Tales of History and Imagination

Oliver (the Man in the Box)…

Note: As per last episode - A few weeks back I had a script half done for an episode on Smedley Butler and the Wall Street Putsch. It looked set to run well in excess of my usual 20- 25 minutes. The following episode will likely be a similar length. I set those scripts aside as I had just started a new role at my day job, and was worried homework for the new job might throw everything into disarray. We’ll pick up on those regular episodes in two weeks’ time. Trigger Warning: This one is a little gory at times.  This week’s tale starts in a pub in London, England, circa 1818. A cadre of upper middle-class professionals meet to discuss the day’s topics of interest. Among them, a ‘man in a box’ who a century and a half ago outlawed such frivolity. This is the tale of that man, Oliver - and how got here.     Sources this week - I’ll fill this in, and backfill several previous episodes this week (I promise).  The episode grew out of a blog post on History in Numbers  a friend sent me, which veered off into several news articles, an old high school history book and an episode of Parcast Network’s Gone. The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 US a month and get access to exclusive content. I’m currently revamping, and will be dropping re-recorded bonus content weekly for the next two months. This week we’ll discuss the mystery of Otzi the Iceman.       Please leave a like and review wherever you listen. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. The show has a YouTube Channel, largely for Audiogram advertisements.  Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

The Sin-Eater, Wizard of Mauritius & Mr Good Day - Three Work Tales

Note: I had a different subject in mind for this week’s Tale, and was around 3,000 words into what was shaping up to be a longer than average script - when things came up at my day job. Those things are great things - but they required me shelving that episode for a couple of weeks, and improvising. As my world is all about the 9 to 5 this week, let’s talk Sin Eaters, The Wizard of Mauritius and a man known to Berkeley California as ‘Mr Good Day’.  Sources this week - I’ll fill this in, and backfill several previous episodes on Saturday. The Sin Eater came primarily from an Atlas Obscura article. The Wizard of Mauritius from Mike Dash’s excellent ‘A Blast From The Past’. Mr Good Day from a Fortean Times book named World’s Weirdest News Stories - however 90% of the content came from news articles written in Berkeley on Joseph Charles over the course of thirty years.   The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please leave a like and review wherever you listen. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. The show has a YouTube Channel, largely for Audiogram advertisements.        Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

The Many Deaths of Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller was a trombonist, composer, superstar bandleader, and a war hero. On 15th December he hitched a ride on a plane across the English Channel - and was never seen again.  This week we discuss some of the many, alleged deaths of them remarkable Mr Miller.  Note: Normally I’m fairly claiming all music yours truly - the ‘music box’ arrangement of Miller’s Moonlight Serenade (1935) at the beginning is my interpretation of his composition cribbed by ear off of the original.  Later in the piece Miller’s own (far superior) composition features.  We close the episode, not on the regular theme, but on Miller’s arrangement of Leon Rene’s When The Swallows Come Back to Capistrano.  Sources this week - I’ll fill this in, in full later. I worked mostly from an old Readers Digest Mystery book, articles from the LA Times and Irish Times, and several random facts I carry in my head about the utterly deplorable Mr Heidrich.    The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please leave a like and review wherever you listen. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. The show has a YouTube Channel, largely for Audiogram advertisements.      Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly - except where stated otherwise (see above). For more information on Simone click here. 

The Ghost & The Darkness

This week we’re in Tsavo, Kenya, 1898. John Henry Patterson has recently arrived in the region, to oversee the construction of a railway line through the country. Much could be said of him, but we’re far more interested in two other recent transplants to the region - a pair of resourceful man-eaters nicknamed The Ghost and The Darkness.     The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please leave a like and review wherever you listen. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. The show has a YouTube Channel, largely for Audiogram advertisements.        Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here. 

The Infernal Machine

Trigger Warning: The following episode discusses a mass shooting. I’ve left all the foley sounds out and do my best to treat the subject matter with reverence - but if in doubt it’s fine to miss this one - I’ll be back in a fortnight with a tale of some big cats…  This week we travel from 1835 France, to Paris’ Boulevard du Temple (made famous in 1839 by Louis Daguerre for a different type of shooting), to The US Civil War, to the British seaside town of Southampton in the late 1870s. The one thread between these tales? An Infernal Machine….    The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please leave a like and review wherever you listen. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and now an Instagram. The show has a YouTube Channel, for Audiogram advertisements. I’m not big into Social Media but if you drop by and say hi I’ll shout back.        Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

