That's Old News

• Napoleon Part 7: Cracks in the Armour

  In the last episode we saw Napoleon make an uncharacteristic mistake with his inability to win a decisive victory over the Russians at Eylau, allowing the Russians to retreat and fight another day. While they would be found again and defeated at Friedland, the campaign was a bloody affair. Napoleon won yet another victory over the coalitions formed against him, but not one without cost. And it is that very cost of the war that leads us into this episode.With the Continental System now including the likes of Prussia and Russia, the only real way for Britain to continue trading with the mainland was to do so through their oldest ally - Portugal. Napoleon, keenly aware of this, would launch his invasion of the nation, securing it with little effort as the royal family fled to their colony in Brazil after refusing to surrender to the French invader. With it now secure, not many were ready for what came next.French garrisons, said to free up Spanish garrisons to allow for the Spanish armies to aid in the invasion of Portugal, turned on their allies. Within months, Spain had fallen to Napoleon in a surprise coup that would see the Spanish royal family forced to abdicate their throne in favour of Napoleon's brother, Joseph, being named King of Spain. And this action, taken in haste as a justification to ensure the security of his southern flank from British invasion, would spell disaster for his empire. For as soon as Austria first heard of France's struggles in the Iberian peninsula - they formed the Fifth Coalition with Britain, and would deliver Napoleon's first decisive military defeat of his career.This episode was hosted by Arron Keegan and joined by Hayley O'Connor. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Join our Discord and follow us on social media by following the links below!Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/ZScNqT8mP2⁠ TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@thatsoldnewspodcast⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/thatsoldnewspodcast/⁠ Twitter/X: ⁠x.com/oldnewscast⁠ ========Sources & Further Reading:- Broers, Michael, "Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age", (2018).- Chandler, David G., "Napoleon's Marshals", (1987).- De Neef, Jonas, "Devils, Daggers, and Death: Eyewitness accounts of French officers and soldiers during the Peninsular War, 1807-1814", (2022).- Dodge, Theodore A., "Warfare in the Age of Napoleon Volume 3: The Battle of Austerlitz, the War of the Fourth Coalition, and the Early Peninsular Campaigns, 1805-1809", (2011).- Griffith, Paddy, "French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792-1815", (2007).- Griffith, Robert (ed.), "Armies and Enemies of Napoleon 1789-1815", (2022).- Harvey, Robert, "The War of Wars: The Epic Struggle Between Britain and France, 1789-1815", (2007).- Johnson, Paul, "Napoleon", (2003).- McNab, Chris, "Napoleon's Military Machine: Operations Manual", (2019).- Mikaberidze, Alexander, "The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History", (2020).- Roberts, Andrew, "Napoleon the Great", (2015).- Zamoyski, Adam, "Napoleon: The Man Behind the Myth", (2019).========Chapters:(00:00) Intro(08:13) Recap(14:32) Invasion of Portugal(30:30) The Dos de Mayo Uprising(43:45) Iberia in Revolt(47:21) The War of the Fifth Coalition(53:33) The Battle of Aspern-Essling: Napoleon's First Major Battlefield Defeat(01:06:35) The Battle of Wagram: Napoleon's Comeback(01:15:16) End of the War of the Fifth Coalition(01:17:56) Post Show Banter

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• History's Funniest Deaths

  “We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” - Charles Bukowski.There have been quite a lot of deaths through history, (I know, it's a shocking revelation to me too!) but a lot of the ones we read about evoke certain emotions of us. National figures fighting in defiant last stands for their cause can invoke feelings of great national pride and patriotism, while more personal figures dying in horrible conditions or surrounded by their loved ones invoke those feelings of heart-wrenching pain and sadness.But then, throughout history, there are those deaths who do not fit into this binary. They don't even fit into the spectrum between those extremes. Instead, they sit in the little asterisk hiding away at the end of the sentence. The one that has the little addendum underneath the graph that says "Results shown do not include those deaths that have you bent over in fits of laughter". And that's what the gang is looking at today.Join us this week as we explore some of the wackiest deaths in history, ranging from famous last words that proved to be a great irony only seconds later, to lawyers showing off impressive party tricks that end up sending them careening towards the pavement from the 24th floor of a building at Mach "Whoopsie-Daisy", to prominent figures of the Holy Roman Empire going for a surprise skinny-dip in a vat of the town's excrement, and many more hilarious ends in between! If you don't leave this episode laughing out loud and scratching your head thinking "What the Hell were they thinking?" then we've done something wrong!This episode was hosted by Arron Keegan, Hayley O'Connor, and Conor Daly. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Join our Discord server and follow us on social media by following the links below!Discord: ⁠https://discord.gg/ZScNqT8mP2 ⁠TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@thatsoldnewspodcast ⁠Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/thatsoldnewspodcast/ ⁠Twitter/X: ⁠x.com/oldnewscast

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• Carlos Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer that Never Played Football

