Episodes

  • Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755

    Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755
    Feb 18 2026

    On November 1, 1755, a massive earthquake took place on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Lisbon, Portugal. The destruction in Portugal led to one of the first coordinated government responses to a natural disaster.

    Research:

    • Algarve History Association. “The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake and the Algarve.” https://www.algarvehistoryassociation.com/en/portuguese-history/algarve-history/194-the-1755-lisbon-earthquake-and-the-algarve
    • Blanc, P.-L.: Earthquakes and tsunami in November 1755 in Morocco: a different reading of contemporaneous documentary sources, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 9, 725–738, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-9-725-2009, 2009.
    • Borlase, William. “The Natural History of Cornwall.” Oxford : printed for the author; by W. Jackson: sold by W. Sandby, London; and the booksellers of Oxford. 1758.
    • Cavendish, Richard. “Pombal and the Inquisition in Portugal.” History Today. 5/5/2001. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/pombal-and-inquisition-portugal
    • Dynes, Russell R. “The Lisbon Earthquake in 1755: The First Modern Disaster.” University of Delaware Disaster Research Center. Preliminary Paper #333.
    • Joel, Lucas. “November 1, 1755: Earthquake Destroys Lisbon.” EARTH. November/December 2015.
    • Lai, Dria. “The Great Lisbon Earthquake: A Journey through the First Modern Disaster.” https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e30a2ea6401e4f2e8805dfbcfa604dc5
    • Lisbon Earthquake Museum. “Inquérito.” https://lisbonquake.com/en-GB/blog/inquerito
    • Lisbon Earthquake Museum. “Providências.” https://lisbonquake.com/en-GB/blog/providencias
    • Martínez-Loriente, S., Sallarès, V. & Gràcia, E. The Horseshoe Abyssal plain Thrust could be the source of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami. Commun Earth Environ 2, 145 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00216-5
    • Mascarenhas, J., Belgas, L., Branco, F.G., Vieira, E. (2024). The Pombaline Cage (“Gaiola Pombalina”): An European Anti-seismic System Based on Enlightenment Era of Experimentation. In: Endo, Y., Hanazato, T. (eds) Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions. SAHC 2023. RILEM Bookseries, vol 47. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39603-8_5
    • Molesky, Mark. “The Vicar and the Earthquake: Conflict, Controversy, and a Christening during the Great Lisbon Disaster of 1755.” e-JPH, Vol. 10, number 2, Winter 2012.
    • Penwith Local History Group. “The Mounts Bay Tsunami.” https://www.penwithlocalhistorygroup.co.uk/on-this-day/?id=269

    Pereira, Alvaro S. “The Opportunity of a Disaster: The Economic Impact of the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake.” The Journal of Economic History , Jun. 2009. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40263964

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    39 mins
  • Benzedrine, Pervitin, and WWII