Spencer Percival

Trigger Warning: The following episode discusses political assassination. Also a quick mention, this wasn’t the episode I had in mind for the second of my ‘From the Vaults’ episodes for the break. I recorded both Carrington Event and The Bagradas Dragon with strained vocal cords (it shows in Carrington, and showed a little more on Bagradas). I have had this week’s episode recorded since I bought the Rodecaster recording console, and wasn’t sure when I’d look to release it - it was just recording practice. I’ll redo Bagradas and look to throw it in the mix on the next mini break. Spencer Percival was Prime Minister of Britain in interesting times. During his run, the formerly ‘Mad’ King George (III) went ‘mad’ again. A costly war with Napoleon was chewing through cash, and more importantly, lives. Percival’s reputation had also been marred by the disastrous Walcheran Expedition.  All the same, on May 11th 1812, he was full of all the joys of the season as he walked to work on a hot summer’s day. Sadly, he had not counted on John Bellingham.     The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please a like and review wherever you listen. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. I promise I’ll be more active on two of these in coming months - drop by and say hello.  Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here. 

The Carrington Event

Strange, magical things were afoot in Boston, Massachusetts on September 2nd 1859, as telegraph machines took on a life of their own. That night the skies the world over put on a magnificent light show on e reporter described as ‘painfully lurid’. What caused this phenomenon? In Surrey, England an amateur astronomer named Richard Carrington had more than an inkling.   The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.  Heads up, I was suffering from strained vocal cords doing this one, add to that it’s from an older blog post of mine - so has some looong sentences to negotiate. I’m not ‘going for a new thing’ so much as just getting through the recording here.. Voice has more or less rebounded now, thx for asking…   Please leave Tales a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

The Old Man of The Mountain

In Part Three of our Assassins series we discuss the Syrian Assassins, Crusaders, Saladin, yet more assassinations and Baybars the Mamluk as we continue in our examination of the Ismaili.  The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.     Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

The Mongols are Coming!

In Part Two of our Assassins series we discuss Mongols, Kwarazmians, Heretics, more assassinations and those camels as we continue in our examination of the Ismaili.  The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.     Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

The Cult of Hassan-i Sabbah

Admin Note: The following is part one of a two (edit, probably three) part Tale. I’ll be releasing this fortnightly, with re-upload episodes on in-between weeks.  There’s a tale from the Medieval Near East that persists in the modern day - some of the details are somewhat accurate - some less so. Up in the mountains of Persia and Syria, in inaccessible mountain fortresses, lives a cult of fearless killers. Led by a prototypical James Bond Supervillain, known as the ‘Man of the Mountain’ the cult is greatly feared for its murders of many kings, generals, administrators and holy men. Just who were the infamous Assassins really? In Part One we look at their founder, Hassan-i Sabbah         The blog post of the episode is here.   Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content. At the current pledge level I post a bonus episode a month, and will add more extras as the channel grows.      Please leave a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest…. Yeah I know two of those are increasingly problematic - I may add more socials to the list in future.      Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

Admin Note: Assassins and Re-Uploads

Hey all just a quick update, apologies I’m a little croaky on the recording. As I say I have been doing a lot of recording while on a long weekend. I’ll be back with an actual new episode once I have it all mixed, edited + added some music into the mix - Hopefully tomorrow night. - Simone. 

The Bottle Conjuror

Quick admin note: I was planning on dropping a couple of 10 minute episodes in May, giving me a little time to plan out the next run. A couple of day to day things (I’m feeling it prudent I update my CV, and begin looking for a new day job) are likely to put me behind a little in coming weeks so I’m moving at least one of those episodes up a little.  Today we travel to London’s Haymarket Theatre - in 1749 a hotbed of middle class discontent towards the ruling class. The air is abuzz with anticipation for the incredible Bottle Conjuror - a musician, mentalist and contortionist like no other. With a full house what could go wrong?     The blog post of the episode is here.  Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content. At the current pledge level I post a bonus episode a month, and will add more extras as the channel grows.  Please leave a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.   Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly.For more information on Simone click here.   

Beyond the Archway

This week my (New Zealand) Government announced New Zealand schools would be teaching New Zealand History to all children. This IS actually quite an accomplishment - a lot of younger kids get little to no history at all, and those who take the subject as an elective option often don’t even touch on our own country.  It only seems fitting to do a New Zealand Tale this week. What can one say about New Zealand and the act of Pseudocide - faking one’s own death to start anew elsewhere? Quite a bit it turns out…      The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content. I’m currently dropping a bonus tale a month, and will increase to one an episode when we meet our first target.    Please leave us a Like and Review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.   Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.     

Njinga of Ndongo

Happy International Woman’s Day! This week I’m looking at one lesser known badass warrior Queen - Njinga, Queen (then later King) of Ndongo.    The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.       Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.       Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here. 

