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 mins
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
December 17, 2018 • 53 mins
Join us for another episode of The History of Fun! This week we're looking into the fascinating origins of the dreidel of Hannukah.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
December 10, 2018 • 40 mins
A brief history of The Yule Lads and The Yule Cat of Iceland.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
December 3, 2018 • 47 mins
A brief history of Black Friday.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
November 26, 2018 • 40 mins
A brief history of Krampus, the anti-Santa.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
November 19, 2018 • 32 mins
A brief history of the Presidential Turkey Pardon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
November 12, 2018 • 54 mins
A brief history of The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
November 5, 2018 • 47 mins
Chris Plante dives deep into the fascinating origins of Trick or Treating.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
October 29, 2018 • 31 mins
A brief history of Mischief Night, the night before Halloween
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
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!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
August 27, 2018 • 37 mins
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 Allegra.
L...
Mark as Played
August 20, 2018 • 50 mins
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."
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
August 13, 2018 • 51 mins
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
August 6, 2018 • 51 mins
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!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
July 30, 2018 • 44 mins
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoi...
Mark as Played
July 20, 2018 • 69 mins
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
July 16, 2018 • 33 mins
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
July 9, 2018 • 40 mins
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
July 2, 2018 • 43 mins
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mark as Played
June 25, 2018 • 44 mins
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://soundcloud.com/foo_ob...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
Ashley Lytton was a typical mom and wife in suburban Utah with three children until she discovered her husband’s horrifying secret. It was a shocking crime that would alter Ashley’s life and jeopardize the safety of her children. This season of Betrayal will focus on one mother’s fight to find justice for her daughter and protection from a predator too close to home. Once we hear her story, we learn the same crime is happening every day in households all over the country. It’s a betrayal of our families, communities and everything we value in society. Season Two lays the issue bare through the family’s story and takes an honest look at a huge problem most people don’t want to even want to acknowledge.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.