The Original Dracula, Vlad the Impaler

Join Kelli as she explores the history of late 19th century's East End of London, where Jack the Ripper made his infamous, and gruesome, killings of five women before disappearing into the darkness in the fall of 1888. Though he was never found, his murders give us a chance to explore the lives of women, the poor, and the working classes in the gritty, industrial life of England's biggest city. This episode is the second of a two-episode look into two late 19th-century murderers - Holmes an...

28 Maj 202347min

Join Kelli as she explores the real history behind HH Holmes - born Herman Webster Mudgett - and how he became known as America's first serial killer. Was he the man we know him as today? Or is his story of a murder house and the deaths of tourists in Chicago just a legend? This episode is part of a two-episode look into two late 19th century murdered - Holmes and Jack the Ripper - and how they became integral parts of our histories as infamous killers. Sources referenced: H. H. Holmes: Th...

14 Maj 202348min

Join Kelli as she tells the story of two shipwrecks that took place on Auckland Island in 1864, at the same time, though neither knew the other was there. One wreck tells the tale of a group that banded together in the face of adversity and used their creativity and strength to survive. The other wreck is more like an adult version of Lord of the Flies; the situation quickly devolved into chaos, with most survivors dying of starvation. Let's find out how and why two shipwrecks, on opposite si...

30 Apr 202342min

In a special joint podcast, Kelli from APHOUT joins Anna and Paul from the Engineering History Podcast to talk about the history and engineering behind the Battle of Alesia, a decisive battle between Julius Caesar and his Roman forces against Vercingetorix and the Gauls in 52 BCE. Together we explore the intersection of history and engineering in Ancient Rome! Follow The Engineering History Podcast wherever you listen, or click on the link below: The Engineering History Podcast Intro and Ou...

16 Apr 20231h 14min

Join Kelli as she explains how and why the French built their famous Catacombs, an Ossuary filled with the bones of possibly 6 million, anonymous people. Skulls and femur bones line the walls of this grotesquely beautiful, and immensely famous, Parisian attraction. But where did the bodies come from? And why were they put into the tunnels under Paris? Find out in the latest episode of A Popular History of Unpopular Things! Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric Want to start your own podcast?...

2 Apr 202336min

Join Kelli as she explores the worst mass-murder suicide in history. Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple cult, brought more than 900 of his followers to a remote agricultural compound in the Guyanese jungle. As he started to lose control of his followers, and with the government investigating allegations of abuse, he directed (and in some cases forced) them to drink a cyanide-laced punch. In one day, 918 people were killed. Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric Want to start your own pod...

19 Mars 20231h 1min

Join Kelli as she explores the exhumation and re-killing of Mercy Brown, a girl suspected of being a vampire feeding off of her living relatives in a small town in Rhode Island, 1892. Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric Want to start your own podcast? Click this link to get set up with Buzzsprout and you'll get a $20 credit to sign up! Sources: Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England Vampires by Michael Bell The Great New England Vampire Panic by Abigail Tucket for the Smithsonian ...

5 Mars 202323min

Join Kelli as she looks back at the dancing plague of 1518, when residents of Strasbourg all started to dance for days and weeks on end - and some of them danced to their deaths.Intro and Outro music credit: NedricWant to start your own podcast?Click this link to get set up with Buzzsprout and you'll get a $20 credit to sign up!Insta: @beardwritesSupport the show

19 Feb 202331min