A Popular History of Unpopular Things

Kelli Beard

A podcast that makes weird, gross, gory, and just generally “unpopular” history more fun and accessible

  1. FEB 8

    The Story of Peter the Wild Boy

    Join Kelli as she goes over the story of a feral boy found in the woods outside of Hamelin, Germany. He was brought to King George I's court in England and named Peter, and he entertained curious onlookers for months. He had strange mannerisms and was an oddity, until he fell out of favor and "retired" to a farm, where he lived peacefully until his 70s. But what was really going on with Peter? Was he really feral as people thought? Did he clamber around on all fours like a beast? Or was he just tragically misunderstood in a time before medical science could diagnosis him with an intellectual disability? Sources: Daniel Dafoe, “Mere Nature Delineated: or, A body without a soul. Being observations upon the young forester lately brought to town from Germany. With suitable applications. Also, a brief dissertation upon the usefulness and necessity of fools, whether political or natural.” 1726. https://archive.org/details/merenaturedeline00defo/page/n12/mode/1upJonathan Swift, “It Cannot Rain But It Pours, Or, London Strewed With Rarities.” 1726. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Works_of_the_Rev._Jonathan_Swift/Volume_17/It_Cannot_Rain_But_It_PoursMichael Newton, Savage Girls and Wild Boys: A History of Feral Children. 2002. https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Girls-Wild-Boys-Children/dp/0312423357“Peter 'the Wild Boy' from Hanover: The Boy on the Staircase” Historic Royal Palaces. https://www.hrp.org.uk/blog/peter-the-wild-boy-from-hanover/“Peter the Wild Boy” History Today. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/peter-wild-boy“The Tragic Origins of Peter the Wild Boy” Ripley’s. https://www.ripleys.com/stories/peter-the-wild-boyLucy Worsley, “Peter The Wild Boy” Public Domain Review, 2011. https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/peter-the-wild-boy/Support the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    34 min

  2. JAN 18

    The Cannibalism of Johan de Witt

    Join Kelli as she goes over a strange event from the 17th century Dutch Republic - the time a political leader was killed, strung up, dismembered, and then cannibalized.  As always, we set up the history surrounding this event to get a good understanding of the Rampjaar - the disaster year - and why the Dutch people took out their frustrations on Johan de Witt. And we also look into the alleged cannibalism that took place. What does it all mean? What is the bigger picture? What in the world was happening in 1672?! Support the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    34 min

  3. 12/07/2025

    The Story of Boudica, Warrior Queen

    Join Kelli as she goes over the popular legend of Boudica, the short-lived queen of the Iceni peoples in Iron Age Britain. Much of what we know about Boudica comes from heavily-biased Roman sources, written decades or over a century after the events they describe. So how much of her story is fact, and how much is fiction? And was Boudica even a real person? Let's dive into the available written and archaeological sources and analyze why the Romans might have written about her the way they did to try to understand Boudica's role in history. Sources Andrew Roberts, “Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes” English Heritage. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/women-in-history/cartimandua/Dr. David Musgrove, “The Romans Were Blamed For Massacring These Iron Age Warriors. But Did They Actually Murder Themselves?” History Extra, 2025. https://www.historyextra.com/period/iron-age/the-romans-were-blamed-for-massacring-these-iron-age-warriors-but-did-they-actually-murder-themselves/Julius Caesar, The Gallic Wars. Book 5. Translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn. https://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.5.5.html Martin Smith, Miles Russell, and Paul Cheetham, “Fraught With High Tragedy: A Contextual And Chronological Reconsideration Of The Maidencastle Iron Age ‘War Cemetery’ (England)”, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2025. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ojoa.12324?domain=p2p_domain&token=UJWNRVZC4WDFI35RBKYMNatasha Sheldon, “The Evidence for the Historical Boudica” 2022. https://historyandarchaeologyonline.com/the-evidence-for-the-historical-boudica%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BC/Richard Hingley and Christina Unwin, Boudica: Iron Age Warrior Queen. 2006. https://www.amazon.com/Boudica-Iron-Age-Warrior-Queen/dp/1852855169“The Revolt of Boudica according to Cassius Dio” University of Warwick. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/boudica/sources/cassiusdio/“The Revolt of Boudica according to Tacitus” University of Warwick. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/boudica/sources/tacitus/Vanessa Collingridge, Boudica: The Life of Britain’s Legendary Warrior Queen. Kindle Edition, 2019. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RQX45PR/ref=kinw_myk_ro_titleSupport the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    41 min

