Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

Scott Monty & Burt Wolder

Discussing details in the Sherlock Holmes stories

  • 25 minutes 23 seconds
    The Alleged Use of Cocaine by Mr. Sherlock Holmes
    “you are mistaken about my alleged agents” [MAZA]      Along with the calabash pipe, deerstalker cap, and Inverness cape, one of Sherlock Holmes's traits is the use of cocaine. But should it be?   William H. Miller, M.D. F.A.C.P. won the Morley-Montgomery Award for his article in Vol. 19, No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal in which he asserted that we're mistaken in believing that Sherlock Holmes used cocaine. Don't believe us? Well, it's just a Trifle.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we've added "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

    3 April 2025, 3:03 am
  • 19 minutes 10 seconds
    North American Businesses
    “the great North American Continent” [STUD]    Picking up where we left off in Episode 428 ("British Businesses"), we're moving to the other side of the pond and doing a survey of businesses in North America that were mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes stories.   Since there are decidedly fewer scenes and stories that took place in North America, we have far fewer to choose from. But not so few as to leave us without something interesting to say! It's just a Trifle.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we've added "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  
    27 March 2025, 2:54 am
  • 24 minutes 33 seconds
    The Mathematics of Mrs. Watson
    “As to your dates, that is the biggest mystification of all.” [CREE]    It's not often that we get a piece of Sherlockian scholarship that had its origin in a mainstream publication. And in this case, it's from one of the original Sherlockians.   In 1932, Ronald Knox set out to review two new Sherlockian books, but he managed to turn it into an essay that was a master class in chronology. It's just a Trifle.   And stay tuned, as we have some bonus content on Ronald Knox for our supporters.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we've added "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

     

    20 March 2025, 3:24 am
  • 28 minutes 12 seconds
    British Businesses
    “preoccupied with business matters” [COPP] 

    If you came across the name of a business in the Sherlock Holmes stories, do you think you could identify which story it came from? What about the type of business it was?

      We put your Canonical skills to the test in this episode as we quiz you (and each other!) on some familiar and not-so-familiar business names from the Great Britain of Sherlock Holmes. It's just a Trifle.   All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we've added "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.     Download | 24.4 MB, 26:00 Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

    13 March 2025, 3:15 am
  • 29 minutes 46 seconds
    My Biblical Knowledge Is a Trifle Rusty
    “There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion” [NAVA]   

    The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article this month is "My Biblical Knowledge is a Trifle Rusty" by Henry T. Folsom, BSI ("The Golden Pince-Nez"), from The Baker Street Journal, Volume 15, No. 3. 

    Rev. Folsom took the opportunity as a practitioner of the faith to examine the religious beliefs (or lack thereof) of Sherlock Holmes. Was he an atheist? Was he a believer? And if so, what form did it take? It's just a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we've added "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  
    6 March 2025, 3:50 am
  • 26 minutes
    The Field Bazaar (The Apocrypha Part 1)
    “I would read as easily as I do the apocrypha” [VALL]   

    We're starting a short series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes: stories that are not in the Canonical 60 but that have some relevant interest.

    The first installment is "The Field Bazaar," written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1896 for his alma mater. It's a short item and it provides some insights into the habits of Holmes and Watson. And it's just a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we've added "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

     

    27 February 2025, 4:41 am
  • 21 minutes 39 seconds
    Disguise Is Key
    “see through a disguise” [HOUN] 

    The third episode of every month is a look into a piece of Sherlockian scholarship, and this time it brings us to Vol. 64 No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal from 2014 with a piece by Maria Fleischhack, BSI ("Rache").

    In this article, Maria looks at various Germans in the Sherlock Holmes stories and tracks the disguises or aliases they used, in conjunction with Conan Doyle's own attitude toward Germans and Germans' attitudes toward the English. It's just a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we've added "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack).     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift.   Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

    19 February 2025, 7:21 pm
  • 23 minutes 35 seconds
    Banks in the Canon
    “drawn on six different banks” [VALL]   

    Banks and bankers are important to Sherlock Holmes. From clients to necessary fiduciaries, they represent an essential part of the real and Canonical worlds.

    Which banks are mentioned? What bankers do we meet? And what about one very specific bank to which we owe a debt of gratitude? It's just a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we're adding "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it!     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

    13 February 2025, 3:57 am
  • 26 minutes 20 seconds
    The Methods of Sherlock Holmes
    “You know my methods. Apply them!” [HOUN]   

    In 1893, a curious entry appeared in the Tit-Bits magazine: an examination paper on the methods of Sherlock Holmes. A cash prize was offered to the winner (whom we know).

    The author of the quiz, though? That's been unknown for nearly a century and a half. Until Michael Meer came along and made an identification that earned him the Morley-Montgomery Award for 2024. It's just a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we're adding "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it!     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

    5 February 2025, 7:21 pm
  • 21 minutes 2 seconds
    Baritsu
    “the Japanese system of wrestling” [EMPT] 

    When Sherlock Holmes defeated Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, he had a secret weapon: his knowledge of a certain style of Japanese wrestling.

    Of course, we don't find this out until his return, and even then, Watson (or is it Holmes?) conveys the wrong name. It's just a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we're adding "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it!     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes

     

      Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

    30 January 2025, 4:29 am
  • 23 minutes 59 seconds
    Turkish Baths
    “the sweat was pouring down my face” [BLUE] 

    Turkish baths come up in just two of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Quick—without looking it up, can you name which? We know Watson enjoys both of them; Holmes joins him for one.

    In this episode, we discuss the origins and history of the Turkish bath, and specifically focus on the Victorian Turkish bath. Sit back and relax. This is just a Trifle.

    All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and bonus content. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.   This season, we're adding "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode — as an additional channel of content exclusively for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it!     Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links / Notes   Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra  Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band  Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0  

    23 January 2025, 4:38 am
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