The Phantom Airships

From November 1896 through 1897, the skies over America - if Tales are to be believed - were full of magnificent flying machines. Some possibly from another planet, most were believed by the populace to be the work of pioneering geniuses - such as a mysterious 47 year old dentist from California.  What was really behind this spate of sightings?   The blog post of the episode is here.  Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.       Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here. 

Doctor Sweet’s Defence

Content Warning: This week’s Tale deals with several ugly topics including lynching, false arrests death by consumption, suicide and racism in general. Discretion advised. Set in Detroit Michigan in and around 1925 today we try to explain the awful reasons a dedicated family doctor fell foul of a ‘waterworks improvement association’ for wanting to move into a ‘nice neighbourhood’.  The blog post of the episode is here.  Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.       Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.     Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.     

The Pendle Witches (Part Two)

This is part two of a two part series on England’s Pendle Witch trials of 1612. Last episode we looked at the lead in to the witch hunts in England and Scotland- Today we look at the Demdikes and the Chattoxes. I’ve split this episode into two parts as it was running closer to an hour than the usual 20 minutes in pre production.  The blog post of the episode is here.  Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.       Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly.   For more information on Simone click here. 

The Pendle Witches (Part One)

In 1612 Lancaster, England was abuzz with several reports of witchcraft - the new moral panic to have just hit England after a certain King of Scotland got a promotion and brought some strange ideas south with him. The following is the story of how the witch hunts affected two families - the Devices and the Chattoxes. I’ve split this episode into two parts as it was running closer to an hour than the usual 20 minutes in pre production. Part two will be out next week.  The blog post of the episode is here.  Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.       Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.   Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly.   For more information on Simone click here.     

The Miser of Marcham Park

Hi all, Happy Holidays, however you choose to celebrate - or commiserate this year. The following episode is the last Tale of the year (I’ll be back round 19th January 2022) I wanted to close out the year by dissecting a figure who entered Xmas lore back in 1843 - Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge - one of his many ‘Mean men’. Was there a real life equivalent who inspired Dickens’ fertile imagination? Hit the button and find out.  The blog post of the episode is here.  Check out the blog at historyandimagination.com For just $2 US a month you can support the show, and get access to exclusive content, over at Patreon. There are a handful of episodes there now - in 2022 I’m committing to drop a bonus episode for every main episode released (22 planned for next year). Come on over and join the team!   Please leave a like and review if your pod catcher allows. More importantly, if you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone else. Creative works grow best by word of mouth. It’ll also give you someone to chat about my episodes with.  Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.  Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. I normally compose on the fly, though have borrowed God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (anon - first appeared among recusant Catholic families in England in the 1650s) And Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson & Mitchell Parish - FYI The Andrews Sisters version may be canon, but The Ronettes cover is where it’s at). For more information on Simone hit the link.   

The Campden Wonder - The ‘Murder’ of William Harrison

This week we’re in the town of Campden, Gloucestershire. The date August 16th, 1660. William Harrison, the ageing rent collector - disappears while on a two mile walk to Charringworth. A local man is arrested, and a disturbing tale of betrayal emerges - but was any of it true?   The blog post of the episode is here.  Check out the blog at historyandimagination.com For just $2 US a month you can support the show on Patreon, and get access to exclusive content.  Click for more, Patreon Content.   Please leave a like and review if you enjoyed it. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone else. Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.     

Franz Reichelt - What Goes Up….

Today’s tale is set on a freezing cold morning, 57 metres above the ground, in Paris, France. The date February 4th 1912. Our subject, one unfortunate soul we’ll come to in a few minutes. Before I even begin this tale, I needs must take you all on a flight of fancy.  This week we discuss Franz Reichelt, the flying tailor - and the early days of powered flight.  Check out my Patreon. For just $2 US a month you help support the show, and get access to exclusive content.     The blog post of the episode is here. Check out the blog at historyandimagination.com Please leave a like or review. If you enjoyed this episode, share us with someone you know will like it too. This all helps the show to grow. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.     

Spring Heeled Jack - The Terror of London

Spring Heeled Jack would enter the public consciousness of Londoners at the tail end of 1837, as reports emerged of numerous attacks on lone women in the city. Tall, demonic, with glowing red eyes and an almost supernatural ability to scale tall objects - some wondered if the devil had come to London.  Over time his legend spread and took on a surprising life of his own.  This week’s Patreon only episode is on The Carrington Event. For just $2 US a month you can support the show, and get access to exclusive content.   The blog post of the episode is here. Check out the blog at historyandimagination.com Please leave a like or review on your pod-catcher of choice. If you enjoyed this episode, share us with someone you know will like it too. Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. Main texts: Sorry it’s been so long since I wrote this that I’ve lost track, Mike Dash’s work on Spring Heeled Jack would have to be the main source - all subsequent articles owing much to his scholarship. For more information on Simone click here.   

