Podcast · History

Our Fake History

by PodcastOne · English · History

A podcast about myths we think are history and history that might be hidden in myths! Awesome stories that really (maybe) happened!

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 18 min
Latest: 6 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 37 min

Special Series - How Do You Explain Tesla? (Part II)

In this special series Sebastian presents a story that was originally created exclusively for Patrons back in 2020. The extra-long original episode is now being presented in two installments. Sebastian knew Tesla was figure shrouded in historical myths… he just didn’t know how many. It turns out Tesla may be one of the most mythologized people to have lived in the last 200 years. Tesla was as great a showman as he was an inventor. He created an image of himself in the American media that made him seem more like a wizard than a scientist. Decades later, when Tesla’s memory was being revived,…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

22 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 40 min
Special Series - How Do You Explain Tesla? (Part I)
In this special series Sebastian presents a story that was originally created exclusively for Patrons back in 2020. The extra-long original episode is now being presented in two installments. Sebastian knew Tesla was figure shrouded in historical myths... he just didn't know how many. It turns out Tesla may be one of the most mythologized people to have lived in the last 200 years. Tesla was as great a showman as he was an inventor. He created an image of himself in the American media that made him seem more like a wizard than a scientist. Decades later, when Tesla's memory was being…
15 Sep 2026 · 37 min
Bonus Episode - Fakelore, Fan Fiction, and Local Giants
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent shows on Paul Bunyon and the Children's Crusade. The host takes some time to further unpack the idea of fakelore and draw some distinctions between "authentic" lore and the creations of money writers. Sebastian also compares the differences between folklore and urban legends. Finally, Sebastian shares a few giant stories from the Lake Huron region and talks about some contemporary online creators playing fast and loose with the Children's Crusade myth. Tune-in and find out how Atlantis, Giant's Tomb, and newspaper sages all…
8 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 16 min
Episode #257 - Was There a Children's Crusade?
In the year 1212 something strange happened in Western Europe, but none of the contemporary historic sources can agree on exactly what it was. Later historians would claim that a religious movement made up of children under twelve sprang up in rural France. After gathering together thousands of pre-teen followers this crusade set out to liberate the holy land. However, we're told that this so-called Children's Crusade ended in disaster. According to some sources, the children were attacked, starved, murdered, or sold en-masse into slavery. But is any of that true? Was there really a…
25 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 14 min
Episode #256 - Is Paul Bunyan Fakelore?
Season 12 begins with the trip to the Northwoods! For over a century Paul Bunyan has been America's best loved lumberjack hero. Statues honoring the gigantic woodsman dot the mid-west. His smiling face has been used to sell everything from building materials to loaves of bread. But, in the 1950's one of America's leading folklorists declared that Paul Bunyan was a prime example of something he called "fakelore." These were tales invented by authors that mimicked stories that came out of oral traditions. He accused Paul Bunyan of being a corporate mascot masquerading as an authentic American…
18 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 14 min
OFH Throwback - Episode #149 - Who Was the Real Stagger Lee?
In this throwback episode Sebastian takes you to an episode that is one of his personal favorites. Is it "secretly" one of the best episode of OFH? The character of Stagger Lee has been one of America’s most enduring folk heroes. There have been over 400 songs written about the swaggering, gun-toting, bad man. He has gone by many names: Stacks Lee, Stagolee, Staxs O’Lee. Sometimes he is presented as a malevolent villain, others a heroic defender of the oppressed. No matter the telling Stagger Lee is always a badass. Is this figure just a piece of fiction dreamt up by blues musicians and…
13 Aug 2026 · 5 min
"You're Dead to Me" from the BBC
With a new star-studded film adaptation of The Odyssey bringing Homer's world back to the big screen, it’s the perfect time to share a teaser clip from our friends at You're Dead To Me. It's the BBC comedy podcast that takes history seriously, bringing together experts and comedians to explore the people, stories and ideas that shaped our world. If you like what you hear you can find full episodes of You're Dead to Me wherever you get your podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
11 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 26 min
OFH Throwback - Episode #117 - What Went Down On Easter Island? (Part II)
