SPILLED.

Watergate is one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history, but do you actually know what happened? This week we spill the story behind the Watergate break-in, the cover-up, and how it all led to the resignation of Richard Nixon. We also get into the wild side of the scandal, including the outspoken Martha Mitchell and the mysterious source known as Deep Throat. Lies, secret tapes, political drama, you're in for a wild ride.

SOURCES:
Colodny, Len, and Robert Gettlin. Silent Coup: The Removal of a President. St. Martin's Press, 1991.
Dwyre, Diana, and Robin Kolodny. "Corruption and Campaign Finance in the U.S." The Fundamentals of Campaign Finance in the U.S.: Why We Have the System We Have, University of Michigan Press, 2024, pp. 29–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.9813302.8.
Gormly, Kellie B. "Martha Mitchell Was the Brash 'Mouth of the South' That Roared." Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Apr. 2022, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/martha-mitchell-was-the-brash-mouth-of-the-south-that-roared-180979951/.
HISTORY.com Editors. "Identity of 'Deep Throat,' Source Who Helped Unravel the Watergate Scandal, Is Revealed." History.com, 13 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/may-31/deep-throat-is-revealed.
Lineberry, Cate. "Martha Mitchell: The Socialite Turned Watergate Whistleblower." History.com, 25 Apr. 2022, http://history.com/articles/martha-mitchell-watergate-kidnapping.
Morgan, Ruth P. "Nixon, Watergate, and the Study of the Presidency." Presidential Studies Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 1, 1996, pp. 217–238. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27551561.
National Security Archive. "Six Things You Didn't Know About Watergate." nsarchive.gwu.edu, 27 May 2021, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/2021-05-27/six-things-you-didnt-know-about-watergate.
National Security Archive. "Haldeman Diary Transcript, April 29, 1973." nsarchive.gwu.edu, https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/21240-730429-haldeman-diary-transcript.
O'Connor, John D. "I'm the Guy They Called Deep Throat." Vanity Fair, July 2005, https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2005/7/im-the-guy-they-called-deep-throat.
Richard Nixon Foundation. "Watergate Explained." Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.nixonfoundation.org/watergate-explained/. Accessed 10 Feb. 2026.
Shepard, Alicia C. "Deep Throat's Legacy to Journalism." NPR, 19 Dec. 2008, https://www.npr.org/2008/12/19/98532461/deep-throats-legacy-to-journalism.
Smoller, Fred. "Watergate Revisited." PS: Political Science and Politics, vol. 25, no. 2, 1992, pp. 225–227. https://doi.org/10.2307/419713.
U.S. National Archives. "Nixon and the Environment." Prologue Magazine, Winter 2012, http://archives.gov/publications/prologue/2012/winter/nixon-homefront.

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Even if you haven't seen the show (Kendyl hasn't), you're going to want to tune in to this one. This week we’re getting into the real history behind Peaky Blinders. Inspired by the hit series Peaky Blinders, we break down who the Peaky Blinders actually were, the true gang wars of early 1900s Birmingham, and the core figures who built the gang’s reputation long before TV dramatized it.

We talk bad accents (ours included), the iconic outfits, what the show gets right (and wrong), and how much of the Shelby story is rooted in fact. If you’ve ever wondered about the real Peaky Blinders, their history, and the crime culture that inspired the series — this one’s for you.

SOURCES
Gooderson, Philip. The Gangs of Birmingham. Milo Books, 2010.
Our History. "The Shocking History Behind the Real Peaky Blinders." YouTube, 25 Oct. 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUJibuwsImI.
Sharpe, James. "Who Were the Real Peaky Blinders?" Smithsonian Magazine, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-were-real-peaky-blinders-180973328/.
"The Real Peaky Blinders." FindMyPast, www.findmypast.com/blog/discoveries/real-peaky-blinders.
West Midlands Police Museum. Criminal Records and Mugshots Collection. Birmingham, England.
Wu, Yang. "Coal Resources Distribution and Its Influence on Industrial Development and Underground Water in UK." Journal of Coastal Research, vol. 94, 2019, pp. 97–101. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26853258.
Primary Sources:
"Peaky Blinders Gang Activity." Birmingham Mail, 24 Mar. 1890.
"Thomas Walters Criminal Record." Cheltenham Chronicle, 12 Jan. 1901.
"Birmingham Gang." Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser, 2 Nov. 1929.

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This week, we’re talking Giulia Tofana and the infamous Aqua Tofana — the legendary 17th-century poison rumored to be colorless, tasteless, and almost impossible to detect. We break down the history, the myths, and why this story still fascinates people today, especially its ties to women secretly poisoning abusive husbands in a time when divorce wasn’t an option.

Plus, because it’s us, we’re playing Fuck, Marry, Kill inspired by the episode.

If you love dark history, true crime legends, and chaotic commentary, this one’s for you.

SOURCES:

Griffiths, Arthur. “Female Criminals.” The North American Review 161, no. 465 (1895): 141–52. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25103561.