The Max Headroom Incident

On 9:14 pm, 22nd November 1987, Chicago’s WGN TV was ‘zipped’ by a mysterious attacker - a figure wearing a rubber Max Headroom mask. The attacker would strike again, upsetting Whovians in the Windy City.  In this short Tale we discuss the Max Headroom Incident. This week’s Patreon only episode is on The Hammersmith Ghost. Support the show for just $2 US a month, and get access to exclusive content.   The blog post of the episode is here. Check out the blog at historyandimagination.com Please leave me a like or review on your pod-catcher of choice. If you enjoyed this episode, share us with someone who’ll like it too. Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. Tales is on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here.   

Willie The Wimp (and His Cadillac Coffin)

South Side Chicago Still think of him often… so today we’re talking bout Willie ‘Wimp’ Stokes and his Cadillac Coffin.    This week’s Patreon only episode is on Idi Amin and the Enfundu. For just $2 US a month you can support the show, and get access to exclusive content.   The blog post of the episode is here. Check out the blog at historyandimagination.com Please leave a like or review on your pod-catcher of choice. If you enjoyed this episode, share us with someone you know will like it too. Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. Main texts: Mostly newspaper articles, and an online back catalogue of Jet Magazine articles - though I did use Flukey Stokes biography Flukey Stokes: Drugs, Gangs and Police Corruption in Chicago For more information on Simone click here.   

Mussolini vs The Mob

This week is all about presidents, dictators, mobsters, islands and how the theft of a hat was taken a little too seriously.  Apologies again, voice a little scratchy in this one (was recorded 2 weeks ago) so have turned the background music down a little in this one.  My Patreon is finally up! Click here to support the show, and get bonus episodes. This week’s episode is on Owney Madden.    The blog post of the episode is here.  Please leave a like or review on your pod catcher of choice if you enjoyed the episode. Please share the show with just one person, word of mouth is how shows like this grow. Follow Tales on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and the Blog. If you feel this show is worth supporting, join me on Patreon for exclusive, extra content. I have one tier, $2 a month (US) gets you full access.  Writing, music, narration, editing all yours truly.    Main texts: This tale was cobbled together from a dozen texts, but grew out of a chapter of Selwyn Raab’s ‘Five Families’   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, collector of odd tales, songwriter and musician. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.   

Giovanni Batista Belzoni - Tomb Raider.

In July I asked readers and listeners to choose a subject from two real world influences on the Indiana Jones movie character. The majority of you chose Giovanni Batista Belzoni. From apprentice monk, to fugitive, to circus strongman, and finally, tomb raider one could never say Giovanni Belzoni’s life wasn’t eventful. Today we discuss the time he stole an unmovable statue from the desert.    My Patreon is finally up! Click here to support the show, and get bonus episodes. This week’s episode is a murder mystery on Otzi the Iceman.    The blog post of the episode is here.    Please leave a like or review on your pod catcher of choice if you enjoyed the episode. Please subscribe, and share the show round (maybe not THIS episode, my voice was still flu damaged)   Follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and the Blog that started the show. If you feel the show is worth supporting join me on Patreon for exclusive, extra content. I have one tier, $2 a month (US) gets you full access.    Writing, music, narration, editing all yours truly. Main texts: Giovanni Batista Belzoni’s ‘Travels in Egypt and Nubia mostly, though Sean Munger’s ‘Tomb Raider’ from the Second Decade podcast helped clarify several things no end. His show always well worth a listen.    About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, collector of odd tales, songwriter and musician. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.   

Ungern’s Army

Content warning: This week’s episode features monsters doing monstrous things - as they are apt to do. The after-effects of World War One on the Western World are well documented. It also upturned significant parts of the East. Trapped between Russia and China, both imploding - Mongolia had it’s share of outlaws with large private armies to deal with. This is one such tale.  My Patreon is finally up! Click here to support the show, and get bonus episodes. This week’s episode is on Puyi, China’s Last Emperor.  The blog post of the episode is here.  Please leave us a like or review. Follow the show. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone else you think will also like it. I post new episodes fortnightly, Wednesday night New Zealand time. Follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog. Support me on Patreon for exclusive, extra content. $2 a month (US) gets you access.    Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. The machine gun was just from a free sounds effects app. Main texts: Mostly The Bloody White Baron by James Palmer, and a handful of Jstor articles.   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician. She turned down the chance to be head teacher at a Mongolian language school in her 20s and regrets it… but, my god those winters would have been brutal…  Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.       

