Naked History

Ep 24: Amelia Earhart: The Pilot, The Plane, and The Mystery Machine

Before Amelia Earhart became one of history’s most famous mysteries, she was a person: restless, ambitious, media-savvy, stubborn, and very much done with a world that wanted women to stay decorative and grounded. In this episode of Naked History, we look past the question mark and into the life behind the legend. From homemade childhood roller coasters to early aviation death machines, from transatlantic fame to the publicity machine that turned Amelia into a national symbol, we follow the woman who used celebrity, skill, and sheer nerve to punch holes in the ceiling. Then we head into the final flight: the Lockheed Electra, Fred Noonan, Howland Island, the radio confusion, the massive search, and the mystery machine that has been feeding on her disappearance ever since. Because Amelia Earhart did not become important because she vanished. She vanished after already becoming extraordinary. This is the story of the woman, the plane, and the mystery machine. Music Credit: * "In The West" Kevin MacLeod (⁠⁠⁠incompetech.com⁠⁠⁠)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠ * Music track: lavender by massobeats Source: ⁠⁠⁠https://freetouse.com/music ⁠⁠⁠Royalty Free Music for Video (Safe)

Ep 23 Debrief: The Bonus Army: Thank You for Your Service, Please Take a Number.

After the Bonus Army marched on Washington, the story did not just end in smoke, tear gas, and Douglas MacArthur aggressively failing the vibe check. In this Naked History: Debrief, we go back to the camp at Anacostia to ask what the Bonus Army really exposed: the gap between patriotic speeches and actual support, the government’s Olympic-level talent for turning promises into paperwork, and the very American habit of saying “thank you for your service” while quietly stapling a due date to the back. We’ll unpack how the veterans built a city out of scrap wood and broken promises, why officials feared them, and what this episode reveals about symbolic gratitude versus material care. Then, in This Week in History for the week of May 11th, we cover an assassinated British prime minister, Jamestown’s cursed little beginning, the Mexican-American War, the first regular U.S. airmail service, the first Academy Awards, and Brown v. Board of Education. Because history is never just one thing. Sometimes it’s a protest camp, a courtroom, a flying mailbag, and Hollywood learning how to clap for itself — all in the same week. Music Credits: * "Our Story Begins" Kevin MacLeod (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠incompetech.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://incompetech.com]) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ * Music track: lavender by massobeats Source: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freetouse.com/music ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://freetouse.com/music]Royalty Free Music for Video (Safe)

Ep 23: The Bonus Army: When WWI Veterans Marched on Washington

In the summer of 1932, thousands of World War I veterans marched on Washington, D.C., not to overthrow the government, but to ask it to keep a promise. They were hungry, unemployed, and desperate in the middle of the Great Depression. Years earlier, Congress had approved bonus payments for their wartime service, but the money was not scheduled to arrive until 1945. So the veterans came to the capital, built camps, lobbied Congress, and demanded payment now. What followed became one of the most shocking confrontations in American history: U.S. troops, led by Douglas MacArthur and including future World War II figures like Dwight Eisenhower and George Patton, moved against American veterans in the streets of Washington. This week on Naked History, we’re covering the Bonus Army — the march, the camp, the crackdown, and the haunting question at the center of it all: What does a country owe the people it sends to war? Music Credit: * "In The West" Kevin MacLeod (⁠⁠⁠incompetech.com⁠⁠⁠)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠ * Music track: lavender by massobeats Source: ⁠⁠⁠https://freetouse.com/music ⁠⁠⁠Royalty Free Music for Video (Safe)

Ep 22 Debrief: The Revolution After the Revolution

In this Naked History: Debrief, we head back behind the barricades of the Paris Commune for the strange, messy, and politically flammable leftovers from the main episode. Dyllan digs into the pieces that didn’t quite fit the first time around: why the cannons of Montmartre were more than just cannons, how Louise Michel became one of the Commune’s most defiant icons, why the myth of the pétroleuse turned revolutionary women into propaganda monsters, and what everyday life looked like when Paris tried to govern itself under siege. Then, in This Week in History, we cover April 20–26 — from Earth Day and Shakespeare to Hubble, Chernobyl, and the Library of Congress. Finally, we open up Myth-Taken to ask: was the Paris Commune really just a violent mob, or was it something more complicated, more hopeful, and much harder to dismiss? Hope, fear, bad government decisions, and just enough revolutionary soot to ruin the carpet. Music Credits: * "Our Story Begins" Kevin MacLeod (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠incompetech.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://incompetech.com]) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ * Music track: lavender by massobeats Source: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freetouse.com/music ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ [https://freetouse.com/music]Royalty Free Music for Video (Safe)

Ep 22: The Paris Commune: Hope, fear, and brutal endings

In 1871, after war, siege, starvation, and political collapse, the people of Paris tried something extraordinary: they took over their own city. In this episode of Naked History, Dyllan Gasaway dives into the story of the Paris Commune — the seventy-two-day uprising that terrified Europe and became one of the most powerful symbols of revolution in modern history. What began as anger at government failure became a radical experiment in democracy, worker power, secular reform, and local control. For a brief moment, Paris imagined a different world. But the Commune’s story is not just one of hope. It is also a story of fear, civil war, fire in the streets, and a brutal repression that left thousands dead. This is the story of barricades, red flags, revolutionary women, political panic, and the violent end of a dream that still echoes through history. Music Credit: * "In The West" Kevin MacLeod (⁠⁠⁠incompetech.com⁠⁠⁠)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠ * Music track: lavender by massobeats Source: ⁠⁠⁠https://freetouse.com/music ⁠⁠⁠Royalty Free Music for Video (Safe)