Time Crunch History Felicity Brassard and Ben Lusterio-Adler

Today’s episode is all about an *interesting* duel between two Prussian politicians. On one side, Otto Von Bismarck, praised as the visionary behind uniting Germany and a hero among German nationalists. One the other, Rudolf Virchow, a talented scientist-turned-progressive political figure who discovered Leukemia and whose work on parasitic worms influenced the practice of meat inspection. The weapon of choice for the duel? A lowly German sausage. Why are they dueling? Why are they using a sausage? How does that even work?!? Find out today on Time Crunch History: Sausage Duel: Bismarck v. Virchow!

Today’s episode is about the famous Empress Wu Zetian, the first and only female ruler in more that 3,000 years of Chinese history.  From her beginnings as a low level concubine to sitting on the Dragon throne, the accomplishments of Empress Wu are a matter of dispute to this day. Between ruthless tactics and great reforms, her legacy is a complicated one.

Today’s story is about Jesse Owens, an African American athlete who disrupted Hitler’s plans to use the 1936 Berlin Olympics to showcase Aryan superiority. Despite becoming the first global black star of the track and taking home four Olympic gold medals, Jesse Owens was still faced with the harsh reality of being black in America.

What do Frankenstein, worldwide famines, apocalyptic weather, and the invention of the bicycle have in common? They were all caused by the most destructive explosion on earth in the past 10,000 years: the eruption of Mount Tambora. This episode, you'll see just how much changes when 12 cubic miles of earth is blasted into the atmosphere. Spoiler alert: a lot of bad stuff... and Frankenstein.

Today’s episode is all about a Kingdom you probably haven’t heard about, but definitely should have: a place with fortifications rivaling the Great Wall of China, the birthplace of the famous Benin Bronzes, and whose capital was more technologically advanced than contemporary London. This is the story of the Great African Kingdom of Benin.

CW: This episode discusses alcoholism, executions and the holocaust. Listener discretion is advised.

Growing up some kids want to be firefighters, astronauts, doctors. Not the main character of this week's episode: growing up, his dream was to be an executioner. This is the story of the UK’s last hangman.