Historical Blindness
Historical Blindness is a podcast about history’s myths, mysteries, and misconceptions. By examining cases of outrageous hoaxes, pernicious conspiracy theory, mass delusion, baffling mysteries and unreliable historiography, host Nathaniel Lloyd searches for insights into modern religious belief and political culture.
Episodes
May 6, 2025 • 48 mins
In this episode, I tell the history of the US through the history of controversial tariff policies, and I examine speculation about the motivations behind Trump's disastrous tariff hikes.
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April 22, 2025 • 53 mins
From claims about the pagan origins of Easter traditions to biblical literalists asserting that the miraculous darkness at the crucifixion is historically provable, I explode all kinds of myths in this holiday special.
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April 8, 2025 • 43 mins
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Reformation, a story was told of the first female Pope, who had hidden her sex and been elevated to the highest position within the Church by accident. The story of Pope Joan is a total myth, but even today it serves as a useful lesson to illustrate the historical roots of the sexism and misogyny that still keeps women out of leadership positions.
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March 25, 2025 • 57 mins
In the face of trans erasure and genocide, this episode affirms the existence of transgender people throughout history, focusing on the trans empress of the Roman Empire, long misgendered and called Elagabalus, though that was not her name.
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March 11, 2025 • 58 mins
An examination of Aspasia, a woman of ancient Athens who was universally agreed to have been extremely influential in politics and philosophy, depicted as both a harlot and a sage.
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February 25, 2025 • 52 mins
In the 4th and final part of my series on the legends surrounding Lincoln and his assassination, I look at the false urban legend that John Wilkes Booth was not actually killed but rather escaped justice.
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February 11, 2025 • 54 mins
In the 3rd part of my series on the legends surrounding Lincoln, I further examine conspiracy theories suggesting the plot to assassinate was much larger, involving some of the favorite culprits of conspiracists: the government, the Catholic Church, the Freemasons, and Jews.
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January 28, 2025 • 54 mins
In the second part of the series, we look at the plot to assassinate Lincoln, and the claims that it was a much larger conspiracy than history suggests.
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January 14, 2025 • 46 mins
In the 2025 season premiere, I kick off a series about the myths and conspiracy theories surrounding Abraham Lincoln's assassination with a look at the misconceptions and legends that surround this much mythologized figure.
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December 23, 2024 • 48 mins
In this year's annual holiday special, I examine the roots of the Christmas tree custom to determine its origins and whether it is indeed a pagan survival, as many claim.
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Find a transcript of this episode with source citations and related imagery at www.historicalblindness.com...
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December 17, 2024 • 22 mins
In this holiday special minisode from last year, I tackle the claims of entheogen theorists who suggest, falsely, that almost all Christmas traditions really derive from Siberian cultures' use of hallucinogenic mushrooms!
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In this special presentation, I share an episode of the wonderful podcast Plodding Through the Presidents, in which hosts Howard and Jessica Dorre discuss the many myths, mysteries, and scandals surrounding the early presidents who shaped our country. In this episode from their archives, they explore the role of the Illuminati in the Election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and then they talk with Mark Cheathem, a ...
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November 26, 2024 • 14 mins
This holiday bonus minisode presents my personal thoughts on the upcoming holiday, in the wake of the election, reflecting on the establishment of the national holiday during the Civil War.
Music on this episode is by Kai Engel, licensed under Creative Commons. Tracks include "September," "Tumult," "Harbor," and "Seeker."
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November 19, 2024 • 55 mins
In the conclusion of my series on Jack the Ripper, I look the many claims and theories purporting to solve the crimes, their weaknesses and how far Ripperologists go to sell books.
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Find a transcript of this episode with source citations and related imagery at www.historicalblindness.com.
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November 5, 2024 • 50 mins
In the first part of a 2-parter, I look closely at a genuine historical mystery, THE true crime case, which launched an entire genre of non-fiction research: Jack the Ripper. In part one, I look at the actual murders. Listener discretion is advised.
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October 22, 2024 • 49 mins
In my last episode of October, I consider the legends of 16th-century arch-killers, or what we might consider serial killers today, cave-dwelling highway robbers who were also said to be cannibals and sorcerers, like Sawney Bean and Christman Genipperteinga, whose kill count reached the thousands according to the cheap and lurid chapbooks and ballads that spread their tales to terrified readers. But how much of their stories was pu...
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October 14, 2024 • 51 mins
In this special presentation, I introduce a spooky podcast for your October listening pleasure, and present a full episode for you to enjoy.
Step into the world of the unknown and unravel the dark history and infamous legends of the American South. Join host Brandon Schexnayder as he journeys into the heart of this rich and fascinating region, uncovering its ghostly stories, haunted places, and eeriest tales through captivating sto...
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October 8, 2024 • 50 mins
As we start off October, let's consider the appalling act that is foundational to much monster folklore and horror literature: cannibalism, which some anthropologists have revealed to be, in most cases, a total myth.
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Find a transcript of this episode with source citations and related imagery at www.histo...
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September 24, 2024 • 56 mins
In a new standalone episode that follows on from my series on fascism, I seek historical precedent to better understand the threat of the fake electors scheme employed by Trump in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
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September 10, 2024 • 71 mins
In the conclusion of my series on the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany in the 1920s, I make further legitimate comparisons to modern American politics and Trumpism. Continued insistence that there are no grounds for such comparisons at this point borders on denialism.
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