Stonedhenge: History and High Thoughts

Travis and Tom
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History for people who hated history class. Join Travis (the history buff) and Tom (the enthusiastic bystander) as they stumble through the weirdest corners of the past, armed with questionable logic and a mountain of curiosity. Stonedhenge delivers high thoughts, historical chaos, and absolutely zero credentials. From the Emu War to the Corpse Pope, we cover the stories your teacher skipped. If you’ve ever wondered how empires fell or what ancient leaders were like at a party, you’re in the right smoky corner of the internet.

  1. 3d ago

    Grigori Rasputin - Why You Shouldn't Let Your Wife's Yoga Instructor Run the Government

    Grigori Rasputin is historically known as "The Mad Monk," but he was really just a wandering holy man, a snake oil salesman, and a walking scandal generator in boots. In this episode, we break down how a Siberian peasant somehow managed to become the most influential (and hated) man in the Russian Empire. We cover: The Romanov Crisis: How Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra's desperation to cure their son's hemophilia created the perfect opening for Rasputin to enter the palace. Accidentally Useful: How Rasputin's advice to keep doctors away actually helped the royal heir, mostly because it stopped doctors from giving the bleeding boy aspirin. The PR Disaster: How Rasputin's chaotic behavior (and rumors of him joining mythical Christian sex cults) turned him into a walking conspiracy theory and a symbol of Imperial decay. The Haunted Group Chat: How Tsar Nicholas leaving for World War I basically left the collapsing Russian government in the hands of his stressed wife and her mystical chaos uncle. In the studio: Travis quizzes Tom on the Boney M. disco track, and Tom equates letting Rasputin influence the government to letting your wife's yoga instructor run your business. Listen to Stonedhenge—History for people who hated history class. 💨🎙️

  2. Oct 31

    Vlad the Impaler - The True Story Behind the Vampire Legend

    Happy Halloween from Stonedhenge! Today, we are tracing the real, horrifying history behind the world's most famous monster: Dracula. We are taking a trip to 15th-century Eastern Europe to learn about Vlad III of Wallachia, better known as Vlad the Impaler. In this special Halloween episode, we explore how a medieval ruler became so terrifying that we are still making horror movies about him 550 years later. We cover: Wallachian Politics: Why ruling between the Kingdom of Hungary and the expanding Ottoman Empire meant living between two violent landlords who kept burning down your house. The Royal Hostage: How Vlad's childhood as an Ottoman hostage shaped his worldview, while his younger brother, "Radu the Handsome," definitely had the better PR team. The Order of the Dragon: The real reason Vlad was called "Dracula," and why his father's Christian chivalric order basically sounds like a Dungeons & Dragons supplement. The Dinner Parties from Hell: Why you should absolutely never accept a dinner invitation from Vlad, especially if he starts asking how many princes you've survived. Medieval Propaganda: How much of his legend was real, and how much was just 15th-century enemies running a massive smear campaign. In the studio: Travis mispronounces more Eastern European cities, and Tom realizes that impalement doesn't just mean putting heads on spikes. Listen to StonedhengeHistory for people who hated history class. 💨🎙️

  3. Oct 21

    The Panda Conspiracy - Genetically Engineered Lawnmowers

    Pandas break every rule in evolutionary biology, leading fringe science theorists to believe they are actually artificial cryptids genetically engineered by a lost precursor civilization. In this episode, Tom introduces Travis to the wildest conspiracy theory about everyone's favorite clumsy bear. We cover: The Bamboo Apocalypse: Why an ancient empire would need to engineer a heavily armored, all-terrain biological lawnmower to eradicate an aggressively spreading super-weed. Diesel in a Ferrari: How the creators rushed the panda's development, leaving it with a carnivore's acidic digestive tract that only runs at 17% efficiency when eating plants. The Duct-Tape Thumb: The evolutionary anomaly of the panda's pseudo-thumb, which is actually just an aggressively elongated wrist bone acting as a meat anvil to crush bamboo. The Maternity Scam: How pandas suffer from phantom pregnancies and actively fake hormonal symptoms just to scam zookeepers out of air conditioning and free fruit. In the studio: Tom tries to figure out his ultimate corporate scam for free snacks, and Travis shares his love for cuttlefish and terrifying flightless birds. Listen to Stonedhenge—History for people who hated history class. 💨🎙️

    The Panda Conspiracy - Genetically Engineered Lawnmowers

  4. Oct 7

    Navajo Code Talkers - Hiding a Safe Inside Another Safe

    During World War II, the United States military needed a communication system that the Japanese couldn't intercept. Their solution? An unbreakable code built entirely on a Native language the U.S. government had spent generations trying to erase. In this episode, we break down the incredible story of the Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific Theater. We cover: The Ultimate Irony: How boarding schools brutally punished Native children for speaking their language, only for the military to realize that same language was their absolute best defense. The Grammar Lesson from Hell: Why Navajo was the perfect language for a code, relying on complex pitch and tone changes that made translating it like locking a safe inside of another safe. Iron Fish and Hummingbirds: How the "First 29" Navajo recruits literally had to invent new vocabulary for modern warfare, turning submarines into "iron fish" and fighter planes into "hummingbirds". The Perfect KD Ratio: How the code talkers transmitted over 800 messages without a single error during the brutal chaos of Iwo Jima. In the studio: Travis reveals that he was actually born in Japan, and Tom realizes that turning a complex language into a multilayered military code is basically like unlocking a video game's extreme mode plus plus. Listen to Stonedhenge—History for people who hated history class. 💨🎙️

