What if the original Jaws story was real? In 1916, shark attacks along the New Jersey coast turned a summer beach season into a nationwide panic.In our penultimate episode for the season, Laurel and KT *dive* (ha!) into the terrifying true story of the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks — a twelve day reign of terror that shocked the public, inspired Jaws, and forever changed the way people think about sharks. From beach panic to scientific debate, this episode explores the real history behind one of America’s most infamous summer horror stories.~~~~~~~*Mentioned In the Stories:Map of the Jersey Shore AttacksOcean Ramsey Redirecting a Great White Shark~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Sources:Capuzzo, Michael, and Taylor Mali. Close to shore: the terrifying shark attacks of 1916. Ashland: AudioBookShelf, 2011.https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/150702-shark-attack-jersey-shore-1916-great-white~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Jun 30
1 hr 16 min
It's 1937 in China. Japan has invaded China some years prior and the Chinese people are under a ruthless Japaneses occupation. This story is about when people get fed the fuck up and rise against their oppressors.While most historians agree that WWII started with the invasion of Poland, some historians will say this is an even earlier catalyst for the war--and it all took place at the Lugou Bridge, most commonly known as the Marco Polo Bridge (although that guy had nothing to do with the bridge besides being awestruck and writing about it in his journal...) This must be some bridge and some "incident," right?!For episode 120, KT is taking us to China in 1937 with the event that started the Second Sino-Japanese War.~~~~~*Episode 4: Hatori HonzoEpisode 93: Yi Sun-Sin, the Korean admiralGEICO Marco Polo ad~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Sources:https://www.pacificatrocities.org/blog/the-marco-polo-bridge-incident-a-catalyst-for-the-second-sino-japanese-war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_Bridge_incident https://www.britannica.com/event/Marco-Polo-Bridge-Incident https://origins.osu.edu/read/marco-polo-bridge-incident-1937 ~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Jun 5
51 min
Come, dear Listener! The game is afoot!The sisters are relocating the Smoke Circle to the cozy sitting room of 221B Baker Street! In this episode, Laurel takes you through the history of Sherlock Holmes' from literary creation to global phenomenon, exploring the life of Sherlock's creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the birth of his great detective Sherlock Holmes, and his influence on modern media and forensic science.Find out who Sherlock Holmes is REALLY based on, how Sherlock's fandom is the first "modern" one (complete with fanfic!), and how badly the creator wanted to kill off his creation.~~~~~~~*Mentioned In the Stories:Episode 98: The Queen's Seer: A History of Divination, from the Elizabethan Period and Beyond~~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Sources:Doyle, Arthur Conan. The complete Sherlock Holmes. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books, 2015.https://www.history.com/articles/was-sherlock-holmes-based-on-a-real-personhttps://historynet.com/sherlock-holmes-history/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41398643?seq=1https://www.pbs.org/articles/sir-arthur-conan-doyle-reluctant-creator-of-sherlock-holmes~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
May 8
1 hr 11 min
Think Merlin was a happy, magical wizard? Think again.Join us in the Smoke Circle as KT takes us through the dark history of Merlin's origins and his evolution through time. From demon spawn to bard, from "madman" to the wise sage of Camelot, Merlin has a fascinating history. Join us as we contrast the myth with historical realities, and examine how folklore reflects cultural and historical transformations.~~~~~~~*Mentioned In the Stories:And this is website working on getting all that poetry up for everyone to see and read:https://merlinpoetry.wales/welcome/ Episode 91: A History of WitchesEpisode 87: The Sword in the Bosnian StoneEpisode 97: Divining the Future in Ancient CivilizationsEpisode 98: The Queen's Seer: A History of Divination, from the Elizabethan Period and BeyondEpisode 45: The Satanic Panic~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Sources:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Merlin-legendary-magicianhttps://www.medievalists.net/2020/10/merlin-demons/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Myrddin-Wyllthttps://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/early-welsh-literature/pages/merlin.shtmlhttps://blogsarchive.sites.haverford.edu/celticfringe/2014/03/10/757/https://www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office/news-events/news/2025/02/rediscovering-myrddin-early-merlin-poems-reveal-the-poet-and-prophet-behind-the-myth.php~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Apr 25
