130. Operation Snow White

Something just seems fishy about this.

Our series on spies turns a more recent mass spying conspiracy! We’re joined by Cody Dericks (of The Halloweeners podcast) to discuss Scientology’s massive Operation Snow White. Zach rates Scientology centers from “hot” to “not,” Cody helps fan cast the movie adaptation, and Brian once again stresses that we don’t support that kind of alternate history.

We love hearing from you! Send your letters, topic suggestions, and slash fiction to us through our website, Instagram, or Twitter, and don’t forget to support us on Patreon where you get access to fun rewards like voting!

129. Virginia Hall

Virginia Hall, not snitching.

We’re back, and our series on spies continues! This week, we welcome Lauren Faits (of the Bebop Beat and She-Ra: Progressive of Power podcasts) to help us examine Allied WWII spy Virginia Hall! Zach slowly recovers his hosting mojo, Lauren lauds all the great progress America has made sine the early 20th century, and Brian warns of the siren’s song of Quizno’s.

Update: Friend of the show Danny Ramos is thankfully out of the hospital! He still needs our support, so if you can, please consider contributing to his GoFundMe.

Lastly, we love hearing from you! Reach out via our website, Twitter, or Instagram or go all the way and support us on Patreon.

128. Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel. How could someone dress like this and be a spy?

We’re back from hiatus! Helping us kick the dust off the tires is the always charming Daniel Daughhetee to help us explore the secret history of “feminist icon” Coco Chanel! In the miniseries on spies! Bit of a spoiler there. Brian speculates on what different celebrities are packing, Daniel reveals the true homeland of antifa, and Zach’s alternate might include Disney’s first openly gay character (but probably not).

Please help our friend and previous guest Danny Ramos as he recovers from a tragic hit and run. We’re hoping to cover his medical expenses via his GoFundMe.

We love hearing from you! You can write us at our website, or just follow us on Twitter or Instagram.

Help Danny Ramos

Danny Ramos, who you may know as a guest from previous episodes, is in critical condition following a hit-and-run which killed Lovisa Svallingson, who was a wonderful person and Danny’s girlfriend. Family, friends, and fellow comics are hoping to raise enough money to cover Danny’s medical expenses once he recovers. If you can, please donate to his GoFundMe. Thank you.

CLASSIC: Julius Caesar

This is it, the last classic episode before our triumphant* return! We’re going back to the very beginning to bring you Jose Macall talking about Julius Caesar (A.K.A. the episode that eventually inspired our t-shirt).

Triumph may vary, not guaranteed in Kentucky.
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Jose Macall joins us for our discussion of Julius Caesar, and maybe our most nonsense-filled episode yet! We did it! Zach tells us when it's appropriate to touch a horse, Jose gives the majority of mummies a bad rap, and Brian teaches etiquette for a Celiac-friendly cannibal buffet.

CLASSIC: Philippe Petain

Philippe Petain, in his “Nazi collaborator” phase.

Two more classic episodes before we finally return! Thanks to everyone for sticking with us and everyone who is checking out the show for the first time. Enjoy this favorite from January 2018 with the hilarious Greg Ellis helping us discuss Philippe Petain!
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The hilarious Greg Ellis drops in to help us discuss General Phillipe Petain! Zach offers us a dictator’s retirement plan, Greg finds the most delightful name in all of history, and Brian has clearly been watching Looney Toons.

CLASSIC: Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt (Art by Junji Ito)

We’re getting ready to return in the next couple weeks, with hot, steaming, fresh from the oven episodes! I maybe wrote this description while I was hungry. Enjoy this absolute classic featuring the wonderful Zach Welch: Teddy Roosevelt!
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You're not seeing double, it's two episode 47s (because Brian skipped episode 41)! This time, we welcome the hilarious Zach Welch back to the show to help us talk about Teddy Roosevelt! Zach Powers tries to get us excited about working out, Zach Welch reveals an exotic diet secret, and Brian discovers a shocking truth about Nancy Reagan!

CLASSIC: St. Olga of Kiev

St. Olga of Kiev, bird murderer.

While we prep new episodes (coming soon!), enjoy this classic as Brian wraps up his leave! We bring you the story of St. Olga of Kiev from the hilarious Janae Burris!
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The wonderful Janae Burris returns to the show as we discuss Olga of Kiev, who we are careful not to piss off! In this episode, Zach reaches into his bag of horse questions, Janae would like you to know about Ladyhawke, and Brian goes in on Rutger Hauer.

CLASSIC: Robert Smalls

Robert Smalls, US Representative

Only a couple more classic episodes left, because Brian’s leave keeps extending itself! Everything’s fine though, medicine just takes a while. Anyway, enjoy this flashback to Civil War hero Robert Smalls with Captain America: Civil War hero Andres Becerril.
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The hilarious Andres Becerril helps us kick off the Civil War by talking about Robert Smalls! Zach racks up a classic mayo moment, Andres does Robert Smalls’ star chart , and Brian reaches into the listener mailbag.

CLASSIC: The Titanic

How it started, how it’s going

Brian’s still on leave, but not for much longer! While we’re getting ready to bring you fresh episodes, enjoy this all time heavy-hitter with Shannon Campe and Jen Kolic, The Titanic!

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Ahoy! We have a super special episode for you! Jen Kolic and Shannon Campe come aboard to help us talk about the King of the Boats: Titanic! Zach describes the perfect amount of InfoWars, Shannon's story goes to the dogs, Jen sings the national anthem of the booze cruise, and Brian asks for ghost advice

CLASSIC: Belle Gunness

Belle Gunness, thinkin’ ‘bout murderin’.

