Cock and Bull

99: Victor Hugo: An Erotic Life

The tale of the playboy billionaire author

On June 24, 1801, Victor Hugo was conceived on the peaks of the Vosges Mountains. It's unclear whether this is pertinent to him writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

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98: The Death of King Charles II

"And then..."

February 2 of 1685, Charles II, King of England, woke up feeling a little under the weather. What followed was perhaps the most aggressive case of "good intentions, poor execution."

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

97: Radithor

"Crack it like a glowstick!"

After the discovery of atomic decay, radioactive medicines were soon stocked in drug stores across the world. Today's episode centers on "Radithor," a radioactive patent drug consumed by famed semi-pro golfer Eben Byers; who would go on to be known as "a guy you absolutely shouldn't look up on Google images. Please."

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

96: Honey Mummies

A History Mystery!

The mellified men, also known as human mummy confections, were a legendary medicinal substance created by steeping a human cadaver in honey. Join us as we unravel another Bipin Banger History Mystery!

Cock and Bull is a primary source on The Dollop. It's also a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

95: Sokushinbutsu

"Hey, smooth-skin!"

The Japanese climate is not exactly conducive to mummification. There are no peat bogs, no arid deserts, and no alpine peaks perennially encased in ice. The summers are hot and humid. Between 1081 and 1903, at least 17 monks managed to mummify themselves.

Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

94: Tarrare "The Bottomless Pit"

Bom Bom Tarrare!

CONTENT WARNING: ANIMAL CRUELTY, EATING DISORDERS

In the early 1780s, a family of French famers made the awful, and no-doubt difficult decision to abandon their son. The boy was incredibly skinny, had angel-fine hair, and an insatiable appetite--able to eat his weight in beef. Unable to afford this costly extra mouth, the boy (known only as "Tarrare") was thrown out into the French countryside to fend for himself. What followed was a brief, miserable, and morbidly fascinating life. This is the story of Tarrare: the veteran, sideshow performer, and medical anomaly with a bottomless gut.

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

93: William Buckland's Buffet

Have you ever had a dream?

Famed geologist and paleontologist William Buckland was among the most energetic and eccentric Deans to ever pass through the halls of Oxford. Not only did he help name the fist-ever dinosaur, but he also played a role in discrediting the Biblical Flood Theory, and... and... checks notes ... And he wanted to eat one of every animal on earth?

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

92: Dr. Messenger Monsey

Let's cool off from Pruitt Igo with some 1800s insanity

Nathan and Spencer take it down a notch from last week by talking about a silly 18th century doctor who longed for the life of a fancy boy. Midway through the episode we refer to a pair of pictures. Picture 1, and Picture 2.

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program. You can donate to our show with the tip jar, which we promise to use for research materials and NOT $1 medium fountain drinks at Taco Bell from 2-5 p.m.

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

91: Pruitt Igo

BUILDING A CLOUD, BABY!

In 1952, construction began on a public housing project in North St. Louis, Missouri. 33 apartment buildings--a herculean spending project in the name of urban renewal. By 1972, they would famously be demolished on television. There’s much more to the story. Pruitt-Igoe was not proof of a Cold War logic; it did not display the “inevitable” failures of planned housing. It was an organized sabotage—and a clandestine site for radiological weapons experimentation. These studies were conducted on innocent and unconsenting civilians, who were mostly poor, mostly Black, and mostly women and children.

All credit for this week's episode goes to Devin Tomas O'Shea's article in Proteanmag.

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program.

You can find our other shows at: www.one-shot-one-quill.pinecast.co www.marxmadness.pinecast.co www.blunderphonics.pinecast.co www.cooperative-effort.pinecast.co

Cock and Bull is a labor of love, and has neither sponsors nor a network to monetize it. Donations go towards purchasing research materials like memoirs, letters, and research papers from a time when people thought "some idiot's gonna buy this in 2023, and he's gotta work for it."

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.

90: Charles Hatfield, "Moisture Accelerator"

In December, 1915, the San Diego City Council agreed to pay a strange man $10,000 if he could make it rain.

In December, 1915, the San Diego City Council agreed to pay a pale, homespun-gentleman $10,000 if he could make it rain. His name was Charles Hatfield, and the self-proclaimed "Moisture Accelerator" would be blamed for the most devestating flooding in California's recorded history.

Cock and Bull is a somewhat-weekly history podcast about unbelievable characters and shockingly true stories, brought to you by Spencer Foust and Nathan: a sophisticated text-to-speech program.

You can find our other shows at: www.one-shot-one-quill.pinecast.co www.marxmadness.pinecast.co www.blunderphonics.pinecast.co www.cooperative-effort.pinecast.co

Cock and Bull is a labor of love, and has neither sponsors nor a network to monetize it. It stays that way purely for the love of the game, and not because we're a "brand risk" or "the wrong fit" for a "Charmin ambassador."

Support Cock and Bull by contributing to their tip jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/cockandbull

Check out our podcast host, Pinecast. Start your own podcast for free with no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-b8b8a7 for 40% off for 4 months, and support Cock and Bull.