Softcore History

The Elevator Operator Strike of 1945 was spurred by a desire for higher wages and better treatment after the end of World War 2. So, naturally, the building owners just switched to automatic elevators. But that wasn’t easy either, it turned out, because everyday people were terrified of operating an elevator without any training.

The domestication of cats and dogs, wacky Russian Silver Foxes that wag their tails, and a bunch of weird pets owned by people throughout history - learn all about our furry best friends on this week’s episode.

Dan, Rob, and Cooper talk about the complicated Scot who is often regarded as the father of the US Navy -- John Paul Jones. From helping the U.S. win independence to fighting Turks in the Black Sea on behalf of Catherine the Great, JPJ lived an action-packed 45 years mostly on water or inside the warm embrace of a European woman.

The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis were the worst Olympics ever held. The Marathon involved a purposeful dehydration experiment and a runner who cheated by riding 11 miles in a car, the swimming events were all done in a pond, and people from various third world countries were forced to compete in what the media dubbed the “Savage Olympics”.

Elmer McCurdy was perhaps the worst outlaw in the Wild West but his dead body became a show stopping attraction in everything from back road carnivals to Hollywood films over the course of a literal half century. Dan, Rob, and Jake talk about the extreme embodiment of success after death.

Trying to handle that dispute over the fence line with your neighbor? Learn how not to as Jake, Dan, and Rob dive into the wild and wonderful world of blood feuds in 1800s America. To work out how much life insurance coverage you need, and compare personalized quotes to find your best price, head to Policygenius.com and get your best quote in minutes.

Rob Fox, Dan Regester, and Jake Goldman are joined by Rob’s pregnant wife Courtney to talk about the history of pregnancy, birth control, pain management, and childbirth in the Middle Ages and why if a woman was good at any of that she was a witch and deserved to be burned alive.

Dan, Jake, and Rob are joined by Iconoblast's Matt Cooper to talk about Leo Major -- a Canadian scout and sniper who stormed the beaches of Normandy, took hundreds of POWs, and liberated a Dutch town of 50,000 by himself.

Götz von Berlichingen was a mercenary knight during the end of one of the bloodiest eras in history. He had a metal hand, and also invented a common profanity all of us say every day.

Rob Fox, Jake Goldman, Dan Regester and special guest Veronica Ruckh go through the history of lesbians from ancient Egypt's reputation for being a girl on girl sin-fest to medieval Middle East believing that women were attracted to other women because they ate too much celery.

In 1932 a New York bar owner and his connected friends took out an insurance policy on an alcoholic homeless man and did everything in their power to kill him. This is the story of how they failed over and over again.

Jake, Dan, and Rob breakdown the life and trials of Topsy the elephant. Was she a serial killing beast? Or just a victim of circus circumstance? Find out the grizzly details of her death, and their consequences on this week’s episode.

Rob Fox, Dan Regester, and special guest Jack Mandaville discuss the most overrated civilizations in world history.

Dan, Rob, and Jake break down the comedy of errors that somehow resulted into the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the butterfly effect that has shaped our modern world as a result.

Jake, Dan, and Rob discuss P.T. Barnum’s rise to fame including leasing old slaves, sewing monkeys to fish, and adopting tiny boys from their parents and putting them in the circus.

Rob Fox, Dan Regester, and Jake Goldman explore the 1788 Doctors’ Riot in New York City, during which the people of New York formed a mob to attack doctors for allegedly grave robbing their deceased loved ones to use for anatomical dissection and other experiments. Once they got into the labs the mob saw… some messed up stuff.

Dan, Rob, and Jake discuss the insanely dumb rags to riches story about a man who couldn't stop failing his way to success in Colonial America -- "Lord" Timothy Dexter.

Jake, Dan, and Rob explore the different substances that may have altered the course of human history and the leaders who imbibed in them.

Rob Fox, Dan Regester, and special guest Veronica Ruckh talk about what it was like to get and be pregnant in ancient times, including the birth control plant that was so popular that the Romans banged it into extinction, other birth control theories ancient doctors had like “Just the tip!”, birthing practices such as tying a woman to a ladder and shaking her so the baby would fall out, and ancient pregnancy tests that sound really not fun for the woman.

The East India Company helped shape the modern world in the worst possible ways. Dan, Rob, and Jake break down the true "enemy of the human race" that terrorized the globe for over 200 years on an empire's dime.

Rob, Dan, and Jake break down the horrifying story of Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian Countess who bathed in blood, beat virgins senseless, and could easily take Rob or Dan home after they had a few drinks.

Rob Fox, Dan Regester, and Jake Goldman break down the worst year in human history, a year so bad it makes 2020 look like the Roaring Twenties. We’re talking 536 A.D., when the whole world literally lost most of its food and sunlight for 18 months and most of the world was at war. Then, a few years later, a 200 year Bubonic Plague pandemic hit (and the wars didn’t stop).

