Half-Arsed History

History's Strangest Deaths, the first Half-Arsed History book, releases on the 5th of August across the Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand region. Pre-order your copy at Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/history-s-strangest-deaths-riley-knight/book/9781761472589.html

In this week's episode, meet Sir Francis Drake, whose lifelong vendetta against the Spanish led to a life of high adventure - including the circumnavigation of the globe.Pre-order History's Strangest Deaths and get 17% off: https://www.booktopia.com.au/history-s-strangest-deaths-riley-knight/book/9781761472589.html

The steam engine is a foundational modern technology that underpins today's industrialised world; it also tended to explode and helped to precipitate a climate crisis. So there's that.Pre-order History's Strangest Deaths and get 17% off: https://www.booktopia.com.au/history-s-strangest-deaths-riley-knight/book/9781761472589.html

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the legend of Lasseter's Reef, a supposed immense fortune in gold that is lost somewhere out in the Australian desert. Pre-order History's Strangest Deaths and get 17% off: https://www.booktopia.com.au/history-s-strangest-deaths-riley-knight/book/9781761472589.html

In this week's episode, uncover the details of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, when something caused nine Soviet hikers to abandon their mountainside tent and perish in the middle of a freezing night - for reasons that have never been conclusively determined. 

The thermometer has had a huge impact on many aspects of modern life, none more important than in the field of medicine - where it has helped in revolutionising diagnosis and patient monitoring. 

Quarter-Arsed History presents: the tale of Mad Jack Mytton, a wild and eccentric character who wasted a colossal fortune away living a life of unbridled, reckless hedonism.

In this week's episode, meet the Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite heavy infantry unit, made up of 150 pairs of lovers, that took part in immensely important ancient battles.

The microscope has unlocked whole new worlds for us to explore, over the centuries - but the question of who actually invented it remains unresolved, even today.