eden ahbez - Nature Boy

There was a boy, a very strange, enchanted boy - both his prototypical hippie lifestyle, long before the summer of love - and the ethereal song he left us in 1947 have fascinated me endlessly since first reading his Tale. Today, we discuss eden ahbez, and how the song Nature Boy came to be.  Patreon episodes will start next episode, to help me make the show please show some love here!   Read the blog post of this episode here. Please leave a like. Follow the show. Share the channel – it helps Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. Follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog. Support the show on Patreon for exclusive, extra content.    Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. I normally write the music - this week I’m just vamping over a couple of phrases taken from ahbez’ song Nature Boy. Hear Nat King Cole’s version here!    Main texts: I don’t know… I think I got this story from a Vanity Fair article. Of course I consulted the LA Times, as I often do first with anything based in Los Angeles. Andrew Hickey’s podcast ‘A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs’ tuned me in to the Petrillo strikes. I cannot recommend Andrew’s show too highly, go check it out.   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician.  Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.

Nellie Bly

In an age where female reporters were few and far between, and wrote on little more than fashion and gardening - Nellie Bly got locked up in a ‘madhouse’ to expose the horrors of such an institution. In this 10 minute episode Simone discusses her 10 days in a madhouse.  Check back in in a week’s time for a Patreon bonus episode - am playing catch up with those this week.    You can read the blog post of the episode here.    Please leave a like. Follow the show. Share the channel – it helps Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time.   Follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and weekly Wordpress Blog. Support the show on Patreon for exclusive, extra content.        Music, writing, narration, mixing usually all yours truly. This episode uses an arrangement of Steven Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer under the Asylum scene, played by me. Main texts: Of course Nellie Bly’s Ten Days in a Madhouse. and articles on The Womans’ History Museum  And Encyclopedia Britannica    About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician. She is currently on a multi-year mission infiltrating a giant corporation, probably no less insane than Blackwood Island Asylum.  Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.     

Lord Lucan

Content warning, this Tale deals with a murder. Richard John Bingham, John to his friends, ‘Lucky' to others – officially titled the 7th Earl of Lucan, entered the history books on November 7th 1974 for the worst kind of reasons. He then captured the imagination of much of the English speaking world when he vanished without a trace. This week, a You Choose topic chosen by the show's listeners and readers, Simone discusses the case. I’ll get the first Patreon only release, a companion piece on John Stonehouse, up in the coming days. You can read the blog post of this episode here.     Please leave a like. Follow the show. Share the channel – it helps Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. My Patreon, soon to be active can be found here You can follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Bloghttp://www.historyandimagination.com.   Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. Except the music under Lucan's time in America, I borrowed and rearranged Art Noel and Don Pelosi's ‘Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant Major', a popular drinking song amongst the British soldiers during World War Two.   Main texts: I referenced a load of online articles , but my main book was A Different Class of Murder by Laura Thompson – whose facts were solid, but whose opinions (she is something of a Lucan apologist) are often utterly repugnant to me. Still a recommended read.   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician. Simone, like his Lordship, fled the United Kingdom – though admittedly I never murdered a nanny first. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.     

Jack Parsons - Babalon‘s Rocketeer (Part Two)

I may as well leave the content warning up from last fortnight... I don’t  know, if you’re prudish I mention sex magick several times in this Tale – though hardly go into detail.. When John Whiteside Parsons – Jack to his friends – died suddenly in an explosion, one may have expected platitudes to the man. As a pioneering rocket scientist, the world -  and the future would owe much to his innovations. Instead, all anyone could talk about was the gossip about his lifestyle – and membership to a cult which worshipped a man known as ‘The Great Beast'. This is part two of the two parter. You can read the prelude here. Part one here. This episode here. I also loaded Franklin D Roosevelt’s date which will live in infamy speech, and Aleister Crowley’s Hymn to Pan onto a blog post here.     Please leave a like. Follow the show. Share the channel – it helps Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. My Patreon, soon to be active can be found here You can follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog.     Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. Main texts Strange Angel by George Pendle, Sex and Rockets, the Occult World of Jack Parsons by John Carter and Robert Anton Wilson. I watched several YouTube videos on Crowley's Gnostic Mass (Liber XV) – which was so far from what I expected it to be... referred to a couple of LA Times articles (Paywalled) about Clifford Clinton, his Clifton's Cafes, Frank Lloyd, and the LA Mafia in the 1920s and 30s, over a year ago. The info on Pearl Harbour was sealed into my brain from high school.   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician. Meh, I’ve got no personal anecdote for this one...  Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.

