May 23, 1701. Captain William Kidd is hanged at Execution Dock in London. His death sentence cements his legacy as one of history’s most notorious pirates, but he went to the gallows claiming to be an innocent man. And he may have been telling the truth. Nonetheless, his execution began a worldwide ripple effect that would change the high seas forever and ul ... Show More
Aug 24
Did Homer Write the Odyssey? (Was He Even Real?)
August, sometime in the 500s BCE. In Athens, the Great Panathenaia is in full swing: chariot races, boat races, a hundred cattle slaughtered for the feast. And at the center of it, a competition in which performers recite the work of one poet, and one poet only: Homer. But nobody ... Show More
41m 1s
Oct 2024
198. The Pirate Trial of the Century
William Kidd, a respectable Scottish privateer during the late 17th century, tasked with hunting down pirates on the orders of a murky cabal of British aristocrats, but with the crown’s blessing, finds himself and his crew frustrated by the absence of pirates in the waters off Ma ... Show More
40m 47s
Oct 2022
The Age of Pirates | Blackbeard and the Flying Gang | 3
In 1717, the pirate known as Blackbeard launched an attack along the Atlantic seaboard, disrupting international trade and striking terror into sea captains and colonial governors. Working with his sidekick, the “Gentleman Pirate” Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard blockaded the busy port ... Show More
36m 48s
Oct 2024
195. Blackbeard & the Pirates of the Caribbean
The history of pirates is a thrilling kaleidoscope of adventure, devastation, violence and political intrigue, and never more so than during the 17th and 18th centuries: the golden age of piracy. This saw the rise of some of the most famous pirates of all time, many of them unite ... Show More
40m 4s
<p>Robert is joined by Courtney Kocak to discuss John C. Woods, the American tasked with executing the Nazi High Command.</p><p><strong>FOOTNOTES</strong>:</p><ol> <li><a href="https://www.ozy.com/flashback/meet-the-lousy-kansas-hangman-who-executed-nazis/86017/?utm_source=SM& ... Show More