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A comedy history podcast looking at the forgotten side of the past. The jokes are silly, the accents are terrible, and the history will amaze you.
Episodes
Thursday Jul 22, 2021
Thursday Jul 22, 2021
I can see clearly now the pane has come. It's glass week!
Sam kicks us off with a (tenuously connected to the theme) look at the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, in which a New York newspaper's series of increasingly bizarre articles about a moon civilization caught the public's imagination.
Next, Tom's been exploring Glass Delusion, the historical psychiatric condition which led sufferers to believe they were made of easily shattered glass, when in fact that pain in their bottom was probably something far less dangerous.
We're taking a small break for a couple of weeks, but we're going to gift all our regular listeners a Patron exclusive episode to tide you over! Check back in a couple of weeks, or hear it early at patreon.com/thatwasgenius.
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Wednesday Jul 07, 2021
Wednesday Jul 07, 2021
Edison and Tesla. Hunt and Louda. Tom and Sam. This week we're exploring rivalries!
Apologies for Sam's iffy sound quality this week, not sure what happened there. Normal service will resume next week!
Tom's up first with a bold and ambitious attempt to examine the Wars of the Roses, one of the most complicated periods in English history, and the inspiration (vaguely, no dragons) for Game of Thrones.
Next, Sam's been reading 'The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating)', Stephen Potter's 1947 satirical book on being an arse in sport and annoying your rival into defeat, which was so influential it actually led to rule changes in most professional sports.
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Friday Jun 25, 2021
Friday Jun 25, 2021
Maple syrup. Tim Hortons. Burning down the White House. This week we're celebrating all things Canadian!
Sam kicks us off with a look at The Great Antonio - Montreal-based strongman, wrestler, and eccentric.
Next, Tom's all over the Halifax Explosion of December 1917 - one of the worst man-made disasters in history.
PS Sorry this episode is a couple of days behind - two recordings in one week makes Sam a late boy.
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Doctor Doctor, I feel like a history podcast!
Well you're in luck, it's medicine week! Tom kicks us off with a look at the Ebers Papyri, a very, very long ancient Egyptian scroll full of bizarre and filthy cures for common ailments, with some rather sarcastic modern translations.
Next, Sam looks at the nonsense uses of wee in medicine through history. Urine for a treat!
This episode features a cross-promo for Countries That Don't Exist Anymore. Check them out on your usual podcast app, or at https://www.ctdeapod.com/
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Thursday May 20, 2021
Thursday May 20, 2021
Like an eel on a bobsleigh track, we're ploughing headfirst into a slippery situation this week!
Sam's up first this week with a look at the cursed (but very successful) life of Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone and dodger of multiple near deaths, lawsuits, and assassination attempts.
Next, Tom's been slipping around the northwest passage (ooh er) with a look at 19th Century explorer explorer William Hudson.
Sorry this episode is 24 hours late - sick children issues!
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Wednesday May 05, 2021
Ooh Arr, it's farming week!
Tom starts us off with a look at Fritz Haber, the German chemist who, on the one hand, revolutionised farming and fed the world. On the other hand, he also led Germany's chemical weapons programme in World War One. The left hand giveth, the right hand taketh away...
Next, Sam's been looking at the Pig War of 1859, in which Britain and the US nearly went to war over a potato patch.
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Wednesday Apr 21, 2021
Wednesday Apr 21, 2021
And we're off, on a look into some of the most bizarre races ever to have taken place.
Sam starts off with a look at the 1907 Peking to Paris rally, and the trials of adventurer, conman and bacon-mechanic Charles Godard.
Meanwhile, Tom's been taking a look at history's best-paid sportsman, the remarkable Roman charioteer Gaius Appuleius Diocles.
This episode also features a cross promo with The Silly History Boys Show - thanks to Rob 'Uncle BobBob' Bond, Stu 'The PearBear' Perry, Tom 'Tombo' Fermor, and Will 'Uncle Bilbo' Tristram for lending their voices to an honourable mention, The Great Wisconsin Race of 1878, and for inviting us onto their own excellent podcast. Check them out on your app of choice!
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
Wednesday Mar 31, 2021
It's a comedy wild west gunfight this week, as we take ten paces and draw (yes, it's cartoons week)!
Sam kicks us off with a look at the Illustrated Police News, the world's first tabloid newspaper which delighted audiences with graphic illustrations of the macabre, bizarre, and cheeky. He's also got an honourable mention for the Turin Erotic Papyrus - the first known lads mag.
Next, Tom's been taking a look at Marginalia, the hilarious and often VERY rude doodles and drawings made by medieval monks and artists in the corners of their works. Snails fighting knights and a tree full of genitals, anyone?
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
This episode features a cross promo with Historical AF. Check them out on your app of choice!
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Wednesday Mar 17, 2021
Oh go on, just one wafer thin episode... It's small things week!
Tom starts off with the British bantams, the pint-sized soldiers who were small in size, but large in grit, number, and ability to start a fight in a town square.
Next, Sam takes a look at the island of Tavolara, which until recently was the worlds smallest kingdom. So small, it's main export was rotten-toothed goats, and its king was technically unemployed.
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
This episode features a cross promo with Historical AF. Check them out on your app of choice!
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
Wednesday Mar 03, 2021
100 ruddy episodes, we did it!
To celebrate, we're taking a look at the number 100 in history, which is a surprisingly difficult topic, actually.
Sam kicks us off with a look at Tsukumogami, the Japanese belief that household objects gain a soul on their 100th birthday. And usually use the new-found power of life to be arseholes to everyone they meet.
Next, Tom takes a look at the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, on the 100th day of 1815, which indirectly led to the invention of the bicycle. He also takes us through the 1885 'scientific' book, One Hundred Proofs that the Earth is Not a
Globe, by William Carpenter.
Subscribe and listen to us! Apple Music // Podbean // Overcast // Stitcher // TuneIn // Spotify
This episode features a cross promo with The Partial Historians. Check them out on your app of choice!
Welcome to That Was Genius: Two blokes. An immature sense of humour. And 10,000 years of human civilisation. A weekly podcast looking at the weirder side of history.
Join Sam Datta-Paulin (he likes history and lives in Britain) and Tom Berry (he also likes history and used to live in New Zealand but is now in the UK as well), for a weekly reflection on the bold, the brilliant... And the downright strange.
From bizarre events and stories to equally odd inventions, barely a day goes by without something incredible (or incredibly stupid) happening around the world.
We upload new episodes every Wednesday night/Thursday morning (UK time).
Check us out on Facebook (and our Facebook group for memes and fun), Instagram, Twitter and via our website, and please do subscribe to us and leave us a review if you like what you hear!