History Buffoons Podcast
Two buffoons who want to learn about history!
Recent Episodes
Nov. 5, 2025
The Origin of Weird: L. Ron Hubbard and His Lackluster Naval Career
A man drops depth charges on a rock formation, shells the wrong country for target practice, and later rebrands himself as a decorated hero and spiritual “Commodore.” We follow L. Ron Hubbard from pulp fiction pages to a chao...
Nov. 3, 2025
PerSwede Them: Black Sox Scandal
A powerhouse roster, a miserly owner, and a storm of quiet resentment set the stage for baseball’s most infamous fall. We trace how the 1919 Chicago White Sox—frustrated by low pay and trapped by the reserve clause—slipped fr...
Oct. 27, 2025
Feared and Revered: The Wendigo and Other Cryptids
A classic cocktail opens a door to stranger places. We start with the crisp snap of a gin and tonic and its unexpected past as a colonial malaria remedy, then step into the woods, deserts, and fog banks where four legends sti...
Oct. 22, 2025
The Origin of Weird: Will West and William West
Two men. Same name. Same face. Same measurements. Different fingerprints. The Leavenworth intake room went silent in 1903 when Will West’s file appeared to match a prisoner already serving time: William West. That uncanny col...
Oct. 20, 2025
I Don't Do Nautical Things: Submarine R-14
Stuck 100-plus miles off Hawaii with dead engines and a silent radio, a 1919 submarine shouldn’t have had a chance. Ours did. We walk through the improbable rescue of USS R-14—how a small crew turned hammocks into sails, bunk...
Oct. 13, 2025
The Audacity of that Kid: William Patrick Hitler
Ever wondered what it takes to outrun a last name that shaped world history? We dive into the strange, complicated life of William Patrick Hitler—born in Liverpool, raised by an Irish mother, and briefly swept into the social...