Dark History

On the premiere episode of Dark History, Bailey dives deep into a topic that still is affecting us today! It is about an experiment and an injustice. The DuPont Chemical scandal is an exploration into synthetic chemicals possibly poisoning us all, a cover-up, and an unlikely lawsuit that exposes everything!

On this week’s episode, Bailey explores the story behind the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 in Los Angeles alongside an Historical Expert, Professor Pagan. Together, they discuss race relations in the US during this period, Zoot Suit inspiration from Jazz culture and the implications that the riots have even today!

Murder, Destruction and Racism are all discussed as Bailey digs into the unsettling story of The Rosewood Massacre, which was an attack on the predominantly black town of Rosewood, Florida, in 1923 by large white mobs destroying the entire location.

Today, Bailey dives deep into the story about Andrew Jackson, the master duelist, the man on the $20 bill, and the man responsible for the death of thousands of Native Americans.

Birth Control is in medicine cabinets all over the world, used by millions of women. But few know its scandalous history involves mass sterilizations of Puerto Rican women, an American business tycoon, and an activist who dabbled in eugenics. What’s eugenics? You’ll find out. And it ain’t pretty. Today, Bailey reveals the big history behind the little pill that changed family planning forever.

Today, we are going to talk about an insane chapter in medical history where a doctor sold a procedure, the lobotomy, as if it were an infomercial. For a low, low price, this idiot promised to solve all your mental illnesses. He just has to stick this ice pick in your brain.

Today, we are going to talk about how the media’s reporting on a basketball superstar’s overdose kicked President Regan’s War on Drugs into overdrive and led to incredibly harsh punishments for crack users vs. cocaine. Even though crack and cocaine are the same damn drug.

Today, we are going to talk about the Trail of Tears. Now, this is a heavy one, but it’s a necessary one. Over two decades, the U.S. Government stole Native land and relocated about 88,000 people. About 17,000 died along the way. But this is also a story of pride and resistance, with many of these tribes surviving to tell the story today.

Today, we are going to talk about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, where 146 garment workers lost their lives. This tragic story lives at the intersection of greedy capitalism, immigrant exploitation and social justice. Workers fighting for basic rights found themselves fighting for their lives.

Modern medicine had to start somewhere, right? And where it started ain’t too pretty. In order to study the inside of the body, bodies had to be dissected. And where did medical students and doctors get bodies to dissect in 1788? They stole ‘em from the cemetery, silly. Today, Bailey tells the wild story of the 1788 Doctors’ Riots.

When people think of American innovation, one name always comes up: Thomas Edison. But, just like everything else in our series, there’s a dark side to Tommy boy. Today, Bailey reveals a story that shines Edison in a different light, a more unflattering one filled with buried tales of greed, fame, dishonesty and, dare she say, murder.

Today, we’re going to talk about mind control, college students on acid, kitty cat spies, the CIA, and something called Operation Midnight Climax, which, sadly, is not a porno. All of this was a part of Project MKUltra and you’re going to hear why the CIA wanted it kept secret. Hop in, the water is… super weird.

Today, we are going to talk about how Edith Wilson quietly became the first female President of the U.S.A. after her husband, Woodrow, had a stroke. With no formal training in politics, Edith caused chaos behind closed doors while the American public had no clue what was going on.

Today, we are going to talk about Gay Conversion Therapy, an abusive practice where bad science and extreme religious views created hell on Earth for hundreds of thousands of people in the LGBTQ+ communities. And it continues to this day.

Today, we are going to talk about how Cobbs Creek, Philadelphia became a warzone in 1985 when police decided to evict the MOVE organization by dropping a bomb on their home, destroying the entire neighborhood in the process.

Today, we are going to talk about how a 1969 police raid on the Stonewall Inn sparked violent riots that would become the global revolution for LGBTQ+ liberation.

Today, we are going to talk about the Dancing Plague of 1518: a story where life in a charming French town was so horrible that the peasants broke into a dance… and couldn’t stop until they died.

In 1972, an article went viral before the internet existed. The headline read: “Syphilis Victims in U.S. Study Went Untreated for 40 Years.” This bombshell report exposed the Tuskegee Experiment for what it was: a crime against humanity. Today, Bailey tells the story of the study’s 400 participants and the monsters who lied and took advantage of them even though a cure to their illness was readily available.

Today, we are going to talk about one of the ugliest chapters in American history: Japanese-American Incarceration. From 1942 to 1946, the American Government forced over 100,000 Japanese Americans into concentration camps because they thought MAYBE they were spies.

Today, we are going to talk about how the Indigenous children of North America were forced into Residential Schools all with the intention to destroy the very culture their families were trying to preserve.

Today, we are going to talk about the Waco Massacre, a standoff between the U.S. Government, a religious group and their cult-like leader, David Koresh. Buckle up, there’s no story quite like this one.

Today, we are going to talk about a bloody day back in 1891 where 11 Italian people were lynched in New Orleans, how it almost started a war and created a Federal holiday we observe every year.

Today, we are going to talk about when the Black Plague arrived in San Francisco in 1899 and how panicked citizens, health officials and politicians had an eerily similar reaction to what we experienced in 2020.

Today, we are going to talk about the incredible story of Jazz, how America fell in love with it, how the Federal Government wanted to destroy it and how the genre’s most famous name, Billie Holiday, became public enemy #1.

Today, we are going to talk about the invention of caroling, a Christmas ghost story, a wartime truce and an unforgettable Hanukkah miracle. Four holiday stories packed into one shocking episode and delivered by Sarian Claus herself!

There's no Dark History episode this week, but here's a bonus episode of a story I did for Murder, Mystery & Makeup (which is now a podcast!!) about Cordelia Botkin.

