The Darkives: Serious history. Told not so seriously | Podcast in RSS.com

The Darkives: Serious history. Told not so seriously

The Darkives: Serious history. Told not so seriously

di Leo Eaton and Jamie Tavenner

Storia Crimini reali

The Erfurt Latrine Disaster: The Crappiest Day in History

In this episode Jamie tells Leo a story involving a...umm...well, lets just say a 'messy' situation. King Henry VI, King of Germanic Europe during the Holy Roman Empire, did a slick job covering up a debacle involving a couple of 'turds' in a land dispute. Many men met their untimely end while attempting to settle the dispute due to the 'throne', but not the one the king rests on. Welcome to a dirty little tale in history from The Darkives Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://allthatsinteresting.com/erfurt-latrine-disaster https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/erfurt-latrine-disaster-what-happened/ https://www.historicmysteries.com/history/erfurt-latrine-disaster/37890/ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ludowinger-15 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VI-Holy-Roman-emperor Theme music: Ways of the Wizard Composed by: Geoff Harvey Licensed through: Pixabay Used with permission, Thank you Geoff!

The Titanic: A Ticket to Disaster

This week, Jamie and Leo dig into the construction of the Titanic, the staggering gap between how her passengers lived on board, and the night everything went wrong. In 1912, the most luxurious ship ever built sank on its maiden voyage, taking more than 1,500 people down with it. A third-class ticket cost the equivalent of roughly $1,000 today. The best suite cost over $130,000. When the ship went down, both classes went down together. Some more than others... From the band that kept playing as the ship sank to the couple who refused to be separated even as the lifeboats loaded, this is the story behind the most famous disaster in maritime history. Grab a life jacket and run for the lifeboats because this episode of The Darkives, it's going down. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/titanic-ticket-prices/ https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic https://mollybrown.org/building-the-titanic/ https://www.titanicandco.com/ https://www.biography.com/history-culture/famous-titanic-passengers-surviviors-victims https://nypost.com/2026/06/18/world-news/cause-of-titan-submersible-implosion-that-killed-five-revealed-in-damning-final-report/ Diehl, Digby. Front Page: 100 Years of the Los Angeles Times. H.N. Abrams, 1981. Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License Special thanks to Sonican for the background music

Ten Days in the Madhouse: Nellie Bly's Undercover Asylum Investigation

This week, Jamie and Leo dig into one of the boldest undercover investigations in journalism history, the woman behind it, and what she found on the other side of those asylum doors. In 1887, a 23-year-old journalist walked into a boarding house, convinced doctors she had lost her mind, and got herself committed to one of New York's most notorious mental asylums. She wasn't sick. She was working. Nellie Bly spent ten days inside Blackwell's Island, witnessing and documenting abuse and neglect that most of the public had no idea was happening. When she got out, she wrote about all of it... The story didn't just make her famous, it forced the city to change how it treated the people locked inside. This file of The Darkives is easy to get into but much harder to Leave. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/nellie-bly-0 https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2022/11/nellie-bly-blackwells-island/ https://www.nps.gov/places/blackwell-s-island-new-york-city.htm https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/bly/madhouse/madhouse.html Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License

Mystery, Poison Gas, and Panic: The Mad Gasser of Mattoon:

In 1944, a small Illinois town found itself at the center of one of the strangest mysteries in American history. This week we investigate the story of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon. A mysterious figure allegedly prowling through the night, leaving victims reporting strange odors, paralysis, nausea, and fear. As reports spread across town, panic quickly followed. Residents locked their doors, armed themselves, and searched for an attacker that nobody could seem to catch. Was there really a phantom gasser stalking the streets of Mattoon? Or was the town experiencing one of America's earliest and most famous cases of mass hysteria? We get into the reports, the investigation, the suspects, and the theories that surround the case. Sometimes the most unsettling mysteries aren't about what happened... They're about what people believe happened. Lock your doors, keep an eye on the windows, and don't breathe too deeply. We're hunting for the Mad Gasser of Mattoon in this file from The Darkives. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://www.library.illinois.edu/hpnl/blog/the-mad-gasser-of-mattoon/ https://nypost.com/2024/05/27/us-news/mad-gasser-of-mattoon-inside-us-first-case-of-mass-hysteria/ https://thechiseler.org/home/the-mad-gasser-of-mattoon https://www.fdrlibrary.org/vrba-wetzler-report Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License

Two of History's Most Disturbing Executions: Topsy and the Pig

This week, Jamie and Leo cover two stories that prove that history has never been particularly kind to animals in the most unbelievable ways possible. First Topsy the elephant. Shipped across the world, worked to exhaustion as a circus animal, and ultimately sentenced to death after killing a man. What followed was one of the most disturbing executions in recorded history. She was fed cyanide, electrocuted, and hanged. All of that on the same day, in front of a live audience... Then a pig in 14th century France is arrested, dressed in human clothing, put on formal trial for the killing of an infant, found guilty, and hanged for her crimes. In 1386. Because that was apparently a thing that happened. Two animals. Two executions. Centuries apart. Both completely true. Welcome back to the Darkives. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://www.topsytheelephant.com/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/topsy-elephant-was-victim-her-captors-not-really-thomas-edison-180961611/ https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/essaying-edison/essay/myth-buster-topsy-the-elephant https://allthatsinteresting.com/topsy-the-elephant https://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/2014/12/12/theyll-say-aww-topsy-my https://www.ancient-origins.net/weird-facts/medieval-animal-trials-0016706 https://medievaltorturemuseum.com/blog/strange-medieval-courts-animals-trial-middle-ages/ Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License special thanks to atlasaudio for the background music.