Jack Parsons - Babalon‘s Rocketeer (Part One)

Content warning! I discuss a violent death in this Tale, and allude to another. When John Whiteside Parsons – Jack to his friends – died suddenly in an explosion, one may have expected platitudes to the man. As a pioneering rocket scientist, the world -  and the future would owe much to his innovations. Instead, all anyone could talk about was the gossip about his lifestyle – and membership to a cult which worshipped a man known as ‘The Great Beast' Over the next two episodes, we're talking about the mad life of Jack Parsons – Rocketeer, Occultist...... Spy? You can read the episode here.I also mention the Prelude written in the blog, here. And, of course Tipu's Tiger.   Please leave me like, give us a follow. Share the channel – it helps Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. My Patreon, soon to be active can be found here You can follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog.   Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. Sound FX a single explosion, marked ‘Sound 1000’.   I read Strange Angel by George Pendle, Sex and Rockets, the Occult World of Jack Parsons by John Carter and Robert Anton Wilson, watched several YouTube videos on Crowley's Gnostic Mass (Liber XV) – which was so far from what I expected it to be... referred to a couple of LA Times articles (Paywalled) about Clifford Clinton, his Clifton's Cafes, Frank L. Shaw, and the LA Mafia in the 1920s and 30s, over a year ago....that which I ramble through in the middle of the episode (and write about in the prologue) is from my notes on those articles, in my big red book of ideas. I also stole a single musical phrase from Prokofiev's Violin concerto no.2 in music on part 2. Thanks Spotify for having a version to learn the piece from.   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician. She has never joined a sex cult.... well, not before this episode was published anyway... Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.   

Grace O‘Malley

This episode we attend a meeting at Greenwich palace, the date, some time in September 1593. The ‘Fairy Queen’ of England, Elizabeth I, awaits the arrival of one Grace O’Malley – the pirate Queen of Connaught. The two rulers had been at loggerheads for decades and in some ways they seemed wildly different characters – one a genteel Law-lord in charge of a nation.... the other a swashbuckling Warlord from beyond the Pail. Were they all that different? The philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us...“Piracy and war gave place to trade, politics and letters; the war-lord to the law-lord; the privilege was kept, whilst the means of obtaining it were changed” Today, we discuss Grace O’Malley, the Pirate Queen of Connaught. Read the episode here. Please leave a like, give us a follow. Share the channel – it will help Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. My Patreon, soon to be active can be found here (Launching late May) Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. No Foley sounds this week. I'm planning to share bibliographies far more from now on, why not right? In this case I wrote this episode for the first run at a podcast in 2019 using several news articles (many now paywalled)  and Anne Chambers 'Grace O'Malley, the biography of Ireland's Pirate Queen'   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter, history blogger and musician. Though brought up in New Zealand, Simone has some Irish ancestry on her mother's side. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.   

Mithridates- The Poison King

 This week's Tale takes place in 63 BC. The setting, the kingdom of Pontus – a once powerful Black Sea empire – now a region of Eastern Turkey. Mithridates VI Eupator paces, knowing his time is up. Like Hannibal, he spent decades at war with Rome – and like Hannibal he would meet his end like a caged lion. A renowned freedom fighter, he was also a genocidal despot. A paranoid megalomaniac, raised to believe a series of comets and other omens marked him out as a messiah. Saviour of the East. King of Kings. In short, Mithridates was a complex guy Today, we discuss the Poison King of Pontus. You can read the episode here.Please leave a like, give us a follow. Share the channel – it will help Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. Tales of History and Imagination is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. Sound FX were from several free sites downloaded to laptop in 2019. The Mithridates poem is a section from A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad. I normally save bibliographies for the Patreon, but there is only one source for 95% of this Tale – The Poison King by Adrienne Mayor. About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician. Her favourite part of A Shropshire Lad is the bit which starts “Into my heart an air that kills, From yon far country blows.” Hell, we all have ‘happy highways where we went, and cannot come again' right? Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.   

Buried Alive!

This week's Tale is a quick, bonus tale. I’ll be back with proper episodes 21st April. Content warning this episode is all about premature burial – and was first posted Halloween 2020. You can read the episode here. Yes, voice is scratchy... someone in my bubble keeps passing round a cold, I've been checked and it is a cold...  Also, yes I did ditch on the proposed episode – apologies for that. ‘Ungern's Army’ is recorded, and mixed – but an episode on a monster who killed thousands of Chinese, released days after the shootings in Atlanta ... in the midst of the Sinophobic attacks on Asians in the USA, and elsewhere at present.... well, that monster can wait a while.   Please leave me a like, give us a follow. Share the channel – it will help Tales grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. You can follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog.     About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician, Like the druid William Price, she hopes - when it’s her time – to be cremated... while we’re on the topic of macabre things like burials. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.