In this throwback episode Sebastian takes you to the conclusion of one of the podcast's most discussed series. The island of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, has been called “the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself.” For years it was taken for granted that the people of Rapa Nui had depleted their natural resources in pursuit of bigger and better stone statues called Moai. However, recent scholarship has called into to question the widely known story of ecological collapse. Were the people of Rapa Nui really the authors of their own destruction, or has this narrative been unfairly…
4 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 20 min
OFH Throwback - Episode #116 - What Went Down on Easter Island? (Part I)
In this Throwback Episode Sebastian revisits one of the best loved series from Season 6. Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as the indigenous islanders call it, may be the most misunderstood place on planet Earth. For centuries outsiders have tried to unravel what they perceived to be the islands many mysteries. How did stone age people manage to get to such a remote island? How did these people build the island’s remarkable statues? What caused this unique society to collapse? Recent research has completely upended many previous assumptions about this storied island. Was the mysterious collapse…
28 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 14 min
OFH Throwback - Episode #145 - Real Gryphons?
In this Throwback Episode Sebastian revisits one of his favourite episodes from Season 7 and brings in some new critiques that did not make it into the original show! The legendary hybrid creature known as the gryphon was said to have the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Despite this fantastical descriptions the ancient Greeks and Romans truly seemed to have believed that gryphons were real animals. It was thought that gryphons lived in arid steppes and deserts of central Asia where they guarded stashes of gold. Stories of gryphons made their way to Mediterranean by way of…
14 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 30 min
Episode #255 - Rhiannon Giddens: Can the Banjo Explain American History?
Rhiannon Giddens is a multi-instrumentalist, a singer, and a composer. She is a MacArthur Genius fellow, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and one the most dynamic voices in American folk and roots music performing today. She’s also one of the knowledgeable people you can possibly talk to when it comes to history of the banjo and American music generally. In the finale of season 11 Ms. Giddens joins Sebastian for a sprawling talk about how the history of the banjo is deeply connected to America's tumultuous development as a nation. Is the banjo America's most misunderstood instrument? Tune-in and…
7 Jul 2026 · 50 min
Bonus Episode - Plagiarizing Patriots, Human Chickens, and Canadian Character Assassination
On this Bonus Episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent series on the Knights of the Air and the one-off on the Midnight Ride. The host grapples with questions about the American perception of Canadian history, tarring and feathering, WWI weaponry, and Paul Revere's plagiarized engravings. Sebastian also gives some important updates about the end of Season 11, the start of Season 12, and plays a new song from Staring Contest. Tune-in and find out how angry letters, machine gun poetry, and Canadian theatre all play a role in the story.Get the new album from Staring Contest HERE See…
30 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 34 min
Episode #254 - What Went Down on the Midnight Ride?
Paul Revere is one of the best remembered heroes of the American Revolution. The Boston silversmith is often credited with rousing the Massachusetts countryside to resist the King's army as they moved against the towns of Lexington and Concord. However, he popular understanding of the famous "midnight ride" was largely shaped by a romantic poem written 85 years after the fact by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The image of Paul Revere as a lone rider, single handedly saving the revolutionary cause has become a textbook historical myth. The real story is way weirder and more exciting than the…
16 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 18 min
Episode #253 - Were the Knights of the Air a Myth? (Part II)
By 1916 the airplane had proven itself as an important new weapon in the Great War. Arguably just as important was the image of the glamorous flying aces. Entire flying units, like France's Lafayette Escadrille made up of American volunteers, were created with the hope of generating positive press that could bring the United States into the war on the side of allies. When America did join WWI in 1917, there was a belief that the airplane was the "natural weapon of Americans." Some lawmakers dreamed of building a war-winning American airplane armada. Meanwhile, the reporting on flying aces…
2 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 9 min
Episode #252 - Were the Knights of the Air a Myth? (Part I)
At the outbreak of First World War airplanes were still a novelty on the battlefield. Originally planes were used for reconnaissance and the pilots were usually unarmed. This quickly changed and soon airplanes were being outfitted with machine guns and tasked specifically with destroying enemy aircraft. Fighter pilots were a new type of warrior, but ironically they started to be described in medieval terms. Stories began to appear in the wartime press about acts of courtesy between enemy pilots. Soon propagandists were claiming that airmen were "knights of the air" bound by an unwritten code…
