This week, Ben, Noel and Max welcome special guest, the legendary author AJ Jacobs, to explore the world's strangest historical puzzle crazes. In part one of this two-part series, AJ regales the gang with the moral panic surrounding early crosswords, armchair treasure hunts and much more. Spoiler: you can hear Ben and Noel on AJ's own show, The Puzzler.

This week, Ben, Noel and Max welcome special guest, the legendary author AJ Jacobs, to explore the world's strangest historical puzzle crazes. In part one of this two-part series, AJ regales the gang with the moral panic surrounding early crosswords, armchair treasure hunts and much more. Spoiler: you can hear Ben and Noel on AJ's own show, The Puzzler.

History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.

Ridiculous History

The Puzzler, Part One: The Crossword Moral Panic

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/69b28b68-3543-48d7-8f8e-b0dd001dec7c/transcript

Heads-up, fellow Ridiculous Historians: this is an explicit episode, and maynot be appropriate for all audiences. It's no secret that Ben, Noel and Max are huge fans of etymology -- and there's one word that's mystified them for years. When did the English world fall in love with the term "bullsh*t"? In today's episode, the guys discover this particular curse word has a suprisingly bizarre, murky backstory, and a lot of the proposed origins of bullsh*t are, themselves ... bullsh*t.

Heads-up, fellow Ridiculous Historians: this is an explicit episode, and maynot be appropriate for all audiences. It's no secret that Ben, Noel and Max are huge fans of etymology -- and there's one word that's mystified them for years. When did the English world fall in love with the term "bullsh*t"? In today's episode, the guys discover this particular curse word has a suprisingly bizarre, murky backstory, and a lot of the proposed origins of bullsh*t are, themselves ... bullsh*t.

When Did We All Start Saying "Bulls*t"?

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7650eb9b-ddef-4769-87d5-b43501019d63/transcript

Fellow Ridiculous Historians, we just returned from the beautiful Baha Mar resort, and we're going through a pirate phase. So, naturally, we have to share an hilarious Classic episode: the so-called Golden Age of Piracy was a time of lawless, terrifying, at-times amazing and objectively ridiculous history. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore a fascinating claim: Did some anti-authoritarian pirates really form their own government?

Fellow Ridiculous Historians, we just returned from the beautiful Baha Mar resort, and we're going through a pirate phase. So, naturally, we have to share an hilarious Classic episode: the so-called Golden Age of Piracy was a time of lawless, terrifying, at-times amazing and objectively ridiculous history. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max explore a fascinating claim: Did some anti-authoritarian pirates really form their own government?

CLASSIC: New Providence: That Time Pirates Had A Government

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/5998b77c-5ce4-4750-be09-b436013feace/transcript

Live from the beautiful Baha Mar resort, Ben, Noel, Max and returning guest Matt dive into popular misconceptions about pirates. First, piracy was by no means restricted to the Caribbean. Second, not all successful pirates were dudes. In fact, as the guys discover in the second-part of this two-part series, history's wealthiest pirate was a Chinese woman named Zheng Yi Sao, or Chin Shih. As they arrive closer to the modern day, the guys discover another notorious Chinese pirate smack-dab in the middle of the Sino-Japanese war: a double, triple, maybe even quadruple maritime bandit known as Huang “Two Guns” Bamei.

Live from the beautiful Baha Mar resort, Ben, Noel, Max and returning guest Matt dive into popular misconceptions about pirates. First, piracy was by no means restricted to the Caribbean. Second, not all successful pirates were dudes. In fact, as the guys discover in the second-part of this two-part series, history's wealthiest pirate was a Chinese woman named Zheng Yi Sao, or Chin Shih. As they arrive closer to the modern day, the guys discover another notorious Chinese pirate smack-dab in the middle of the Sino-Japanese war: a double, triple, maybe even quadruple maritime bandit known as Huang &ldquo;Two Guns&rdquo; Bamei.

The Ridiculous Truth About Pirates, Chapter Two: History's Most Successful Pirate Was A Woman

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7f18f31b-b9f0-417b-9f32-b43401676b1b/transcript

The Puzzler, Part One: The Crossword Moral Panic

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