Historically High

Class, here's the deal...we usually don't condone cheating or shortcuts here at HHU. But we also understand trying to catch up on what the MCU has been up to the last 7 years (Yeah it's been 7 years, feeling old anyone) since Avengers: Endgame. Iron-man is Dr. Doom now? Wait I thought Jim from The Office was Mr. Fantastic in the movie with Patrick Stewart's Professor X. Yeah that did happen and a bunch of other stuff, tv series occurred, we had three Spider-men in one movie. There's a lot to unpack before you go see Doomsday. Let us unpack that...

Why did ancient civilizations, on every inhabited continent at different points in history independently decide the world was run by a giant scaled lizard? This week we break down humanity’s ultimate shared mythological trip—from our primate brains mashing big cats, raptors, and venomous snakes into an evolutionary super-predator, to the massive cultural clash between European knights stabbing subterranean gold-hoarders and Chinese emperors deifying benevolent, rain-summoning weather lords. Along the way, we explore ancient apothecaries grinding up dinosaur "dragon bones," Chinese magistrates roasting wooden water gods in the sun to end droughts, and the war between fantasy authors and mode...

The Phoenicians conquered the ancient world, not with sword or spear, but with ink, rotting mollusks, and the finest of Lebanese Cedar. In this episode, we take a wild ride through history's ultimate glue guys, starting with a cluster of competitive city-states that never even called themselves Phoenicians. We break down the secrets behind their maritime supremacy, uncovering how their agriculturally inferior homeland led to unmatched shipwrighting and open-sea navigation. Skills allowing them to pioneer an aquatic Silk Road of sorts and sail all the way to Spain for massive hauls of silver. Along the way, we explore their rich...

Strap in, because this week on Historically High, we’re heading back pre-Chernobyl, to 1979 to unpack the absolute disaster that was the Three Mile Island meltdown. When a routine cooling malfunction collided with a stuck valve, a blizzard of confusing control-room alarms, and operators making fatal guesswork, roughly half of Unit 2's uranium core melted down into radioactive sludge right in the middle of Pennsylvania. While the reactor was actively cooking itself from the inside out, Metropolitan Edison’s PR team kicked into full corporate gaslighting mode, frantically downplaying radiation leaks and insisting everything was fine while local residents ran for...

In August 1969, four twenty-somethings—two trust-fund heirs and two music hustlers—tried to fund a recording studio by throwing a music festival in Woodstock, only to trigger one of the most glorious logistical trainwrecks in American history. After getting evicted from two different towns, they convinced conservative dairy farmer Max Yasgur to lease his alfalfa pasture, but only had enough time to build the stage or the gates and fences. The Stage won. When 400K kids, instead of the estimated max of 200K, descended on Bethel, turning the New York State Thruway into a 20-mile parking lot, the gates became irre...

This episode is a long strange trip into the mind of John Hinckley Jr. John attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. Firing five shots, Hinckley would strike the President once. He was arrested immediately following the shooting. That's when the Hinckley case takes a turn. John Hinckley Jr had quite an obsession with Taxi Driver, and Jodie Foster. In John's mind, he was a Travis Bickle type character. In his mind, he needed to do something to make Jodie realize she loved him. That thing turned out to be trying to assassinate a president. That brings us to the most...

In the conclusion of our two-part September 11 deep dive, we step straight into the chaos of the morning itself—and the global fallout that followed. We walk through the timeline as it unfolded in real time: how the planes were taken, the shock of the strikes, the collapse of the towers, the hit on the Pentagon, and the fierce resistance aboard Flight 93, where ordinary passengers mounted a revolt in the skies over Shanksville. Alongside the devastation, we highlight the staggering, improbable survival stories and the acts of raw courage from first responders and everyday civilians navigating zero visibility. Then, we un...

This week on Historically High, we begin our two-part deep dive into September 11 by pulling back the curtain on everything that led to that fateful Tuesday morning. To understand how four commercial airliners were turned into guided missiles, you have to rewind decades. We start in the brutal, scorched valleys of the Soviet-Afghan War, tracking how the mujahideen resistance gave birth to both the Taliban and al-Qaeda. From there, we trace the rise of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the bloody trial runs that the world largely brushed off—from the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa to th...

The Japanese incorrectly thought they sink her three times earning her the moniker, The Grey Ghost. This week on Historically High, we chart the legendary run of the USS Enterprise (CV-6)—the carrier that carried the Pacific War on her back when it was literally Enterprise vs. Japan, and served as the godmother of modern naval aviation by pioneering 24-hour night combat and revolutionizing damage control. From her near miss at Pearl, to her critical role at Midway, to holding off suicide swarms at Okinawa, to her controversial absence at the Tokyo Bay surrender, we break down how the ultimate gh...

