Podcast
The Darkives: Serious history. Told not so seriously
Hosted by Leo Eaton and Jamie Tavenner · EN
The Darkives is a history podcast where Jamie and Leo dive headfirst into the strangest, creepiest, and most disturbing stories the past tried to bury (and somehow manage to laugh along the way).
Each week, we unravel forgotten voyages, infamous historical figures, bizarre disasters, and centuries-old true crime, breaking it all down the way you would with friends - curious, slightly horrified, and occasionally cracking jokes when things get too dark. Nothing is treated like a lecture, and nothing is off the table.
If you like weird history, eerie true stories, and conversations that balance “that’s awful” with “how is this real?”, you’ll feel right at home here.
Serious history. Told not so seriously.
15episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Two of History's Most Disturbing Executions: Topsy and the Pig
3d ago00:27:23Tap to summarizeThis week, Jamie and Leo cover two stories that prove that history has never been particularly kind to animals in the most unbelievable ways possible.First Topsy the elephant. Shipped across the world, worked to exhaustion as a circus animal, and ultimately sentenced to death after killing a man. What followed was one of the most disturbing executions in recorded history. She was fed cyanide, electrocuted, and hanged. All of that on the same day, in front of a live audience...Then a pig in 14th century France is arrested, dressed in human clothing, put on formal trial for the killing of an infant, found guilty, and hanged for her crimes. In 1386. Because that was apparently a thing that happened.Two animals. Two executions. Centuries apart. Both completely true. Welcome back to the Darkives.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Check out our website: darkivespodcast.comEmail us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on: instagramEnjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Sources:https://www.topsytheelephant.com/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/topsy-elephant-was-victim-her-captors-not-really-thomas-edison-180961611/https://edison.rutgers.edu/life-of-edison/essaying-edison/essay/myth-buster-topsy-the-elephanthttps://allthatsinteresting.com/topsy-the-elephanthttps://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/2014/12/12/theyll-say-aww-topsy-myhttps://www.ancient-origins.net/weird-facts/medieval-animal-trials-0016706https://medievaltorturemuseum.com/blog/strange-medieval-courts-animals-trial-middle-ages/Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content Licensespecial thanks to atlasaudio for the background music.
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Six Handkerchiefs and a Sketchbook: The James Jameson Affair
1w ago00:23:56Tap to summarizeThis week Jamie and Leo dig into the life, the expedition, and the event that made sure James Jameson would be remembered for something much more sinister than being a naturalist. He was the grandson of the Jameson whiskey founder. He was the uncle of the man who invented the radio. He traveled the world, hunted big game, and was the first person to scientifically describe a species of bird. By every measure, James Jameson had a life of extraordinary privilege and genuine curiosity.Then he went to Africa.In 1887, Jameson joined the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition as a naturalist. What happened in the forests of the Congo in 1888 would define everything he left behind. Who was James Jameson? What was the James Jameson Affair? And how do modern scientist feel about Jameson's actions? We'll explore all the sketchiness in this file from The Darkives.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Shop/Support/Check out our website: darkivespodcast.comEmail us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on: instagramEnjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Sources:https://www.britannica.com/event/Scramble-for-Africa.https://aaregistry.org/story/tippu-tip-entrepreneur-and-slave-trader-born/https://www.newspapers.com/image/20368390/?match=1&terms=jamesonhttps://allthatsinteresting.com/james-jamesonhttps://moltensulfur.com/post/henry-stanleys-convenient-deaths/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/a-grisly-drop-of-history-1.755086Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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Henry Every: The Pirate Who Pulled Off History’s Biggest Sea Heist
2w ago00:27:45Tap to summarizeA stolen fortune. A global manhunt. And a pirate who may have gotten away with it all.This week, Jamie and Leo sail into the chaotic world of Henry Every, the man often called the pirate who pulled off the greatest sea heist in history.Before becoming one of the most wanted men on Earth, Every lived a murkier life serving in the navy, working aboard slave ships, and eventually turning to piracy in the late 1600s. But everything changed after a daring attack on a wealthy Mughal treasure fleet in the Indian Ocean. The raid made Every infamous almost overnight.The stolen riches were enormous. The political fallout was massive. And suddenly, governments across the world wanted him captured. What followed became one of history’s first global manhunts.Did he escape with his fortune? Did he die broke and forgotten? Or was one of the most successful pirates in history eventually caught without anyone realizing it?On this episode of The Darkives we tell the tale of a pirate who may have actually won.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Check out our website: darkivespodcast.comEmail us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on: instagramEnjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Sources:https://www.history.com/articles/henry-everys-bloody-pirate-raid-320-years-agohttps://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Henry-Avery-Every-King-Of-Pirates/Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content LicenseThank you to Ebunny for all the pirate music