  5. Sep 23

    The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom - The Ultimate Exam Anxiety

    The Taiping Rebellion was the deadliest civil war in human history, and it all started because one guy got extreme exam anxiety. In this episode, we take the recording setup outside, and track the chaotic rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in 19th century China. We cover: The Ultimate Breakdown: How Hong Xiuquan failed his civil service exams, had a fever dream, and decided he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ. The Stressed Restaurant Manager: Why the ruling Qing Dynasty was already dealing with famines and foreign wars when the rebellion kicked off, making them look like a panicked manager during a lunch rush. The Heavenly Capital: The capture of Nanjing, the horrifying reality of ancient footbinding practices, and why naming your rebellion the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace" usually means massive casualties. Internal Paranoia: How to win a workplace disagreement by accusing your coworker of being a demon who is resisting the divine order. The Regional Armies: How the Qing government finally fought back by giving power to local militias, which is basically like handing flamethrowers to your neighbors and hoping they behave. In the studio: The guys record outside in the elements, Tom learns the horrifying truth about historical beauty standards, and an aggressive helicopter tries to ruin the audio. Listen to Stonedhenge—History for people who hated history class. 💨🎙️

  6. Sep 9

    Mansa Musa: Crashing Economies and Camels with Attitude Problems

    Mansa Musa, the ruler of the Mali Empire, is widely considered the richest man in history. He had so much wealth that during his pilgrimage to Mecca, he accidentally crashed the entire economy of Cairo just by handing out too much gold. In this episode, we track the massive, gold-paved reign of Mansa Musa. We cover: The Salt Trade: How the Mali Empire built its wealth on trading gold and salt, because without salt to cure your meat, your dinner was basically a biological weapon. The Disappearing Boss: How Musa’s predecessor sailed into the Atlantic Ocean and vanished like a video game side quest with no save file. The Gold Hurricane: How Musa's massive caravan acted as a royal stimulus package, lowering the value of gold in Cairo because he tipped too much. Timbuktu & Map Monsters: How Musa put Mali on the global map, leading European mapmakers to draw him holding a giant gold nugget. In the studio: Travis continues his struggle with historical pronunciations, and Tom ponders on the theory that Musa's predecessor didn't drown, but was actually abducted by Vikings or the Bermuda Triangle. Listen to Stonedhenge—History for people who hated history class. 💨🎙️

  7. Aug 26

    Theodore Roosevelt - How to Survive the Ultimate 1800s Grief Arc

    We made it to our one-year anniversary! To celebrate 26 episodes of Stonedhenge, we decided to bust out the dab rig and get ridiculously high while talking about the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt's life reads like a season of television written by an overexcited golden retriever with a history degree. Travis walks us through TR's unhinged biography. We cover: The Strenuous Life: How a sickly, asthmatic child decided to defeat weakness through boxing, lifting weights, and pure personality volume. The Cowboy Expansion Pack: How Teddy lost his mother and his wife on the exact same day in 1884, and decided to process his grief by moving to the Dakota Badlands to become a rugged rancher. The Haunted Reform Goblin: Teddy's time as the New York Police Commissioner, where he spent his nights prowling the foggy streets to catch lazy cops. The USS Maine: Tom derails the Spanish-American War timeline to explain his theory that the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor was an absolute cover-up. In the studio: Tom tells a terrifying story about taking a massive dab off a three-foot fly strip at a flow festival, and Travis recalls his nightmare job and having to do dabs while working customer service during COVID

  8. Aug 12

    The Last Samurai - Why Tom Cruise Lied to You

    Everything you learned from that Tom Cruise movie The Last Samurai isn't entirely accurate. In this episode, we are tracking the real history of the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 and the incredibly chaotic fall of Japan's warrior class. We cover: The Panic Move: How Commodore Matthew Perry arriving with gunboats forced Japan to modernize at insane speeds. Emotional Arson: How the new Meiji government abolished domains and replaced samurai stipends with bonds. This was essentially "emotional arson with a filing cabinet". The Sword Ban: How the government passed the Haitorei Edict, making the samurai's public costume, resume, and personality completely illegal. The Meat Grinder: The Battle of Tabaruzaka, where Saigo Takamori’s samurai workshop went up against the Meiji government's industrial factory. In the studio: Travis struggles with his Japanese pronunciations, and Tom perfectly sums up the rebellion by comparing a samurai fighting a modern military to tackling a mountain with a screwdriver. Listen to Stonedhenge—History for people who hated history class. 💨🎙️

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History for people who hated history class. Join Travis (the history buff) and Tom (the enthusiastic bystander) as they stumble through the weirdest corners of the past, armed with questionable logic and a mountain of curiosity. Stonedhenge delivers high thoughts, historical chaos, and absolutely zero credentials. From the Emu War to the Corpse Pope, we cover the stories your teacher skipped. If you’ve ever wondered how empires fell or what ancient leaders were like at a party, you’re in the right smoky corner of the internet.

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