The Past and The Curious: A History Podcast for Kids and Families

Mick Sullivan

About

A History Podcast for Kids! Parents love us, Teachers love us, and most importantly, kids do too!
History can be amazing, inspiring and relevant to anyone. We love to share the stories of Spies, funny foods, George Washington's foibles, early advancements in cartooning and ballooning and much more! A professional music score and important songs accompany nearly every themed episode. Proud Kids Listen Member @pastandcurious

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100 episodes

Episode 79 Stars Fell

Maria Mitchell was the first American to discover a new comet, which brought her great fame, but her career in the 1800s as a professor at Vassar College left her greatest legacy. In the next century, Ann Hodges was not looking to get involved in objects from space, but one of them crashed into her house anyway. The Past and The Curious is an Airwave Media Podcast

35m
May 26, 2023
Episode 78: Imperfect Pitch

Melly Victor of Stoopkid Stories joins us for the story of Ella Fitzgerald's first performance at the famous Apollo Theatre. Also, we talk about the history of tuning, how the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I also tried to standardize musical tuning, and how singers hurt their voices to keep up with instrumentalists raising the relative pitch.

34m
Apr 28, 2023
Episode 77 Strange Place for a Steamboat

The Virginia became a major attraction when it got stuck in a cornfield, which is a place a boat does not belong. Also, The Meachums escaped slavery, and educated hundreds of children in a school known as the Floating Freedom School. Their school in a steamboat was untouched by an unjust Missouri law while in the middle of the river.

31m
Mar 29, 2023
Episode 76: Wright Brothers and Sister and a Smithsonian Spat

The Wright Brothers became the first to fly a controlled powered aircraft with a pilot onboard, but just a few days before, Smithsonian Secretary James Langley almost beat them. His failure didn't stop the Smithsonian from claiming the first flight. But Orville and Wilber weren't the only two who fought for their place in history. Their sister Katharine did too.

32m
Feb 27, 2023
Episode 75 Underwear Roundup with Benedict Arnold, Abram Spanel and the Playtex Space Suit

Here's two more underwear stories that aren't in the the book I See Lincoln's Underpants (which is now available!) First Benedict Arnold betrays the American Army but gets caught thanks to something hiding in someone's underwear. Also When NASA planned to get someone to the moon, they needed a special Space Suit, and the only designers and makers up to the challenge had only made underwear for Playtex before the marvelous work of technology.

30m
Jan 30, 2023
Underwear Chronicles Fourteen: Al Capone

The last installment of The Underwear Chronicles - to celebrate the release of I See Lincoln's Underpants now available from booksellers! Al Capone grew up somewhere in the middle of a big family. Hand me downs were a way of life, so it makes sense that as an adult he was eager to have not just his own underpants, but his own fancy underpants. After arriving in Chicago from his native Brooklyn, he worked his way up to being the most powerful mob boss in town. He was famous all over the country, but he never really worried about going to jail.  In the end he brought down by some salesmen, including the man who sold him underwear.

17m
Jan 17, 2023
Episode 74: Eggs!

In the 2000s and anonymous American man found an egg worth millions. It was a Faberge Imperial Egg and it's story is fascinating. Also, as the Gold Rush boomed in the 1800s there were not enough eggs to feed all the new faces in California. As a result, an Egg War developed over unusual eggs laid by murres on an island chain off the the coast of San Francisco.

28m
Dec 29, 2022
Episode 73: Video Games!

Ralph Baer fled Nazi Germany and settled in America where he eventually created the first home video game console, known as the Magnavox Odyssey. Not long after Ralph's creation, Jerry Lawson, a Black computer engineer, built on that idea and lead the team that created the first video game cartridge. Both men have very interesting lives, and are a huge part of gaming history. Things they did changed your life!

30m
Nov 28, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Thirteen Garrett Morgan

The penultimate episode of The Underwear Chronicles (soon to be the book I See Lincoln's Underpants) revisits inventor and leader Garrett Morgan. We've covered Garrett Before, but not like this! The Paris, Kentucky-born man would change the world in profound ways! He was absolutely amazing. Be sure to check thepastandthecurious.com for details about the I See Lincoln's Underwear book.

17m
Nov 20, 2022
Episode 72: Rufus vs. Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is about as famous as an author can be, but that might be owed largely to Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Rufus didn't really like Poe and wrote a scathing obituary and biography on the man, creating the dark figure many of us think Poe to be. In addition the story of Poe and Rufus, Mick does a dramatic reading of "The Raven" a poem which made Edgar Allan Poe a literary superstar.

30m
Oct 27, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Twelve: Buzz Aldrin

Episode twelve of the Fourteen episode series features Buzz Aldrin. Buzz had a great nickname and pair of underwear to match it, but things didn't work out the way they were supposed to when he became the second man to walk on the moon - and the first to pee there. Please consider filling out the Kids Listen Survey to help creators who focus on the kids and family categories. Find it at KidsListen.org

17m
Oct 16, 2022
Episode 71: Houdini and Grandma Moses

Episode 71: Houdini and Grandma Moses by Mick Sullivan

33m
Sep 30, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Eleven: John Wesley Powell

A scientist who lost his arm in the American Civil War wants to conquer The Grand Canyon. He needs a life-saving assist from his friends underwear. From the Upcoming Book "I See Lincoln's Underpants" due in the winter of 2022-23.

15m
Sep 19, 2022
Episode 70: Matthew Henson and Some Bananas

Slipping on banana peels was really a thing! Even Theodore Roosevelt got involved! Also, Black explorer Matthew Henson was quite possibly the first man to step on the North Pole. He also crossed paths with Mr. Roosevelt.

