You Totally Made That Up

Some history sounds invented. This show goes looking for exactly that kind, then insists on pinning it down. Nash and Tiff, the two hosts, say plainly that they are not historians but researchers presenting stories. Their stated rule is simple: no 'the lore says' and no 'the legend goes' without dates, names and facts attached. They point to their sources in the show notes. The supernatural is fair game, with one useful caveat: those parts may only be true to the people who lived them. In practice that covers a wide spread. One cold open moves past volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis to disasters that were never natural. The excerpt that follows turns on a man up against a December 31st deadline who balked at the cost of testing a tank by filling it with water, and had it filled to about six inches instead. 'Where To Stick Your Rod' starts from how caregivers of the past treated the sick. It then follows a railroad foreman on the Hudson River Railroad who was overseeing explosive work by his mid-twenties, and one host breaks off to declare him a historical hottie. The title 'Pools And Pits (Part One)' shows that some stories stretch across more than one installment. In 'Something Suddenly Came Up' the hosts go back to a story they had already told about what could be hiding in the snow, because, as they admit, they cannot let it go. The excerpt runs through students, a memorial plaque, burns, radiation and orbs in the sky, and arrives at the admission that no one has agreed on an answer. So the hosts offer theories of their own. As Nash starts hers, a British text-to-speech voice cuts in to explain that when she says CO2 she means carbon monoxide, a slip too tedious to fix in the edit. That kind of play runs through the show. It keeps a numbered Spooky Snack line. In 'Spooky Snack 14: Unsolicited Meat' a tale of brothers cut to pieces by a twister in the middle of a knife fight draws a flat 'this is so dumb', then one host's guess about waste dumped from a plane and a detour through Joe Dirt. Bonus episodes such as 'Randompalooza' collect outtakes, sidebars and rants. The intro calls that one a treat for regulars and suggests newcomers start with other episodes. One sidebar there notes that commercial whaling was banned in 1986 while Japan, Iceland and Norway still hunt whales. The sign-offs ask for episode ideas and listeners' own family stories. What comes through is strange history checked against the record wherever the hosts can manage it, told by two people who react out loud to every twist.