  4. 10/19/2025

    The Roman Black Banquet

    Join Kelli as she talks about Rome's first ever Black Banquet, hosted by Emperor Domitian in 89 CE.  Today's episode covers some Roman history including the creation of the Colosseum, the Flavian Dynasty, Cynicism and Stoicism, Memento Mori, and Domitian's spooky banquet - so scary, his guests fled in terror, fearing for their lives! Happy early Halloween, APHOUT fans 3 Referenced Sources: C. Suetonius Tranquillus, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, first composed in 121 CE. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Titus*.htmlCassius Dio, Roman History. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/67*.htmlhttps://dailystoic.com/stoicism-cynicism/Support the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    34 min

  5. 10/05/2025

    The French Pig Trial of 1457

    Join Kelli as she looks into the weird world of European animal trials, focusing on the French Pig Trial at Savigny in 1457, where a sow owned by Jehan Bailly was put on trial for the murder of 5-year-old Jehan Martin. That's right - the pig was put on trial for murder. Not her human owner. But where does the legal precedent for animal trials come from? Let's find out! Sources Referenced: Alexander Lee, “Pigs Might Try,” 2020. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/natural-histories/pigs-might-tryEsther Cohen, Law, Folklore, and Animal Lore. 1986. https://www.academia.edu/66540937/Law_folklore_and_animal_loreE. P. Evans, The Criminal Prosecution And Capital Punishment Of Animals. 1906. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43286/43286-h/43286-h.htm#Page_138J. J. Finkelstein, The Ox That Gored. 1981. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1006346.pdf?refreqid=fastly-default%3A9eca8c357bbe59ed8b98754ab5426357&ab_segments=&initiator=&acceptTC=1Paul Schiff Berman, Rats, Pigs, and Statues on Trial: The Creation of Cultural Narratives in the Prosecution of Animals and Inanimate Objects. 1994. https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1241&context=faculty_publicationsSupport the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    21 min

  6. 09/21/2025

    The Eilean Mòr Lighthouse Mystery

    Join Kelli as she goes over the mystery of the Eilean Mòr lighthouse. In December of 1900, the three men keeping the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles - James Ducat, Thomas Marshall, and Donald McArthur - vanished without a trace. The light was out for about two weeks. When a fourth keeper came to relieve one of the men and bring more supplies, he stumbled upon a dark island with an empty lighthouse - and no signs of distress. Let's go over the history of the Eilean Mòr lighthouse, the primary sources of those who were there to see it, and some of the theories as to what happened. Then, we'll apply Occam's Razor and determine the most likely scenario. Sources referenced in the episode: Primary Sources from the NLB website: https://www.nlb.org.uk/history/flannan-isles/Christopher P. Nicholson, Rock Lighthouses of Britain. 1983. https://archive.org/details/rocklighthouseso0000nich/page/179/mode/1up?q=flannan+islesKeith McCloskey, The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers, 2014. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HSFUK1S/ref=kinw_myk_ro_titleThe Vanishing (2019 film)The Lighthouse (2019 film)Support the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    30 min

  7. 08/31/2025

    The Tragic Tale of Typhoid Mary

    Join Kelli as she goes over the history surrounding Typhoid Mary. We'll go beyond the typhoid-laden peaches and fresh ice cream! When we take a step back and look at her whole story in context, we get a different view of what it must have been like to be "Typhoid Mary," a strong, no-nonsense, Irish immigrant making a living as a cook in NYC and surrounding areas.  Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launStart for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    44 min

  8. 03/30/2025

    The Belgian Congo

    Join Kelli as she goes over the Congo Free State, owned not by Belgium, but by its King - Leopold II. During the 19th century in Africa, seven European countries - Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, met to divide up Africa; they had already encroached on about 10% of it, mostly the coasts, but now they wanted more. In this episode we discuss why, and what happened to the Congolese men, women, and children who were suddenly under the control of King Leopold. Intro and Outro music credit: @nedricmusic Find him on all streaming services and YouTube! http://www.nedricmusic.com  Sources Books Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost. https://www.amazon.com/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/dp/0618001905David Van Reybrouck, Congo: The Epic History of a People. Articles/Websites Germany officially recognises colonial-era Namibia genocide - BBC, 2021 | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57279008Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden” 1899 | https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_burden.htmGeorge Washington Williams, “An Open Letter to His Serene Majesty Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of Congo By Colonel, The Honorable Geo. W. Williams, of the United States of America” as found on BlackPast | https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/primary-documents-global-african-history/george-washington-williams-open-letter-king-leopold-congo-1890/Support the show Intro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello Kake Follow me on Instagram! @beardhistory If you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee

    46 min
See All (75)

4.9
out of 5
69 Ratings

About

A podcast that makes weird, gross, gory, and just generally “unpopular” history more fun and accessible

Information

You Might Also Like