Six Handkerchiefs and a Sketchbook: The James Jameson Affair

This week Jamie and Leo dig into the life, the expedition, and the event that made sure James Jameson would be remembered for something much more sinister than being a naturalist. He was the grandson of the Jameson whiskey founder. He was the uncle of the man who invented the radio. He traveled the world, hunted big game, and was the first person to scientifically describe a species of bird. By every measure, James Jameson had a life of extraordinary privilege and genuine curiosity. Then he went to Africa. In 1887, Jameson joined the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition as a naturalist. What happened in the forests of the Congo in 1888 would define everything he left behind. Who was James Jameson? What was the James Jameson Affair? And how do modern scientist feel about Jameson's actions? We'll explore all the sketchiness in this file from The Darkives. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Shop/Support/Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://www.britannica.com/event/Scramble-for-Africa. https://aaregistry.org/story/tippu-tip-entrepreneur-and-slave-trader-born/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/20368390/?match=1&terms=jameson https://allthatsinteresting.com/james-jameson https://moltensulfur.com/post/henry-stanleys-convenient-deaths/ https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/a-grisly-drop-of-history-1.755086 Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License

Henry Every: The Pirate Who Pulled Off History’s Biggest Sea Heist

A stolen fortune. A global manhunt. And a pirate who may have gotten away with it all. This week, Jamie and Leo sail into the chaotic world of Henry Every, the man often called the pirate who pulled off the greatest sea heist in history. Before becoming one of the most wanted men on Earth, Every lived a murkier life serving in the navy, working aboard slave ships, and eventually turning to piracy in the late 1600s. But everything changed after a daring attack on a wealthy Mughal treasure fleet in the Indian Ocean. The raid made Every infamous almost overnight. The stolen riches were enormous. The political fallout was massive. And suddenly, governments across the world wanted him captured. What followed became one of history’s first global manhunts. Did he escape with his fortune? Did he die broke and forgotten? Or was one of the most successful pirates in history eventually caught without anyone realizing it? On this episode of The Darkives we tell the tale of a pirate who may have actually won. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://www.history.com/articles/henry-everys-bloody-pirate-raid-320-years-ago https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Henry-Avery-Every-King-Of-Pirates/ Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License Thank you to Ebunny for all the pirate music

The Bubonic Plague: From Before the Black Death to After Modern America

Rats. Fleas. And one bacterium that just would not take the hint. This week, Jamie and Leo trace the long and deadly history of the plague, from the ancient world to outbreaks in the modern United States. We start with the different forms of plague, bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic (all caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis). From there, we follow the disease across centuries, beginning with the Plague of Justinian, moving through the Black Death, and ending with lesser-known outbreaks in Hawaii in 1899, San Francisco from 1900 to 1907, and Los Angeles in 1924. Along the way, we look at how the plague spread, why it was so deadly, and how communities responded when fear traveled faster than the disease itself. How many forms of plague are there? What caused the Black Death? And how did outbreaks continue well into the 20th century? From emperors, quarantines, and some very unlucky rats, this is the story of one of history’s most persistent killers. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Check out our website: darkivespodcast.com Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on: instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: https://www.britannica.com/event/plague-of-Justinian https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17782-plague https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/san-franciscos-plague-years/ https://www.aai.org/About/History/History-Articles-Keep-for-Hierarchy/How-Honolulu%E2%80%99s-Chinatown-Went-Up-in-Smoke-The-Fi https://www.history.com/articles/black-death https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death/Effects-and-significance https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps-statistics/index.html Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License

Roanoke: The Colony That Vanished Without a Trace

Words carved into a tree. A colony gone. And a mystery that still hasn’t been solved. This week, Jamie and Leo head back to early colonial America to unpack the disappearance of the Roanoke colony, one of the most enduring mysteries in U.S. history. Backed by Sir Walter Raleigh, remember him from The lost city of Z/ Eldorado? In the late 1500s the English attempted to establish a permanent settlement on the coast of present day North Carolina. Things didn’t go as planned... Later John White would return from a supply trip to England only to find the colony completely abandoned. No bodies. No signs of a struggle. Just a single clue left behind. From there, the questions only multiply. Did the settlers integrate with nearby Indigenous groups? Were they driven off, murdered, relocated, or lost to something else entirely? We'll walk through the history, the theories, and the evidence in this unsolved moment in history brought to you by The Darkives. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on- instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: firstcolonyfoundation.org nps.gov history.com Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License

The Iron Mike Molloy Story: The Man Who Just Wouldn’t Die

Poison. Alcohol. Exposure. And somehow… he just kept going. This week, Jamie and Leo head to Prohibition era New York to tell the unbelievable story of Michael Malloy, better known as “Iron Mike.” In the early 1930s, a group of men came up with what they thought was a simple plan: take out a down-on-his-luck bar regular, collect on a life insurance policy, and split the payout. What followed was a series of increasingly desperate (and increasingly ridiculous) attempts to make that plan work. Drink after drink. Toxic cocktails. Freezing nights left out in the cold. Even food that absolutely should have done the job. And somehow… it didn’t. How did Michael Malloy survive so many attempts on his life? And how does a story this bizarre actually end? Find out in this episode of The Darkives. Serious history. Told not so seriously. Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.com Follow us on- instagram Enjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover. Sources: irishcentral.com smithsonianmag.com Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharvey Used with permission, Thank you Geoff! licensed through: Pixabay Other music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License

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