This week, we’re diving into the absolute circus of the late '90s: the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. We trace Bill’s slippery journey from slick Arkansas Governor dodging the Paula Jones lawsuit straight into the Oval Office, where a federal government shutdown, a strategic flash of a whaletail, and an unpaid intern collided to change American politics forever. Add in Linda Tripp armed with illegal cassette tapes, Kenneth Starr treating Whitewater like a personal soap opera, and the wildest semantics battle in legal history over what "is" actually is, and you’ve got a presidential impeachment born entirely out of chaoti...

This week on Historically High, we journey into the heart of ancient—and present-day—Cambodia to chart the epic rise and fall of the Khmer Empire. While Europe was just beginning to stumble into the Renaissance, Angkor had already perfected the largest pre-industrial city on the planet. From the uncomfortably massive Tonlé Sap lake to the awe-inspiring stone skyline, wonder at the jaw-dropping architecture of complexes like Angkor Wat and the Bayon. Plus, we unravel the empire’s true engine of power: an unparalleled network of reservoirs (barays), canals, and hydrological engineering that tamed the monsoon and fed millions. So how did...

We are finally here. Ted Kaczynski. The Unabomber. Insane IQ. Graduated high school at 15. Had a run-in at Harvard with a professor who worked for the OSS. Youngest associate professor at Cal Berkeley. Left academia for a shack in the Montana woods. Ted Kaczynski had a strong belief that technology was ruining humanity. In 2026, I'm not so sure we disagree. What we do disagree with was sending bombs in the mail to get the attention of the masses. If you don't know, you're about to find out. Join us as we get Historically High on The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Thanks...

Welcome to the Savage Mountain—a 28,000-foot pyramid of vertical blue ice, 60-degree rock walls, and a building-sized ice block that hangs over your head like a loaded gun. This week, we climb through the brutal history of the world's second tallest peak. Now while Everest might be just a little taller, 780' to be precise, K2 much tougher to summit and far deadlier. K2's historical death rate is 1 dead for every 4-5 climber that summit while Everest sits somewhere around 1 out of 100 who summit. K2 has only been summited by 800 individuals while over 7,500 can say that about Everest. Ev...

In the late 1940's and 50's America went through a type of mass hysteria fueled by both foreign governments and our own. The Cold War had just begun between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Russians soon built and tested an atomic bomb so Americans no longer felt untouchable in our own country. It was a time when accusations of being a communist or even attending a meeting unknowingly could land you in jail. It's during this Crimson Panic that Senator Joseph McCarthy began his one man, one weasel, crusade against communism in the states without silly things...

Here we are. The History of Cheese. My love letter to cheese. Cultures. Milk. Rennet. Salt. That's all you need to start making cheese. The history starts prior to written history. The cheesemaking process was carried across the world by war and exploration. That process mixed with the nature and animals of the regions, helped shape unique new kinds of cheese. We have a lot to cover from cheese crime to cheese types to cheese games to cheese getting you high? Join us as we get Historically High on Cheese! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz...

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The fallout of the 1929 crash proved that financial ruin is the ultimate catalyst for chaos. As global trade collapsed, countries turned inward ensuring their own survival. Germany's Weimar Republic fractured under catastrophic unemployment, creating the perfect environment for Adolf Hitler to market radical nationalism as the ultimate cure. Desperate populations traded democratic institutions for the promise of stability, transforming a banking disaster into an authoritarian takeover. Meanwhile, Great Britain and France were too crippled by their own domestic financial ruin to mount a meaningful response without severe public backlash they were unwilling to risk. By the time the dust...

When you think of the Great Depression, you probably picture frantic guys in three-piece suits yelling on Wall Street as the tickers went wild. But the fuse for the greatest economic crash in history wasn’t lit in New York. It was lit in the wheat fields of the American Midwest during World War I.

This week, we are kicking off a massive two-part series on The Great Depression. We start at home in the good ol U.S.A. before heading Global in next week's episode to explore the worldwide impact.

We'll discuss how Am...

Butch Cassidy was born Robert Leroy Parker to a mormon family in Utah. The man who would become The Sundance Kid would first be known as Harry Longabaugh from Pennsylvania. Butch, Sundance, and the rest of the Wild Bunch would make a name for themselves during the death rattle of the outlaw American west. To the public they appeared to be a group of Robin Hood-esque bandits and although they really only stole from the rich, the money didn't always make it to the poor in the traditional sense. On the run constantly and sensing the arms of the...