  When you think of some of the greatest footballers to ever play the game, who comes to mind? Do you think of recent players at the pinnacle of their game like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Do you perhaps turn the clock back and look to the legends of the game like Pelé or Diego Maradona? Or do you instead look to those players who perform crucial roles but often go overlooked like Michael Carrick or Thomas Müller? Or do you look to those who defined over a decade of football, whose name was on the lips of every top manager and player as they all tried desperately to recruit him for their team... despite never playing a single professional game in his life?Join Conor this week as he recounts the tale of Carlos Kaiser, the Brazilian born con artist who was so good at the game that he simply never stepped foot on a pitch for a regular match and yet convinced over a dozen clubs to sign him. You'll hear about his poor roots growing up in poverty in Brazil, how a lie spiralled into him becoming one of the most recognisable names in football during his "career", and how he would shirk the phone calls of every manager and player in the profession on account of his mobile phone being nothing more than a children's toy phone that he carried with him everywhere and pretended to be constantly busy with calls from other clubs looking to buy him for ludicrous amounts of cash.You don't want to miss this.This episode was hosted by Conor Daly and joined by Arron Keegan and Hayley O'Connor. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Join our Discord server and follow us on social media by following the links below!Discord: https://discord.gg/ZScNqT8mP2 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatsoldnewspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsoldnewspodcast/ Twitter/X: x.com/oldnewscast

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• David Vetter: The Boy in the Bubble

  Born 21 September 1971, David Phillip Vetter was born with a hereditary disease which would affect his entire life - severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). It is a rare disease that involves defective antibody responses and results in an impaired immune system. The immune system is so compromised that it is effectively considered absent, leading to patients suffering immensely from something as simple as the common cold which could, and very often does, turn lethal.David's parents, Carol Ann and David Joseph, previously had a son who was also born with the disease and sadly passed away at seven months old. Doctors informed them that if they have another boy there was a 50/50 chance that he would be born with SCIDs, and unfortunately the coin toss landed on the wrong side. David was immediately placed in a sterilized cocoon bed prepared especially for him, and he would spend the rest of his life in this plastic bubble with media outlets cruelly referring to him as "Bubble Boy".Join Hayley this week as she recounts the incredible life of young David Vetter. Learn everything from the time of his birth to his unfortunate passing just 12 years later, including how objects were heavily sterilised to rid them entirely of germs, how NASA helped to develop his own containment suit that would allow him to leave the house, and how his passing resulted in him saving the lives of countless children who would have been born with SCIDs.This episode was hosted by Hayley O'Connor and joined by Arron Keegan and Conor Daly. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Join our Discord server and follow us on social media by following the links below!Discord: https://discord.gg/ZScNqT8mP2 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatsoldnewspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsoldnewspodcast/ Twitter/X: x.com/oldnewscast ========Songs used in order:1) Ji Pyeongkeyon, "Sad Romance", (2002).2) Barry White, "Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe", (1974).========Sources & Further Reading:- Grabowski & Tortora, "Principles of Anatomy and Physiology" (1993).- McVivker, Steve, "Bursting the Bubble" (1997).- Murphy, Mary Ada, "Bursting the Bubble: The Tortured Life and Untimely Death of David Vetter" (2019).- PBS, "David Phillip Vetter" (2006).- PBS, "David Vetter's Life, and Treatments for Immunodeficiency"- Retro Report, "The Boy in the Bubble" (2016).- Roane, Kit, "The Boy in the Bubble" (2015).- The American Experience, "David Vetter's Sister"

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• Napoleon Part 6: Master of Europe

  Napoleon, the victor of Austerlitz and conqueror of the Holy Roman Empire, had little time to rest on his incredible achievements. While the Russians were resoundingly defeated in December 1805, they were not quite out of the war just yet. With enough space to retreat back into friendly territory, they were set to regroup and strike again - but without allies on the continent, this would be a difficult task.To their luck, and soon to be to their disaster, the Kingdom of Prussia, who remained neutral during the War of the Third Coalition, had declared war on France in 1806. The shy and reserved Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III was convinced by Prussia's war party, who found an ally in his wife Queen Louise of Mecklenberg-Strelitz, to halt France's advance through Europe once and for all - but they should have listened to calmer heads in the Prussian army, who advised caution and warned of the threats to Prussia's position at the time war was being considered.They would soon be proven right, as Napoleon would see to their army within days of crossing into Prussian territory at the Battle of Jena-Auerstadt. But the Prussians would not give up entirely, as in 1807 the Russians had finally mobilised again and were ready to strike once again. While this war will display the brilliance of Napoleon's Corps system, it will also greatly challenge it...This episode was hosted by Arron Keegan and joined by Hayley O'Connor. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Join our Discord and follow us on social media by following the links below!Discord: https://discord.gg/ZScNqT8mP2 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thatsoldnewspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsoldnewspodcast/ Twitter/X: x.com/oldnewscast ========Sources & Further Reading:- Broers, Michael, "Napoleon: The Spirit of the Age", (2018).- Chandler, David G., "Napoleon's Marshals", (1987).- Dodge, Theodore A., "Warfare in the Age of Napoleon Volume 3: The Battle of Austerlitz, the War of the Fourth Coalition, and the Early Peninsular Campaigns, 1805-1809", (2011).- Griffith, Paddy, "French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792-1815", (2007).- Griffith, Robert (ed.), "Armies and Enemies of Napoleon 1789-1815", (2022).- Harvey, Robert, "The War of Wars: The Epic Struggle Between Britain and France, 1789-1815", (2007).- Johnson, Paul, "Napoleon", (2003).- McNab, Chris, "Napoleon's Military Machine: Operations Manual", (2019).- Mikaberidze, Alexander, "The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History", (2020).- Roberts, Andrew, "Napoleon the Great", (2015).- Zamoyski, Adam, "Napoleon: The Man Behind the Myth", (2019).========Chapters:

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