The boys go deep into the life of CIA mole Aldrich Ames. This giant piece is solely responsible for the most deaths of American field agents and is the ultimate simp who committed treason to pay off his alimony and mistress's shopping hobby.

Jake, Dan, and Rob discuss the women of the Soviet 588th night bombing regiment. These ladies dropped bombs from the equivalent of wooden RC planes and took out some along the way, all while suffering minimal casualties. Tune in for babes and bombs, stay for Rob defending Hitler.

Rob Fox, Dan Regester, and Jake Goldman discuss the Land of Punt, the ultra wealthy ancient African kingdom that Egyptian Pharaohs traded with for gold, super inadvisable pet baboons, perfume, and dwarves.

Gordon Parks went from playing the piano at a Minnesota brothel to becoming the first black director in Hollywood. Dan, Jake, and Rob go through the insanely jam-packed life of the man behind the creation of Blaxploitation and some of the most iconic photographs of the 20th century.

Rob, Dan, and Jake break down what it’s like to live through a historic event — the Texas freeze. We break down what happened to us and the people we know this past week in Austin, how awful Texans are at handling weather, how much we want to punch all of our politicians (left and right) in their stupid faces, and if we think Texas learned ANY lessons.

Jake, Dan, and Rob break down the antics of 70s Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher, Dock Ellis. Between advocating for numerous causes to throwing a no-hitter whacked out on LSD, Dock lived a wild life and led an even more redeeming story in his later years.

Enron went from blue chip stock to pennies on the dollar overnight. From cooking the books to shifting their business model several times the rise and fall of this Houston based energy company was an absolute nightmare for its 29,000 employees in 2001.

With Joe Biden becoming the second Catholic president ever Rob, Dan, and Jake break down the hilariously absurd bigotry that was freely lobbed at Al Smith and JFK, the first two Catholics who ran for president — basically the KKK and Protestant leaders tried to convince America that Catholics were slaves to a wizard king (the Pope) and would betray America.

From shipping a ton of cocaine to spiking the office coffee with LSD, get your tinfoil hats ready as we discuss the wild and (mostly) true cases of the CIA and their antics involving narcotics.

Burning government buildings, a president leaving his wife to go down in flames, and a hurricane tornado that saved the day from our country's oldest foe. Dan, Rob, and Jake cover the capture and arson of Washington D.C. in 1814

Rob, Dan, and Jake break down the history of Saint Olga of Kiev, the first queen of Russia and the woman who introduced Christianity to the country — specifically her year long rampage in which she kept (really easily) tricking the people of the country that assassinated her husband into getting brutally murdered. She isn’t the patron saint of revenge but she should be.

Much like the Russian man of mystery himself, this episode gets off the rails quick and refuses to die.

We go deep into the short but jam-packed life of American gangster and minor league shortstop John Dillinger.

Tis the season to celebrate fighting off mass extermination. Jake leads Dan and Rob through the ancient Jewish holiday of Purim.

Held in mid-December, Saturnalia is an ancient Roman pagan festival honoring the agricultural god Saturn. It's the source of many traditions we now associate with Christmas but with orgies.

Ragnar Lothbrok. What's true? What's myth? We break down the demigod of Viking past and his invasion of Paris.

We cover the rad and insane life of John Smith before his years with Pocahontas.

Pompeii's perfectly preserved and absurdly raunchy graffiti is proof that the ancient world had social media and that people have always thought and are funny.

From farting songs for the laughter of kings to taunting dying enemies on medieval battlefields, we break down the long, bizarre history of jesters.

Boosh fills in for Rob to talk about the only US election where one of the two presidential candidates died in the middle of voting.

Madame Delphine LaLaurie, the most evil resident in the history of New Orleans, was run out of the city for torturing and mutilating her slaves. She was also a gold digging cougar and a real buzzkill on ghost tours.

Noted witch expert and ex-TSM show runner Veronica Ruckh joins Softcore History to read Dan’s fortune with Tarot cards and discuss La Voisin, a purveyor of black masses and one of the most infamous witches in history.

The boys breakdown the Dyatlov Pass Incident where 9 Russian hikers died in the Northern Ural Mountains in extremely mysterious ways.

Alex Buscemi joins the boys to talk about the first known serial killer in American history, H.H. Holmes.

Gettysburg was won by two unlikely heroes and a decision to completely defy orders. We dive into one of the most important days in American history and the rogue officer who stumped the Confederacy with his dopey pivot.

In 1518 hundreds of people literally danced to death in what's now France. What caused an estimated 400 people to footloose into an early grave? Jake, Rob, and Dan investigate.

Boston Corbett went from small town hat maker to the national hero who gunned down John Wilkes Booth. His life was more insane than his mercury soaked brain.

We dive into the first known human civilization of Sumer and find common ground with this ancient group of people who really just wanted to get drunk, fire off some jokes, and vent about their problems in a lion infested Middle East.