30m
Aug 30, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Ten: Queen Victoria

From Mick's upcoming book (end of 2022) "I See Lincoln's Underpants," this chapter focuses on Queen Victoria's life, preferred underwear, and also a pesky boy who takes to breaking and entering in Buckingham Palace.

16m
Aug 17, 2022
Episode 69 Sled Dogs (A Mashup Special)

A special mashup with our friends from Cool Facts About Animals. Mick tells the tale of the Great Serum Run of 1925 in two parts. When a Diphtheria epidemic threatens the small and far-off town of Nome Alaska, the only hope to get medicine to the sick is dogs. Many help, but two Siberian Huskies named Togo and Balto are most remembered by history. In between part one and part two of the story, the crew from Cool Facts About Animals shares ten interesting facts about sled dogs.

38m
Jul 30, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Nine: Otzi the Iceman

Who knew an ancient man frozen in his underwear could trigger international conflict? Otzi's accidental discovery was quite a find for science, and many are grateful that a glacier gobbled him up thousands of years ago!

13m
Jul 13, 2022
Episode 68: Lost And Found

Two kids, at two time and two places, find two remarkable things. One starts the first Gold Rush in America and the other leads to a Cold War spy ring! The stories of Conrad Reed and Jimmy Bozart - and more!

28m
Jun 29, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Eight: Amelia Bloomer

Despite being the namesake of an article of clothing that we commonly think of as underwear, Amelia Bloomer did not invent bloomers. To further the cause of Women’s Rights and to fight for the right to vote (in addition to prohibition), Amelia Bloomer ran a newspaper called The Lily.  When one of her friends showed up for a visit in a new outfit one day, history was made. Tired of the restrictive and oppressive clothing women were expected to wear in the 1800s, Amelia fell head over heels for the “tunic and pantalette combo,” as it was known. When she published the instructions to make them in The Lily, her subscriptions went through the roof.   Soon, the knee-length skirt and leg coverings underneath allowed for a new range of motion and freedom for women all over. One of the most remarkable things this allowed women to do was ride bicycles, which Susan B Anthony herself said, did “more to emancipate women than any one thing in the world.” Bloomers didn’t lead directly to the 19th Amendment, but the underwear played a strong supporting role.

15m
Jun 16, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Seven: Annette Kellerman

Annette Kellerman was a swimmer from Australia who rose to stardom for her speed and grace, but also changed the world of swimsuits. She once performed in front of England's Royal family, thanks to some clever underwear re-engineering.

17m
May 29, 2022
Episode 67: Violet Jessop, The Effie Afton, and more Shipwrecks

Violet Jessop survived not one, not two, but three shipwrecks involving White Star Line's incredible Olympic-class ships, including the Titanic. The Effie Afton was not so lucky. This steamboat was part of the struggle between railroads and riverboats, and she crashed into the only bridge on the Mississippi River, two weeks after it opened.

31m
Apr 29, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Six: Charles Lee

Charles Lee was George Washington's "Frenemy," and his duplicitous behavior got him caught with his pants down.

16m
Apr 19, 2022
Episode 66: Weather Wonders

Tetsuya "Ted" Fujita played an important role in understanding the impact of the atomic bombs of WWII. He brought that knowledge to America and applied it to understanding, and protecting people from, tornados. Also, Charles Hatfield was a "Rainmaker" whose stinky mix of chemicals may or may not have brought more rain to San Diego than ever before. Things did not go as planned.

30m
Mar 30, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Five: Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln wore some pretty plain underwear. We know because they made a few "surprise appearances." NEWSFLASH: The Underwear Chronicles are gonna be a book nd our Kickstarter is open through March of 2022. Jump on it, if you like the Underwear Chronicles!

16m
Mar 14, 2022
Episode 65: Samuel And J.C.

The year 1913 saw the births of two incredible Black Americans. One was Samuel Wilbert Tucker, a Civil Rights pioneer and all-around incredible person. The other was James Cleveland Owens, who came to be known as Jesse. A few years before Samuel arranged for one of the first Civil Rights sit-ins in history, Jesse broke five atheletic World Records, just days after badly injuring his back in a fall down the stairs.

30m
Feb 28, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Four: Satchel Paige

Satchel Paige went from burlap hand-me-downs to silk patterned boxers. Along the way we came one of the most dynamic baseball players in history.

16m
Feb 16, 2022
Episode 64: Oh, So Many Birds!

Eugene Schieffelin filled American skies with Starlings, who replaced the Passenger Pigeons that once (literally) darkened the skies. John James Audubon's obsession helped him create a very expensive book. This episode is about birds, and a whole lot more. Featuring Greg and Abigail Maupin, Mick Sullivan and that's about it.

32m
Jan 30, 2022
Underwear Chronicles Three: Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton could take a fall like no one else, and that skill carried him from the Vaudeville stages to the movie screen. He made people laugh, dazzled them with stunts, and fought a fire in his undies.

17m
Jan 18, 2022
Episode 63: More Accidents, More Toys

Chance has given us some great toys. Explore the accident that led to Silly Putty, the chance repurposing that led to Silly Putty, a few men who stumbled upon them, and two women who figured out what the substances should really be used for. This episode sponsored by RUBBER!

25m
Dec 29, 2021
Underwear Chronicles Two: Marie Antoinette

The famed Queen of France had several run-ins with underwear. She also had run-ins with smallpox, ladies-in-waiting, an awkward young prince, catty couriers, and ultimately, the guillotine. If nothing else, this episode will help you appreciate your privacy.

18m
Dec 15, 2021