The Ridiculous Truth About Pirates, Chapter Two: History's Most Successful Pirate Was A Woman

The Ridiculous Truth About Pirates, Chapter Two: History's Most Successful Pirate Was A Woman

Author: iHeartPodcasts April 23, 2026 Duration: 43:33
Ridiculous History
HistoryCultureSocietySociety & Culture

Live from the beautiful Baha Mar resort, Ben, Noel, Max and returning guest Matt dive into popular misconceptions about pirates. First, piracy was by no means restricted to the Caribbean. Second, not all successful pirates were dudes. In fact, as the guys discover in the second-part of this two-part series, history's wealthiest pirate was a Chinese woman named Zheng Yi Sao, or Chin Shih. As they arrive closer to the modern day, the guys discover another notorious Chinese pirate smack-dab in the middle of the Sino-Japanese war: a double, triple, maybe even quadruple maritime bandit known as Huang “Two Guns” Bamei.

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: 100

Official website RSS
youtubetiktok
Ridiculous History
Podcast Episodes
The Ridiculous History of the 90s and Low Culture, with Ross Benes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:54
The 1990s were a time of chaos, aspiration, and, above all, ridiculous things. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max welcome returning guest Ross Benes, the author of 1999, for an in-depth exploration of talk shows, crim…
CLASSIC: The Great London Beer Flood of 1814 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:58
In 1814, a poor neighborhood in London fell victim to a strange, tragic and boozy disaster -- this calamity would eventually leave eight people dead. So what exactly happened? How could an entire neighborhood flood with…
The True Story of Pac Man -- and a Ton of Weird Theories [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:56
As one of the most iconic games in all of arcade history, Pac Man is recognized across the planet. But how did it get here -- and why are there so many in-depth fan theories about what it means? Is Pac Man a Sisyphean im…
The Ridiculous Origin of the the Word "Ridiculous" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:54
With nearly one thousand episodes out in the world over the years, Ben, Noel and Max realized they've never asked about the origin of the word "ridiculous." In this rollicking, cartoonishly meta episode, the gang learns…
CLASSIC: Dr. Seuss Wrote His Most Famous Book On A Bet [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:57
What are your favorite children's books? In this Classic episode, Ben and the gang acknowledge Dr. Seuss is one of the most well-known writers on the planet. "Green Eggs and Ham", one of his most successful books, sold o…
CLASSIC: Feral Children and the True Story Behind The Jungle Book [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:37
Now, let's be honest. Rudyard Kipling was a cartoonishly problematic guy. Yet his work made a permanent impression on global literature -- and, to a surprising degree, he based a lot of his writing on real-world events.…
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: The Colossus of Rhodes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:37
Imagine you're an ancient traveler, visiting Rhodes for the first time in 280 BCE. As you approach the famed city, a singular object dominates the horizon: a huge statue of the Greek sun god Helios, popularly known as th…

«1...678910