Just a few months after the Battle of Stalingrad ended in a crushing German defeat, Hitler decided he needed to reverse course on the Eastern Front. Enter Operation Citadel, the Nazi plan to pincer a large bulge (salient) the Soviets had caused in the German defensive line taking a large amount of Soviet troops prisoner. To make this happen Hitler would repeatedly delay the operation for months in order to wait for his new Wunderwaffen (Wonder Weapons), namely their newest tanks, The Panther and The Tiger. We while waiting for these hopeful game-changers to roll fresh off the assembly...

Disneyland officially opened in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955 one year and one day after they broke ground. Originally built on 160 acres of former orange groves, it featured 5 distinct lands all inspired by Walt's loves. Main Street U.S.A, opened up to other lands of Adventure, Fantasy, The American Frontier, and Tomorrowland. Disneyland was an audacious idea to say the very least but was it has grown into is nothing short of magic. Join us as we cover Walt's dream and see what it took to make it come true. 

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Catherine the Great, born a minor Prussian princess, transformed herself into one of Russia’s most famous rulers after orchestrating a coup to overthrow her unpopular husband, Tsar Peter III. Her 34-year reign saw the Russian Enlightenment begin to transform Russia, heavily expanding the empire’s borders and cementing them as a dominant European power. She did this by charming the pants off anyone who met her and ingratiating herself with people in the right positions. Her list of lovers and their contributions to Russia are pretty legendary but only slightly less so is the story of her rise.

The story of Margarita Robaval sees a French noblewoman marooned on the notoriously brutal Isle of Demons off the coast of Quebec after she infuriates her uncle by having an illicit affair with a young officer on board.

Scottish privateer Alexander Selkirk tell his captain he won't get back on the leaky, worm-eaten state of their ship. Demanding to be left ashore on an uninhabited South Pacific island, Selkirk thinks his crewmates will back him up. They don't and he's left alone. What follows are the events that will inspire the story of Robinson Crusoe.

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Escaping captivity, Spartacus and his army eventually reached over 100,000 former slaves, tearing across mainland Italy for two years and beating everything the Roman Republic could throw at them. Eventually they would be defeated by a man named Crassus, who would eventually go on to share power with Julius Caesar.

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This week we come to the chilling story of Harold Fredrick Shipman. Over Dr.Shipman's 28ish year medical career, he treated thousands of patients. He also may have killed 250 of his patients. The uncertainty isn't because he may not have killed them. The uncertainty is because he may have killed many more. The case of Harold Shipman is a bit of a head scratcher. His early life and motivations seem to differ from other serial killers. It would be great if we could interview him, but he took those secrets to the grave with him. It's time to dive...

We start out with the Monroe Doctrine - the legal and political "rules" the U.S. used to claim dominance over Central America and the Caribbean. This set the stage for the rise of corporate giants like the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit, who grabbed so much control over land and labor that they literally controlled the operational infrastructure (ports, railways, communication) of some countries. It wasn’t all business, if a government in any number of Central American countries attempted to negotiate terms for their people were deemed unfavorable by these companies, corporate backed private military coups wo...

Benjamin Franklin was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony as one of 17 children. The future Founding Father became his brother's printing assistance at 12, in a form of familial slavery before escaping to Philadelphia. He got his first taste of the motherland during a trip to England in his teens. He loved the Empire, as was as loyal a subject as they came. Returning to the colonies he become wealthy running his own printing company before becoming a diplomat. Being sent back and forth to England to represent the concerns of the colonists. It was around this time he started...

The Borgia were a noble family of Spanish origin who came to control the Catholic Church for a period of roughly 45 years. It began when Pope Callixtus III made his nephew Rodrigo the Vice Chancellor of the church at 27 years old, making him the most influential and powerful administrator in Christendom at the time. Throughout his tenure in the Papacy Rodrigo would lie, scheme, cheat, and murder to keep his position and the positions of his children...yes you heard that right he had many many children, safe. Rodrigo would eventually go on to become Pope Alexander VI in...

The Weaver family moved to Boundary County in Idaho after a number of visions. The end times that were supposed to follow, never came. The Weaver's found their way into the White Nationalist movement that had infiltrated Northern Idaho. Randy would find himself involved with an ATF informant which got him jammed up. When he refused to work with them, they charged him. After he missed his court date, the U.S. Marshals came down on the Weaver family in a way that is hard to understand. The standoff at Ruby Ridge is the ultimate example of government overreach...

