Stuff You Missed in History Class

A deep dive into the President’s House in Philadelphia and the contested displays about slavery there. Stories about the nine people George Washington brought to the house, especially Hercules Posey, his role as chief cook, and his eventual escape. Examination of legal workarounds to Pennsylvania’s abolition law and the long fight over how this site interprets freedom and memory.

A look at Pueblo life before Spanish arrival and the cultural structures that sustained communities. The causes behind Spanish colonization, missionary aims, and the pressures of disease, drought, and taxation. The planning and execution of a coordinated uprising led by a prophetic leader. The siege of Santa Fe, Spanish retreat, later reconquest, and how Pueblo culture endured.

They swap caffeine confessions and debate favorite brewing gear. Conversation hops to wartime coffee trade and strange company histories. A listener tip sparks a dive into Fort Mose, Florida’s colonial twists and park rediscovery. Old letters, pirate spelling quirks, and Gullah-Geechee food traditions round out the chat.

A deep dive into the creation of a free Black settlement in Spanish Florida and how geopolitics made it a refuge. Stories of military strategy, border conflicts, and a community organized as an exterior defensive line. The rise of Francisco Menéndez from enslaved person to militia leader. Battles, forced relocations to Cuba, and the settlement’s legacy in archaeology and memory.

A surprising origin story of how a housewife used blotting paper to solve gritty coffee and launched a global filter industry. The rise from apartment startup to trade-fair breakthrough and factory expansion is traced. The company’s wartime choices, ties to Nazi-era programs, and later reckoning are examined. The narrative ends with the brand’s postwar recovery and lasting impact on coffee culture.

A deep dive into the FBI's secret programs that targeted Black liberation groups and the New Left. Stories cover Hoover memos, disinformation campaigns, and the deadly raid that killed Fred Hampton. The dramatic 1971 burglary that exposed COINTELPRO and the ensuing investigations are highlighted. The episode traces legal fallout and echoes in modern surveillance language.

Talks about historical stimulant use, including Pervitin, wartime amphetamines, and how historians interpret evidence. A personal story about accidentally taking ephedrine gets a humorous retelling. They revisit 1980s TV portrayals of diet pills and critique fatphobia. There is also a detour into the Lisbon earthquake’s sources and a playful moment over an amusing pronunciation.

A vivid account of the November 1755 quake that shook Lisbon, spawned a massive tsunami, and rattled coastlines from Portugal to Morocco. They trace the chaotic aftermath: fires, mass burials, and conflicting death counts. The story follows dramatic government action, the Pombaline earthquake‑resistant rebuilding, and how the disaster stirred Enlightenment debates about faith, science, and state power.

A look at how stimulants like Pervitin and Benzedrine shaped WWII tactics and civilian life. Traces the drugs' chemical origins and Temmler’s marketing push. Covers military testing, battlefield use in blitzkrieg campaigns, and the medical and psychological toll. Compares Axis and Allied stimulant programs and follows postwar regulation and continued sales.

A dive into how the FBI built and ran covert counterintelligence programs. Traces the Bureau’s rise, wartime laws, and postwar shifts that birthed COINTELPRO. Describes tactics like informants, surveillance, break-ins, and disinformation. Focuses on the program aimed at white supremacist groups and the political pressures that shaped those actions.