Behind the Headlines of History
Behind the Headlines of History is a podcast that explores intriguing news stories from the past, hosted by historian and genealogist Michala Hulme and Brad Argent. In each episode, Brad and Michala share weird, wonderful, eye-opening and sometimes tragic stories that they’ve uncovered from the Newspapers.com archives. Then, they dive into Ancestry’s billions of other records and shake those family trees to find out more about the people behind the headlines.
Episodes
December 18, 2025 • 28 mins
In this special Holiday Finale of Behind the Headlines of History Season Four, join our cozy historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hulme as they deck the halls and dive into the festive and fascinating headlines that stood out to them during this time of year. Discover the lengths that an eleven year old girl went through to get her Christmas wish—which may or may not have included breaking and entering! And peek into the origin o...
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December 15, 2025 • 57 mins
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming with a fun surprise: Listen now to Ancestry's collaboration with History Hit’s podcast After Dark, where hosts Maddy and Anthony dig into their own family history in collaboration with Ancestry’s very own genealogists and family historians Joe Buggy, Christina Copeland, and Jennifer Utley! After Dark takes you to the shadiest corners of the past, unpicking history’s spookiest, stran...
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December 11, 2025 • 30 mins
Yes, you read that right. Dive into this episode of Behind the Headlines of History, where our brave hosts Brad and Michala trek through a treasure trove of stories laden with some of history's shadier characters, including a Peaky Blinders origin story. An Owl Gang? Rattlesnake Dick? Turkey-time thievery? No, this episode isn't animal themed (although we understand why you would think that), but brace yourself for some rough and r...
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December 4, 2025 • 30 mins
Historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hume present more staggering headlines from old newspapers that are just as bizarre today.
Watch the video episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel.
Links to Articles:
The Old Maid Miser (1870)
Has 11 Husbands (1896)
Extraordinary Affair (1846)
Letter Came too Late: Printer Praised for Brave Attempt to Save County Official from The Thames (London, 1928)
All newspaper articles referenc...
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November 27, 2025 • 28 mins
Story-loving historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hulme gather around the newspapers of yesteryear for stories involving a brave dog and a bizarre hoax.
Watch the video episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel.
Links to Articles:
The Moon Hoax (1871)
Big Dog Saves Boy Sinking in River (1911)
Queer Death of Thomas Foote, an animal impersonator (1895)
A Thanksgiving Game (1905)
Adam Locke family tree
All newspaper articles...
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November 20, 2025 • 32 mins
Story-loving historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hulme gather around the newspapers of old to learn more about the $400,000,000 fortune that one man reportedly came into in 1906.
Watch the video episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel.
Links to articles:
Old Man Heir To $400 million (1906)
Opal's Diary is Refuted by Grandmother (1921)
Beer Flood Drowns Eight (1919)
Library Notes (Ohio, 1946)
All newspaper articles refe...
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November 13, 2025 • 30 mins
This week’s episode of Behind the Headlines of History finds our story-loving historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hulme dive into two fascinating headlines from our service history archives. Plus– a war hero pigeon?
Watch the video episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel.
All newspaper articles referenced in this episode were sourced on Newspapers.com, with additional research conducted by Brad and Michala us...
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November 6, 2025 • 34 mins
Story-loving historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hulme gather around the newspapers of two of the messier stories from history.
Watch the video episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel.
Links to articles:
The Mourdaunt Divorce Case (1870)
Sensational Shooting (1902)
An Extraordinary Affair - A Wedding Indefinitely Postponed (1872)
Neck tie parties are all the rage (1870)
All newspaper articles referenced in this episod...
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October 30, 2025 • 34 mins
Story-loving historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hulme gather around the newspapers of old for their first two spooky stories from history.
Watch the video episode on Ancestry's YouTube channel.
Links to articles:
The Strange Case of Alice Nutter
Ghosts Upstairs and Down
The Rochester Knockings
Girl Flees Screaming into Street from 'Ghost'
All newspaper articles referenced in this episode were sourced on Newspaper...
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October 23, 2025 • 56 secs
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Your favorite story-loving historians Brad Argent and Dr. Michala Hulme are back! Join us as we gather 'round the newspapers of old and return for Season 4 of Behind the Headlines of History, this Thursday October 30th. The wait is over at long last!
