Unbuttoned History

What is nothing? How can something be nothing? And why is understanding the concept of zero so important? Today special guest Rebecca Bishop joins us to find out how something we take for granted was conceived in Gupta India and broadcast to the world.

We talk about the Prime Minister of Sweden who was killed by either Reagan and Thatcher, South African Spies, Kurdish Separatists, the nation of Yugoslavia, IKEA or just some guy by accident. 

Today we discover that all the problems of the world can be blamed on the British...again.

2 African Communists fight in the desert--also featuring an in-depth look at Communist sweetheart Leonid Brezhnev’s eyebrows.

There are so many popes and they are all terrible.

The roof is on fire, the roof is on fire, we don’t need no water--though we could use some water as the Philly PD has dropped an actual bomb on us.

The gang digs up the rotting corpse of Niccolò Machiavelli in order to learn a thing or two about being a power-hungry douchebag.

Smelly, mostly white people fight over poop.

“Hey, Caleb, I found these golden discs in the trash. Let’s con some people.” - John Smith

Watch a man pull the living body of a nation state out of the rubble of an empire.

In today's show Unbuttoned History tries to tackle the murky, complex and erratic history of the Black Panther Party.

Journey down the misty waters of the Mekong River and see the city-sized temples of indescribably ornate masonry and refinement; the unparalleled landscaping, and artificial bodies of water;  and cities of millions in the 1100s. Have you entered a mythic land of gods? Or could Could it be, the Khmer Empire.

Oh gee, monotheism. Are they magicians? Are they fire-worshippers? Who are these Zoroastrians?!

Discover how a cripple got us out of a pickle!

Wait--you’re telling me that Cinco de Mayo isn’t about Mexican Independence and drinking…?! Here’s a truth shot, bro. Take it with salt.

From nomads to losers of colonial border disputes, to freedom fighters, today we speak about Stateless People: those distinct ethnicities, cultures and history of Peoples without a Nation.

Today the gang discovers that no matter the politics or ideologies Chinese and Russian People just don’t like each other. Listen as TWO communist nations’ incompetence nearly sends us spirally towards thermonuclear war.

For the last time in history, tax evasion is the key to vast personal wealth.

Listen to the Russians work out the principles of the enlightenment a couple hundred years too late and completely cock it up. Think of it as the rejected pilot of the Communist Revolution.

We are governed by foolish men. Today we learn that  those sent to covertly protect us are actually dipshits and sociopaths. It’s CIA FuckUps.