American Esoterica

American Esoterica

American history, bite-sized. These are the stories that may have slipped through the cracks - the odd detours that have shaped our history and culture in small, but sometimes significant, ways.

Episodes

July 3, 2025 11 mins

Here's another round of lightning-fast-ish presidential trivia, from the devil to the Beast and everything in-between.

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The tip of Lake Michigan is just the tip of the iceberg that spins out into a war between the states. Two states, that is.

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THIS ONE'S GOT IT ALL, FOLKS - hucksters, country music, goat testicles, pirate radio, patent medicines, wire fraud, William Jennings Bryan...you name it! This is the bizarre story of how rural America fell in love with country music.

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May 22, 2025 6 mins

Meet Herman Hollerith - the founder of your digital world and archnemesis to The Count on Sesame Street. 

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May 11, 2025 2 mins

We all know that THE story about George Washington isn't true, but what if what we've been wrong about all this time is that the story is KINDA true-ish? 

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May 9, 2025 5 mins

Sometimes American cultural greatness runs in very concentrated pockets. 

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April 24, 2025 13 mins

"Fool me once, shame on...shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again..." - George W. Bush.

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April 9, 2025 10 mins

There's one order that holds the record for maybe the most antisemitic government act in American history, and it both complicates and haunts the legacy of someone otherwise perceived as a hero.

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Attacking the Union from the south just wasn't cutting it. So why not attack from the north instead? GENIUS.

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March 13, 2025 5 mins

Lincoln loved the theater, although he might have a different opinion in retrospect. Yes, we're doing another Lincoln one. Yes, it includes some startling coincidences.

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February 27, 2025 7 mins

This one is about Beyoncé’s stepfather’s ex-wife’s uncle. (It's also the incredible story of a family that lifted each other to unheard-of heights.)

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February 13, 2025 2 mins

A love story for the ages.

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February 13, 2025 8 mins

She broke the invisible barriers in early American aviation with little more than a wing and a prayer. 

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January 30, 2025 5 mins

The Napkin of Consequence emerges to define 50 years of American policy. 

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January 16, 2025 7 mins

These are the losers of the losers - the ones who tried to do something stupid and failed in the attempt. Look at them - look at them and laugh. Also, it's a very serious subject, and your laughter is highly inappropriate. Grow up.

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January 2, 2025 7 mins

If you set out to make your mark on the world, don't half-ass it. 

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December 19, 2024 10 mins

You thought the duel was over. You were wrong.

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November 21, 2024 11 mins

It was a dramatic and chaotic campaign for the presidency, dominated by fake news, procedural problems, and a particularly problematic pundit. That doesn't narrow it down at all, either, does it? Ahh, America...

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November 13, 2024 2 mins

Juvenility ensues over the 16th #1's #2. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

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October 24, 2024 8 mins

There are famous ghosts and ghosts of famous people, but rarely do you find a ghost famous for being non-famous, as our subject today is. Be ready for the tragic theories behind the ghost known only as "The Thing."

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