When Mary Eleanor Bowe's first husband died, he left her a letter warning her that, "A living man have no interest to mislead. A living man may." He could not have possibly predicted just how deceitful Mary Eleanor's next husband would be. CW: spousal abuse, pregnancy termination. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Noble Blood merch — Order Dana's book, ' Anatomy: A Love Story ' and its sequel ' Immortality: A Love Story ' See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...
Feb 20, 2024•53 min•Ep. 168
In 2018, Sheika Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, the daughter of the ruler of Dubai, attempted a daring escape to international waters, away from what she characterized as a dangerous and oppresive life among her family. She was captured and brought back to the United Arab Emirates, and though there have been public statements saying she is safe and content, her wellbeing has become a matter of international concern. Dana is joined by New Yorker staff writer Heidi Blake. Support Noble Blood: — B...
Feb 13, 2024•33 min•Ep. 167
From the Salem Witch Trials to O.J. Simpson, trials have always revealed hidden truths about our society. History on Trial will dig into these cases, focusing on the real people behind the headlines, and the powerful cultural contexts that shaped the verdicts. We’ll dive deep into the grimy underworld of sports betting with the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, investigate mid-century Soviet espionage through the cases of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs, and explore the scandalous sex lives of Victorian pre...
Feb 09, 2024•3 min
Along the walls of the Chamber of the Great Council in the Doge's Palace in Venice, there are portraits—one after another—of the Republic's doges. Each man has his likeness, and a description of some of his accomplishments. But there's a gap in the parade -- one man was painted over, and covered with a painted black veil. A man who committed a crime against the Republic so great, that he was "condemned in memory." Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Noble Bl...
Feb 06, 2024•40 min•Ep. 166
On Very Special Episodes, we tell one incredible story each week. Stranger-than-fiction tales about normal people in extraordinary situations. Stories that make you say, “this should be a movie.” Follow Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Listen here or on the iHeartRadio app. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 01, 2024•3 min
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau is best known for something that he accomplished as an infant -- traveling with his mother, Sacagawea, and Lewis and Clark with the Corps of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean. But as he reached adulthood, he would become a symbol of a new American identity, eventually spending six years living alongisde an eager explorer who happened to be a German Duke. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Noble Blood Merch — Order Dana's book, 'Anato...
Jan 30, 2024•33 min•Ep. 165
In the late 19th century, French writer Marc de Montifaud was sentenced to prison for indecency in his work. But rather than being sent to the rather cushy location for literary criminals, he was sentenced to forced labor... as a woman. Born Marie, but ultimately living as Marc, the Comtesse de Montifaud remains one of the most interesting and enigmatic figures in literary history, a trans man who defied social conventions to live and work as he pleased. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, st...
Jan 23, 2024•39 min•Ep. 164
Alchemist, magician, astronomer, astrologer - John Dee served as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, interpreting the stars for her. And when a comet crossed the sky, he told her that it portended the birth of something he came up with the name for: the British Empire. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 16, 2024•30 min•Ep. 163
CW: Gore, cannibalism. The village of Hautefaye was a sleepy town in France best known for a local fair. But in the summer of 1870, gripped by paranoia and political anger, the villagers turned on a young nobleman and unleashed a torrent of horrific violence that would scar the town for a century. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
Jan 09, 2024•35 min•Ep. 162
According to legend, around 1100, a woman disguised herself as a man and was unanimously elected Pope. The ruse lasted until she gave birth while riding her horse through the streets of Rome. The story isn't true, but how the story came to be, and why it persisted, becomes its own history of Christianity in Europe and the power of propoganda. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: ...
Jan 02, 2024•47 min•Ep. 161
William the Conqueror is considered the first King of England. But the road to his victory at the Battle of Hastings was strange and challenging, and it would take more than a coronation to get England to submit to him. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch ! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 26, 2023•31 min•Ep. 160
The wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, Josephine went from a sugar plantation to prison to Empress. But her rise and her fall reveal a dark undercurrent in the trend toward women in post-Revolutionary France. Dana is joined in conversation by the writer Jennifer Wright. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel ' Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 19, 2023•49 min•Ep. 159
When her husband, King John of England died, the widowed Isabelle of Angouleme sailed back to France to fight for her own independent kingdom. But over decades of trying to pit England and France against each other, sacrificing her reputation and her relationships with her children, Isabelle's efforts would have a greater cost than she could afford. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immort...
Dec 12, 2023•40 min•Ep. 158
A minor aristocrat, Charlotte Corday could have lived an ordinary life in Normandy in the 18th century. Instead, she took it upon herself to kill the prominent leader of the Jacobin revolutionaries - a newspaper writer named Marat - while he soaked in his bathtub. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel, 'Immortality: A Love Story'. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 05, 2023•30 min•Ep. 157
CW: Spousal abuse, miscarriage. In the UK in the early 19th century, married women didn't exist as their own legal entities; they were extensions of their husbands. Caroline Norton's abusive husband took full custody of their children, and Caroline tried to do everything in their power to get them back. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listene...
