The History of Fun
The History of Fun explores the hidden backstories behind the things you enjoy. This season, we’re diving into the amazing origins of your favorite holiday traditions. Join Polygon’s Russ Frushtick, Allegra Frank, and Chris Plante each week as they embark on a new quest to uncover these common-yet-mysterious customs. Produced by Polygon and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
December 24, 2018 • 55 min
There is a war. It's been going on for hundreds of years. And there's only one victim: CHRISTMAS. Chris Plante dives deep into The War on Christmas. Where it started, why it started, and out frickin' ridiculous it is.
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December 17, 2018 • 53 min
Join us for another episode of The History of Fun! This week we're looking into the fascinating origins of the dreidel of Hannukah.
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December 10, 2018 • 40 min
A brief history of The Yule Lads and The Yule Cat of Iceland.
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December 3, 2018 • 47 min
A brief history of Black Friday.
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November 26, 2018 • 40 min
A brief history of Krampus, the anti-Santa.
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November 19, 2018 • 32 min
A brief history of the Presidential Turkey Pardon
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November 12, 2018 • 54 min
A brief history of The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
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November 5, 2018 • 47 min
Chris Plante dives deep into the fascinating origins of Trick or Treating.
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October 29, 2018 • 31 min
A brief history of Mischief Night, the night before Halloween
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September 25, 2018 • 1 min
We're excited to announce that we're doing an extra special second season of The History of Fun, all about the origins of our favorite holiday traditions. Trick or treating! Krampus! The Icelandic Yule Cat! Season 2 of The History of Fun will kick off on Monday, October 29. See you then!
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August 27, 2018 • 37 min
While this episode is focused on both Brookstone and The Sharper Image, we all know which one sold full-sized replicas of The Predator, so we're just gonna go ahead and call this The Sharper Image episode.
This also happens to be the very last episode of the first season of The History of Fun. But worry not! We'll be back in the Fall with a brand new season of fun stuff, probably involving surprisingly grim stories from Al...
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August 20, 2018 • 50 min
This week on The History of Fun, Allegra regales us with the origins of Karaoke and the man that made it all happen. Pro-tip: Make sure you're really good if you ever try to sing "My Way."
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August 13, 2018 • 51 min
Alright, it's a Saturday night, it's 1995. What are you gonna do? Well, you're probably going to leave the lights on because you're watching ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? and other SNICK classics. This week, Chris Plante joins us to talk about Nickelodeon's classic programming rock block of All That, SpongeBob and more.
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August 6, 2018 • 51 min
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the water parks. Today Allegra Frank brings you the twisted history of waterparks and where they came from. She also decides to focus on some pretty grim stuff, so if you're a little squeamish about injury or death, you may want to, uh, come back next week? Anyway, FUN!
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July 30, 2018 • 44 min
This week on The History of Fun, Allegra Frank fills us all in on the origins of MANGA and its biggest franchise: Shonen Jump. Yes, if you've always been perplexed about the world of manga, this is the episode for you. And if you're already a fan of manga, there's a fair chance that we mispronounce at least one thing in this episode. Not Allegra, though. She's a pro.
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July 20, 2018 • 69 min
This week we welcome special guest Matt Patches to discuss the history of Mission Impossible, from its origins as a Cold War-era TV show to the every-4-years film franchise we've come to know and love. We thought we'd look back given that the sixth (and final? who knows!) movie, Mission Impossible: Fallout, comes out on Friday.
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July 16, 2018 • 33 min
Whether it's Drug Wars or that weird penguin platforming game, the TI-83 calculator had something for everyone! On this episode we welcome special guest, Jon Bois of SBNation, to talk about the magic and wonder of gaming on a calculator, while also occasionally using it for schoolwork. Fair to say that Texas Instruments has a pretty good scheme going.
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July 9, 2018 • 40 min
With Chris Plante on vacation we welcome none other than Colin Campbell, resident soccer expert (so much so that he calls it football!), to talk about the origins and some of the wacky moments from the history of the FIFA World Cup. Let's all take a moment to celebrate a dog named Pickles.
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July 2, 2018 • 43 min
On this, the week of America's independence, we celebrate the ability for humans to consume low-grade meat at extremely fast rates. Chris Plante digs into the surprisingly-fraught history of the world famous Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest, as well as its most famous (and controversial) competitor.
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June 25, 2018 • 44 min
This week on The History of Fun, we're diving into the origins of the roller coaster. We're not talking about your grand pappy's roller coaster! Well, actually we kinda are. And maybe your great great grandpappy's. Suffice it to say, hella old roller coasters. Join Russ Frushtick as he LEAPS THOSE DIPS!
Special thanks to Foo Obsessed for the great Reader Only Memories theme song! Soundcloud link here: https://sound...
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