Softcore History

Yasuke was a 16th century African slave that found his way to the far east working for Italian missionaries and became an obsession and friend to one of the most influential warlords in Japan. Yasuke eventually took over as Oda Nobunaga's personal weapon bearer, body guard, and -- many speculate -- earned full samurai status in just 15 months. But did he actually accomplish that feat? We discuss the documented details and make a judgement for ourselves. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE at Fitbod.me/SOFTCORE. FOLLOW SOFTCORE HISTORY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@softcorehistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/softcorehistory Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it, but the Chinese are studying history with the explicit hope that they do, in fact, repeat it. National Security and the Rise and Fall of Great Powers is the Chinese Communist Party's examination of how nations over the last 500 years -- from Spain and Portugal to Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States -- gained and lost power. The idea being that the Chinese want to follow that blueprint for themselves. We break down their ideas about how countries rise and fall and what they get right and wrong. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE at Fitbod.me/SOFTCORE. FOLLOW SOFTCORE HISTORY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@softcorehistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/softcorehistory Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

From cavemen to Rome to post-Civil War America and the present day, humans have been harvesting and eating oysters for hundreds of thousands of years. Jake, who just got back from working an oyster farm for a week (seriously), details how humans came to eat these little gooey delicacies, the wars we've fought over them, and the myths we've created about how horny they make you. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Right now get 30% off your purchase! Head to Indacloud.co/SOFTCORE to get 30% off your first order, and tell them Softcore History sent you! FOLLOW SOFTCORE HISTORY YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@softcorehistory Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/softcorehistory Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

In celebration of reaching 1,000 reviews on Apple Podcasts, and perhaps in a bit of method podcast hosting, Dan Regester attempts to tell the story of The London Beer Flood of 1814 while flooding his own body with a mixture of Guinness and whiskey. Like the flood itself, Dan's evening ends in disaster. (Maybe come back to this one if this is your first episode.) Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off.

Malcolm Caldwell was a professor at the University of London who loved two things: Communism, and publicly cheerleading Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia. The latter, he insisted, was a beacon of hope for humanity and definitely not killing people by the millions. In 1978, Caldwell was granted an audience with his political and humanitarian hero, but after his meeting with Pol Pot something... interesting happened. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Indacloud is celebrating 4/20 all April long with 42% off your purchase! Head to Indacloud.co slash SOFTCORE to get 42% off your first order Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE at Fitbod.me/SOFTCORE Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

Thomas Midgley Jr. revolutionized the U.S. auto industry in the early 1900s. But, he may have also been responsible for a violent mid-century American crime wave and lowered IQs across the world. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

Hong Xiuquan was the leader of the Taiping Rebellion that killed over 30 million people, the self-proclaimed celestial brother of Jesus Christ, and an inspirational figure to future chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong. He (initally) had the backing of Karl Marx and was a massive thorn in the side of the Qing Dynasty for 14 years after a mental breakdown from failing his civil service exams. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

The Agapemonites were a Victorian religious cult that checked all the boxes. A leader who thought he was God and also immortal and needed multiple wives? Check, check, and check. A way to separate idiots from their money and possessions? Check. A creepy compound with high walls? Check. But even for a relatively early modern cult Henry Prince and his followers found some fun (see: horrible) ways to make their mark on the history of cults. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

In 1565 both the French and Spanish were competing to establish a colonial presence on Florida's east coast. That competition came to a quick and violent head (you'll see what we did there) and now the site of their confrontation might be the most haunted beach in America. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE at Fitbod.me/SOFTCORE. Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

Unit 684 was a secret group created by the South Korean Air Force in 1968 tasked with assasinating North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. After three brutal years training on a remote island and suffering multiple executions at the hands of their own trainers, the surviving members and former convicts threw a mutiny and hijacked a bus back to Seoul. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

From ancient drug enemas to World War 1 era, steampunk-esque prostate vibrators, the history of doctors trying to treat what ails a man through his butt is as long as it is weird and gross and, quite often, extremely unfortunate. (Just ask a couple of our former presidents.) Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE at Fitbod.me/SOFTCORE. Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

Hate landlords? You can thank Rome for them. (Just kidding, you'd be paying someone to live on their property either way you bastards, but you just might not call them "landlord.") Either way, the fall of the Western Roman Empire paved the way for Feudalism and traditional monarchy in the Middle Ages. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. Go to GhostBed.com/drinkinbros and use code DRINKINBROS for 50% off EVERYTHING (Mattresses, Adjustable Base, Pillows & More) –plus a 101 Night Sleep Trial and Mattresses Made in America. Rob Fox https://www.instagram.com/robfoxthree/ https://twitter.com/RobFoxThree https://www.tiktok.com/@robfoxthree Dan Regester https://www.instagram.com/danregester/ https://twitter.com/dan_regester Jake Goldman https://www.instagram.com/jakewgoldman/ https://twitter.com/JakeWGoldman

The Donner-Reed Party was a group of American pioneers who migrated west to California in a wagon train and slowly tumbled into madness after months of mishaps, moronic moves, and murder. After a "shortcut" added weeks to their journey, the group ran out of food, supplies, transportation and turned to cannibalism to survive a brutal winter in the Sierra Nevadas. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off.

Though Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés is credited with conquering the Aztec Empire the conquest might actually be thanks to his native female interpreter and first baby mama, La Malinche. The Indian noblewoman, who was sold into slavery as a child before being gifted to Cortés after a battle with Mayans and rising to become his interpreter and top diplomat, is thought by many historians to be the reason the Spanish conquest was successful. Needless to say, her legacy in Mexico is... complicated. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE at Fitbod.me/SOFTCORE. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off.

Did human beings domesticate wheat? Or did wheat domesticate humans? We dive into the long history of humanity's relationship with the plant and how we ultimately went from eating wild wheat to baking bread and conquering the planet. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off.

John Quincy Adams was the 6th president of the United States who won his election in controversial fashion over Andrew Jackson in 1824. He spent his youth gallivating around Europe on his daddy's dime, helped author the Monroe Doctirine as Secretary of State, brought Florida into the union, was an incredibly outspoken abolitionist, and kept a pet alligator in the East Room of the White House. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off.

Justice is blind. So blind, apparently, that it doesn't mind if pigs, rats, statues, and other non-human entities are brought to trial. This is the history of the trials of animals and inanimate objects held over the centuries. The charges against them range from murder to vandalism and, as it turns out, these trials were often conducted for surprisingly existential reasons. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off.

Tampa Bay’s Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a huge city holiday and boasts the third-largest annual parade in the United States. It’s also a drunken, pirate-themed, rage fest based on a lie. Learn about its history as a holiday, Jake and Dan’s Gasparilla experiences, and all you ever wanted to learn about turn-of-the-century tourism. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. That’s code softcore50 at FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 to get 50% off!

Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, actor, and aviator who beefed with spirit mediums and psychics throughout the early 20th century. He went from poor immigrant slumming it with his family in Wisconsin to an international superstar traveling the globe and mystifiying audiences with his wife Bess all throughout Europe and the States. Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. That’s code softcore50 at FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 to get 50% off!

At the Second Council of the Lateran in 1139, Pope Innocent II banned Christians from using ranged weapons against other Christians under threat of excommunication. Was this to disarm the peasantry whose primary combat weapon was bows and arrows? Or were the reasons much... dumber and more selfish? Subscribe to the Softcore History Patreon for hundreds of hours of extra history content including listener history questions, history movie watch-alongs, and weekly bonus episodes. Head to FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 and use code softcore50 to get 50% off. That’s code softcore50 at FACTORMEALS.com/softcore50 to get 50% off!