The man who would become Genghis Khan (a title he took after uniting the peoples of the Steppe) started out as Temujin. Born into one of the smaller nomadic tribes of The Steppe (the vast stretch of plains that cover the middle of the asian continent), he was able to conquer the Steppe people's over a 20 year period until there were all under the Mongol banner. Once that was complete he turned his attention toward the Dynasties of China, before traveling across his empire to wipe the Khwarazmian Empire in the Middle East off the map. What? You've never...

The men who would first comprise E Company (Easy) would begin their journey at Camp Taccoa, Georgia. Parachute Infantry or Paratroopers were a new concept in WW2. They would be the pioneers. Jumping from planes behind enemy lines, they were supposed to fight surrounded. Engaging the enemy with limited weaponry and fighting with without vehicles or tanks required them to be in exceptionally well trained. They took part in some of the most pivotal events of the war and through it all leaned on each other for survival.

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The Challenger Disaster marked one of the lowest points in the history of NASA, and what's worse is it was completely preventable. The Space Shuttle program had been kicked off in April 1981 and had executed 24 successful launches prior to January 28th, 1986. For a while it had been known by Morton Thiokol, the builders of the solid fuel rocket boosters that carried the shuttle into orbit, and NASA, an issue with the boosters O-Ring seals was present during launches. While nothing disastrous has happened it was the opinion of the engineers at Thiokol that it was only a matter of...

Books close, pull out your Pens and Papers. Time to find out if you know your sweets, or if you're just a salty little bitch. Snacks....we're talking about the origins of some of history's greatest snacks. 

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We're big fans of Princess Di here at Historically High. She had it all, the looks, the brains, the cheeky sense of humor. But what she really wanted was a family. Diana Spencer grew up in the aristocracy. Her parents divorced early in her life due to her dad being an asshole creating her desire for a stable family. Her father was Earl Spencer (Earl being a Title) which made Di and her siblings Lords and Ladies. She never really did fit that mold though. She met the man she would eventually marry (Prince Charles) when she was 16. He...

The fabled lost city of Atlantis was introduced to the world by the Father of Western Philosophy, Plato himself. He described in detail an advanced island civilization who's unmatched navy came from west of the Mediterranean attempting to destroy Athens, only to be driven back by the scrappy smaller city-state. Due to their slight against a favored city of the gods and their continued hubris a great disaster befell Atlantis destroying it and sinking it below the waves. Now we feel need to mention, as Plato tells it, this place which he very much claims is real, existed 9000 years...

After the success of the D-Day landings in France and the break out from the Normandy area, momentum was on the side of the Allies. The German Army was being pushed back across a wide front and had yet to put up a resistance capable of halting the advance. Confidence was sky-high and the Allies thought ending the war by Christmas of 1945 was a real possibility. All that was needed was a corridor into Germany itself. The Siegfried Line limited the routes available to move armor so any and all options were being considered. Bernard Montgomery had an idea...

Al Capone came to the head of the Chicago Outfit at 26 years of age. Now leading the largest organized crime family outside of New York, Al made a fortune by bootlegging in liquor during prohibition. He definitely did all the other mob stuff, Gambling, Sex Work, Racketeering, but booze is where he hit it big. Fighting for control of the lucrative alcohol game spilled onto the streets of Chicago in a way that hadn't and still hasn't been seen. This was a time when you'd be walking down Michigan Avenue and see 4 guys jump out of a car in...

Yes we know that's a lengthy title. By the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, it had been 20 years since the U.S. won the gold. Those two decades saw a dominance unlike any other at the time by the Soviet Union and their seemingly unbeatable team. The Cold War was front and center. Expectations were pretty low for the U.S. Men's team going into the games but through a series of lucky events a man named Herb Brooks was put in the driver seat. Herb was coming off a NCAA Hockey National Championship in 1979 at the...

The man who would come to be known as The Bard, was born in April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom. One of, if not the greatest playwright in human history, William Shakespeare is responsible for 38 plays, 154 Sonnets, and credited with the invention of over 600 words in the English language. We still use phrases he invented on a daily basis. The man lived the theater and had a gift for capturing the complicated nature of people, creating complex but relatable characters and doing so with a masterful use of language. The man was also an entrepreneur, owning a share of his...

The Red Ball Express was the life line of supplies that kept the allies going after the D-Day landings. The Allies had no port in mainland Europe capable of bringing in the supplies needed right after the invasion. Enter the Red Ball Express, a literal army of trucks and drivers moving an almost unimaginable amount of ammo, fuel, etc to the allied armies as they moved to push the Germans out of France. 

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