Slàinte! Join us on a walk through Merlin Woods in Galway on Ireland’s west coast. Our guides are local author Norbert Sheerin and Caroline Stanley from Friends of Merlin Woods. We visited Doughiska Castle, searched for a mysterious grave, and met the local hero: Batwoman. We also heard about a proposal to run a road through the woods. Think that’s making people angry? You bet!
In January 1788, eleven ships arrived in Botany Bay, Australia, after an arduous journey from Great Britain. Those on board would be forced to tame a continent, or die in the attempt. Australian Letham Burns joins us to discuss the legacy of the convicts, aged 9 to 82, exiled for often absurdly petty crimes aboard that First Fleet. It’s a tale of hardship, violence, and Vegemite — and of a starship named Botany Bay.
On Nov. 14, 1940, the Germans bombed Coventry, England, killing more than 550 civilians. Over three decades later, one man claimed — without proof — that Prime Minister Winston Churchill knew about the raid and let it happen to protect a secret: Britain had cracked the Nazi Enigma code. It’s one of history’s greatest lies, about one of history’s greatest men.
It’s the war between the states of Alaska and Ohio. The highest peak in North America is named after William McKinley, our 25th president, slain by an assassin in 1901. But some folks in Alaska want to replace his name with a native one. Here’s the case for and against, and suggestions for a McCompromise worthy of the Idol of Ohio himself.
These are a few of our angriest things, from the absurd Washington saucer anecdote and the true meaning of JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner”, to our current commander-in-chief misquoting Rutherford B. Hayes. It’s the 10 Greatest Things Our Presidents Never Said as the guys discuss Presidents’ Day 2013.
Dean visits Canton, Ohio, home and final resting place of his beloved William McKinley, and meets up with a fan of another martyred president nearby. Geoff Elliott of North Canton writes about Honest Abe at the Abraham Lincoln Blog. The two discuss Canton’s special place in sports and presidential history, as well as all things Lincoln. Geoff gives his opinion of Lincoln, as well as Lincoln the Vampire Slayer and similar works of fiction. Find out why Robert Todd Lincoln thought he was a jinx, and couldn’t escape assassinated presidents even in death, as well as why Mary Lincoln suffered so greatly.
Hear how Bruce Banner became David Banner on the Incredible Hulk (1978-1982), a theory about Sam Kinison’s history professor in Back to School, and get to know a little bit about the men behind Angry History.
