In 1912, scientists believed they'd found the missing link between apes and humans. Forty years later, someone noticed the jaw was filed down and stained with tea. In 1869, workers dug up a 10-foot stone man in upstate New York—newspapers called it proof of biblical giants. It was carved in a barn the year before. In 1938, Orson Welles read a radio script and convinced America that Martians had landed in New Jersey. This episode covers hoaxes so good they fooled experts, made fortunes, and revealed how badly people want to believe something extraordinary.

Content Notice

This episode discusses historical hoaxes and public panic events. Treatment is analytical and historical and focuses on human psychology and institutional failures rather than mocking victims of deception.

Let's see what the world's been hiding.

Epic (and illegal) college pranks that demanded advanced engineering degrees, weeks of planning, and cross-country logistics. We look at feats requiring custom equipment to steal a 1.7-ton cannon and complex assembly to build a police car replica atop a massive dome. These stories reveal what happens when brilliant, unsupervised minds choose hilarity over homework, proving that the greatest challenge is often the joke itself.

Content Notice

This episode discusses technically illegal activities undertaken as pranks, including theft of property (The Caltech Cannon Heist), breaking and entering, public disruption, and a hoax involving claims of building a nuclear reactor which crossed into a public safety concern (The MIT "Reactor" Prank). The content is framed within the context of historical college traditions and engineering challenges.

Let's see what the world's been hiding.

Today we dive into the true roots of Thanksgiving, a holiday ranked second only to Christmas. The rosy story taught in school leaves out crucial details. We ask: Why wasn't turkey even on the menu, and what exactly brought the Wampanoag tribe to the Pilgrims' harvest festival? This rabbit hole uncovers the controversial history and long-held myths, examining why the accepted narrative obscures the brutal truths of early colonial history.

Content Notice

This episode discusses the real history of Thanksgiving, focusing on controversial aspects and dark historical facts that differ from grade-school narratives. Topics include the whitewashing of history, the concept of Manifest Destiny, the bloody conflicts between settlers and Native Americans, including massacres, death from disease brought by colonizers, and the capture and selling of Native Americans into slaver

Let's see what the world's been hiding.