Ridiculous History – “Folks, We're Doing A Clip Show: Leftovers, 2025”
Hosts: Ben Bowlin, Noel Brown
Super Producer: Max Williams
Date: December 25, 2025
Episode Overview
In this festive special, Ben and Noel treat listeners to a “clip show” packed with “leftovers”—fascinating historical tidbits, bizarre facts, and amusing tangents that didn’t make it into earlier episodes. With a playful, irreverent tone, they cover odd traditions, strange wonders of the world, failed inventions, the history of hair dye (with an Egyptian twist), and curious cases of inventors dying by their own inventions. The episode is divided into loose “acts” and provides a real sense of camaraderie between the hosts and their producer as they riff and ramble through history’s stray crumbs.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Setting the Scene: Odd Traditions, Seahorse Teeth, and Clip Show Origins
- Opening Banter: Christmas vibes; poking fun at each other's “grinchiness”.
- Recall of the show’s inside jokes, like “straight seahorse teeth” (01:18), originally from a discussion on wooden and hippopotamus teeth.
- “One of my favorite hippopotamus facts… the world’s most dangerous large land animal is a vegetarian… It simply does not like other things.” – Ben (01:58)
- The team admits all tradition is “made up at some point”—and they’re making the year-end clip show a new tradition.
- “We’re big, big fans of [traditions], made up ones. I guess all tradition is made up at some point.” – Ben (02:27)
- Timestamps: [00:00]-[03:33]
2. Wonders of the World: Hidden Gems & Glittering Mistakes
A. Glass Beach, California (07:43–10:03)
- Former city dump turned glittering coastline of sea glass—beautiful but an environmental cautionary tale.
- Max, who visited Glass Beach:
“It just looks like it’s like some beautiful, like, volcanic rock... I had no idea though at the time that it was actual glass... let’s not do this again.” (09:12)
- Max, who visited Glass Beach:
- “Some mistakes are to be acknowledged and not replicated.” – Ben (09:56)
B. Pink Lakes & Microbial Wonders (10:19–12:31)
- Lake Hillier in Australia: famously pink due to halobacteria, not clown pants as joked.
- “What if this was pink? …It’s just sort of gray.” – Ben, part colorblind musings (10:21)
- “It was to do with microorganisms… specifically in the case of Lake Hillier, we’re talking about halobacteria.” – Noel (11:51)
C. Arabia Mountain & Rainbow Mountain (12:31–16:32)
- Local Georgia wonder, Arabia Mountain, with its fragile red microbial pools.
- Pet Sematary 2 filmed there; “watch out for geese”—a recurring joke.
- Rainbow Mountain, China: A painterly landscape caused by sedimentation over millennia.
- “Painted by the gods.” – Quoting Carly Hoke’s description (16:20)
- Timestamps: [07:43]-[16:32]
3. The Marvel of Tupperware and “Sure Stay” Hairpins
- Tupperware revolutionized food storage. Before: “putting a shower cap over a bowl”.
- Tupperware was exhibited at MoMA in 1956 (21:40).
- The lesser-known “Sure Stay Hairpins,” also by Tupper’s inventor, flopped due to a terrible, almost villainous slogan.
- “Romance or social prestige often hangs by the hairs on one’s head. A good sure Stay hairpin is needed.” (21:43)
- “Creepy voice, like Bond villain voice.” – Noel (21:46)
- Reflection on marketing misfires and the enduring power of the simple bobby pin.
- Side-tangent on the aggressiveness and flaws of car sales and insurance industries.
- Timestamps: [20:03]-[23:22]
4. Hair Dye: Ramses’ Red Hair, Cartoons & Hollywood Blondes
A. Ramses the Great and Red Hair
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Research reveals ancient Egyptians (notably Ramses) likely had red-dyed hair, signifying power.
- “He was rocking this as sort of a aspect of his regal Persona, right? Because it was a flex.” – Ben (24:18)
- “The red hair was associated with royalty and with the deity set.” – Ben (25:48)
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“King Ramses’ Curse” episode in Courage the Cowardly Dog gets loving mention.