We reach back into the archives one more time for this Halloween favorite featuring the brilliant Rachel Weeks helping us discuss Belle Gunness: farm owner, pig feeder, and *checks notes* remorseless serial killer. Brian’s leave continues, but hopefully we’ll be back to new episodes in a couple weeks! Thanks for sticking with us through this time, we so appreciate your support!

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Happy Halloween everyone! The scarily funny Rachel Weeks (RacHELL SHReeks) returns to the show to help us talk about our special Halloween topic, Belle Gunness! Zach (Zach "Telekinetic" Powers) christens Insurance Fraud Celebration Month, Rachel does some recruiting for Pig Farm University, and Brian (Brain Flayin') reaches into his Norwegian candy bag!

CLASSIC: Ida B. Wells & The White Rose

Ida B. Wells-Barnett

While Brian’s leave continues, please enjoy one of our all-time favorite episodes! In the wake of the 2016 election, we scrapped our usual format and recorded a two-parter with special guests Janae Burris and Christie Buchele. We bring you part two, where Janae and Christie discuss a couple of historical resistance heroes: Ida B. Wells & the White Rose.
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We’re thrilled to be joined once again by Janae Burris and Christie Buchele for another special episode! Janae and Christie are here to talk about Ida B. Wells and the White Rose, and we still try to deal with the election of President Putin’s puffier cousin. In this episode, Zach calls Gollum on his horseshit, Janae practices her new closer, Christie asserts her place on the list of very important people, and Brian abandons all hope of segues. As serious as this episode gets, one of the best tangents ever in the show happens in this episode, so check it out!

Sophie Scholl, part of the White Rose.

CLASSIC: Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton, seen here being hot and grizzled at the same time.

While Brian is away on family leave, please enjoy this classic episode from December 29th, 2018: Ernest Shackleton featuring Jordan Doll! We’ll be back soon, and hope you like these nostalgic tastes until then.
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It’s a New Year’s miracle! The brilliant Jordan Doll returns for this all in-person recording where we talk about Ernest Shackleton! Zach reboots the Ernest series, Jordan reads from his Mountain Dew thesis, and Brian shows off his well of Green Day knowledge.

CLASSIC: Sir Roger Casement

Sir Roger Casement

While Brian is on family leave, please enjoy this episode from March 17th, 2018: Sir Roger Casement featuring Byron Graham.
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Hilarious rogue Byron Graham returns to the show to help us discuss Human Rights pioneer, Irish patriot, and very hot guy Roger Casement! Zach helpfully explains the differences between Byron and Brian, Byron repurposes some schoolyard rhymes, and Brian shouts out 2 Chainz!

127. The Rosenbergs

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.

There’s no way around it, y’all, this topic is sad. The episode, however is very silly. A weird combo, but it’s kind of what we do. Danny Ramos returns to help us talk about Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Stay tuned to the end for an ill-advised request for audience participation!

IMPORTANT NOTE: Brian is going on very sudden family leave! There’s gonna be a pause in new episodes for a short while (2 or 3 episodes probably, but we’re not sure). That also means he had very little time to give this episode a more polished edit, so you get to see a little more of the sausage being made this time.

We love all of you for listening, and we’re excited to come back. Brian appreciates you keeping his family in your thoughts.

126. Aldrich Ames

Aldrich Ames: Less handsome than other spies!

The delightful Priscilla Spangler returns to help us discuss a white dude with connections who kept failing up and ended up betraying his country! Not that one. Or that one. No, it’s Aldrich Ames. Zach emcees the bi-weekly roast of Brian, Priscilla leads us on a stroll down memory lane, and Brian makes some very specific fan art requests.

We love hearing from you! Reach out via our website, Twitter, or Instagram, and take your support further by pledging as little as $1/month on Patreon.

125. Sidney Reilly

Sidney Reilly: license to ra-row.

We kick off our miniseries on spies with the “ace of spies” (and definite murderer) Sidney Reilly! Joining us is friend of the show (not murderer) Byron Graham! I’ll level with you, it’s one of the most fun episodes we’ve recorded, but then Brian was hiding in his apartment in fear this week, so it’s about an hour late and is missing extensive show notes. Sorry about that. We love you, and hope this cheers you even a little.

FWPH Flashback! Merry Christmas, Cool Dog

Okay, so it’s not a Christmas episode, but it’s definitely a bizarre one! The holidays kept us from recording, so we wanted to reach back into the vault and share another episode of our (10 year!) old podcast, The First World Privilege Hour with Pat Medaugh. In this episode we discuss Cool Dog, a movie about (wait for it) an all right dog.

We’ll be back in the new year with our regular schedule and the first in our miniseries on spies.

124. Rebecca Lee Crumpler

Rebecca Lee Crumpler (unconfirmed photo)

Help us say farewell to our Medical History miniseries with special guest Allison Rose as we discuss medical pioneer Rebecca Lee Crumpler! Zach revisits some of our saddest hits, Allison refuses to save Brian from himself, and Brian asks the question on everyone’s lips.

We wanna hear from you! Random questions, comments, recipes, whatever! You can send them via our website or through Twitter or Instagram. Lastly, our Patreon is the best way to support the show and get access to exclusive bonuses.

123. The Black Plague

The Black Plague (not pictured, fleas).

The Black Plague? That shouldn’t feel topical! We welcome back the hilarious Brad Galli to help us talk about *checks notes* the largest mass death event in recorded history. Look, we promise this is a fun episode. Zach has his judging work cut out for him, Brad has the hot gos on literally every single person, and Brian briefly tries a new way of telling the actual history.

NOTE: Since we had to use the audio from Zoom for this episode, there are some spots where the audio is weird. Apologies it doesn’t sound as good as usual!

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