The evangelist and convicted cat burglar who galvanized gay rights
In Houston, Ray Hill was a colossal character. He even adopted "citizen provocateur" as a formal title.
Dec 12, 2018•6 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
In 1939, the 'American Hitler' took the stage at Madison Square Garden
Fritz Kuhn was the leader of the pro-Nazi group known as the German American Bund. He was a hero to his audience, and a scourge on the world to most others.
Dec 11, 2018•6 min
The cranberry crisis that changed how we see our food
Weeks before Thanksgiving, 1959, cranberries were declared unsafe to eat. The race was on to save America’s favorite holiday side dish.
Dec 10, 2018•6 min
The 'Toy King' who never aspired to the throne.
Toys R Us founder Charles Lazarus had no idea how big the toy industry would become.
Dec 07, 2018•6 min
America’s first black Catholic priest
Augustus Tolton’s miraculous life took him from slavery to the brink of sainthood.
Dec 06, 2018•6 min
John Adams was eulogized before his son even knew he died
News traveled so slowly in 1826 that the former president was buried days before his son, sitting president John Quincy Adams, got word of his death.
Dec 05, 2018•6 min
George H.W. Bush was a president and a prankster
Bush, who died last week, is being fondly remembered for his cool demeanor and a boundless sense of humor.
Dec 04, 2018•6 min
The unlikely friendship between George H.W. Bush and Dana Carvey
George H.W. Bush had a lot of humility. So much that he developed a friendship with the comedian who impersonated him on SNL, Dana Carvey.
Dec 01, 2018•5 min
William Howard Taft’s housekeeper kept track of his weight
White House maid Elizabeth Jaffray not only cleaned up after presidents, she had an amazing insight into their appetites.
Nov 30, 2018•5 min
The National Christmas Tree
One of the grandest events the president presides over every year is the lighting of the National Christmas Tree.
Nov 29, 2018•4 min
The trials and tribulations of being a cat
Cats have endured some really mean stuff throughout history. Dogs should be thankful.
Nov 28, 2018•3 min
Then they came for me
Martin Niemoller's simple and haunting words are often quoted in moments of intolerance. The story behind them is much more complicated.
Nov 27, 2018•5 min
A brief history of presidents visiting troops in combat
Presidents throughout history have visited battlefields to better grasp conditions, reverse public doubt and signal that the country took war efforts seriously.
Nov 26, 2018•6 min
Benjamin Franklin’s complicated relationship with turkeys
Benjamin Franklin, the most colorful of America's Founding Fathers, had a misunderstood, electrical and ultimately homicidal relationship with turkeys.
Nov 21, 2018•6 min
The Green Book
In the 1930s, traveling the nation's highways while black was fraught with peril. One postal worker, Victor Green, wrote a guidebook for African Americans after he faced discrimination on a road trip.
Nov 20, 2018•5 min
The origins of the Unknown Soldier
The story of how the anonymous soldier came to rest inside the famous tomb is almost as unknown as his identity.
Nov 19, 2018•6 min
Mark Twain's complicated relationship with the typewriter
Mark Twain first laid eyes on a “newfangled typing machine,” as he called it, sometime in the early 1870s.
Nov 16, 2018•6 min
Food stamps were born out of a surplus of food
The idea of food stamps was born out of a complicated paradox.
Nov 15, 2018•6 min
William Rehnquist's proposal to Sandra Day O'Connor
Rehnquist proposed. O'Connor said no.
Nov 14, 2018•5 min
The first lady who couldn’t get her memoir published
Julia Grant didn't a have particularly good experience in the world of publishing. In fact, her memoir wasn’t even published in her lifetime.
Nov 13, 2018•5 min
Joachim Ronneberg, the saboteur who crippled Nazi atomic bomb project
Ronneberg started speaking about his experience in history in recent years.
Nov 12, 2018•5 min
America and warfare were never the same after World War I
Along with staggering death tolls, the "Great War" generated memorable literature, geopolitical upheaval, hope, disillusion, the Russian Revolution and the seeds of World War II.
Nov 09, 2018•5 min
Wong Kim Ark's Supreme Court fight for birthright citizenship
In 1895, the United States tried to deny an American citizen entry to the country even though he was born on U.S. soil.
Nov 08, 2018•6 min
How the Greeks once used a lottery system to select government officials
Some believed that a lottery was more democratic than a vote.
Nov 07, 2018•6 min
The makings of an electoral heist
Gerrymandering became a real electoral cudgel with a project called REDMAP.
Nov 06, 2018•7 min
Rahm Emanuel, Howard Dean and the midterm elections of 2006
Rahm Emanuel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, had two different approaches to taking back the House of Representatives. Their feud wasn't pretty.
Nov 05, 2018•6 min
Fall back, spring forward
Why, oh, why is daylight savings a thing? It's because for roughly two decades after World War II, no one had any clue what time it was.
Nov 02, 2018•3 min
Mary Ann Van Hoof and the Marian apparitions
Van Hoof said she also has seen George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Joan of Arc.
Nov 01, 2018•6 min
Close encounters with the Capitol’s Demon Cat
From the mid-1800s to well into the 20th century, the Capitol’s Demon Cat was the top dog of Washington ghost stories.
Oct 31, 2018•4 min
How Pittsburgh's Mister Rogers talked to children about tragedy
Mister Rogers’s approach to dealing with grief began with an American tragedy.
Oct 30, 2018•7 min
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