History Troll artwork

History Troll

19 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 4 ratings

Quirky trolls challenging "accepted" history. Each show features a troll, some support and a wrap up. Basically, uncommon takes on history tweaked to encourage a wee bit of critical thinking, the occasional grrr and a few smiles. If the troll hooks you, head over to historytroll.com, speak your mind and find out more about the topics. "Trollcasting" the fun back into history, this is History Troll.

Society & Culture History history education
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Episodes

Ice Power: How the Great Lakes were Made

September 18, 2018 04:00 - 12 minutes - 5.82 MB

How the Great Lakes were formed. While a very cool story in and of itself (so much ice the winter king would wet himself with glee), the formation of the Great Lakes and the land around them informs all of the history we'll be covering this season.

Pirates Unsalted: Great Lakes Pirates Part 2

September 03, 2018 04:00 - 11 minutes - 5.5 MB

We get into the piracy on the Great Lakes done during the Revolutionary period and move forward to it's role in the civil war.

Hamilton Committed Suicide and Burr Wasn't a Jerk

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 13 minutes - 6.32 MB

Hamilton was suffering blows to almost every vital aspect of his life before his duel with Burr and when you add up his pain to his snowballing problems he was in a desperately bad place in life. When you add it up and look at how the events transpired suicide by duel starts to look not only plausible but probable. Burr is frequently maligned in history yet the guy wasn't as bad as his political opponents wanted everyone to believe.

Hannibal Shmanibal: Taking the Barca off the Hannibal Myth

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 16 minutes - 7.86 MB

The march , the wins, and all the high fallutin sounding accolades for military genius sure do sound good. So good in fact that they've earned Hannibal a place of exalted greatness among the greatest military commanders of all time. In this podcast we are looking at Hannibal not as a great but as a myth because there his a whole lot of hogwash in the hoopla regarding Hannibal.

America's MOST "Money" Supermodel Ever

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 4 minutes - 2.03 MB

Under the Bridge Studios invites you to try History Troll - mini style. This is the first Mini Troll, a format for the little stories in history that are still really cool and interesting despite being small. It's kind of the bathroom magazine version of the full length podcast. Short history matters, just like short people!! The bald truth of America's first truly "Money" supermodel is one of history's little flights of fancy that lends itself to the troll side of life. Heck, it only las...

Franklin is our Real Founding Father

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 22 minutes - 10.4 MB

When looking at the founding father deserving the accolade, father of our nation, Washington is almost always given the honor. All respect to Washington, when you look at the achievements and influence of Ben Franklin, Washington loses that title. When you consider Franklin's influence on Washington it becomes even more clear that Franklin is the father of our nation- our greatest founding father. Just have a listen, you'll hear many more reasons why Franklin beats out Washington.

Marie Antoinette Wasn't All Bad

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 15 minutes - 7.32 MB

Marie Antoinette, contrary to the caked up myth, faced some unique challenges in life and showed some real strength facing death.

The Custer Effect

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 13 minutes - 6.23 MB

What happens when all the History focuses on one big hero and overshadows the lessons beyond the big story? The Custer Effect is what happens. To see what that means you'll just have to listen to the troll. Behind the big Custer story many know is one that has, perhaps, an even more important lesson than anything we can learn from just looking at Custer alone.

The Greatest Rebel Ever

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 22 minutes - 10.7 MB

We take a look at Grace O Malley with a focus on her achievements instead of the traditional approaches and come away with a whole new level of respect. Fact is when you look at her as a rebel her historical rank goes up into the big leagues.

The Henry the 8th of America

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 16 minutes - 7.52 MB

A king was crowned in America in 1850. There was a coronation ceremony complete with a scepter, a robe and the placement of a crown by a prime minister. It happened far from Washington DC on a beautiful island near the northern tip of Lake Michigan and it involved a guy who just needed an "e" added to his last name to add the perfect touch to his place in history. King James Strang of Beaver Island, has a story worth hearing so we invite you to listen to some of it in this week's episode o...

The Liberty Bell is Sick of Puberty

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 25 minutes - 11.7 MB

As a symbol of one of our most cherished values The Liberty Bell is cracked. It's crack changed its voice as it was adopted as a symbol of abolition. It's crack silenced it's ring just as it was emerging as a powerful symbol of liberty during the divisive politics that led to the civil war. As a nation it helped gather our founders for the crafting of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution yet as we grew larger, more powerful and, like one in puberty, had to deal with our in...

Without Benedict Arnold We'd Be British!

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 12 minutes - 5.56 MB

Using the word hero regarding this weeks subject, Benedict Arnold, definitely requires tragic in front of it. Treasonous tragic hero, what does that even mean? Have a listen and you'll get a better idea. Had his career ended just after Saratoga, we'd probably have a city named Arnold in just about every state. Seriously, have a listen, before he turned bad, he was one seriously impressive soldier.

Lee Cost the South the Civil War

August 25, 2018 04:00 - 11 minutes - 5.3 MB

Short term, Lee was amazing but when you zoom out to the long term, Lee was always losing. Historically, his battle glory has overshadowed his failure to win the war. In today's first podcast of History Troll, we kick that shadow aside and judge based on the loss.

Pirates Unsalted: Great Lakes Pirates Part 1

August 18, 2018 04:00 - 19 minutes - 9.1 MB

Who needs parrots in a region with plenty of crows. The fresh water pirates of the Great Lakes provide a refreshingly fresh look at the traditionally scurvy salt water occupation of plundering piracy. It's all about aaaargggggitude in this podcast as we look at a rare form of piracy rarely discussed, a pirate king, dominant fleets that plundered far and wide, historic new directions and a boat stealing, cannon shooting, Yooper pirate captain - who couldn't lose for getting totally busted.

The Greatest Spy of WW2

August 06, 2018 04:00 - 14 minutes - 6.71 MB

The bravery and daring of spies and all the cloak and dagger drama has a huge place in our popular culture. From Bond to Bristow we, have enjoyed the tales of fictional adventures that save the world from all kinds of evil. In this podcast we look at a real life spy whose success prompted the Gestapo to identify them as the most dangerous spy of the war. When you hear the story you'll understand the title of "The Greatest Spy of WW2," and have found a very worthy hero to appreciate and re...

Julius Caesar Committed Suicide

May 23, 2018 04:00 - 29 minutes - 13.9 MB

Caesar was being branded a tyrant, losing his rep, his youth, and facing a tough road to maintaining much less improving his already incredible glory.

Without Robert Morris We'd Be British

May 20, 2018 04:00 - 12 minutes - 6.01 MB

Robert Morris is the guy who paid all the bills, ran the navy and the finances during the American Revolution. He gave a ton to help found our nation- no one else is even close when it comes to personal financial contribution. He didn't win any battles but the bullets and gunpowder he provided were used in all the victories that led to us winning the war. His money unlocked our independence yet our history doesn't respect him. That is BS, defined.

Hedy Lamarr: Power Mind

May 12, 2018 04:00 - 7 minutes - 3.79 MB

Genius, in the form of a movie star from Vienna who immigrated the United States and did something so smart and powerful, you and I use it everyday.

History Troll Introduction

March 10, 2018 05:00 - 1 minute - 960 KB

What the show is all about.

Books

The Liberty Bell
1 Episode