Softcore History

Softcore History

A podcast for the casual fan of history. The Wikipedia reader. The kids who grew up with a dad who watched the same 10 hours of World War II specials on The History Channel. Join Dan Regester, Rob Fox, and a weekly guest as they tastefully insert themselves into the past. The only thing we don’t show is our research.

Episodes

The Bloody Benders

October 1, 2025 • 61 mins
This is a preview of the hundreds of hours of extra history content and bonus episodes we put out only on Softcore History Patreon.

This episode is available ad free on Softcore History Patreon.

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Softcore History Patreon.
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Softcore History Patreon.
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The Amelia Earhart Files

September 29, 2025 • 65 mins
Pioneering female aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared forever on July 2nd, 1937. It has never been determined what happened to Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan. Now, the Trump Administration has promised to release all the files the U.S. Government has on Earhart. In light of this, we break down her (surprisingly incompetent) final flight and the many theories that abound about her fate. 

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The History of Panty Raids

September 22, 2025 • 60 mins
After World War II, panty pandemonium struck American college campuses and organized raids of female dorms became a common prank. If your grandpa went to college in the 1950s, there's a good chance he stole some coed's undies.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including episodes like this, listener voicemails, movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. 

Rob Fox
https://www.ins...
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Women's Health Started With Poo And Slavery

September 15, 2025 • 73 mins
Anarcha Westcott (real name Annacay Jackson) was a 13-year-old slave instrumental in the creation of the medical field of gynecology. Instrumental… because she was the instrument. Dr. J. Marion Sims of Alabama performed 30 experimental surgeries on her — without anesthesia — in order to repair her horrific fistulas after a stillbirth at 13 years old. And the surgeries worked. Thanks to Annacay enduring the nightmare that was 1840s ...
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The Great Northern War

September 8, 2025 • 85 mins
Long before the Germans tried to fight half of Europe by themselves, Sweden did the same in 1700 during the Great Northern War. Under the leadership of their teenage, war obsessed king, the Swedes spent the better part of two decades overcoming the odds and defeating the Danish, Polish, and Russian armies on a regular basis. Eventually, though, the hot hand turns cold. Record-breaking, lowest temperatures in 500 winters cold. This ...
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England’s War on the Poor

August 31, 2025 • 56 mins
King Edward III made it illegal to not be poor in 1300s England. At least, illegal if you were already poor. Negotiating for higher wages? Straight to jail. Wearing clothes that made you look wealthy? Straight to jail. Trying to get a better job? Jail. All because the upper classes were annoyed with having to negotiate wages with workers after the Black Death created a labor shortage and the working class gained the upper hand.

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The Harlem Hellfighters

August 25, 2025 • 55 mins
The 369th Infantry regiment better known as the Harlem Hellfighters were a renowned all-black World War I unit who spent 191 days in action. They were loaned to the French forces and became the Germans worst nightmare on the front lines.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including episodes like this, listener voicemails, movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. 

Rob Fox
http...
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How Jamaica Accidentally Changed World History

August 18, 2025 • 56 mins
What is the most important person or place in the history of the colonization of the New World? Columbus? Cortez? Jamestown? Nah mon! It’s Jamaica bruh! If it weren’t for the English falling ass-backwards into an unwanted island, nothing would be as it is today. 

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including episodes like this, listener voicemails, movie watch-alongs, and weekly b...
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Softcore History Theater | Two People Arguing About History | FREE Patreon Preview

August 14, 2025 • 42 mins
Softcore History presents "Two People Arguing on the Internet, About History," a full-cast comedy audiobook short story following a day in the lives of two people who can't stop being mean to each other in the comments section of a history page on Facebook instead of, you know, doing anything that is actually worthwhile with their time. You can hear this and an entire audiobook's worth of other sketches, plus three years' worth of ...
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The Confederacy's Drag Queen Hero

August 11, 2025 • 64 mins
On June 28, 1861 Confederate pirates led by Captain George Hollins and Lt. Colonel Richard Thomas Zarvona captured a passenger steamer on the Potomac with an unusual plan of deception. Learn how these men and a flirtatious "mystery woman" became heroes in the south in one of the lesser known conquest of the American Civil War.

