Share

The Reluctant Historian

Welcome to The Reluctant Historian, the podcast where I, a history teacher, try to show my husband that history IS actually pretty cool! Each week we sit down to talk about a different event in history. At the end, the
Latest Episode9/28/2022

Mary Ann Cotton: Gold-digger and Pregnant

Season 2, Ep. 36
This week's Wicked Wednesday looks back at England's most prolific lady serial killer, Mary Ann Cotton. Taking you through her crimes, Liz and Koda explore how she was able to get away with so much murder.Episode Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cottonhttps://murderpedia.org/female.C/c/cotton-mary-ann.htmhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Ann-Cottonhttps://allthatsinteresting.com/mary-ann-cottonhttps://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/who-was-mary-ann-cotton-11503447http://www.maryanncotton.co.uk/index.html
9/28/2022

Mary Ann Cotton: Gold-digger and Pregnant

Season 2, Ep. 36
This week's Wicked Wednesday looks back at England's most prolific lady serial killer, Mary Ann Cotton. Taking you through her crimes, Liz and Koda explore how she was able to get away with so much murder.Episode Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Cottonhttps://murderpedia.org/female.C/c/cotton-mary-ann.htmhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Mary-Ann-Cottonhttps://allthatsinteresting.com/mary-ann-cottonhttps://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/history/who-was-mary-ann-cotton-11503447http://www.maryanncotton.co.uk/index.html
9/21/2022

The Halifax Explosion: Tsunami is Best Boy

Season 2, Ep. 35
This week, Liz gets really passionate about research, looking back the most devastating manmade explosion in the pre-atomic age. Dakota is bored.Episode Noteshttps://downtownhalifax.ca/land-acknowledgementhttps://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/halifax-explosionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosionhttps://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosionhttps://www.britannica.com/event/Halifax-explosionhttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-great-halifax-explosion
9/14/2022

Random History Facts that Didn't Fit on an Episode

Season 2, Ep. 34
This week, Liz didn't have time to write an episode, so she's reading from lists of weird historical facts while Dakota loses his mind.Episode Noteshttps://bestlifeonline.com/historical-facts/https://parade.com/1099930/marynliles/history-facts/
8/31/2022

H. H. Holmes: Hotel Motel Holiday California

Season 2, Ep. 33
This week, Liz and Dakota look back at America's first recorded serial killer, and talk about whether he truly understood what a hotel was, or if he was just confused by a motel.Episode Noteshttps://www.history.com/news/murder-castle-h-h-holmes-chicagohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/enduring-mystery-hh-holmes-americas-first-serial-killer-180977646/https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/serial-killers/hh-holmes/https://www.britannica.com/biography/H-H-Holmeshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmeshttps://www.biography.com/crime-figure/hh-holmeshttps://www.history.com/topics/crime/murder-castle
8/24/2022

The Queer Frontier: The Wild West Was Gayer Than You Think

Season 2, Ep. 32
This week, Liz and Dakota look at the history of queerness on the wild west's frontier.Episode Noteshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_homosexualityArticle: Paradise of Bachelors: The Social World of Men in Nineteenth-Century America.”https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-dec-15-la-et-out-west15-2009dec15-story.htmlhttps://hornet.com/stories/wild-west-gay-cowboys-history/https://truewestmagazine.com/old-west-homosexuality-homos-on-the-range/http://s3.amazonaws.com/arena-attachments/1581066/f18d255fcacf4c1686f54670bf93473d.pdf?1515546270https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/queer-tales-of-the-old-westhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Drummond_Stewart
8/17/2022

The Tomato Trial: What a Man Does With His Tomatoes is None of Our Business

Season 2, Ep. 31
This week Liz and Dakota get silly looking at the history of the Tomato in Europe and America, and at the story of that time a town put a bushel of tomatoes on trial for being evil.Episode Noteshttps://www.britannica.com/story/is-a-tomato-a-fruit-or-a-vegetablehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamericahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pewterhttps://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nightshade-vegetables#what-are-nightshadeshttps://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/americas-alleged-trial-against-tomatoes-not-witches-in-salem/#:~:text=The%20Salem%20Tomato%20Trial%20of%201820&text=Disgusted%20by%20the%20unfounded%20information,with%20a%20basket%20of%20tomatoes.https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/02/23/tomato/?chrome=1https://www.thefactsite.com/salem-tomato-trials/
8/10/2022

The Cypress Hills Massacre

Season 2, Ep. 30
This week, Liz and Dakota share some little known Saskatchewan history, the story of the Cypress Hills MassacreEpisode Notes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Hills_Massacrehttps://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1633https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/cypress-hills-massacre-featurehttps://teaching.usask.ca/indigenoussk/import/cypress_hills_massacre.phphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Hills_(Canada)https://www.cbc.ca/history/EPCONTENTSE1EP9CH1PA3LE.html#:~:text=On%20March%2020%2C%201869%2C%20the,of%20Canada%20for%20%241.5%20million.