Footnoting History

(Christine) As his brother Napoleon rose to power in France, Jerome Bonaparte was across the ocean in Baltimore, Maryland. While there the young Bonaparte did what many men do, he married a beautiful woman. Unfortunately his union with Miss Elizabeth Patterson was not welcomed by Napoleon, who had other plans for his little brother. In this episode we’ll examine what happened in Baltimore and how Emperor Napoleon’s disapproval changed the future of the newlywed couple.

(Elizabeth and Christine) As Britain celebrates the birth of Prince George's little brother or sister, Footnoting History is pondering royal siblings who became influential figures in the country's history. Join us as we discuss how so-called "spares" ranging from Empress Matilda in the 12th century to King George VI in the 20th, found themselves in the spotlight.

(Samantha) The average American eats 68 quarts of popcorn each year - making the salty treat the most popular snack food in the country. But where does popcorn come from and how did it get so popular?

(Nicole) Cola di Rienzo had a turbulent career in fourteenth century Rome. Find out how this son of a Roman innkeeper became embroiled in papal and imperial politics, held the ancient positions of tribune and senator, and ultimately died a violent death.

(Elizabeth) Beloved children's classics such as The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys have been appearing in print for 75 to 100 years. The authors - Laura Lee Hope, Carolyn Keene, and Franklin W. Dixon - have kept children enchanted since the early 20th century...or have they?

(Lucy) Kate Marsden was born and died in London, but in the intervening decades, she traversed thousands of miles - and engaged the patronage of two empresses - in her efforts to ameliorate the lot of lepers, from London to the Russian steppes. Her exploits and her writings about them both inspired and scandalized society. This week's episode uses Marsden's career to discuss truth-telling, travel-writing, and Victorian ideas of virtue.

(Nathan) What if everything you ever knew about history and classical literature was fundamentally wrong? What if there were a massive conspiracy, set in motion by medieval monks, to create entire bodies of literature and claim they were much older, or to invent centuries of history? In this episode, we trace the pseudo-history of the great "monastic conspiracy" from its origins in the writings of a French Jesuit in the 17th century to the bizarre New Chronology of a Russian mathematician in the 20th.

(Lesley) In the 1950s, a series of discoveries allowed biologists to capture and construct the double-helio structure of DNA. For these efforts, James Watson, Maurice Wilkins, and Francis Crick were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. The implications of this work transformed the field of biology and led to dramatic new advancements in medicine. But the story of DNA was not so simple. James Watson's personal behavior diminished the contributions of other scientists. In this episode of Footnoting History, we learn about the complex drama behind the scenes of a landmark and transformative discovery...and the complications that continue to dog the career of a prominent scientist today.

(Christina) Each year in early March, professional mushers and their dog teams converge on Anchorage, Alaska to run the Iditarod, a grueling race to Nome, more than 1,000 miles away, ostensibly in commemoration of the 1925 "Great Race of Mercy." That first "race" consisted of heroic dogs and sledders who rushed diphtheria serum to the stricken city, and ensured the sled dog Balto his place in doggie stardom (and a statue in Central Park). But the Iditarod's legacy has not been free of controversy. Join us as we explore the guts, glory, controversy, and fluffy protagonists of the long history of dog mushing, and examine the shifting relationships between  human and canine that made it possible.

(Christine) The Second French Empire has fallen and Empress Eugénie fled to England, but what happened next? In this episode, we conclude our look at her life in exile, including her reunions with Napoleon III and their son, as well as the lasting piece of French imperialism she established in the English countryside.

(Christine) When Napoleon III’s French Empire began to crumble in the late 19th century, his wife was trapped in Paris. Who could possibly help the Bonaparte Empress flee before the mobs got to her? An American dentist named Thomas Evans, of course. We’re kicking off the new year with a podcast about escapes and unlikely allies!

(Lucy) For much of the Middle Ages, King Arthur was Europe’s model king. His court could be a space for heroism, for romance, and also for the uncanny. Often drawing on oral tradition, written for elite audiences, the Arthurian romances of the 13th and 14th centuries can be surprisingly revealing about cultural values and cultural debates. This week we'll be looking at Christmas feasts, sun-god figures, and complex debates about the morality of flirting.

(Esther) As the Queen celebrated her 25th year on the throne, England was restless, on the verge of anarchy, and sweating out the hottest summer in years. "God Save the Queen" went to the top of the charts, and the Sex Pistols, followed later by other acts, vented their rage at the royal family. We will revisit the tumultuous year of 1977 as our starting point to explore the British musicians who protested the monarchy in the late 1970s and 1980s.

(John) Following the most recent referendum on Scottish independence, it's a perfect time to reflect on the origins of Scotland. What does the murder of John Comyn by Robert Bruce in 1306 tell us about medieval Scotland? How has history been rewritten to stress nationalist narratives? And did anyone really care about Scotland as a country or state in the early fourteenth century? All this and a murder most foul. Or moderately foul. Or perfectly justified. It's all very Scottish. But somebody was murdered and this week John takes a stab at addressing the formation of Scotland under Robert Bruce in the fourteenth century.

(Elizabeth) In the 1970s, Dr. David Rosenhan set out to show just how easy it is to be labeled  mentally ill.  Following the model of Nellie Bly, he and his pseudo-patients did just that.

(Elizabeth) In 1887, Nellie Bly was asked to pass a week at an insane asylum. She said she would and she could and she did.

(Kirsti) Remember, remember the Fifth of November! Guy Fawkes has become an iconic face of the American Occupy movement, but was the Gunpowder Plot really an effort to improve the lot of the lower classes? This week we will explore the religious terrorism that inspired a national holiday.

(Kirsti) The Manhattan Project placed the lives of scientists and staff in New Mexico at great risk. One plutonium core in particular claimed two lives over the course of two years, earning it the epithet "The Demon Core." What happened? What did we learn from it? What was its eventual fate? We're going critical in this week's podcast.

(Ryan) In this episode, Ryan looks at the Union advances in the west from the battle of Shiloh through the Siege of Corinth and how the retreat of the Confederate forces along the Mississippi River ultimately contributed to the defeat of the South in the American Civil War.

(Lucy) From the late eighteenth century to the coming of WWI, Europe's haute bourgeoisie looked to mineral waters (sipped or bathed in) as medication for their malaises and a cure for ennui. The architecture and economy of spa towns developed accordingly, creating an atmosphere for international communities to mingle socially, consume culture, and display their wealth. This episodeexamines these phenomena and the fascination they exercised for generations of literary giants.