Ballsy History
Amy Barnet
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Top 10 Ballsy History Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Ballsy History episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Ballsy History for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Ballsy History episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Episode 25: "The Childrens' Blizzard"
Ballsy History
06/03/21 • 14 min
The Northwest plains have weather that is not for the faint of heart. Even this past year a prolonged arctic outbreak struck the area and the Farmer’s Almanac predicted a snow train coming down from Canada.
The Children’s Blizzard is also known as the Schoolhouse Blizzard or the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard.
In the 1940s, a group of seniors organized the Greater Nebraska Blizzard Club to collect and organize survivors’ stories to try and record the sense of sheer terror of that day.
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Episode 23: "Which Witch Is Making Beer?"
Ballsy History
05/03/21 • 13 min
By the middle ages, brewing and selling ale provided women a way to work and achieve "good profits, social power, and some measure of independence from men"—especially compared to other trades, which did not. Yet after the Black Plague, societal changes led to men dominating in the field of brewing—which still continues today.
But some think women were forced out of brewing because men began to accuse female brewers of being witches and using their cauldrons to brew up magic potions instead of ale.
1 Listener
Episode 6888: Episode 22: "No Mail, Low Morale"
Ballsy History
04/13/21 • 11 min
The 6888th was a self-contained unit.
The Army wasn’t yet integrated for men, let alone women—and segregated by both race and gender, the members of the Six Triple Eight not only made history, they quickly achieved what seemed insurmountable, and in doing so, improved the morale of U.S. troops.
Out of the 855 members of the battalion, three perished overseas and were laid to rest in France.
The Six Triple Eight holds the distinction of being the largest group of Black servicewomen to serve overseas during WWII, yet only recently have these women begun to receive their long-overdue recognition.
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Episode 18: "Evil Tea Drinkers"
Ballsy History
03/15/21 • 11 min
Tea came to Ireland in the early 1800s and was immediately classified as a luxury product, having arrived from far away India on a clipper ship. Right from the beginning, upper class, wealthy people began holding tea parties, and once it became—pardon the pun—steeped into the culture, the other classes did as well.
Some people say that tea is Ireland’s other “national drink” (after stout) and with the average person downing 1,300 cups annually, it is an important part of the culture.
Episode 10: “The Groundbreaking VP Candidate”
Ballsy History
01/18/21 • 11 min
Charlotta was a staunch advocate for civil liberties, women's rights, and immigration. Because of her civil rights work, her life was threatened numerous times. Additionally, the FBI placed her under surveillance, leading to files several binders thick—and they labelled her a communist.
She had a long career as editor and publisher of the West Coast’s oldest Black newspaper, The California Eagle, and used her platform to push for hospitals to hire black nurses and to fight against racist housing covenants.
Her work and life helped create a path for many others to follow.
In God and Cosmic Rays We Trust
Ballsy History
12/15/20 • 12 min
In the early years of the 20th century, radioactivity was discovered, astronomers began to define the true scale and nature of the universe, and another mystery sprung out of scientific circles: the origin of a newly detected form of energy from outer space, known as cosmic rays.
Their discovery was like opening a door to the mysteries of creation, while posing questions that, if they could be answered, might explain nearly everything—or reveal God’s plans, depending on your spiritual beliefs.
William Leonard Laurence was the first full-time American science journalist, and these rays lead a story about the first scientific proof of the existence of God. Quite a controversy!
Episode 13: The Lost Women of Science
Ballsy History
02/10/21 • 11 min
If the list of female scientists you can think of starts and ends with Marie Curie, it’s not just you. It’s more likely “The Matilda Effect.”
Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, Matilda recognizes that, on a personal level, undermining a person’s achievements affects their future performance. But on a societal level, discounting and underestimating the contributions of women prevents them from succeeding.
And what about all those lost stories of women? We’ll be sharing a few that deserve a chance to grab their glory with you today.
Episode 12: Tiger, Tiger
Ballsy History
02/01/21 • 11 min
Today on our show we’ll learn about Mabel Stark, one of the first female animal trainers. She was active for over sixty years and survived eighteen maulings during her career. In fact, it is notable that she lived through so many attacks considering the depth of her wounds—and the fact that penicillin was not commonly available until the late 1930s.
During the 1920's she moved from circus to circus and husband to husband, avoiding the jaws of the Big Cats and possibly fate itself. But her love of big cats proved to be her ultimate undoing.
04/01/21 • 40 min
If you Google “worst jobs” you’re going to see things like crime scene clean up and sewer diver, but compared to medieval bell ringer? At least sewer divers can be hosed down. Bell ringers had to be hosed off – like, every surface.
Enjoy this episode, "The Brescia Church Explosion of 1769."
In honor of April Fool's Day, we are taking part in "Operation Switcheroo 2021*."
Learn more about "Doomsday: History's Most Dangerous Podcast" on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
All of their episodes can be found at Anchor.fm/Doomsday or wherever podcasts are found.
- Since the Great Comic Switcheroo of 1997, newspaper and online comic writers have perpetrated April Fools pranks on their readers by drawing each others comics, drawing the same comic as each other, or having their characters take over the other strip. Operation Switcheroo is podcasts swapping feeds for a day.
- Special thanks to "Your Brain on Facts" podcast for orchestrating all the fun. You can find them at http://yourbrainonfacts.com/ or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Episode 16: "Discovered In the Mud of the Thames"
Ballsy History
03/03/21 • 13 min
Most European cities have channeled their waters into paved canals, wiping out much of the history along the way—but not London, which is one of the only places where you can safely do something like mudlarking.
The variety of artifacts found can be significant finds, but they also, often, represent items museums don’t often have much of, the cheaply-made, everyday objects such as children’s toys like a medieval toy horse and knight, a Roman hair pin, or Venetian glass chevron beads.
The Thames is one of the largest archaeological sites in the world, and pretty much the entire history of Britain can be told from items found there.
Links:
- The Book Nerd Diaries Podcast — Consider taking a listen to our friends at The Book Nerd Diaries Podcast, here's a little bit about them: Welcome one and all, to "The Book Nerd Diaries": The bi-weekly bite-sized podcast where I, your friendly neighborhood bookworm, talk to the void about the latest books I've crossed off of my never-ending "to-read" list!
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FAQ
What is the most popular episode on Ballsy History?
The episode title 'Episode 25: "The Childrens' Blizzard"' is the most popular.