Noble Blood

Plenty of Harry Potter fans love Severus Snape. A few truly worshipped him. In the early 2000s, these fans found each other online and came to believe Harry’s least favorite professor was real. A god in an alternate universe that bled into our own. Nothing in the world could shake their devotion to Snape. 

Until their sisterhood imploded.

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Listen to Dana Schwartz on Very Special Episodes every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts.

Special thanks to our guest Dr. Zoe Alderton, author of Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion Within the Harry...

Hi, Noble Blood listeners! We're excited to share with you a sneak peek at iHeartPodcasts' latest release, Midnight Radio!

Midnight Radio: Starring five-time Academy Award®-nominee Ethan Hawke as “The Radio Man,” MIDNIGHT RADIO is a new, fantastical horror podcast. Told in real-time through the lens of a cult-favorite late-night AM radio show, the series follows a host (played by Ethan) whose eerie, conspiracy-themed call-in program takes a chilling turn. One night, he receives a call from a man claiming to be part of a secret U.S. space mission lost to history—just the first thr...

When the childless King Henry III's brother died, the heir to the throne became a cousin from the Bourbon dynasty. There was only one problem: he wasn't Catholic. 

Support Noble Blood:
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How does a queen show her power through her clothing? In her book DRESSING THE QUEEN, historian Kate Strasdin traces two hundred years of the most important garments that a royal can wear.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
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When she was still a child, Margaret Tudor, sister of the future King Henry VIII, was married to the King of Scotland. But it wouldn't be until her husband's death that Margaret would face the greatest challenges of her life during her regency.

Support Noble Blood:
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During Henry VIII's reign, his dynasty was looking shaky: he had only one son, and if Henry died before his heir came of age, the country would be in danger of a civil war. Worse, there were still heirs to the York family in England, possibly plotting against him...

Support Noble Blood:
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In 1077, the King of Germany and future Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV walked barefoot in the snow and waited three days outside of Canossa Castle. He had been excommunicated by the Pope and was hoping to appeal to the Pope's sense of forgiveness. But the Pope was only at Canossa Castle himself because he was being hosted by Matilda of Tuscany, a fascinating figure at the heart of one of the most famous religious episodes in history.

Support Noble Blood:
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In 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart ducked out of a White House event and commandeered an airplane. The First Lady and the first lady of aviation flew to Baltimore and back. The event was documented by journalists, and later recounted in books. But there was more to this spontaneous joyride that didn't make the papers. 

Listen to Dana Schwartz on Very Special Episodes wherever you get your podcasts.

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In the reign of Henry VIII, religion in England became a minefield of confusing and shifting doctrine. Anne Askew, the daughter of a well-connected courtier, preached her interpretation of the Bible. Her punishment was more a matter of politics than of doctrine. 

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
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In the new film Uprising, a ploughman played by Andrew Garfield joins in the 1381 Peasants' Revolt against Richard II of England. Historian Dan Jones served as the medieval consultant on the film, and joins us to discuss the movie, and his upcoming book, CASTLES.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

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Leopoldina married into the royal family of Portugal, which meant moving to Brazil with her husband. But civil war was bubbling on both sides of the Atlantic, and while her husband was out of town and Leopoldina was serving as Princess Regent, she would be faced with making a fateful decision that would define the future of her country. 

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

The image of Uncle Sam saying "I Want You!" is one of the most famous poster designs in the world... but it was a copycat of a British original. Their version didn't feature a fictional mascot, but a very real, very living man.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
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— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

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When Frances was a child, her mother went before the Assembly to petition that she be legally classified as "white." Frances would go on to become a wealthy heiress, and marry into the British aristocracy, but the cost would be engaging with the very system of slavery and discrimination that subjugated her mother and generations of mixed-race people after her.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...

Emma has never felt the sun on her skin. Born with a rare condition that makes UV light dangerous, she lives by sunscreen, meters, and moonlight. But she’s also part of a community finding extraordinary ways to make ordinary childhood possible. And thanks to new research, the future may actually be bright.

Listen to Dana Schwartz on Very Special Episodes wherever you get your podcasts. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elsa Schiapparelli was the founder of a fashion house which has become known for its sometimes outrageous, always glamorous designs. But beyond fashion, her transatlantic life would involve a conman and an FBI investigation as she tried to use her inflfuential and famous friends to bolster her success through the second World War.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She has been called "the most hated woman in Tudor England." Jane Boleyn, sister-in-law to Anne, served five queens. Two of them were beheaded. How much was her fault?

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where does a woman go when a King is wooing her and won't stop? Dana speaks with Chief Historian of Historic Royal Palaces, Tracy Borman, about her newest historical fiction novel, THE HOUSE OF BOLEYN. 

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comic Sans is a punchline. But the notorious font's legacy isn't one of failure, because Comic Sans succeeded in ways its critics never saw coming.

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Listen to Dana Schwartz on Very Special Episodes wherever you get your podcasts. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In December of 1586, the King of Poland died suddenly and without an obvious successor. King was an elected position, and the noblemen bickered and tried to advance their own agendas, to no avail. It was a complete standsill. They needed an unbiased third party to be a temporary king. It's a romantic story of a non-royal ascending to a temporary throne, but is it true?

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See...

Queen Mary I's decision to marry a foreign prince turned people against her. Some were so against her they planned an uprising to overthrow her in favor of her half-sister, Elizabeth. But how much did Elizabeth know? And when she was imprisoned in the Tower of London, how much evidence of her treason would be uncovered?