- ‘Return the slab!’ – King Ramses (26:49, cited by Ren)
B. Howard Hughes and Jean Harlow
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Hughes’ role in Hollywood’s first “blonde bombshell,” Jean Harlow, driven by (at the time) extremely toxic chemicals in hair dye.
- “To get your hair that shade of blonde back then required all sorts of very damaging chemicals.” – Noel (28:55)
- “She died at the age of 26… Not necessarily hair-related, but it couldn’t have been good. All those fumes and stuff, too.” – Ben (29:20)
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Reflection on Hughes’ reclusive decline, connecting to broader research on money vs. happiness.
- “All the money in the world doesn’t solve every problem.” – Ben (30:04)
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“More money, more problems. I think P. Diddy once said. No, that wasn’t him…” – Noel (30:38)
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Timestamps: [23:22]-[31:02]
5. Inventors Who Died By Their Own Hand (but Not On Purpose)
A. Introduction to Darwin Awards & IG Nobel Prizes
- Bizarre deaths of inventors—accidental, not intentional, akin to Darwin Awards but in history.
- “They didn’t unalive themselves on purpose, right?” – Noel (34:37)
- “It’s a well that keeps giving terrible and frightening water.” – Ben, on abundance of cases (36:16)
B. William Bullock and the Deadly Printing Press
- Bullock’s rotary press revolutionized newspaper printing, but he was killed while fixing his own machine—a cautionary tale of industrial progress.
- “He tries to kick a driving belt onto a pulley… gets mangled hard in the leg… [then] gets infected and goes gangrenous.” – Noel (40:06)
- “He makes headlines on multiple levels…” – Ben (39:35, wordplay)
C. Sylvester Roper and the Steam Velocipede
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1896: Roper tries to prove his steam-powered motorcycle (“velocipede”) is practical; suffers a heart attack during demonstration and crashes.
- “He got so excited. He got over revved. He suffered a heart attack…” – Ben (44:41)
- “At least he died doing what he loved.” – Noel (44:54)
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Amusing detour: bicycles and "boneshakers," with the Deadwood TV show referenced.
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Timestamps: [34:22]-[45:14]
Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments
- “We’re starting a new tradition… We didn’t tentpole it at the end of the year like this. Now we’re making it a holiday thing.” – Ben (03:10–03:24)
- Max, on Glass Beach: “Let’s not do this again.” (09:43)
- “Humanity finds art in error.” – Ben, on sea glass (10:11)
- “Always live your life watching out for the geese, because they’ll sneak up on you when you least expect it.” – Noel (13:39)
- “Painted by the gods.” – Quoting Carly Hoke’s article on Rainbow Mountain (16:32)
- “Romance or social prestige often hangs by the hairs on one’s head…” – Sure Stay Hairpins slogan, cited and mocked (21:43)
- “Return the slab!” – King Ramses, quoted via research associate (26:49)
- “All the money in the world doesn’t solve every problem…” – Ben (30:04)
- On Bullock: “He makes headlines on multiple levels…” – Ben (39:35)
- On Roper: “He got so excited. He got over revved. He suffered a heart attack. He was incapacitated while on the vehicle and he lost control of the velocipede. He crashed and died.” – Ben (44:41)
- “At least he died doing what he loved.” – Noel (44:54)
Structure & Flow
- Act One: Introduction, traditions, and seahorse teeth legends ([00:00]-[06:54])
- Act Two: Wonders of the world leftovers—Glass Beach, pink lakes, Rainbow Mountain ([06:54]-[16:32])
- Act Three: Tupperware, failed hair inventions, ancient and modern hair dye, accidental-death inventors ([20:03]-[45:17])
The conversation is playful, full of puns, tangents, and easy camaraderie between Ben, Noel, and Max. Each “leftover” story is handled with a mix of historical fact, speculation, and hearty skepticism.
Conclusion
This “clip show” episode embodies the spirit of Ridiculous History: warm, weird, and witty. The hosts bring obscure oddities and forgotten figures to vivid, comedic life, all while inviting listeners to find joy in the quirks of the past. If you enjoy the show’s blend of historical deep-dives and good-natured goofiness, this episode is a festive treat—equal parts celebration and silliness.
Recommended For: Fans of history with a side of humor, trivia lovers, and those curious about the delightful detritus of previous Ridiculous History episodes.