The Backstory: The history of jokes

We all love to laugh, no matter when, where, or how we’ve lived. Amazingly, there are a handful of topics that have given us the giggles for at least 5,000 years. And a lot of them involve 6th-grade humor.

The Backstory: James Brown: Drugs, toilets, and guns

James Brown, the godfather of soul, had some anger issues. In fact, he went to prison after threatening agents at an insurance seminar with a gun because he thought they used his private bathroom. 

The Backstory: Bloody politics

Think politics today are the most angry and violent they’ve ever been? What about the days when senators and congressmen came to work armed with guns and knives? Or the murder of one congressman by another just because they had an ideological disagreement? That’s when politics were bloody.

The Backstory: Radiant heat & working toilets 2,000 years ago

We think the world just keeps evolving. But what happens when a civilization like Rome collapses and all that technology disappears? 

The Backstory: Meeting your children…from a past life

Imagine meeting your children…and they're way older than you! But you've been obsessed since your earliest memory with the idea that you were the mother of eight kids. But you died, leaving them orphaned. And your guilt was palpable, even as a three-year-old! You may not believe in reincarnation, b…

The Backstory: What in the heck did I just say?!?!

We use words and phrases every day, and usually never question why we say what we say. Why do we say “she’s on a wild goose chase” or “we laughed our heads off”? The surprising origin of ordinary phrases. 

The Backstory: Paradise lost

You’d think being a princess (and ultimately the queen) of the Hawaiian islands would be an uncomplicated dream life. But the last queen of the kingdom of Hawaii dealt with an unfaithful husband, racism, death threats, and being placed under house arrest for over a year as her kingdom was overthrow…

The Backstory: The #%$@ history of cursing

Swearing, cursing, cussing, giving somebody the finger…they’re kind of ubiquitous these days, but they’ve been around for thousands of years. And now researchers say that yelling out your favorite four-letter word can even lower your blood pressure. But where in the &^%* did it all start and how ha…

The Backstory: The most powerful and hated man in the world

Born into complete poverty and now, by some accounts, the richest man in the world, Vladimir Putin has also become an enemy of most of the world. Here's where he came from, how he got a stranglehold on power, and what he’s doing with it.

The Backstory: When famous folks are crummy parents

Being successful at what you do in business doesn’t seem to guarantee you’ll be a successful spouse or parent. Thomas Edison is a clear example of a genius businessman who was a bit of a failure as a father. Most of his children shared stories of their difficult relationship with the Wizard of Menl…