    Benzedrine, Pervitin, and WWII
    Feb 16 2026
    The use of stimulants during WWII is no secret, but in the last decade, there has been a lot of discussion and analysis of it. Just how significant was drug use in Nazi Germany, and how did the Allies compare? Research: Ackermann, Paul. “Les soldats nazis dopés à la méthamphétamine pour rester concentrés.” HuffPost France. June 4, 2013. https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/actualites/article/les-soldats-nazis-dopes-a-la-methamphetamine-pour-rester-concentres_19714.htmlAndreas, Peter. “How Methamphetamine Became a Key Part of Nazi Military Strategy.” Time. Jan. 7, 2020. https://time.com/5752114/nazi-military-drugs/Blakemore, Erin. “A Speedy History of America’s Addiction to Amphetamine.” Smithsonian. Oct. 27, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/speedy-history-americas-addiction-amphetamine-180966989/Boeck, Gisela, and Vera Koester. “Who Was the First to Synthesize Methamphetamine?” Chemistry Views. https://www.chemistryviews.org/9-who-first-synthesized-methamphetamine/ “Ephedra.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.” https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/ephedraEghigian, Greg, PhD. “A Methamphetamine Dictatorship? Hitler, Nazi Germany, and Drug Abuse.” Psychiatric Times. June 23, 2016. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/methamphetamine-dictatorship-hitler-nazi-germany-and-drug-abuseGarber, Megan, “‘Pilot’s Salt’: The Third Reich Kept Its Soldiers Alert With Meth.” The Atlantic. May 31, 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/pilots-salt-the-third-reich-kept-its-soldiers-alert-with-meth/276429/Gifford, Bill. “The Scientific AmericanGuide to Cheating in the Olympics.” Scientific American. August 5, 2016. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-scientific-american-guide-to-cheating-in-the-olympics/Gorvett, Zaria. “The Drug Pilots Take to Stay Awake.” BBC. March 14, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240314-the-drug-pilots-take-to-stay-awakeGrinspoon, Lester. “The speed culture : amphetamine use and abuse in America.” Harvard University Press. 1975. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/speedcultureamph0000grin_n3i0/mode/1upGupta, Raghav et al. “Understanding the Influence of Parkinson Disease on Adolf Hitler's Decision-Making during World War II.” World Neurosurgery. Volume 84, Issue 5. 2015. Pages 1447-1452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2015.06.014.Hurst, Fabienne. “The German Granddaddy of Crystal Meth.” Spiegel. Dec. 23, 2013. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/crystal-meth-origins-link-back-to-nazi-germany-and-world-war-ii-a-901755.htmlIsenberg, Madison. “Volksdrogen: The Third Reich Powered by Methamphetamine.” The Macksey Journal. University of Texas at Tyler. Volume 4, Article 21. 2023. https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=senior_projectsLaskow, Sarah. “Brewing Bad: The All-Natural Origins of Meth.” The Atlantic. Oct. 3, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/brewing-bad-the-all-natural-origins-of-meth/381045/Lee, Ella. “Fact check: Cocaine in Coke? Soda once contained drug but likely much less than post claims.” USA Today. July 25, 2021. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/07/25/fact-check-coke-once-contained-cocaine-but-likely-less-than-claimed/8008325002/Leite, Fagner Carvalho et al. “Curine, an alkaloid isolated from Chondrodendron platyphyllum inhibits prostaglandin E2 in experimental models of inflammation and pain.” Planta medica 80,13 (2014): 1072-8. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1382997Meyer, Ulrich. “Fritz hauschild (1908-1974) and drug research in the 'German Democratic Republic' (GDR).” Die Pharmazie 60 6 (2005): 468-72.Natale, Fabian. “Pervitin: how drugs transformed warfare in 1939-45.” Security Distillery. May 6, 2020. https://thesecuritydistillery.org/all-articles/pervitin-how-drugs-transformed-warfare-in-1939-45Ohler, Norman. “Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich.” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017.Rasmussen, Nicolas. “Medical Science and the Military: The Allies’ Use of Amphetamine during World War II.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 42, no. 2, 2011, pp. 205–33. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41291190“Reich Minister of Health Dr. Leonardo Conti Speaks with Hitler’s Personal Physician, Dr. Karl Brandt (August 1, 1942).” German History in Documents and Images. https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi-germany-1933-1945/reich-minister-of-health-dr-leonardo-conti-speaks-with-hitler-s-personal-physician-dr-karl-brandt-august-1-1942Schwarcz, Joe. “The Right Chemistry: Once a weapon, methamphetamine is now a target.” Oct. 1, 2021. https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-once-a-weapon-methamphetamine-is-now-a-targetSnelders, Stephen and Toine Pieters. “Speed in the Third Reich: Metamphetamine (Pervitin) Use and a Drug History From Below.” Social History of Medicine. Volume 24, Issue 3. December ...
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    40 mins
  • SYMHC Classics: COINTELPRO 1

    SYMHC Classics: COINTELPRO 1
    Feb 14 2026

    Part 1 of this 2020 two-parter covers background on the FBI and on the origins of its counterintelligence programs, as well as one specific operation, called COINTELPRO-White Hate.

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    39 mins
  • Behind the Scenes Minis: It's Not Unprecedented

    Behind the Scenes Minis: It's Not Unprecedented
    Feb 13 2026

    Tracy shares her desire to see the rest of the letter that was quoted in this week's episodes on Anthony Burns. Talk also turns to the fact that many of the things that are surprising people today are, in fact, precedented.

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    17 mins
  • The Rendition of Anthony Burns, Part 2

    The Rendition of Anthony Burns, Part 2
    Feb 11 2026

    Our second episode on the life of Anthony Burns begins with his detention in Boston, which outraged Massachusetts abolitionists. Even after Burns was returned to Virginia to be enslaved once again, his supporters in Boston continued to work for his freedom.

    Research:

    • Buehrens, John A. “Spiritual friendship and social justice.” UU World. Fall 2019. https://www.uuworld.org/articles/spiritual-friendship
    • Sutton, Robert K. “’We waked up stark mad Abolitionists.’” From "Stark Mad Abolitionists.” Salon. 8/5/2017. https://www.salon.com/2017/08/05/we-waked-up-stark-mad-abolitionists/
    • Sutton, Robert K. “The Wealthy Activist Who Helped Turn ‘Bleeding Kansas’ Free.” Smithsonian. 8/16/2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/wealthy-activist-who-helped-turn-bleeding-kansas-free-180964494/
    • Delblanco, Andrew. “America’s Struggle for Moral Coherence.” The Atlantic. 12/12/2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/the-nation-has-been-this-dividedin-the-civil-war/575587/
    • Finkelman, Paul & Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Anthony Burns (1834–1862). (2020, December 07). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/burns-anthony-1834-1862.
    • “Anthony Burns Captured.” Africans in America. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2915.html
    • Boston African American National Historic Site. “"God made me a man- not a slave": The Arrest of Anthony Burns.” National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/-god-made-me-a-man-not-a-slave-the-arrest-of-anthony-burns.htm#_ftnref14
    • Linder, Douglas O. “The (Fugitive Slave)Trials of Anthony Burns: An Account.” UMKC School of Law: Famous Trials. 2019. https://www.famous-trials.com/anthonyburns/2425-the-fugitive-slave-trials-of-anthony-burns-an-account
    • Encyclopedia Virginia. “The Trial of Anthony Burns (1854).” https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/burns-anthony-the-trial-of-1854/
    • Stevens, Charles Emery. “Anthony Burns: A History.” Boston : John P. Jewett and Co. 1856.
    • Shapiro, Samuel. “The Rendition of Anthony Burns.” The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Jan., 1959). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2716312
    • Maginnes, David R. “The Case of the Court House Rioters in the Rendition of the Fugitive Slave Anthony Burns, 1854.” The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Jan., 1971). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2716024
    • Landon, Fred. “Anthony Burns in Canada.” Reprinted from the Ontario Historical Society’s “Papers and Records” volume XXII. 1925. https://archive.org/details/anthonyburnsinca00land/
    • Potter, Joseph S. “The Boston Slave Riot, and Trial of Anthony Burns.” Boston: Fetridge and Company. 1854. https://archive.org/details/DKC0103/mode/1up
    • Perlstein, Henry, “From the Ashes of the Common Law”: Personal Replevin in the 21st Century (February 05, 2024). Intercultural Human Rights Law Review, Volume 19, pp. 257-309, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5407082 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5407082

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    44 mins
  • The Rendition of Anthony Burns, Part 1

    The Rendition of Anthony Burns, Part 1
    Feb 9 2026

    The story of Anthony Burns is one that resonates in our current times. Part one covers his early enslaved life, his escape from enslavement, and his arrest under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

    Research:

    • Buehrens, John A. “Spiritual friendship and social justice.” UU World. Fall 2019. https://www.uuworld.org/articles/spiritual-friendship
    • Sutton, Robert K. “’We waked up stark mad Abolitionists.’” From "Stark Mad Abolitionists.” Salon. 8/5/2017. https://www.salon.com/2017/08/05/we-waked-up-stark-mad-abolitionists/
    • Sutton, Robert K. “The Wealthy Activist Who Helped Turn ‘Bleeding Kansas’ Free.” Smithsonian. 8/16/2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/wealthy-activist-who-helped-turn-bleeding-kansas-free-180964494/
    • Delblanco, Andrew. “America’s Struggle for Moral Coherence.” The Atlantic. 12/12/2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/the-nation-has-been-this-dividedin-the-civil-war/575587/
    • Finkelman, Paul & Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Anthony Burns (1834–1862). (2020, December 07). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/burns-anthony-1834-1862.
    • “Anthony Burns Captured.” Africans in America. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2915.html
    • Boston African American National Historic Site. “"God made me a man- not a slave": The Arrest of Anthony Burns.” National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/articles/-god-made-me-a-man-not-a-slave-the-arrest-of-anthony-burns.htm#_ftnref14
    • Linder, Douglas O. “The (Fugitive Slave)Trials of Anthony Burns: An Account.” UMKC School of Law: Famous Trials. 2019. https://www.famous-trials.com/anthonyburns/2425-the-fugitive-slave-trials-of-anthony-burns-an-account
    • Encyclopedia Virginia. “The Trial of Anthony Burns (1854).” https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/burns-anthony-the-trial-of-1854/
    • Stevens, Charles Emery. “Anthony Burns: A History.” Boston : John P. Jewett and Co. 1856.
    • Shapiro, Samuel. “The Rendition of Anthony Burns.” The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Jan., 1959). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2716312
    • Maginnes, David R. “The Case of the Court House Rioters in the Rendition of the Fugitive Slave Anthony Burns, 1854.” The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 56, No. 1 (Jan., 1971). https://www.jstor.org/stable/2716024
    • Landon, Fred. “Anthony Burns in Canada.” Reprinted from the Ontario Historical Society’s “Papers and Records” volume XXII. 1925. https://archive.org/details/anthonyburnsinca00land/
    • Potter, Joseph S. “The Boston Slave Riot, and Trial of Anthony Burns.” Boston: Fetridge and Company. 1854. https://archive.org/details/DKC0103/mode/1up
    • Perlstein, Henry, “From the Ashes of the Common Law”: Personal Replevin in the 21st Century (February 05, 2024). Intercultural Human Rights Law Review, Volume 19, pp. 257-309, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5407082 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5407082

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    35 mins
  • SYMHC Classics: Samuel Pepys

    SYMHC Classics: Samuel Pepys
    Feb 7 2026

    This 2019 episode takes a closer look the famous diary of Samuel Pepys, and also at who Pepys was beyond his famous chronicle of life in 17th-century London.

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    33 mins
  • Behind the Scenes Minis: Pollution Olympics

    Behind the Scenes Minis: Pollution Olympics
    Feb 6 2026

    Tracy talks about her selection of "Fumifugium" as a show topic. Holly shares a mischievous story about Helen Preece.

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    24 mins