridiculous History
Podcast Episodes
CLASSIC: Idiomatic for the People II, Part I: What's in a word? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:54
Language is beautiful and, in many cases, continually evolving. As a result, we end up with hundreds of strange idioms and figures of speech that we use on a daily basis, with little to no understanding of what they orig…
History's Weirdest National Anthems [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:55
Let's be honest: national anthems are cool... but definitely propaganda, and often objectively weird. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore some of history's strangest national anthems. Some are inspiring, some a…
CLASSIC: The Statue of Liberty Almost Lived in Egypt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:54
Today the Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous landmarks in the United States -- but it almost didn't make it to Ellis Island. Join the Ben and Noel as they explore the strange story of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi…
Vacuum Cleaners are Ridiculous! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:20
Did you know over 90% of US households own a vacuum cleaner? These handy-dandy descendents of the carpet sweeper revolutionized the cleaning game... but where did they come from? As Ben, Noel and Max discover in today's…
The Ridiculously Adorable, Feminist History of Kewpie Dolls [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:59
When illustrator and novelist Rose O'Neill first debuted the Kewpie cartoons in 1909, these loveable little characters took the world by storm. Yet O'Neill didn't stop there. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max learn t…
CLASSIC: Agent Garbo: The Strange Tale of the Man Who Saved D-Day [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:41
When Juan Pujol first volunteered to spy for the British during World War II, they didn’t take him seriously. That all changed when he got a gig spying for the German government. Listen to learn the story of one of World…
The Most-hated Condiment? A Ridiculous History of Mayonnaise [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:23
Often called "the thick, creamy bastard child of oil and eggs" (well, called that at least once by Ben), mayonnaise remains one of the world's most divisive condiment. But where did it come from? In today's continuing Ri…
The Gang Goes To Waffle House [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:24
In a small suburb of Atlanta back in the 1950s, two men hatched an amazing concept: a restaurant that never closes. In today's episode, the guys explore the origin story of Georgia's most mythical restaurant: Waffle Hous…
CLASSIC: The War of the Stray Dog: How Far Would You Go For Your Pet? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:09
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, it didn't take the newly-independent nations of Greece and Bulgaria long to begin bickering over their borders. Throughout the early 1920s, small bands of peasants from both countrie…