Hashtag History

This week on Hashtag History for our Season Twelve Finale, we have the wonderful Gillian Pensavalle (of True Crime Obsessed the The Hamilton) on the show to discuss her new podcast series titled Let the Women. This series focuses on highlighting trailblazing women in the true crime space. And trust us; you do not want to miss this one!

Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.

Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com.

You can also check out our website for super cute merch!

You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!

You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, bonus Hashtag Hangouts episodes, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!

Check out Macy’s delicious wine here → https://glnk.io/rpln/hashtaghistory-podcast #macyswineshop

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

This week on Hashtag History, we are discussing the Enron Scandal, a major accounting fraud that took place in late-2001 when Enron Corporation - who, only the year prior, was considered to be one of the most successful companies in the world - announced that it was posting a $638 billion dollar loss in the third quarter...and then followed up that up shortly thereafter by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In only a few months, the company’s stock price - which, at its height, was $90 per share - fell to less than $0.26 per share. Along with the demise of the company also came the demise of nearly $2.1 billion dollars in pension plans for its thousands of employees. In fact, as higher-ups in the company were selling off their stock - aware that things were going to tank soon - they were simultaneously telling lower-level employees to invest in more company stock. The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated what happened at Enron and found that they had been conducting shady accounting practices, such as writing future gains (that had not yet been received) into current income statements and transferring their bad assets into special purpose entities in order to keep them off the books. Essentially, Enron was lying about their profits, defrauding investors, their employees, and Americans as a whole.

Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.

Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!

You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!

You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, bonus Hashtag Hangouts episodes, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!

Check out Macy’s delicious wine here → https://glnk.io/rpln/hashtaghistory-podcast #macyswineshop

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Welcome back for Season Eleven!

This week on Hashtag History, we are discussing War of the Worlds. And not necessarily the novel, The War of the Worlds, written by H.G. Wells, which is about aliens from Mars invading the Earth. No, more specifically, we are discussing an incident that occurred the day before Halloween in 1938 when actor Orson Welles (no relation to author H.G. Wells) read aloud an adaptation of The War of the Worlds on live radio. Innocent enough, right? HOWEVER, Welles delivered this adaptation of the story in a “breaking-news”, news-reporting alert type method. So when he told of Martians landing on Earth, Americans took him seriously. When this radio program - in the style of a news broadcast - played audio from people who appeared to be live witnesses to aliens landing on the Earth and using a heat ray to burn up American citizens, listeners went nuts. Americans became so alarmed that the results of this broadcast led to traffic jams, an outrageous amount of calls to local law enforcement, and a significant fleeing from the site of the alleged invasion, New Jersey. Following the incident, when it was realized that this had all just been a fictional tale (that all of these witnesses had actually been paid actors), there was complete outrage directed at the radio program for what many perceived to be a deceptive delivery of the tale of the War of the Worlds.

It is worth noting though that more modern historians believe that this was not quite as large-scale as was originally reported. Many believe now that the mass hysteria resulting from this incident was actually grossly exaggerated by the media. But regardless, this whole thing - however big or small - was a hot mess.

Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.

Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com.

You can also check out our website for super cute merch!

You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!

You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, bonus Hashtag Hangouts episodes, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!

Check out Macy’s delicious wine here → https://glnk.io/rpln/hashtaghistory-podcast #macyswineshop

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

This week on Hashtag History, we will be discussing Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc is of course most well-known for leading the French army to victory during the Hundred Years War when she was only a teenager. She claimed that she had been sent visions by God and that she was fulfilling a prophecy by leading France to victory. She would later be captured, however, by the enemy that considered her a heretic and she would be burned at the stake for her alleged crimes. About twenty years after her death, she would be vindicated of these allegations and, in 1920, she would officially be declared a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church. She is now considered a patron saint of France.

So was Joan of Arc a heroine? Was she a heretic? Or was she just a really confused - but also, very passionate, and rather impressive - young woman?

Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.

Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com. You can also check out our website for super cute merch!

You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!

You can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, bonus Hashtag Hangouts episodes, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Rachel and Leah

This week on Hashtag History, we are discussing Rudy Kurniawan, a world famous wine connoisseur, collector, seller...and total fraudster. In 2012 when the Federal Bureau of Investigations raided Kurniawan’s Arcadia, California home, they found the place littered with empty wine bottles, detached labels, corking tools, wax for sealing bottles, and extensive wine tasting notes. It would appear that Kurniawan was mixing cheaper wines, studying his tasting notes to blend the tastes as seamlessly as possible, and then putting them in bottles with expensive labels and passing them off as rare, vintage wines. Kurniawan would become the first person in the United States to be tried and convicted of wine fraud.

Follow Hashtag History on Instagram @hashtaghistory_podcast for all of the pictures mentioned in this episode.

Citations for all sources can be located on our website at www.HashtagHistory-Pod.com.

You can also check out our website for super cute merch! You can now sponsor a cocktail and get a shout-out on air! Just head to www.buymeacoffee.com/hashtaghistory or head to the Support tab on our website!

Finally, you can locate us on www.Patreon.com/hashtaghistory where you can donate $1 a month to our Books and Booze Supply. All of your support goes a long ways and we are endlessly grateful! To show our gratitude, all Patreon Supporters receive an automatic 15% OFF all merchandise in our merchandise store, bonus Hashtag Hangouts episodes, a shoutout on social media, and stickers!

THANKS FOR LISTENING!

Rachel and Leah