Our Fake History

The oldest known piece of literature on the planet is the epic tale of Gilgamesh, king of the Mesopotamian city-state of Uruk. The story was a staple of middle-eastern storytelling for well over a tho...

There are few Christian saints more misunderstood than St. Patrick. Ireland's patron saint is best known for driving the snakes off the island, but that isn't even close to the most interesting thing ...

In 1611 a the Hungarian Countess, Elizabeth Bathory, was confined to her castle of Cachtice, never to leave again. This sentence was imposed on her by the Lord Palatine of Hungary. But strangely, even...

Throw the name Elizabeth Bathory into your favourite search engine and you will quickly find superlatives like “history’s most prolific female serial killer” and leading questions like “Was Dracula Wo...

In episode #125 a historical myth about the origins of karate snuck past Sebastian! In this bonus episode the host does his darndest to set the record straight. Many thanks to listener Philipp Surkov ...

Martial arts myths are have been described as "savvy marketing". But, the most enduring bits of of fake martial arts history also combine Zen tradition, a Confucian veneration of the past, and a healt...

Asian martial arts are often coated in a thick layer of of legend. Many fighting styles have elaborate origin stories and mystical founding fathers. These stories often help enhance the prestige of a ...

For this Bonus Episode Sebastian is sharing something he recorded earlier this year for a project curated by Daniele Bolelli, host of History on Fire. Sometime last year Daniele got the idea to pull t...

These days Nostradamus is best known for the predictions found in his book The Prophecies. But, surprisingly, that book only became popular after the French seers' death. During his lifetime Nostradam...

The 16th century French prophet, Nostradamus, has a way of rearing his head anytime humanity finds itself in the midst of a crisis. Anytime there's a collective tragedy, the world is plunged into conf...