1 hr 13 min
One night in June 1497, Giovanni Borgia--the second and most favorite son of Pope Alexander VI--was in the company of his valet and possibly a masked man. Both the valet and Giovanni were soon found dead with no leads in solving the case. Who might have murdered Giovanni Borgia and what was the motive?Turns out, a handful of people would want him dead and for a variety of reasons. The Borgias are one of history's greatest notorious families. Their lives were filled with salacious (often slanderous) rumors of their sexual proclivities as well as briberies, assassinations and feuds against other powerful Italian families of the time. Settle into the Smoke Circle for one of history's greatest cold cases. It's going to be a wild ride...~~~~~~~*Mentioned In the Stories:Episode 66. Syndrome K: The Deadly Disease that Saved Lives~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Sources:https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/pope-alexander-borgia-family-black-legend?loggedin=true&rnd=1773433319727https://www.rutaborjaborgia.com/en/epoca/2-349/la-muerte-de-juan-borgia.phphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banquet_of_Chestnutshttps://archive.org/details/popealexandervih00burc/page/90/mode/2uphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Borgia2ndDuke_of_Gand%C3%ADahttps://www.historytoday.com/history-matters/were-borgias-really-so-bad~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Apr 10
1 hr 26 min
There's something in the trees and it ain't no man...It's Kt, actually. She's bringing a change up for episode 116 with the history and social commentary around the 1987 classic, Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and the massive Kevin Peter Hall as the titular Predator.Together, Kt takes us through the jungles of toxic masculinity tropes, patriarchy and 80s politics reflected in the 1987 movie, we well as behind the scenes looks at its "hit and hope" creation. Kt also talks about the lore that surrounds the Yautja (the alien species that are the predators) throughout the franchise.~~~~~~~*Mentioned In the Stories:Predator Helicopter Scene "Goddamn Sexual Tyrannosaurus!"Commando Opening Scene~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Sources:https://www.fangoria.com/aint-no-man-how-predator-targets-toxic-masculinity/https://cinephiliabeyond.org/predator-john-mctiernans-first-studio-gig-became-epic-action-classic/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3p_WopxE_E&t=32shttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_(film)#:~:text=Jim%20and%20John%20Thomas's,forces%20operations%20during%20that%20timehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_(fictional_species)#:~:text=Early%20Predator%20design%20concepts%20by,adding%20dreadlocks%20to%20the%20design~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Mar 27
1 hr 28 min
Climb aboard the SS Smoke Circle as we head out to the High Seas to learn about the lives of a couple of pirate baddies--Anne Bonny and Mary Read, a couple of the most famous pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy. We love seeing women in male dominated fields.During this episode we cover the lives of these two pirates as well as the democratic nature of pirate ships, and why pirates have captured the public's imagination. ~~~~~~~*Mentioned In the Stories:All of our pirate episodes!Episode 1. Ching Shih: the biggest pirate badass of them allEpisode 33: Pirate Captain William KiddEpisode 47: Sam Bellamy and the Shipwreck of the Whydah GalleyEpisode 86: Sayyida al-Hurra: The Mediterranean Pirate Queen~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Sources:Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag: The romance and the reality of life among the pirates. S.l.: Random House Publishing Group, 2013.https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2024/07/the-life-and-trial-of-anne-bonny/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/if-theres-a-man-among-ye-the-tale-of-pirate-queens-anne-bonny-and-mary-read-45576461/https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/anne-bonny-mary-read-female-pirates-lives-crimes/~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Mar 14
1 hr 22 min
