• Episode 79: The Conversation: Yeltsin's Grocery Revolution
    May 2 2026

    In today's episode we discussion the evolution of grocery stores, as discussed in Episode 78. Life in Romania, automatic sliding doors, Walgreens lighting, Rachel's dads inventions and the plight of A&P.

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    28 Min.
  • Episode 78: Yeltsin's Grocery Revolution
    Apr 30 2026

    When Boris Yeltsin came to the United States in 1989 to speak, visit with the President and see the Statue of Liberty, his entire outlook on the world changed in one :20 minute moment. But it wasn't NYC or Miami or President Bush. It was Randall's Grocery Store in Webster Texas. This is the story of the history of that moment.

    In this episode we cross paths with Marjorie Merriwether Post, IBM, Spectra-Physics, Wrigley's Gum, James J. Hill, Clarence Saudners, Williams Leslie Maxson, Boris Yeltsin and Grape Nuts.

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    40 Min.
  • Episode 77: The Conversation: World's Best Music
    Apr 1 2026

    Are those really the world's most famous tunes? Rachel and I discuss the "easter eggs" of the show, whether they are songs and more ludicrousness. Foreigner, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday . . . what do you think?

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    33 Min.
  • Episode 76: The World's Most Famous Music
    Mar 29 2026

    Can you believe the world's most famous music is 3,000 years old? Not necessarily from the first note written, but from the idea that created it. In this episode we cross paths with Thomas Edison, Stanley Kubrick, Walt Disney, The Lone Ranger, Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Charles Darwin, The Who, Edvard Grieg, Peer Gynt, Freidrich Schiller and Friedrich Nietzche and many more.

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    34 Min.
  • Episode 75: The Conversation: The Real Forrest Gump
    Mar 11 2026

    We're taking "the cutting room floor" to a new level. Rachel and I go over all the stories we couldn't fit into "The Real Forrest Gump" story. Enjoy this new series and a full conversation, including Josh Norton: The Emperor of the United States.

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    24 Min.
  • Episode 74: The Real Life Forrest Gump
    Mar 1 2026

    Before there was a movie, there was a man who lived it. We all know the story of the accidental hero who wandered through history, rubbing elbows with presidents and changing the world by mistake. But what if that story wasn't fiction? In this episode, we trace the impossible footsteps of a figure who defined the 19th century.

    Follow the journey of a man who:

    • Survived the rugged Oregon Trail during the height of the expansion.

    • Navigated the treacherous Mississippi as a high-stakes steamboat captain.

    • Chased a fortune as a silver and gold miner in the wild West.

    • Crossed the Atlantic Ocean six times, becoming one of the first true global celebrities.

    • Revolutionized modern life by inventing and patenting the everyday bra strap clasp.

    He wasn't just a witness to history—he was the one writing it. Join us as we peel back the layers of a life so cinematic, it’s hard to believe he was ever real. You might think you know who we’re talking about, but the final destination is a name you’d never expect to find sitting on that bench.

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    39 Min.
  • Episode 73: The Gilded Age: First March on Washington D.C.
    Jan 30 2026

    In 1894 Jacob Coxey decided to take thousands of unemployed and March on Washington. Well, that was just the prequel to 1964 March for Civil Rights. But it's how A. Philip Randolph was indoctrinated to the idea. And crazily this store involves both Mark Twain and Jack London, in addition to Pullman Porters, the Ferris Wheel, Eugene V Debs, the May Day Riots, Frederick Douglass, and even the Statue of Liberty.

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    36 Min.
  • Episode 72: The Invention of Hello
    Dec 28 2025

    The word Hello showed up just as the world was changing . . . in the absolute biggest ways ever. Nothing was the same after "Hello". In this episode we cross paths with Michigan J Frog, Tin Pan Alley, the Phonograph, Western Union, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Alexander Graham Bell, Scott Joplin, the telephone operator, Thomas Edison and J. N. Pattison.

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    28 Min.