People Used to Do Very Weird Drugs, Part One: Broomsticks, Sailors and Vikings

People Used to Do Very Weird Drugs, Part One: Broomsticks, Sailors and Vikings

Author: iHeartPodcasts June 30, 2026 Duration: 42:13

Today, everyone knows the potential dangers of both illegal and legal drugs. Some are more popular and more widely-accepted than others (shoutout to coffee!), but across time and cultures, it's an open secret that pretty much every civilization was doing one drug or another. Sometimes for ritualistic purposes, sometimes for purported medicinal properties -- and, sometimes, just to party. In the first part of this continuing series, Ben, Noel and Max explore some of the strangest things people of ages past used to get high, including nutmeg, belladonna, henbane and more.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


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: 50

Ridiculous History
Podcast Episodes
CLASSIC: Bug Wars: When We Tried to Turn Insects into Soldiers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:58
Let's be honest: Bugs aren't everyone's cup of tea, but they're fascinating, crucial parts of the ecosystem. They're also, according to a few eggheads, the perfect weapons of war. Join the guys as they explore the bizarr…
CLASSIC: Yasuke, the African Samurai [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:43
Japanese Daimyo Oda Nobunaga was fascinated by the mysterious, towering slave of a visiting Jesuit missionary, and soon this man, Yasuke, joined Nobunaga's court, eventually becoming a full-on samurai. Join the guys as t…