Behind the Headlines of History is a podcast series from Ancestry and Newspapers.com that explores intriguing news stories from the past, host...
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June 9, 2020 • 30 mins
This episode of "Behind the Headlines of History" untangles two historical tales where nothing is quite as it seems. First, a sea captain vanishes from his vessel in the middle of a storm in the unforgiving Alaskan waters. Was it a tragic accident, or did something more mysterious happen on board? The answer may lie in his incredibly unusual name. Then, journey to the front lines of the Boer War, where two inseparable best friends ...
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June 2, 2020 • 28 mins
What happens when a promise to marry is broken? What if the lawsuit for "seduction" is filed against the man's estate after his death, and the woman bringing the suit has already found a new husband? This episode opens a scandalous 1850s court file filled with love poems and questionable motives. Then, we take to the skies for the baffling mystery of a Member of Parliament whose balloon adventure turns into a terrifying disappearan...
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May 26, 2020 • 28 mins
This episode of "Behind the Headlines of History" delves into two curious tales from the past. An 1840 newspaper report on a tragic construction accident seems straightforward enough, but it holds a shocking secret. Follow a genealogical trail that uncovers an unbelievable link between one of the injured workers and a modern-day Hollywood A-lister you would never expect. Then, step into the curious world of Victorian spiritualism, ...
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May 19, 2020 • 27 mins
This episode of "Behind the Headlines of History" delves into two intriguing historical crimes. First, Michala retraces the tragic story of Michael Joseph Goldsmith, a Birmingham jeweler who was robbed of a fortune in diamonds and gold in Manchester in 1892. His story ends with a shocking twist, rich with dramatic irony. Brad's story recounts the amusing 1896 case of John and Margaret Inchley, a fashionable Melbourne couple caught...
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May 12, 2020 • 27 mins
In this episode of "Behind the Headlines of History," hosts Brad Argent and Mikaela Hume delve into two intriguing historical newspaper stories. The first story recounts the grim tale of a murderous brush-maker who, in 1875, murdered his mistress and got caught in the act. The second story, from 1880, details a police raid on a fancy dress ball in Manchester, where 47 men were arrested for "immoral" behavior, with 22 found dressed ...
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March 10, 2020 • 26 mins
Of course! Here is a more tantalizing version of the summary designed to pique curiosity:
Prepare for a journey into the bizarre and the macabre as we uncover two astonishing tales from history. First, discover the peculiar story of a 19th-century criminal whose daring escape plan involved shedding every last piece of his clothing. What could possibly motivate a man to flee naked into the cold November night?
Then, delve into a t...
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Ahead of International Women’s Day, in this episode our stories explore different experiences and achievements of women throughout history – from the incredible story of a no-nonsense suffragist who travelled from the USA to London to investigate her two-timing husband (as reported in The Chicago Tribune, 24 August 1911) and her moment of activism recorded in the 1911 census, to the death of a Cornish ‘witch’ (The Courier and Argus...
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February 24, 2020 • 26 mins
There’s a little Antipodean flavour to some of this week’s stories – Michala takes us from a highway robbery in Bradford, England (reported in the Leeds Mercury, 30th December 1843) across the seas to Australia, tracing the fate of two men called Abraham. Not to be outdone, Brad takes the robbery theme and runs with it – all the way to New Jersey, where he picks up the story of a one armed bandit (of sorts) – from the The Courier-N...
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February 17, 2020 • 25 mins
Sensitive ears (and noses!) beware – Brad’s opening story in this episode is a bit of a stinker, involving a dispute over pig manure in Ireland (reported in the Nationalist and Leinster Times, 2nd January, 1886). Thankfully Michala is on hand to cleanse your auditory palettes with a tale about beer in Manchester…but before you take a sip, watch out, it’s poisoned! (Story from the Guardian, 18th January, 1901).
To round the episode...
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February 10, 2020 • 24 mins
Michala transports us back to the world of 1920s Birmingham gangland this week, and if you’re a Peaky Blinders fan, some of the names in her newspaper article (from The Times, 28 April 1921) may be familiar…Then, not to be outdone, Brad unpicks the eye-opening headline ‘Man Aged 130 has son 4 And a Wife in Her Twenties’ (from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 27 July 1919).
Then kick back and indulge in this episodes’ News In Briefs – ...
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