The British Monarchy were using the divisions of the Māori people against them. And so, some Māori thought that what they needed to face off against a monarch.... was a monarch of their own.

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Thanks to her McDonald’s fortune, Joan Kroc was one of the world’s wealthiest people. And she was determined to die nearly broke.

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Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
Written by Jake Rossen
Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
Editing and Sound Design by Chris Childs
Additional Editing by Mary Dooe
Mixing and Mastering by Josh Fisher
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to our guests Lisa Napoli, Dick Starmann, and Stephanie Bergsma. Go check out Lisa's excellent book Ray & Joan. 

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Eventually, Te Wherowhero would become the first Māori king. But decades before that, he would face off against rival tribes, proving his leadership ability and bravery in the face of an enemy coming right at him.

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At the dawn of La Belle Epoch in Paris, a trans woman who became known as "The Countess" would journey from ballrooms to prison and back, a key figure in queer history who wrote her own autobiography to tell readers exactly how strange and dazzling the experiences of her life were.

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In 1847, James Young Simpson successfully used chloroform for the first time to help in childbirth. But the anesthetic was still controversial and dangerous, which made it all the more risky when Simpson was faced with a royal patient: Queen Victoria.

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James Young Simpson, as a young surgeon, was distraught at the seemingly inescapable pain and fear that patients were suffering. He decided to try to find a better solution.

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When Josphine failed to produce heirs, Napoleon secured a divorce and arranged for another marriage: to the 18-year-old daughter of the Emperor of Austria. Young Marie-Louise arrived in Paris and, to her surprise, found herself enchanted by her new husband.  But Napoleon's Empire was crumbling, and it was Marie-Louise's own father who would help secure its downfall.

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Two families captivated the 20th century: the Kennedy clan in America, and the Windsors, the royal family of the UK. Both faced the tribulations of fame and power, and the challenges of the 21st century media. Dana spoke about the parallel dynasties with Caroline Hallemann, author of the upcoming book The Kennedys and the Windsors.

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In 1826, a young man stumbled into town with limited language and a mysterious past: he revealed that he had spent his life in isolation, in a single room with no human interaction. Was he telling the truth? And if he was... was it possible that he might actually be a missing royal prince?

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Part two of our episode on Émilie du Châtelet, the brilliant female mathematician and physicist who helped to redefine our understanding of how the world works..

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History has often reduced the brilliant mathematician and physicist Émilie du Châtelet to her relationship with a famous man (Voltaire). But she was a fascinating figure in her own right, an 18th century polymath at the forefront of conversations about how the world worked.

Support Noble Blood:
—PRE-ORDER 'THE ARCANE ARTS'
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