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The British Monarchy were using the divisions of the Māori people against them. And so, some Māori thought that what they needed to face off against a monarch.... was a monarch of their own.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to her McDonald’s fortune, Joan Kroc was one of the world’s wealthiest people. And she was determined to die nearly broke.

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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
Mixing and Mastering by Josh Fisher
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to our guests Lisa Napoli, Dick Starmann, and Step...

Eventually, Te Wherowhero would become the first Māori king. But decades before that, he would face off against rival tribes, proving his leadership ability and bravery in the face of an enemy coming right at him.

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the dawn of La Belle Epoch in Paris, a trans woman who became known as "The Countess" would journey from ballrooms to prison and back, a key figure in queer history who wrote her own autobiography to tell readers exactly how strange and dazzling the experiences of her life were.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1968, a woman wrote a romantic story about Kirk and Spock, passed it quietly among friends, and hoped it would never see the light of day. But before vanishing entirely, The Ring of Soshern had become the stuff of legend. The quest to recover it would lead to a community of women who'd been building something remarkable in the shadows for generations. 

Listen to Dana Schwartz on Very Special Episodes wherever you get your podcasts. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1847, James Young Simpson successfully used chloroform for the first time to help in childbirth. But the anesthetic was still controversial and dangerous, which made it all the more risky when Simpson was faced with a royal patient: Queen Victoria.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
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James Young Simpson, as a young surgeon, was distraught at the seemingly inescapable pain and fear that patients were suffering. He decided to try to find a better solution.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
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When Josphine failed to produce heirs, Napoleon secured a divorce and arranged for another marriage: to the 18-year-old daughter of the Emperor of Austria. Young Marie-Louise arrived in Paris and, to her surprise, found herself enchanted by her new husband.  But Napoleon's Empire was crumbling, and it was Marie-Louise's own father who would help secure its downfall.

Support Noble Blood:
—ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Ian Fleming needed a name for the secret agent at the center of his new novel, he stole one from the cover of a birdwatching book. The real James Bond wasn’t a martini-drinking spy, but a shy American ornithologist who spent decades exploring the Caribbean. Then one surreal day, he finally tracked down the man who stole his identity.

Special thanks to Jim Wright and his excellent book, The Real James Bond: A True Story of Identity Theft, Avian Intrigue, and Ian Fleming. 

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Listen to Very Special Episodes wherever you get you...

Two families captivated the 20th century: the Kennedy clan in America, and the Windsors, the royal family of the UK. Both faced the tribulations of fame and power, and the challenges of the 21st century media. Dana spoke about the parallel dynasties with Caroline Hallemann, author of the upcoming book The Kennedys and the Windsors.

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1826, a young man stumbled into town with limited language and a mysterious past: he revealed that he had spent his life in isolation, in a single room with no human interaction. Was he telling the truth? And if he was... was it possible that he might actually be a missing royal prince?

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1978, Soviet geologists flying over Siberia spotted something impossible: a family living in total isolation, untouched for decades by the modern world. But when outsiders finally reached their remote cabin, the family’s hidden world began to change forever.

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Listen to Very Special Episodes wherever you get your podcasts. Special thanks to Rebecca E. Marshall for letting us share clips from her documentary, The Forest in Me. We also want to shout out the film's composer, Xylouris White. You can stream The Forest in Me right now on Pijama Films.

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Hosted by...

Part two of our episode on Émilie du Châtelet, the brilliant female mathematician and physicist who helped to redefine our understanding of how the world works..

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

History has often reduced the brilliant mathematician and physicist Émilie du Châtelet to her relationship with a famous man (Voltaire). But she was a fascinating figure in her own right, an 18th century polymath at the forefront of conversations about how the world worked.

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the future Queen Elizabeth I was just 13 years old, she was living with Catherine Parr, who remarried after the death of Henry VIII. Catherine's new husband was handsome and charming, but he was also someone who would threaten scandal. A scandal that could cost Elizabeth's future.

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's Very Special Episodes is a tour of New York’s secret history with a very special guest!

Greg Young of the beloved Bowery Boys podcast joins Dana to prove the world is a very interesting place, if you just know where to look. There's hidden history in subway grates, SoHo stores, Central Park statues, and Hamilton lyrics. 

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Listen to Very Special Episodes on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For eight months, Roman von Ungern-Sternberg took control of the capital of Mongolia, in a campaign that was less about international politics and more about his own warped sense of purpose.

Support Noble Blood:
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In 1921, a Russian officer named Roman von Ungern-Sternberg invaded Mongolia, ostensibly with the goal to liberate it from Chinese forces. But he had his own ulterior motives, and a pattern of cruelty that was only beginning.

Support Noble Blood:
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
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On a quiet morning in Hawaii in 2018, cell phones lit up with a text message that felt impossible. A ballistic missile was inbound, and this was not a drill. For 38 minutes, hundreds of thousands of people believed they were living their final moments. For Very Special Episodes, Dana tells the story of what happens when ordinary folks are forced to confront the end of everything, all at once.

Listen to Very Special Episodes wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Wednesday. 

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Against the odds, Idia's son, Esigie, became the leader—Oba—of the Edo people. And against even greater odds, Idia survived to help him rule.

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
— Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon
— Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story'

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.