Ridiculous History

Newly inspired by his recent associations in amateur magazine circles, HP Lovecraft returns to fiction. In the second part of this series, Ben, Max and special guest Jonathan Strickland witness Lovecraft's work building a mythos with his friends and collaborators, his love life, his tragedies and triumphs. Also his strange hatred of so many things (including, oddly, seafood). See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Howard Phillips Lovecraft fundamentally altered the course of horror and speculative fiction. So how did he become one of the most influential authors in all of horror history? In the first part of this special two-part episode, Ben and Max welcome returning guest Jonathan Strickland for an exploration of Lovecraft's tragic childhood and long record of bizarre childhood behavior -- and how a vicious argument over love stories paved the way for his later success. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

In today's Classic episode, Ben, Noel, Casey In Spirit and Max explore a bizarrely American story. The adventurer and filibuster William Walker was, in his heyday, lauded as an American hero for his repeated failed invasions of areas of Mexico and Nicaragua. But what led this man on a fanatical mission to invade these regions? Perhaps more importantly, why did so many folks in the US support his various strange escapades? See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

While things like the Slinky and the Post-it Note may seem pretty ubiquitous, simple ideas today, they each have their own bizarre accidental origin story. In the second part of this week's two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the stories of military coil research and a tenacious 3M employee nicknamed "Mr. Persistent." See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Humans have always been compelled by curiosity -- sometimes, this leads to misfortune, but other times... curiosity and accident can also lead to world-changing innovations. In part one of this week's special two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max explore the origin stories of history's greatest accidental inventions, from penicillin to the microwave oven and more. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.