Review of Inorganic Poisons, by Paul Dittrich, Franz Erben, and R. v. Jaksch. The British Medical Journal 2, no. 2556 (1909): 1802–3. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25289004.

Johann Wilhelm Archenholz recounted the story of “Aqua Tofana” in his travel narrative England und Italien (1785)

https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/women-and-early-modern-poison/

Dash, Mike. “Aqua Tofana,” n.d.
From the greater book “Toxicology in the Middle Ages and Renaissance”

Ferraro, Joanne M. “The Power to Decide: Battered Wives in Early Modern Venice.”
Renaissance Quarterly 48, no. 3 (1995): 492–512. https://doi.org/10.2307/2862872.
Monson, Craig A. The Black Widows of the Eternal City: The True Story of Rome’s Most
Infamous Poisoners. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2020.

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We're back with our MOST requested episode yet -- the Salem Witch Trials! Join us to hear us unpack the biggest misconceptions, implications, and causes of the witch hunts and trials that plagued Salem, Massachusetts between February 1692 – May 1693. We cover famous trials, shocking facts, and as always, one too many dirty jokes.

SOURCES:
Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft, at Salem Village Which happened from the Nineteenth of March to the Fifth of April 1692 (Boston: Benjamin Harris, 1692), p. 9.
Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. Alfred A. Knopf, 2002
Georgescu, Sedona. Fear Thy Neighbor: Spatial Relations in 17th Century New England Witch-Hunt Trials. Documents, 2017. https://jstor.org/stable/community.34031178.
https://doi.org/10.2307/362849.
(A. Scott, personal communication, 2025)

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Everyone jokes that Y2K was fake. It wasn’t. It was stopped.
In this episode, we break down how a tiny design choice made decades earlier put banks, power grids, hospitals, air traffic control, and even nuclear systems on edge as the clock approached January 1, 2000. We explore why the Y2K bug was a real, systemic risk, how hundreds of billions of dollars and years of invisible labor quietly defused it, and why the absence of disaster became proof of success. Drawing on first-hand accounts (from Reddit, obviously) from the programmers who fixed the code and waited on call, we chat aboutY2K as a case study in technological dependence, mass anxiety, and what it actually looks like when prevention works.

Sources:

Scholarly + Academic / Research Reports
Bosch, Olivia. “Expectations in 1999 of Potential Impact of Y2K.” In The Year 2000 Issue and Information Infrastructure Security. Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, 2001. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20291.6.
Bosch, Olivia. “Motivations for Dealing with Y2K.” In The Year 2000 Issue and Information Infrastructure Security. Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, 2001. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20291.5.
Bosch, Olivia. “What Happened?” In The Year 2000 Issue and Information Infrastructure Security. Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, 2001. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep20291.7.
Garcia-Feijóo, Luis, and John R. Wingender. “Y2K: Myth or Reality?” Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics 46, no. 3 (2007): 27–44. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40473301.
Romanosky, Sasha, and Jonathan W. Welburn. “Disclosure of Software Supply Chain Risks.” RAND Corporation, 2022. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep41324.
Knox, Hannah. “How the Climate Takes Shape.” In Thinking Like a Climate: Governing a City in Times of Environmental Change, 63–66. Duke University Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.33610740.8.
Journalism / Magazine / News
Kolker, Claudia. “Seeking Y2K Getaway, Some Head for the Hills, in Ozarks.” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1999. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-apr-04-mn-24190-story.html.
Radil, Amy. “The Y2K Bust.” Minnesota Public Radio, December 30, 1999. https://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199912/30_radila_y2k-m/.
Ratcliffe, Mitch. “Y2K Survivalists Struggle with Reality.” UPI, January 2, 2000. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/01/02/Y2K-survivalists-struggle-with-reality/8815946789200/.
Rothman, Lily. “Remember Y2K? Here’s How We Prepped for the Non-Disaster.” Time, December 31, 2014. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://time.com/3645828/y2k-look-back/.
(Archive video collection) “25 years since Y2K archive collection.” KSBW. https://www.ksbw.com/article/25-years-since-y2k-archive-collection/63241773
Museums / Educational Reference
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “Y2K.” Accessed January 2, 2026. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/y2k.
EBSCO Research Starters. “Y2K Crisis.” https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/computer-science/y2k-crisis.
National Geographic Education. “Y2K bug.” https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/Y2K-bug/.
Government / Primary Documents
Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act. Public Law 105–271 (1998). https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/publ271/PLAW-105publ271.pdf.
The White House (Clinton Administration Archives). “The Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act” / related statement and “National Y2K Action Week” materials (October 1998). https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/Work/101998.html
Trade / Professional Publication
Witherspoon, Roger. “Y2K: The Millennium Mystery.” Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology 14, no. 2 (1999): 50–51. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43827991.

Scholarly Article (Environmental / Public Health angle)
Chepesiuk, Ron. “Y2K: The Moment of Truth.” Environmental Health Perspectives 107, no. 5 (1999): A252–55. https://doi.org/10.2307/3434533.
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