History Troll

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 inner turmoil our voice of liberty, The Liberty Bell, cracked and effectively lost its voice even as it emerged as a national icon of liberty while we descended into the discord that set the stage for the civil war. This crack seems to be a profound symbol within the symbol in the context of our internal struggles regarding who gets liberty, what it means and how we approach our internal struggles with liberty.

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 of History Troll.

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.

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.

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.

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 lasts about 5 minutes and you'll learn something. Supermodel history, where else are you going to get that?

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 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 respect.

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.

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.

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.

What the show is all about.