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Roman History Expert Answers Our Dumb Questions

August 4, 2025 • 85 mins
Actual expert Alex Petkas, who has a PhD in Classics from Princeton and hosts the history podcast Cost of Glory, joins the show for some inexplicable reason to break down why the Roman dictator Sulla is Rome’s most underrated man, why Caesar wasn’t such a bad guy, and why he left Academia for the internet.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including episodes like this, listener ...
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The Invincible Cowboy Mercenary Oil Baron

July 28, 2025 • 74 mins
Fredrick Russell Burnham experienced one of the most insane and eventful lives in all of human history. From tracking Geronimo and getting into family feuds in the Wild West to fighting in multiple wars in South Africa and stopping an American President from getting assasinated, Burnham was a decorated hero who sought out adventure and eventually found good fortune for his trouble.

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The Manly History Of Makeup

July 21, 2025 • 86 mins
We break down the history of men wearing makeup with beauty writer Cristina Montemayor (@crismontyy), from Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens inventing sunless tanner instead of farming, to the Egyptians and Romans slathering their faces with lead because looking hot was more important than your brain working right. 

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Epstein's Lady's Daddy

July 14, 2025 • 82 mins
Robert Maxwell was a media mogul, decorated war hero, member of British Parliament, and Israeli intelligence asset. He was the father to Ghislaine, a rival to Rupert Murdoch, and a spy whose death was more mysterious than his hidden life. Before Jeffrey Epstein there was Captain Bob Maxwell.

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Rome’s Worst Serial Killer Was A Woman

July 6, 2025 • 59 mins
Wanton killing was common in Ancient Rome, but most mass murderers were Emperors and Generals. One woman, though, killed hundreds if not more. Not for conquest but for business. And practice. And Nero. 

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https:...
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The Carny Days Of Professional Wrestling

June 30, 2025 • 48 mins
Comedian Uncle Lazer joins the show to break down the history of professional wrestling in the United States, from Civil War campsite brawls to the sports entertainment we know and love today.

Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes.


Rob Fox
https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/
https://twitter....
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The Prophecy of the Coke-Addled Pope

June 22, 2025 • 56 mins
In 1884 Pope Leo XIII had a vision. A terrible vision. He overheard a conversation between God and the Devil about the destruction of the Catholic Church and the horrors of the 20th Century. Was this vision real? Or was it a product of his love of cocaine wine and some present-day political factors?

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The Original "No Kings" Protest

June 16, 2025 • 57 mins
The French Revolution in 1789 is often regarded as a watershed moment in world history with the violent removal of King Louis XVI and his family from power. Despite its romantic portrayal, this was one of the ugliest and most savage revolts that was covered by blood and feces wall-to-wall. We breakdown what caused the events to set in motion and end with Louis and Marie Antoinette's unpleasant fate. 

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The Kennedy Who Should’ve Been President

June 9, 2025 • 77 mins
Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. — aka Joe Jr. aka JFK’s older brother — was the original prince of Camelot. Ordained from birth by his father, Joe Kennedy Sr., to be first Catholic president in American history, Joe was trained for that job his entire life. But along the way he had some interesting thoughts about Adolf Hitler and Brazilian women. Sadly we didn’t get to see how his life panned out because he was KIA in World War II. Stil...
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The High Priestess of Anarchy

June 2, 2025 • 90 mins
Emma Goldman, one of the most prolific anarchist activists of the Gilded Age, hated injustice and was willing to kill innocent people in order to combat it. She was a renowned anarchist orator who was drawn to the anarchist movement after a brutal childhood and a terrorist attack she found interesting. We recount the story of her rough, fascinating, and contradictory life.

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