The Backstory with Patty Steele

iHeartPodcasts
  • 4.6 (100)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

Love a good, juicy story that goes beyond what we already know? We're talking scandalous presidential family members, a mass murder at a world-famous architect's home, stolen inventions, nude athletes at the first Olympics, compulsive liars, the arrival of the bikini, and so much more. History fanatic Patty Steele tells you the inside backstories you didn’t know you needed to know.

  1. The Backstory: Put Your Lips Together and Blow

    2D AGO

    The Backstory: Put Your Lips Together and Blow

    Communicating quickly with family, friends, and work colleagues, whether miles apart or rooms apart, has always been a challenge. It’s one human beings have been dealing with for thousands of years. We’ve used everything from smoke signals, to telegraph, to telephones, to weird devices like a tube you’d blow into to fetch an extra blanket. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    8 min
  2. The Backstory: A Half Billion Dollar Art Heist and Fake Mustaches

    5D AGO

    The Backstory: A Half Billion Dollar Art Heist and Fake Mustaches

    When you picture an art heist, like the one last month at the Louvre in Paris, you picture really cool looking international thieves. The guys nabbed in Paris however, were just regular small time crooks. But let’s go back to the most valuable museum heist in world history. It happened in Boston 35 years ago and was carried out by two guys wearing fake mustaches. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    9 min
  3. The Backstory: A Monster Scratching on the Door Late at Night

    OCT 31

    The Backstory: A Monster Scratching on the Door Late at Night

    Monster stories are usually just fun thrillers told around a campfire. But what happened in a small Illinois town 50 years ago, has never been explained. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    9 min
  4. The Backstory: Trick or Treating . . and Human Sacrifice

    OCT 28

    The Backstory: Trick or Treating . . and Human Sacrifice

    Halloween is really festive and a little spooky. But its origins and most of its traditions were both festive and spooky, on steroids! They originated in ancient Ireland, where the Celts held raging parties involving human sacrifice! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    9 min
  5. The Backstory: 1929 Market Crash: Did Panicked Investors Really Jump from Windows?

    OCT 24

    The Backstory: 1929 Market Crash: Did Panicked Investors Really Jump from Windows?

    It’s the 96th anniversary of Black Thursday . . the day the stock market crashed, kicking off the Great Depression. There were stories in the immediate aftermath of dozens of investors jumping from buildings on Wall Street. But what inspired those stories and what really happened? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    8 min
  6. The Backstory: Harrison Ford: 2nd Choice for Indiana Jones?

    OCT 21

    The Backstory: Harrison Ford: 2nd Choice for Indiana Jones?

    When we look at iconic movies, we can’t imagine them being different in any way from what we finally see on the screen. But making movies is an evolutionary process. Turns out Raiders of the Lost Ark almost didn’t get made and the role of Indiana Jones almost went to another very popular actor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    8 min
  7. The Backstory: Bodies Under the Floorboards – John Wayne Gacy

    OCT 17

    The Backstory: Bodies Under the Floorboards – John Wayne Gacy

    It’s the Perfect Scenario for a Horror Movie. A Contractor Lures 33 Kids to His Normal Looking Home to Party and Talk About a Job . . and They’re Never Seen Again. But Did John Wayne Gacy, the So Called Killer Clown, Have Accomplices? He Maintained He Did Until His Execution. No One Was Ever Charged but There Is Some Evidence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    10 min
  8. The Backstory: Attacked by a Ghost in Salem Massachusetts!

    OCT 14

    The Backstory: Attacked by a Ghost in Salem Massachusetts!

    The Salem witch trials took place 333 years ago. They left a lot of bad energy in that small New England town. But folks who’ve visited one house in particular have some pretty chilling stories to tell about being strangled, burned, and scratched by 300 year old ghosts! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    7 min
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4.6
out of 5
100 Ratings

About

Love a good, juicy story that goes beyond what we already know? We're talking scandalous presidential family members, a mass murder at a world-famous architect's home, stolen inventions, nude athletes at the first Olympics, compulsive liars, the arrival of the bikini, and so much more. History fanatic Patty Steele tells you the inside backstories you didn’t know you needed to know.

Information

  • Channel
    iHeartPodcasts
  • Creator
    iHeartPodcasts
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    235
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
  • Show Website
    The Backstory with Patty Steele
  • Provider
    iHeartMedia + Entertainment, Inc

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