Welcome along to Half-Arsed History! It's a weekly podcast highlighting absurd and entertaining stories from history. Twice a week, it helps host Riley Knight feel as though his useless history degree has some kind of real-world relevance.
Half-Arsed History acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the unceded Gubbi Gubbi (Kabi Kabi) Land on which the podcast is written and recorded, and pays respect to First Nations Elders past, present, and emerging. Indigenous sovereignty was never ceded. This continent always was, and always will be, Aboriginal Land.
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In this week's episode, meet J.R.R. Tolkien, the immensely influential fantasy author whose works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, revolutionised the fantasy genre and made it what it is today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got assassinations and defenestrations and the release of a hugely popular global franchise, we’ve got the birthdays of palaeontologists and queens and jazz musicians, and we’ve got one of the most ridiculous promotional disasters you’ll ever come across. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, get to know the famed Chinese admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages at the head of a huge treasure fleet for the glory of Ming China. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got the test of the first-ever vaccine, and the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, we’ve got the birthdays of artists and political leaders and walking disasters, and we’ve got the end of the Crusader States in the Holy Land. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, meet Pocahontas, the famous Indigenous American woman, and uncover the truth of her story - or as much of it as we know, at any rate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Just got back from an overseas trip and I'm absolutely cooked, there is going to be some delays in getting the next few episodes out. Sorry about this everyone Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got the theft of the crown jewels and of a Confederate steamboat, we’ve got the birthdays of nurses and composers and artists, and we’ve got the story of the only British prime minister ever to have been assassinated. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, get to know John Harrison, and understand how his pioneering marine chronometers finally solved the famous longitude problem and ushered in a new age of navigation at sea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got the union of crowns, the beginning of a revolution, and an aeronautical disaster, we’ve got the birthdays of political philosophers, and we’ve got the tale of one of the weirdest hoaxes you’ll ever hear. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, hear the gruesome tale of the Donner Party, when a group of westward migrants became trapped in snow on the Sierra Nevada, forced to horrifying and desperate lengths in order to survive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got famous mutinies, huge canals, and wartime invasions, we’ve got the birthdays of writers of philosophy and plays and novels, and we’ve got something of a watershed moment in the history of Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, explore the lasting consequences of the 1973 Oil Crisis, and compare it with the current energy crisis the world is experiencing today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode delves into diverse historical events, from James Cook's arrival in Australia and the impact of the Gallipoli campaign to the humorous tale of the Hutt River Principality. The main focus then shifts to the celebrated German WWI pilot, the Red Baron, exploring his rise to fame, his famous "Flying Circus," and the dramatic details of his final flight, including a surprising twist about his true killer. The episode also features notable historical birthdays and amusing listener messages.
In this week's episode, learn all about the Avignon Papacy, to understand why and how the US recently invoked it as a threat against the Vatican. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, the podcast covers a fascinating array of historical events, including the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the sinking of the Titanic, and a peculiar U-boat disaster. The main focus, however, is on the invention of cornflakes by John Harvey Kellogg. The episode uncovers Kellogg's eccentric health philosophies, his promotion of bland diets, and his extreme, deeply unsettling views on masturbation, revealing how these beliefs influenced the creation of the famous breakfast cereal.
In this week's episode, explore the historical and contemporary legacies of the British East India Company, examined through nationalist, political, economic, and moral lenses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got volcanic eruptions and famous statues, we’ve got the birthdays of royals, representatives, and root rats, and we’ve got a bloke catching seagulls and killing sharks in a months-long ordeal of lonely maritime survival. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, discover how and why the British East India Company, an immensely powerful and wealthy imperial institution, came crashing down after a slow and steady decline. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got the origin of gerrymandering, the renaming of Constantinople, we’ve got the birthdays of composers and scientists and painters, and we’ve got the time the BBC convinced half of Britain that spaghetti grew on trees. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, hear about the phase of conquest and expansion that transformed the British East India Company into one of the largest and most powerful imperial institutions on Earth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got monuments both finished and unfinished, we’ve got great escapes, we’ve got the birthdays of clockmakers, filmmakers, and musicmakers, and we’ve got the time that England lost the World Cup in 1966. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, get across how the British East India Company transformed from a purely commercial enterprise to a sovereign entity exercising colonial authority over a growing part of the Indian subcontinent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got the death of a saint, the discovery of a planet, and the theft of half a billion dollars of art, we’ve got the birthdays of scientists and explorers, and beware the Ides of March, we’ve got the assassination of Julius Caesar. Selene's Fun Animal Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6LMIgPToyL63jhxRKddc0a?si=3a181b5c586449b3 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, hear about the early history of the English East India Company, and how it moved away from the Indonesian spice trade and instead gained a foothold on the Indian subcontinent under the Mughal Empire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got the foundation of the French Foreign Legion and frozen food, we’ve got the birthdays of explorers and artists and activists, and we’ve got the establishment of the original and sometimes very amusing rules of the game of golf. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, learn about the global 16th century trading conditions that ultimately led to the formation of the East India Company, an institution that would eventually grow to effectively rule as a nation in its own right. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got the first Europeans in Australia, we’ve got the first Sherlock Holmes stories, we’ve got famous composers and an even famouser crook, and we’ve got the time the city that would go on to become Tokyo burnt to the ground. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, get a taste of what this show might have sounded like if it had begun as a podcast of a different genre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week in history we’ve got monuments, calendars, and the disastrous premiere of a popular opera, we’ve got the birthdays of astronomers and diarists and presidents, and we’ve got that time that Mexico got through three presidents in a single hour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week's episode, get to know Nicolaus Copernicus, the 15th-century astronomer who brought about a historical paradigm shift with his radical proposal that the Sun, not the Earth, is at the centre of the solar system. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