Three Short Tales

What do pirates, Lombards and 80s cultural phenomena have in common? Besides the time I bundled three short Tales from history together for a quick blog post (hey! I was exhausted that week) .... possibly nothing? This week, three short Tales, which do examine elements of human behavior, set in very different settings. This week’s episode was originally published October 20th 2020. You can read the episode here. If anyone is curious, my voice is back... but I recorded this episode in November 2020, when I was still compressing narration a little heavily. If you enjoyed the episode, please leave us a like and give us a follow. Share the channel, as that’s how these projects grow and sustain themselves. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. You can follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog.     About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician, She never owned a Cabbage Patch Kid, but has been known to drink with Lombards and Pirates. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.    

Sophxit! – The Tale of Count Konigsmarck and Princess Sophia Dorothea

Today’s tale is set Hanover, a small Germanic Duchy whose royal family would go on to become kind of a big deal. The date, July 1st 1694. A handsome young man, aided only by moonlight, sails along the Leine river till he reaches the Leineschloss – the palatial riverside home of the duke and his family. He moors his boat, then cautiously enters the property.Little does he know at the time, but within hours he’d disappear without a trace. Never to be seen again.This week’s tale is all about loveless marriages, dangerous liaisons, wicked behaviour ... and what it really took to leave ‘the firm’ many many years before the Megxit of Meghan and Harry. Postscript: On the day I was mixing the music to this episode it was announced the Sussexes are expecting baby number two – For what it’s worth I offer them my congratulations and hope all goes well for them...  This week’s episode was originally published March 24th 2020. You can read the episode here. As per last episode, my voice remains scratchy – without even the usual side effect of huskiness. Sorry folks I ran out of time to redo the narration. If you like the show please leave us a like and give us a follow. Share the channel with just one other person you think will like it.. This will help the channel grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. You can follow Tales of History and Imagination on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest. I also write a weekly Wordpress Blog. A Patreon, full of bonus content, is in the works, watch this space.   About the Author: Simone Whitlow is an academic, competitive quizzer, songwriter and musician, formerly with Auckland rock band Ishtar. She earns a living as a small, squeaky wheel in a big corporate machine...Though she has never fought for, or against the Holy Roman Empire, her first job was mowing lawns on a military base. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns, a fact she mentions every fortnight as – even when her voice is in perfect working order – it stands in stark contrast with her visage.    

Sabbatai Zevi/ Dorothy Martin‘s Flying Saucer.

This episode is based on two blog posts, with a unified theme. Apologies for the croaky voice this week. Let's discuss some Messiahs and aliens. One.The year is 1666, the setting Adrianople in the Ottoman Empire – modern day Turkey. A middle aged preacher named Sabbatai Zevi, held captive since his arrival there, mulls over a difficult choice. Tomorrow he will be brought before the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet IV and be told to make a choice, a Monty Hall problem if ever there was one – though in his case there is no ‘behind one door there is a car, behind the other two doors, goats’ option. If only there were goats. Every door leads to death or disgrace. For close to a decade Zevi, a rogue Kabbalist rabbi, has been claiming to be the true son of God, and messiah. It is his proselytizing which has got him into this mess. Tomorrow he must choose instant execution, a trial by arrows or ‘the turban’ Originally posted 10th March 2020. You can read the blog post here. Two.Today we join our tale towards it’s climax, at a suburban home in Oak Park, Illinois. The time and date, 6pm, 21st December 1954. A dozen or so suburbanites – just regular Americans really – gather round the lady of the house, convinced she has supernatural powers. They’ve been camped out at the house for several days now. Many have sacrificed everything to be there. Earlier in the day they may have sung Christmas carols on the lawn to onlookers. They stood outside for some time, gazing skyward, hoping their visitor from Clarion, Sanada, would just arrive already. Perhaps feeling the glare of the camera, they retreated inside. If Sanada can traverse galaxies, surely he’ll have no trouble finding 847 West School Street. Originally posted 17th March 2020. You can read the blog post here. It you enjoy the show please leave me a like and give the show a follow. Share the channel with just one person you know will like it. For one you’ll have someone to discuss episodes with, and it helps the channel grow. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. Tales of History and Imagination are on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and run a weekly Wordpress Blog.   About the Author: Simone Toni Whitlow is a songwriter and musician, formerly with Auckland rock band Ishtar. She is an academic with degrees in history, teaching and project management. A former Mastermind contestant, she has some idea what it’s like to face up to a Monty Hall. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns.  