Nov 28, 2023•29 min•Ep. 156
Khutulun was a 13th century Mongolian princess born in the war-torn years after Genghis Khan's massive empire began falling apart at the seams. She fought valiantly at her father's side to defend his Khanate, but when it came to marriage she made a demand: she would only marry a man who could beat her in a wrestling match. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See om...
Nov 21, 2023•39 min•Ep. 155
Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor, was an obsessive collector — of art, of rare and expensive artifacts, of scientific equipment, of natural curiosities. (He claimed he had a siren's jaw and a phoenix feather.) But religious tension and foreign invasion was tearing his empire apart at the seams, and Rudolf's response was to retreat further into his own private world. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and...
Nov 14, 2023•52 min•Ep. 154
Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister, was one of the most famous and glamorous women of the 20th century. But her life was lived in view of, and in response to, the tabloid scandals that threatened to undo her. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 07, 2023•37 min•Ep. 153
After marrying the Duke of Gloucester, Eleanor Cobham became one of the wealthiest and post powerful women in England. She and her husband were a heartbeat away from being King and Queen, and the promise of power tempted Eleanor into making a fatal mistake. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 31, 2023•32 min•Ep. 152
After Vatican II, many traditionalist Catholics around the world decided that the heresies of the Pope meant that the papal throne was actually empty. For one member of that group, the only solution was to fill the position himself. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 24, 2023•36 min•Ep. 151
When Mehmed III, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, died, his young son Ahmed took the throne. Tradition dicrated that Ahmed should have killed any rivals to the throne, specifically his half-brother, Mustafa. He didn't. Historians still don't know why, and Mustafa's strange life—as pawn, prisoner, and sultan—continues to raise questions about the nature of power and royalty itself. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love ...
Oct 17, 2023•41 min•Ep. 150
In 1836, a stranger arrived to a remote Russian town on a snow-white horse. The man spoke fluent French and had a noble bearing, but he refused to give any information about where he came from or who his family was. And then someone noticed a striking resemblance to the former Tsar, Alexander I. The only problem? Tsar Alexander I had been dead for eleven years. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its s...
Oct 10, 2023•34 min•Ep. 149
William Somer (or Will Summers), Henry VIII's fool, became known to history as a famous wit, the man who spoke truth to power and advocated for the common people. But in reality, the man's life was more nuanced, and far sadder. Dana speaks with historian Peter K. Andersson about his new book, FOOL: In Search of Henry VIII's Closest Man about the man who was arguably Henry VIII's longest-term relationship. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Da...
Oct 03, 2023•33 min•Ep. 148
Marie Lafarge's trial was a sensation. But when chemists begin to disagree on their conclusions, who's to say what the real story is? NOTE: This is the second part of our discussion of the trail of Marie Lafarge. If you haven't listened to last week's episode, begin there. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 26, 2023•34 min•Ep. 147
In 1840, the trial of Marie Lafarge scandalized France. Marie was a woman from noble birth, raised in all of the right social circles in Paris, who ended up married to an iron-master, heavily in debt. When he died less than a year later, his family suspected his new bride of sprinkling arsenic into his food. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' See omnystudio.com/li...
Sep 19, 2023•37 min•Ep. 146
[CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains depictions of violence and spousal abuse.] On November 7, 1974, John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan committed a horrible crime: attacking his wife, Veronica, Lady Lucan, and murdering their nanny, Sandra Rivett, in the family's quiet Belgravia home. But it's what happened after that turned the story into a true-crime legend: the morning after the murder, Lord Lucan disappeared. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — ...
Sep 12, 2023•39 min•Ep. 145
King Alfonson XII of Spain died without a male heir—but there was hope: his wife was six months pregnant. And as great fortune would have it, the Queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who would be Alfonso XIII. At the turn of the century, Spain was at a crossroads. It could either regress, into a conservative Catholic monarchy, or become a more liberal constitutional government. But the King facing those challenges was entirely unequipped to rise to the occasion, and his cloistered and limited...
Sep 05, 2023•46 min•Ep. 144
Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi lived many lives—as political researcher, congressional wife, Playboy model, and actress. But it would be her role as wife of an Italian prince that would eventually lead her into the battle of her life: an inheritance fight for a $500 million villa. [The archive mentioned in the episode epilogue here ] Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' ...
Aug 29, 2023•30 min•Ep. 143
Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the most famous women in European history for good reason. After annulling her marriage from the King of France, she would marry the man who would become Henry II, King of England. But that marriage would sour, and in the end, Eleanor would turn against him. Sign up for Dana's horror writing course! Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on P atreon — Merch! — Order Dana's book 'Anatomy: A Love Story and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story' ...
Aug 22, 2023•50 min•Ep. 142
TRIGGER WARNING: this episode contains references to sexual content. The Marquis de Sade, the namesake of "sadism," is famous for his writings cataloguing the full extent of brutal and abusive sexual acts. Today, he's perhaps more famous as a concept than an actual living, breathing person, a man who wrote his most famous manuscript in prison, aided by a shockingly devoted wife. Sign up for Dana's history writing course! Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon — M...
Aug 15, 2023•35 min•Ep. 141