26 May 2026 · 42 min
Bonus Episode - Roman Bondage, Voodoo Macbeth, and Bunga Bunga
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about episode 249, 250, and 251. First, he does his best to grapple with how morality should factor into history education. Then a listener provides an epic email about Orson Welles' legendary production of "Voodoo Macbeth" and cursed run of Romeo and Juliet. Finally, Sebastian looks at the weird legacy of the phrase "bunga bunga." Tune-in and find out how missing chickens, corrupt Italian Prime ministers, and a wounded Benvolio al play a role in the story! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at…
20 May 2026 · 1 hr 20 min
Episode #251 - What Was the Dreadnought Hoax?
When the HMS Dreadnought was launched in 1906 it completely revolutionized naval warfare. It made all previous ships obsolete and helped spur an arms race between Britain and Germany. For many the Dreadnought was symbol of the militarism that was sweeping Europe before World War One. Then in 1910 the ship was targeted by pranksters, who managed to get access to Dreadnought by impersonating Abyssinian (Ethiopian) royalty. The pranksters wore gaudy theatre costumes and blackface make-up. Despite this, they still somehow managed to fool the Dreadnought's officers. In the years since the prank…
5 May 2026 · 1 hr 13 min
Episode #250 - Is Macbeth Cursed?
Every theatre kid can tell you that Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth is a cursed play. Some believe that even saying the name of the play in a theatre where it is not being performed can jinx a production. Stories of misfortune, injury, and death haunt productions of Macbeth like the ghost of a slain friend. It has been suggested that the curse of Macbeth goes all the way back to it's first performance in 1606. However, evidence of this is sketchy at best. When did people start believing that there was a hex on Macbeth? Does it date to the 17th century or is something else going on here?…
21 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 24 min
Episode #249 - Who Built Rome? (ft. Dr. Emma Southon)
The Roman Empire is often remembered for it's grand works of architecture and formidable military. However, for most of its history Rome's economy was underpinned by the labour of millions of individuals who had been forced into slavery. Despite the fact that enslaved people quite literally built Rome, their lives were rarely recorded by the ancient historians. In her new book Not Built In a Day historian Emma Southon seeks to bring new attention to Rome's relationship with slavery. Dr. Southon joins Sebastian for a wide ranging chat about Rome's addiction to bondage and the lives of people…
14 Apr 2026 · 35 min
Bonus Episode - Minor Miners, Activist Entertainers, and Spanish Painters
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes question from the listeners about the recent episodes on Henry Box Brown and Snow White. First, we hear some comments from a listener in Iceland who wanted to weigh in on the North American Vikings. Then Sebastian unpacks some tricky questions about the line between activism and entertainment. Finally the host muses about the Mandela Effect and considers an interesting question about little people who were known to serve at the Hapsburg court. Tune-in and find out how the speed of sound, the one ticket sold to Kazaam, and "Minor Miners" all play a role…
7 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 23 min
Episode #248 - Was There a Real Snow White?
The Brothers Grimm once write that "Snow White" was Germany's best known folktale. When the beloved fairytale served as the inspiration for the famous 1937 Disney film the story reached new levels of international recognition. There are many elements of the Snow White tale that seem to be timeless mythic tropes, but there are some in Germany who believe that the character may have been based on a real person. The hunt for the real Snow White has been complicated by pranksters and satirists who have been spoofing the world of "fairytale archaeology" for decades. Is there anything to the…
24 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 30 min
Episode #247 - Was Box Brown Magically Emancipated?
One of the most celebrated stories from the Underground Railroad is that of Henry Box Brown, the man who mailed himself to freedom. In 1849 Henry Brown successfully had himself shipped out of slavery in a packing crate from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brown's ingenious and audacious escape from slavery immediately caught the attention of abolitionists all over the country. The story of his escape was not only exciting, it was deeply symbolic, and proved a powerful tool that could draw people into the anti-slavery movement. Box Brown soon became one the most sought…
17 Mar 2026 · 41 min
Bonus Episode - Disappearing Doppelgängers, Viking Thralls, and the Comedy of the Sagas
In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent series on the Viking voyages to North America. In it he reckons with the history of slavery in the Norse world, guesses at why the southern Vinland of settlement of Hóp remains undiscovered, and muses about doppelgängers. Tune-in and find out how controversial episode art, tidal lagoons, and absurdist saga writers all play a role in the story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
