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: The Weird Life of George Washington, Part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:37
Returning special guest Christopher Hassiotis joins the guys today for a round-robin discussion of the very weird life of George Washington, first President of the United States. (As you may have guessed from the title,…
Folks, We're Doing A Clip Show: Leftovers, 2025 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:25
Hey there, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Ben, Noel and Max here: as we travel to hang with our friends and family, we like to do a little thing at the end of the year where we explore various tangents and trivia…
Was 536 Really the Worst Year in History? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:42
Welcome to the end of the year, fellow Ridiculous Historians! As Ben, Noel and Max look back on the events of 2025, they discovered historians do, in fact, have one year singled out as "the worst year in human history."…
CLASSIC: Clara, The World's Most Famous Rhinoceros [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:28
For centuries most people in Europe thought of rhinos as another form of mythical creature, like unicorns or griffins. However, this all changed when an enterprising sea captain brought a young, orphaned rhino named Clar…
Christmas Traditions Are So Incredibly Weird! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:55
What's the strangest Christmas tradition you practice? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max ring in the end of the year with an exploration of Christmas celebrations across the world -- and speculate on inventing a few…
The Grim Christmas Folklore of Johnny Ace, with Jake Brennan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:10
While the career of rhythm-and-blues vocalist Johnny Ace was short, he left a huge mark on the music world. Up until Christmas Day of 1954, Ace seemed set to reach genuine crossover success in pop music -- until, that is…
CLASSIC: How the Monopoly Board Game Became a World War II Escape Kit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:35
Ben, Noel and Max return with this week's Classic episode! Monopoly is a pretty divisive game, and people tend to either love it or hate it. However, for hundreds of Allied POWs captured during World War II, Monopoly bec…
The Deliciously Ridiculous History of Fruitcakes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:19
Let's be honest. If you live in the United States, you probably think fruitcake is ridiculous. It's like the MRE of Christmas, passed around from one family to the next. But what makes it so resilient? How, out of all th…
CLASSIC: Idiomatic For The People, Part I [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:05
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…