We continue our way through the life of Leadbelly in Part 4. In this episode we see Leadbelly make a plea for a pardon with his music, and watch as he tries adjusting to life outside of prison. As hard as he tries starting life anew, he finds himself once again behind bars, this time in Angola, known as the Alcatraz of the South, one of the bloodiest prisons in US history.

We finally meet John Lomax and his son Allen who would become key figures in Leadbelly’s life as they traveled the South searching for American folk music to preserve for the Library of Congress. We clear up some Leadbelly myth with primary sources, learn a bit about the earliest attempts at musical preservation through recording, and even get to hear a 130-year-old Passamaquoddy war song recorded by anthropologist Jesse Walker Fewkes.

The adventure continues.

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Music and murder collide in the third installment of the series highlighting the life of one of America’s greatest musical legends: Leadbelly. Ledbetter was already a fugitive when he murdered Will Stafford on a dirt road in Texas. No longer able to run from the law, Huddie faced difficult times in the brutal early 20^th century prison system where he wrote some of his most profound music. But Leadbelly wouldn’t go down without a fight (and at least two more prison breaks). In this episode, we explore the next chapter of his life, as well as learn the dark history of convict leasing and why the remains of 95 inmates, known as the “Sugarland 95,” lie buried just below the surface of a small, Texas town.

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In Leadbelly Part 2 we continue the story of Huddie Ledbetter, one of the most influential musicians of all time. We cover his early adult life in Dallas, his collaboration with the great Blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson, and hear some of the music that earned him the moniker “King of the Twelve String Guitar.”

He was known for his tumultuous life as well as his musical genius. We explore his first arrest, his escape from prison that made him a wanted fugitive, his new life under the alias “Walter Boyd” and the murder that would change the course of his life forever.

Join me for Part 2 as we uncover more of the legend behind the man we now know as Leadbelly.

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Huddie Ledbetter was easily one of the most influential American musicians of all time, yet today he has become one of the most historically overlooked. Musical artists like Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, the White Stripes, and countless others have been covering Huddie’s songs for almost a century, however, most listeners have never heard his name. The life of Ledbetter, more widely known as Leadbelly, was fraught with complications, repressed by a world policed with Jim Crow laws, and often filled with violence.

Leadbelly was viewed by audiences as a murderer and criminal, but also as a poet gifted with an incredible musical talent. Separating and understanding the real man from the legend is a difficult task. His life was as epic as his music, and we’re going to explore all of it, starting with this first episode on the life of the legendary Leadbelly, King of the Twelve String Guitar.

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The finale is here! In the final episode we explore the final years of Olympias’s epic life. We cover how she cultivated her own power at court, watch her rise to even greater heights after the death of Alexander the Great, see a war waged between two incredible women of the ancient world, and find out just how this mother of an empire met her end.

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In Part 2 we continue to uncover the hidden history of Olympias of Epirus. Assassination, murder, and the political intrigue of an ancient royal court all take center stage in this episode. Come discover the next chapters in the life of one of the most vilified women in history as we sift through the propaganda of two millennia to get a glimpse of the incredible life of the most powerful woman in ancient Greece. Find out what she did next, at the budding of one of history’s largest and most fascinating empires, as we see just how far she would go to ensure the success of her dynasty.  

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Why does Fruitcake even exist? Can we blame the ancient Romans? How old is eggnog? What exactly is a Yule Log? Discover the ancient origins of our favorite--and not so favorite--holiday food traditions in this special holiday history byte. I even give you George Washington's actual recipe for eggnog! After that, we'll head to Iceland and meet Gryla the Christmas troll, her menacing Yule cat, and find out why you should thank your grandma for getting you those socks for Christmas. 

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The finale is here! Come find out just how one of the most inspiring stories of human endurance ended. We head back to Antarctica and watch the crew of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition make history as Shackleton attempts one last desperate attempt at a rescue mission. This episode has all the answers you've been waiting for. 

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In this two story episode we travel to Guanajuato, Mexico, and discover a cache of mummies that were literally evicted from their graves. Then we head to Beni Hassan, Egypt, where a farmer digging a well in 1888 accidentally stumbled upon one of the largest hoards of cat mummies ever found, and, possibly, an ancient, illegal crime ring of cat killers (seriously). We also meet Bastet, the ancient Egyptian goddess that started it all. 

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In this episode we explore history's first monsters. From the prehistoric beasts that stalked our ancestors to the first mythological oral traditions, then to the first ancient written accounts through the modern day; this is the history of what scares us. What were the first monsters, why do we fear them, and why do we need them? Let's find out and examine the first things that appeared from the darkness. 

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And so it begins. 

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