John Brown's prophecy
Abolitionist John Brown wrote made a prophecy before he was executed.
May 14, 2018•4 min
Retropod
The Washington Post
Retropod is a show for history-lovers, featuring stories about the past, rediscovered. Host Mike Rosenwald introduces you to history’s most colorful characters - forgotten heroes, overlooked villains, dreamers, explorers, world changers.
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Episodes
She spent years fighting to create Mother's Day, then lost everything trying to protect it
Anna Jarvis would absolutely hate what Mother's Day has become.
May 11, 2018•3 min
The Sullivan brothers
Five brothers fought and died together on the same ship during World War II. Their final resting place was discovered earlier this year.
May 10, 2018•4 min
Lee Harvey Oswald's final hours before killing Kennedy
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy devastated the nation. But the day before the shooting was just a normal day. It was particularly calm and uneventful for the gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald.
May 09, 2018•4 min
To ban a "Mockingbird"
Harper Lee's classic novel has been causing controversy for as long as its been in print. Here's a look at the history of banning "To Kill a Mockingbird."
May 08, 2018•4 min
The original Alcoholics Anonymous book was auctioned for millions, but its author was never paid
The original manuscript was auctioned off for $2.4 million this weekend to an NFL owner, after almost a year of legal wrangling.
May 07, 2018•5 min
May the Fourth be with you
Mark Hamill himself shares stories from Star Wars history. You can hear the full interview with Hamill on the Cape Up podcast with Jonathan Capehart.
May 04, 2018•5 min
The battle between Old Waddy and the press
Believe it or not, the relationship between politicians and the press has been worse. A lot worse.
May 03, 2018•3 min
Were the Duke of Windsor and Adolf Hitler friends?
Was the duke a Nazi sympathizer? Did he plot to dethrone his brother, King George VI? Did he really suggest more German bombing of Britain might end World War II?
May 02, 2018•4 min
Need a job? Ask Ulysses S. Grant
Grant had an impressive resume on the battlefield, he was known to be a patsy when it came to helping job hunters. People used to walk right into the White House and ask the president to find them a job
May 01, 2018•3 min
How the Doomsday Clock came to be
The Doomsday Clock was created not by a scientist, but by an artist.
Apr 30, 2018•4 min
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day was once just for daughters
Mike is joined by a special guest to talk about how Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day began.
Apr 27, 2018•3 min
These guys were college jocks - and then became Presidents of the United States
We dug through The Washington Post's archives and consulted the Pro Football Hall of Fame to bring you a rundown of the best presidential ballers.
Apr 26, 2018•4 min
The only person Hitler loved
Adolf Hitler's mother may be the only person he genuinely cared for.
Apr 25, 2018•5 min
Philadelphia's plumbing revolution: wood pipes
In 1812, Philadelphia was outfitted with the latest in plumbing technology - a network of wooden pipes to carry water throughout the city.
Apr 24, 2018•3 min
Chillicothe, Missouri, the town that invented sliced bread
The town of Chillicothe, Missouri, recently discovered they have a surprising claim to history: the creation of sliced bread.
Apr 23, 2018•4 min
Barbara Bush’s remarkable commencement address
In 1990, students protested the choice of the first lady as their commencement speaker, calling it anti-feminist. Her speech silenced the critics.
Apr 20, 2018•4 min
The day anti-Vietnam War protesters tried to levitate the Pentagon
In October 1967, antiwar protesters announced that they would march en masse to the front steps of the Pentagon. and levitate it. And then they would try to levitate it.
Apr 19, 2018•4 min
The history of epic North Korean insults
North Korea has long been a superpower when it comes verbal attacks.
Apr 18, 2018•3 min
Hate the IRS? Blame Abraham Lincoln.
In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln was in a financial bind. Also, he was in a war. To raise money, he pushed for and won passage of an income tax and, a year or so later, established the Internal Revenue Bureau to collect what was owed.
Apr 17, 2018•4 min
The mother who made George Washington miserable
George and his mother had an unusual relationship for the 1700s, more like what you might see in a sitcom from the 1970s. She was indispensable to him, but intolerable.
Apr 16, 2018•5 min
Why Thurgood Marshall asked an ex-Klan member to help him make Supreme Court history
Thurgood Marshall, the first African American member of the Supreme Court, took the constitutional oath of office from Hugo Black, a white associate justice who had once been a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Apr 13, 2018•4 min
A letter from home
A German woman discovered that her childhood home was stolen from a Jewish family who fled Nazi Germany. Last year, she tracked down the address of one of the children, and wrote him a letter.
Apr 12, 2018•4 min
Was Mary Todd Lincoln a leaker?
President Abraham Lincoln had to worry about the first lady being a leaker, and it was quite a scandal.
Apr 11, 2018•4 min
Winifred Stanley, a forgotten equal pay pioneer
The woman who first introduced equal pay legislation in Congress had to fight to be taken seriously -- and often failed.
Apr 10, 2018•3 min
The invention of sarin
Weevils, a voracious beetle found in fields and orchards, were the original target of sarin gas.
Apr 09, 2018•4 min
The spy plane
Over the past few months, historians and national security analysts have been re-examining one particular forgotten moment in the history of U.S. and North Korea conflict.
Apr 06, 2018•4 min
The toughest job in politics
The most thankless job might be that of the White House press secretary. Just ask Ron Ziegler.
Apr 05, 2018•3 min
The day Martin Luther King Jr. died
Fifty years ago today, the civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down in Memphis. Riots broke out across the country, but in Indianapolis, there was peace.
Apr 04, 2018•7 min
The Mountaintop
On April 3, 1968, 50 years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. was in Memphis to support sanitation workers who were protesting for their civil rights. It was there that King delivered his last speech.
Apr 03, 2018•4 min
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