In this throwback episode Sebastian takes you to an episode that is one of his personal favorites. Is it "secretly" one of the best episode of OFH? The character of Stagger Lee has been one of America’s most enduring folk heroes. There have been over 400 songs written about the swaggering, gun-toting, bad man. He has gone by many names: Stacks Lee, Stagolee, Staxs O’Lee. Sometimes he is presented as a malevolent villain, others a heroic defender of the oppressed. No matter the telling Stagger Lee is always a badass. Is this figure just a piece of fiction dreamt up by blues musicians and perpetuated by their rock’n’roll progeny? Or was there a real man behind the murderous myth? Tune-in and find out how Biggie Smalls, 19th century fightin’ words, and a milk white stetson hat all play a role in the story.

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With a new star-studded film adaptation of The Odyssey bringing Homer's world back to the big screen, it’s the perfect time to share a teaser clip from our friends at You're Dead To Me. It's the BBC comedy podcast that takes history seriously, bringing together experts and comedians to explore the people, stories and ideas that shaped our world. If you like what you hear you can find full episodes of You're Dead to Me wherever you get your podcasts.

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In this throwback episode Sebastian takes you to the conclusion of one of the podcast's most discussed series. The island of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, has been called “the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself.” For years it was taken for granted that the people of Rapa Nui had depleted their natural resources in pursuit of bigger and better stone statues called Moai. However, recent scholarship has called into to question the widely known story of ecological collapse. Were the people of Rapa Nui really the authors of their own destruction, or has this narrative been unfairly exaggerated? Tune-in and found out how Birdmen, traumatized skeletons, and a stolen friend all play a role in the story.

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In this Throwback Episode Sebastian revisits one of the best loved series from Season 6. Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as the indigenous islanders call it, may be the most misunderstood place on planet Earth. For centuries outsiders have tried to unravel what they perceived to be the islands many mysteries. How did stone age people manage to get to such a remote island? How did these people build the island’s remarkable statues? What caused this unique society to collapse? Recent research has completely upended many previous assumptions about this storied island. Was the mysterious collapse even a collapse at all? Tune in an find out how awesome canoes, ancestor mana, and OFH’s favourite ocean current all play a role in the story.  

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In this Throwback Episode Sebastian revisits one of his favourite episodes from Season 7 and brings in some new critiques that did not make it into the original show! The legendary hybrid creature known as the gryphon was said to have the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. Despite this fantastical descriptions the ancient Greeks and Romans truly seemed to have believed that gryphons were real animals. It was thought that gryphons lived in arid steppes and deserts of central Asia where they guarded stashes of gold. Stories of gryphons made their way to Mediterranean by way of the nomadic Scythian people, who hunted for gold in the gryphon’s homeland. Stanford Professor Adrienne Mayor thinks she may have solved the mystery of this puzzling creature. Could the gryphon stories be an early form of paleontology? Tune-in and find out how giant hoaxes, paleo-art, and one eyed gold hunters all play a role in the story.

Read Mark Witton's blog Here

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Rhiannon Giddens is a multi-instrumentalist, a singer, and a composer. She is a MacArthur Genius fellow, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and one the most dynamic voices in American folk and roots music performing today. She’s also one of the knowledgeable people you can possibly talk to when it comes to history of the banjo and American music generally. In the finale of season 11 Ms. Giddens joins Sebastian for a sprawling talk about how the history of the banjo is deeply connected to America's tumultuous development as a nation. Is the banjo America's most misunderstood instrument? Tune-in and find out how the Tango craze, African lutes, and Japanese men playing minstrel tunes all play a role in the story.

Pre-order Rhiannon Gidden's new album HERE 

Listen to Sebastian's band Staring Contest HERE 

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On this Bonus Episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent series on the Knights of the Air and the one-off on the Midnight Ride. The host grapples with questions about the American perception of Canadian history, tarring and feathering, WWI weaponry, and Paul Revere's plagiarized engravings. Sebastian also gives some important updates about the end of Season 11, the start of Season 12, and plays a new song from Staring Contest. Tune-in and find out how angry letters, machine gun poetry, and Canadian theatre all play a role in the story.

Get the new album from Staring Contest HERE

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Paul Revere is one of the best remembered heroes of the American Revolution. The Boston silversmith is often credited with rousing the Massachusetts countryside to resist the King's army as they moved against the towns of Lexington and Concord. However, he popular understanding of the famous "midnight ride" was largely shaped by a romantic poem written 85 years after the fact by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The image of Paul Revere as a lone rider, single handedly saving the revolutionary cause has become a textbook historical myth. The real story is way weirder and more exciting than the Longfellow poem would have you believe! Tune-in and find out how oar-silencing underwear, a smooth talking leather tanner, and a horse named Brown Beauty all play a role in the story.

Check out more from Sebastian's band Staring Contest HERE

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By 1916 the airplane had proven itself as an important new weapon in the Great War. Arguably just as important was the image of the glamorous flying aces. Entire flying units, like France's Lafayette Escadrille made up of American volunteers, were created with the hope of generating positive press that could bring the United States into the war on the side of allies. When America did join WWI in 1917, there was a belief that the airplane was the "natural weapon of Americans." Some lawmakers dreamed of building a war-winning American airplane armada. Meanwhile, the reporting on flying aces had the affect of turning the air-war into a sport, with "high scorers" looking to break new records. How did this affect the behavior of the warriors in the sky? Tune-in an find out how an unbreakable sword, the flying circus, and hells-handmaiden all play a role in the story.

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At the outbreak of First World War airplanes were still a novelty on the battlefield. Originally planes were used for reconnaissance and the pilots were usually unarmed. This quickly changed and soon airplanes were being outfitted with machine guns and tasked specifically with destroying enemy aircraft. Fighter pilots were a new type of warrior, but ironically they started to be described in medieval terms. Stories began to appear in the wartime press about acts of courtesy between enemy pilots. Soon propagandists were claiming that airmen were "knights of the air" bound by an unwritten code of chivalry. The image of the daring and gentlemanly "flying ace" proved to be an incredibly effective recruitment tool. Were the stories of gallantry in the sky little more than wartime propaganda, or was there something to the image of the gentleman-pilot? Tune-in and find out how King Arthur, Ernest Hemmingway, and the "Fokker Scourge" all play role in the story.

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In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about episode 249, 250, and 251. First, he does his best to grapple with how morality should factor into history education. Then a listener provides an epic email about Orson Welles' legendary production of "Voodoo Macbeth" and cursed run of Romeo and Juliet. Finally, Sebastian looks at the weird legacy of the phrase "bunga bunga." Tune-in and find out how missing chickens, corrupt Italian Prime ministers, and a wounded Benvolio al play a role in the story!   

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