11 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 25 min
Episode #246 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part III)
For centuries the western Norse colony of Vinland was known only to scholars of the Icelandic Sagas. But in the 19th century the work of a few Scandinavian historians helped revive interest in these previously obscure tales. When the Danish historian Carl Christian Rafn published in his work in English in 1837, many American's were exposed to the idea that the Norse had beaten Columbus to North America by 500 years. Many New Englanders were also excited by the idea that the legendary colony of Vinland may have been in Cape Cod. However, this new interest in the American Vikings also kicked…
24 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 16 min
Episode #245 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part II)
The only literary sources we have about the Viking settlements west of Greenland come from the Icelandic Sagas. The only problem is that the Sagas can be totally off-the-wall. Corpses reanimate and speak prophecies, giant-eyed doppelgängers vanish into thin air, and one-legged creatures murder unsuspecting Norse explorers. But, this same sources also describe interactions between the Norse and the Vinland's first people that sound remarkably believable. The people the Norse called the Skraeling's act quite a lot like the Algonquin speaking peoples of Canada's east coast. How do we separate…
10 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 20 min
Episode #244 - How Far Did the Vikings Voyage? (Part I)
Between the 9th and 11th centuries Norse explorers undertook a series of remarkable journeys through the North Atlantic. Iceland and Greenland were settled by medieval farmers eager to find new uninhabited lands. But just how far west did these seafarer's manage to travel? The unique Icelandic texts known as the sagas tell tales of journeys to a fertile and abundant country south west of Greenland named Vinland, or the Land of Wine, for the wild grapes that allegedly grew there. Archaeology has proven that the Norse managed to reach Northern Newfoundland, but could the rocky North Peninsula…
3 Feb 2026 · 36 min
Bonus Episode - Ponzi Empires, Thieving Saints, and Skin Grafts
In this Bonus Episode Sebastian takes questions from listeners about the series on the original Ponzi Scheme. The host investigates the history of the expression "robbing Peter to pay Paul", locates early usages of the phrase "getting Ponzied", and muses about whether all expansionist empires are actually just big Ponzi Schemes. Sebastian also throws out a possible replacement for "Watergate" as the go-to synonym for a scandal. Tune-in and find out how cheeky bank ads, skin grafts, and Atilla the Hun all play role in the story. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California…
27 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 22 min
Episode #243 - What Was Ponzi's Scheme? (Part II)
Charles Ponzi's remarkable rise and fall played out over the course of a wild eight month period. He went from being a failed importer-exporter mired in debt to Boston's most talked about self-made millionaire in a matter of weeks. After rebranding his company as the Securities Exchange Company, Ponzi started offering remarkable 50% returns to investors after only 90 days. But almost immediately Ponzi's plan to use postal coupons to game international exchange rates became impractical. But, instead of grabbing as much cash as he could and making a dash, Ponzi believed he could transform his…
13 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 21 min
Episode #242 - What Was Ponzi's Scheme? (Part I)
The name Charles Ponzi has become synonymous with financial frauds. In 1920 the formerly obscure Italian immigrant suddenly became one of the most famous men in Boston when his Securities Exchange Company started offering investors remarkable returns. Ponzi claimed that he had discovered an ingenious method of using postal coupons to profit off international exchange rates. However, before the year was out his scheme had totally unraveled. What many Bostonians did not know was that Ponzi was a two-time ex-convict with a history as fraudster. Still, there may have been more to Ponzi than his…
30 Dec 2025 · 37 min
Bonus Episode - Grisly Trophies, Evil Cowboys, and Questionable Mascots
In this Bonus Episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent series on Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show. He unpacks Bill's influence on the cowboy hero archetype, dives into the contentious history of scalping, and learns some fun facts about Bill's legacy in Belgium. Tune-in and find out how historical reenactors, P.T Barnum, and questionable mascots all play a role in the story!Join us in Greece in 2026! Check out the itinerary and book HERE!Check out the merch at out T-Public store HERE! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at…

About Our Fake History

A podcast about myths we think are history and history that might be hidden in myths! Awesome stories that really (maybe) happened!

Our Fake History is a English history podcast from PodcastOne. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: PodcastOne
Language: English
Category: History
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 18 min
Latest episode: 6 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1021703062

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