Historically High

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.

 

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to hit subscribe, leave a 5-star rating and write a review. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Join us at Patreon.com/HistoricallyHigh and get enrolled for some fun extra content

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.

When a Dutch East India Company flagship Batavia wrecks off the coast of Western Australia, the captain leaves in a skiff to get help. In his absence, a psychopathic mutineer named Jeronimus Cornelisz takes control of the survivors stranded on a tiny coral island.

A New England whaling ship is intentionally rammed and sunk by an enraged, massive sperm whale in the middle of the Pacific. Thousands of miles from land the crew must resort to desperate measures to survive. The events inspired the story of Moby Dick. 

Six Tongan schoolboys, bored and looking for adventure, steal a fishing boat only to get caught in a storm that shreds their sails. They drift for days before wrecking on 'Ata, a desolate, rocky volcanic island. How did they all survive months alone.

Hope you all enjoy this weeks episode of Historically High.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to hit subscribe, leave a 5-star rating and write a review. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to hit subscribe, leave a 5-star rating and write a review. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 in and see if we can come up with something that makes sense! Join us as we get Historically High on Dr.Death:Harold Shipman.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to hit subscribe, leave a 5-star rating and write a review. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 would take place to topple administrations. The U.S. government backed these interests with "Big Stick" diplomacy, using the Marine Corps as a private security force under the guise of "stability."  It’s a wild look at what happens when fruit, politics, and military power all collide.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.