Top 5 Wikipedia deep dives with Sarah Roberts

·1 hr 6 min·5 clips

A French soldier in the 1700s smuggled secrets by eating documents and pooping them out behind enemy lines.

The episode begins with hosts Chris and Stu introducing guest Sarah Roberts, who is calling from France while they are in Essex and Liverpool. Sarah presents her list of top five Wikipedia deep dives, starting with The Great Stink, a 1858 London event where extreme heat exacerbated sewage problems in the Thames, leading to the modern sewage system and nearly causing Parliament to relocate. Her second entry is Tarare, an 18th-century Frenchman with an insatiable appetite who ate live animals, stones, and even smuggled documents by swallowing and later excreting them, with rumors of him consuming a toddler. Third, Sarah discusses the list of prematurely reported obituaries, highlighting how a false obituary for Alfred Nobel inspired him to create the Nobel Peace Prize. Fourth, she details Action Park, a New Jersey amusement park notorious for fatalities, drunk underage staff, and insurance fraud, including a ride with exposed electrical wires. Finally, she covers Rasputin, exploring his role with the Romanov family, the mystery around his death, and debunking myths about poisoning and castration. Throughout, the hosts interject with personal stories, such as Stu's fake death post on Friends Reunited and Chris's canned chicken experience. Sarah also talks about her Edinburgh Fringe show 'Silkworm', which revolves around her double jaw surgery and themes of metamorphosis. The episode maintains a casual, humorous tone with tangents on DNA tests, cultural appropriation, and childhood memories.

As heard by us

A Wikipedia idea opens into ancestry, identity, and one very disappointing Viking fantasy.

Hardcore Listing turns Sarah Roberts' top-five Wikipedia idea into a loose, rain-soaked conversation about the stories people inherit, repeat, and sometimes have to give up.

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Why you'd press play

You get a damp catch-up, Sarah Roberts' top-five Wikipedia setup, and an ancestry-DNA detour that punctures a Viking fantasy.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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