The Beast of Gevaudan

Today’s tale is set in the former province of Gevaudan in South-Central France. The years between 1764 and 1767, following the bloody, and costly Seven Years War – a Proto World War if ever there was one – which had left deep scars in the psyche of many a European nation – France included- and left many a monarch broke in its’ wake. An isolated, rugged, rural spot – The terrain rough and mountainous – it is far too rocky to grow much by way of crops. The locals eke out a living in the hills, tending to livestock. From youth, the locals worked alone, out in the elements – constantly on the lookout for wild predators on the lookout for a free meal. Gevaudan is also surrounded by a vast forest; a dangerous and lawless place full of wolves, lurking outlaws, footpads and highwayman. It really is the kind of place you could imagine in the most vicious Grimm Brothers tales. It’s against this backdrop that La Bete du Gevaudan - the beast of Gevaudan - came roaring into the consciousness of the French. This week’s episode was originally published October 30th 2019, but has been revamped and rereleased on the blog site today. You can read the episode here.   If you enjoy this episode please leave me a like and follow my page. Share the channel with just one person you know would like it. I post a new episode every fortnight, Wednesday night New Zealand time. Tales of History and Imagination are on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and run a weekly Wordpress Blog.     About the Author: Simone Whitlow is a songwriter and musician, formerly with Auckland rock band Ishtar. She is an academic with degrees in history, education and project management. A small, squeaky wheel in a big corporate machine, Simone is a former Mastermind contestant. Transgender, she uses she/her pronouns. Simone speaks no French and apologizes for any mangled pronunciations.  

Admin: It’s About to Get Bumpy…

Hi all just dropping an admin note between old episodes. Please ignore. A new Tale should drop Wednesday. 

Eilean Mor (Re-upload)

The Flannan Isles, sometimes referred to as the 7 Hunters, are a tiny group of islands in the Outer Hebrides – a string of islands in the North of Scotland. Uninhabited, hilly and rocky, covered only by grass … people kept well clear of these, allegedly haunted isles. In 1899 a lighthouse was build on the island. Just what happened to the three lighthouse keepers? The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content.     Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.     Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here. 

Tipu’s Tiger (Re-upload)

One day a prince named Tipu went out hunting in the forest with a friend. The experience would affect him for the rest of his life - reflecting in his art, signature, uniforms…. And musical instruments?   The blog post of the episode is here. Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content. Membership gets you access to a growing catalog of bonus episodes.      Please leave us a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.     Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly. For more information on Simone click here. 

Hannibal in Bithynia (Re-upload)

This week’s episode is a re-upload of Episode 2, Hannibal in Bithynia. I’ve just upgraded my microphone and picked up a mixing desk, and the first, 10? 15?? Maybe 20??? Episodes needed a do-over. On off weeks, time permitting, I’m planning on dropping new versions of those early episodes.  Today’s we visit the Asiatic town of Libyssa, in Bithynia – modern day Turkey. The date, some time around 182 BCE. Hannibal Barca, one of the greatest Generals to ever live, is pacing his enclosure like a caged Barbary Lion. His life, from the age of nine had lead to this point – ever since his father made him take an oath he would “Never be a friend of Rome.”  How did it all come to this for the Carthaginian strongman? The blog post of the episode is here.  Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content. At the current pledge level I post a bonus episode a month, and will add more extras as the channel grows.    Please leave a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly.  For more information on Simone click here. 

Martial Bourdin (Re-upload)

This week’s episode is a re-upload of Episode 1, Martial Bourdin. I’ve just upgraded my microphone and picked up a mixing desk, and the first, 10? 15?? Maybe 20??? Episodes needed a do-over. On off weeks, time permitting, I’m planning on dropping new versions of those early episodes.  At 4:45pm precisely, GMT, 15th February 1894, the grounds of Greenwich Park, London – home of the Royal Observatory, and a clock we’ll discuss later – are shaken by a resounding boom. Staff at the observatory recalled a “sharp and clear detonation, followed by a noise like a shell going through the air”. Peering through windows in trepidation, they attempted to work out what just happened. A park warden and a group of students ran towards the epicenter of the blast – where a solitary young man lay dying. The young man, who died not long after in a local hospital, was identified as 26 year old Frenchman Martial Bourdin. Just who was this young man, and why was he carrying a bomb through the park on a cold winter day? The blog post of the episode is here.  Support the show on Patreon for just $2 a month and get access to exclusive content. At the current pledge level I post a bonus episode a month, and will add more extras as the channel grows.    Please leave a like and review. The best way you can help support the show is to share an episode with a friend - Creative works grow best by word of mouth. I post episodes fortnightly, Wednesdays. We’re on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.     Music, writing, narration, mixing all yours truly.  For more information on Simone click here.