It's KT's first episode of the new season and she's kicking it off with the history of Earth Day, which came out of the aftermath of the devastating Santa Monica oil spill in 1969. A blowout on Platform A offshore oil well resulted in the cracking of the ocean floor in five places and three million gallons of crude oil erupting into the ocean.Public outrage led to the start of Earth Day and several environmental protection acts and organizations.~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Mentioned in the Stories:https://donate.edf.org/campaign/UKhttps://yokethesalon.co.uk/2018-5-23-the-clean-wave-project/Europehttps://matteroftrust.org/clean-wave-program/Australiahttps://www.wildcutsforwildlife.org.au/sustainablesalons~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Map of the Spillhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-oil-spill-50-years-ago-inspired-first-earth-day-180972007/https://lamont.columbia.edu/news/decades-after-oil-spill-inspired-earth-day-are-we-prepared-next-onehttps://www.sbearthday.org/history-of-earth-dayhttps://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-barbara-oil-spill-1969-20150520-htmlstory.htmlhttps://law.ucdavis.edu/faculty-blog/commemorating-major-environmental-disaster-one-transformative-legacyhttps://www.epa.gov/emergency-response/exxon-valdez-spill-profilehttps://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/exxon-valdez-oil-spillhttps://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spillhttps://pinellas.gov/overview-of-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-of-2010/https://www.npr.org/2025/10/24/nx-s1-5584883/trump-alaska-wildlife-refuge-oil-gas-drilling~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Feb 27
58 min
Welcome back! It's season 7, episode 113 and to kick things off, we are taking an expedition from south to north across the vast (and HOT!) interior of Australia for the ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition. Grab your horses and camels, your oak table and chairs, 50 gallons of rum (for the camels of course!) and don't forget your Chinese gong.~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:Map of the Expedition for ReferenceFitzSimons, Peter, and Michael Carman. Burke & Wills: The triumph and tragedy of Australia’s most famous explorers. Toronto: CELA, 2021.https://www.burkeandwills.net.au/Brief_History/index.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Wills_expeditionhttps://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/burke-and-willshttps://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/07/burke-wills-australian-heroes-expedition-farce-melbourne-statue~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Feb 13
1 hr 33 min
Put on your science pants Smoke Circle! KT is bringing us across the season six finish line with the brief history of language--from the first sounds of hominids to the formations of grammar to how culture shapes language around the world and how it is ever-evolving and changing year by year.We love a topic in which science and history shake hands and take us all on a hazy trip leaving us going "whoa dude...that was deep."We will be back again for season seven on February 6th, 2026! In the meantime, be sure to give us a follow on the socials and if you're really missing some new content, check out our Patreon, The Best Buds Club! It's all linked below!~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- The Best Buds Club! Instagram - @HighTalesofHistory TikTok- @HighTalesofHistoryPod YouTube-- @High Tales of HistoryFacebook -High Tales of History or @HighTalesofHistory Email—[email protected] ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-language-shapes-thought/https://sproutsschools.com/linguistic-relativity-how-language-shapes-thought/#:~:text=Linguistic%20relativity%20theory%20suggests%20that%20the%20languages%20we%20pick%20up,even%20our%20sense%20of%20selfhttps://www.pimsleur.com/blog/how-language-shapes-the-way-we-think-and-see-the-world/#:~:text=The%20language(s)%20we%20speak%20don't%20prohibit%20us,about%20all%20of%20human%20languagehttps://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/executive-systems-of-the-brain/attention-language-lesson/v/language-and-cognitionhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010028501907480https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/13/?fbclid=IwAR2aVKquukZc3pQFauPgIn86Atf83ZYUDIpdhRm5Rx3w4vQoNrowAX1PEuk https://news.mit.edu/2025/when-did-human-language-emerge-0314#:~:text=A%20new%20analysis%20suggests%20our,March%2014%2C%202025https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5525259/#:~:text=No%20one%20knows%20for%20sure,by%20around%2070%2C000%20years%20agohttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/magazine/animal-communication.htmlhttps://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-017-0405-3#:~:text=Humans%2C%20on%20the%20other%20hand,our%20short%20history%20than%20geneshttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5525259/Everett, D. L. (2017). How language began: The story of humanity's greatest invention. Liveright Publishing.Bickerton, D. (1990). Language and species. University of Chicago Press.~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Dec 19, 2025
1 hr 6 min
Load more