Today, we are going to talk about some badass women who, even though they were dying from radiation poisoning, took their bosses to court over horrible working conditions. This is the story of the Radium Girls.

Hollywood is known for serving us drama in front of the camera. But, today we turned the camera around and took a look behind the scenes during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Scandals, abuse, death, cover ups. You name it, the Golden Age of Hollywood had it.

Today we head back to the world of slimy corporations. What started out as a company just looking to feed babies morphed into a cooperation with such a shady past even Dupont would blush. Yep, today we’re taking a closer look at Nestle and just a few of the awful things they’ve done as they’ve grown into a global corporation. And let me tell you, it is not pretty.

The News. However you feel about it, it’s something we all know and all kind of need. And we have seen how badly it can go when the people in charge of the news take advantage of that. But when did that all start. Well today we’re going to talk about just that. How two men flipped the news industry on its head, sensationalized the news, and changed how the news would be done.

Do you know who Sister Rosetta Tharpe is? Would you believe me if I told you she’s responsible for Elvis Presley, Chuck Barry, Little Richard, The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Jimmi Hendrix and basically Rock and Roll itself? Well today we’re gonna go into Rosetta’s story and learn about how she is the unknown mother of rock and roll.

Hawaii, the tropical paradise and the 50th state of the United States, or is it? Today we dive into the totally known but never discussed, illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. And how even today, it is known to be an illegal overthrow but nothing is being done.

Some things are hard to talk about, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn't talk about it. Which is why we are going to talk about the horrible, dark, treatment that people with disabilities have received for years. And we will also discuss their fight that led to the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Plus the fight we still have to fight today.

Today we continue on the path of how we can’t have nice things. Because our history is dark and shady. And that includes the history of Central Park, Lake Lanier, and Dodger Stadium. Or how they were known to the communities that called them home: Seneca Village, Oscarville, Palo Verde, La Loma, or Bishop.

Today, we are going to talk about what happens when capitalism intersects with the prison system. Here’s a hint: a whole lotta people get hurt and a small amount of people get super rich. Welcome to the Private Prison industry. It’s disgusting...

Periods. Let’s talk about them. Let’s talk about why we don’t talk about them. And let’s talk about how they’ve been talked about throughout history. Today we start to scratch the surface and the long and global history of menstruation and everything that comes with it.

There’s always money in the Banana stand, but that money has a dark, dirty history. And today we’re getting into just that. Today we’re going to talk about the WILD history of bananas.

Today dark history gets a little….drunk. That’s right babes, we’re talking about Prohibition. We know prohibition for the speakeasies, the flappers, and the bootleggers. But there's so much more to uncover. And ooooo, it is wild.

The circus. What a fun place for everyone. Unless you’re one of the employees they threw off a moving train. Or are an animal at one. Or were what they considered a “freak” Or even just decided to go be in the audience the day it all got set ablaze. Oh yeah. Today we’re talking about the dark history of the circus. And believe me when I tell you, there is a whole bunch of shady stuff going on under the big top.

Sallie Mae, just saying the name sends shivers down your spine. Why is that? Probably because she’s related to nearly $1.75 TRILLION worth of debt. All for the same thing: Student Loans. Today we get into the history of student loans. How did they start? How did they evolve to what we know today? And what did SallieMae do to make us all hate her?

What accounts for more arrests than ALL violent crimes combined? Need a hint? Well it is also a multi-billion dollar, totally legal industry? And not that this narrows it down, but it has a past that’s riddled with racism, greed, and shady dealings. Today we are talking all about the Dark History of Cannabis. And ooo let me tell you it is a STORY. So grab your munchie snacks and settle in.

The Silk Road. No, not the one with Marco Polo. But the one with drugs, Dread Pirate Roberts, and murder for hire. Today we go into the history of the internet’s Silk Road, which some refer to as “Amazon but for Drugs.” And they’re not wrong, but oh boy, there is so, SO much more to it.

Buckle in, babe, because we’re going to talk about the devastating world of DIET CULTURE. When I started researching this episode, all I wanted to know is who came up with the idea of a diet. But then I discovered that somewhere along the way, dieting became less about health and more about -surprise surprise- money and treating women horribly. So today, we’re headed everywhere from ancient Greece to Jane Fonda’s workout studio to figure out the Dark History of Diet Culture.

Cleopatra, Catherine the Great, Jackie Mitchell, and Yoko Ono. Maybe you’ve heard of these four amazing women, maybe you haven’t. But if you’ve heard of them, have you heard the truth? Or just what history wants you to know? Today we are going to dive deep into the stories of each of these women to expose the truth and tell their stories they way they were meant to be told.

Has anyone ever blamed being late on being a leo? Or talked about how mercury being in retrograde has really just screwed everything up? Have you ever wondered what any of that meant or how we got here? Well today we’re diving way back into the history of astrology and psychics and figuring out how we got from reading the stars to reading our horoscopes.

Who remembers the epic battle of our childhood known as NSYNC vs Backstreet Boys? Cause boy do I remember it. But what I did not realize was that it was all fake. It was orchestrated by one man who was raking in the cash from both bands. Today we get into that and much MUCH more about the dark history of boy bands, from when they started to where they are now. And let me tell you, it is QUITE a tale.

The AIDs epidemic. Yeah we’ve all pretty much heard of it. We've heard the horror stories, seen the ads, seen the fundraisers, and even know of lots of people who have it. But how much do we truly know about it? Today we are going to dive deep and really talk about the very heavy and very dark history of the AIDs epidemic.

I honestly had no idea what to expect when we started this Dark History journey a year ago, and it turned out to be so much more than I expected. We got to share some really crazy stories. Some good, some awful, some that sound like a soap opera, and some that I still can’t believe are true. Today we’re going to do something a little different and honor the best and the worst of season one. With Dark History presents: The Joanie Awards.