High Tales of History

One night in June 1497, Giovanni Borgia--the second and most favorite son of Pope Alexander VI--was in the company of his valet and possibly a masked man. Both the valet and Giovanni were soon found dead with no leads in solving the case. Who might have murdered Giovanni Borgia and what was the motive?
Turns out, a handful of people would want him dead and for a variety of reasons. The Borgias are one of history's greatest notorious families. Their lives were filled with salacious (often slanderous) rumors of their sexual proclivities as well as briberies, assassinations and feuds against other powerful Italian families of the time.
Settle into the Smoke Circle for one of history's greatest cold cases. It's going to be a wild ride...
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Mentioned In the Stories:
⁠Episode 66. Syndrome K: The Deadly Disease that Saved Lives
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Source Material and References:
Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/pope-alexander-borgia-family-black-legend?loggedin=true&rnd=1773433319727
https://www.rutaborjaborgia.com/en/epoca/2-349/la-muerte-de-juan-borgia.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banquet_of_Chestnuts
https://archive.org/details/popealexandervih00burc/page/90/mode/2up
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Borgia2ndDuke_of_Gand%C3%ADa
https://www.historytoday.com/history-matters/were-borgias-really-so-bad
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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

There's something in the trees and it ain't no man...
It's Kt, actually. She's bringing a change up for episode 116 with the history and social commentary around the 1987 classic, Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers and the massive Kevin Peter Hall as the titular Predator.
Together, Kt takes us through the jungles of toxic masculinity tropes, patriarchy and 80s politics reflected in the 1987 movie, we well as behind the scenes looks at its "hit and hope" creation. Kt also talks about the lore that surrounds the Yautja (the alien species that are the predators) throughout the franchise.
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Mentioned In the Stories:
Predator Helicopter Scene "Goddamn Sexual Tyrannosaurus!"
Commando Opening Scene
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The Socials and Patreon!
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Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Source Material and References:
Sources:
Coming Soon!
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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Climb aboard the SS Smoke Circle as we head out to the High Seas to learn about the lives of a couple of pirate baddies--Anne Bonny and Mary Read, a couple of the most famous pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy. We love seeing women in male dominated fields.
During this episode we cover the lives of these two pirates as well as the democratic nature of pirate ships, and why pirates have captured the public's imagination.
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Mentioned In the Stories:
All of our pirate episodes!
Episode 1. Ching Shih: the biggest pirate badass of them all
Episode 33: Pirate Captain William Kidd
Episode 47: Sam Bellamy and the Shipwreck of the Whydah Galley
Episode 86: Sayyida al-Hurra: The Mediterranean Pirate Queen
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The Socials and Patreon!
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Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Source Material and References:
Sources:
Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag: The romance and the reality of life among the pirates. S.l.: Random House Publishing Group, 2013.

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2024/07/the-life-and-trial-of-anne-bonny/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/if-theres-a-man-among-ye-the-tale-of-pirate-queens-anne-bonny-and-mary-read-45576461/

https://www.historyextra.com/period/stuart/anne-bonny-mary-read-female-pirates-lives-crimes/

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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

It's KT's first episode of the new season and she's kicking it off with the history of Earth Day, which came out of the aftermath of the devastating Santa Monica oil spill in 1969. A blowout on Platform A offshore oil well resulted in the cracking of the ocean floor in five places and three million gallons of crude oil erupting into the ocean.
Public outrage led to the start of Earth Day and several environmental protection acts and organizations.
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The Socials and Patreon!
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Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Mentioned in the Stories:

https://donate.edf.org/campaign/

UK
https://yokethesalon.co.uk/2018-5-23-the-clean-wave-project/
Europe
https://matteroftrust.org/clean-wave-program/
Australia
https://www.wildcutsforwildlife.org.au/sustainablesalons
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Source Material and References:
Map of the Spill

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-oil-spill-50-years-ago-inspired-first-earth-day-180972007/

https://lamont.columbia.edu/news/decades-after-oil-spill-inspired-earth-day-are-we-prepared-next-one

https://www.sbearthday.org/history-of-earth-day

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-santa-barbara-oil-spill-1969-20150520-htmlstory.html

https://law.ucdavis.edu/faculty-blog/commemorating-major-environmental-disaster-one-transformative-legacy

https://www.epa.gov/emergency-response/exxon-valdez-spill-profile

https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/exxon-valdez-oil-spill

https://www.britannica.com/event/Deepwater-Horizon-oil-spill

https://pinellas.gov/overview-of-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-of-2010/

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/24/nx-s1-5584883/trump-alaska-wildlife-refuge-oil-gas-drilling
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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Welcome back! It's season 7, episode 113 and to kick things off, we are taking an expedition from south to north across the vast (and HOT!) interior of Australia for the ill-fated Burke and Wills Expedition. Grab your horses and camels, your oak table and chairs, 50 gallons of rum (for the camels of course!) and don't forget your Chinese gong.
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The Socials and Patreon!
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Email—[email protected]⁠ 
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Source Material and References:
Map of the Expedition for Reference

FitzSimons, Peter, and Michael Carman. Burke & Wills: The triumph and tragedy of Australia’s most famous explorers. Toronto: CELA, 2021.

https://www.burkeandwills.net.au/Brief_History/index.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Wills_expedition

https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/burke-and-wills

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/07/burke-wills-australian-heroes-expedition-farce-melbourne-statue
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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/