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The Bubonic Plague: From Before the Black Death to After Modern America
3w ago00:38:10Tap to summarizeRats. Fleas. And one bacterium that just would not take the hint.This week, Jamie and Leo trace the long and deadly history of the plague, from the ancient world to outbreaks in the modern United States.We start with the different forms of plague, bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic (all caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis). From there, we follow the disease across centuries, beginning with the Plague of Justinian, moving through the Black Death, and ending with lesser-known outbreaks in Hawaii in 1899, San Francisco from 1900 to 1907, and Los Angeles in 1924.Along the way, we look at how the plague spread, why it was so deadly, and how communities responded when fear traveled faster than the disease itself.How many forms of plague are there? What caused the Black Death? And how did outbreaks continue well into the 20th century?From emperors, quarantines, and some very unlucky rats, this is the story of one of history’s most persistent killers.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Check out our website: darkivespodcast.comEmail us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on: instagramEnjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Sources:https://www.britannica.com/event/plague-of-Justinianhttps://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17782-plaguehttps://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/san-franciscos-plague-years/https://www.aai.org/About/History/History-Articles-Keep-for-Hierarchy/How-Honolulu%E2%80%99s-Chinatown-Went-Up-in-Smoke-The-Fihttps://www.history.com/articles/black-deathhttps://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death/Effects-and-significancehttps://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps-statistics/index.htmlTheme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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Roanoke: The Colony That Vanished Without a Trace
May 800:36:29Tap to summarizeWords carved into a tree. A colony gone. And a mystery that still hasn’t been solved.This week, Jamie and Leo head back to early colonial America to unpack the disappearance of the Roanoke colony, one of the most enduring mysteries in U.S. history.Backed by Sir Walter Raleigh, remember him from The lost city of Z/ Eldorado? In the late 1500s the English attempted to establish a permanent settlement on the coast of present day North Carolina. Things didn’t go as planned...Later John White would return from a supply trip to England only to find the colony completely abandoned. No bodies. No signs of a struggle. Just a single clue left behind.From there, the questions only multiply.Did the settlers integrate with nearby Indigenous groups? Were they driven off, murdered, relocated, or lost to something else entirely?We'll walk through the history, the theories, and the evidence in this unsolved moment in history brought to you by The Darkives.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on- instagramEnjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Sources:firstcolonyfoundation.orgnps.govhistory.comTheme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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The Iron Mike Molloy Story: The Man Who Just Wouldn’t Die
May 100:36:12Tap to summarizePoison. Alcohol. Exposure. And somehow… he just kept going.This week, Jamie and Leo head to Prohibition era New York to tell the unbelievable story of Michael Malloy, better known as “Iron Mike.”In the early 1930s, a group of men came up with what they thought was a simple plan: take out a down-on-his-luck bar regular, collect on a life insurance policy, and split the payout. What followed was a series of increasingly desperate (and increasingly ridiculous) attempts to make that plan work.Drink after drink. Toxic cocktails. Freezing nights left out in the cold. Even food that absolutely should have done the job.And somehow… it didn’t.How did Michael Malloy survive so many attempts on his life? And how does a story this bizarre actually end?Find out in this episode of The Darkives.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on- instagramEnjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Sources:irishcentral.comsmithsonianmag.comTheme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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Inside Bedlam: The Dark History of Bethlem Royal Hospital
Apr 2400:47:45Tap to summarizeThis week, Jamie and Leo head to London to explore the long and unsettling history of Bethlem Royal Hospital, better known as “Bedlam.”Originally founded as a place of care, Bethlem one of the most infamous institutions in history. Over the centuries, it moved locations, and developed a reputation for conditions that were as chaotic as the name it inspired. Reports of neglect, public viewing of patients, and questionable treatments turned the hospital into something far darker than its original purpose.But the story doesn’t end there.Figures like William Battie and competing institutions started challenging the way patients were treated, pushing for reform and a more humane approach to care.How did Bethlem become “Bedlam”? What were conditions actually like inside its walls?Find out with us this week on The Darkives.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on- instagramEnjoy the show? Consider leaving a rating and a comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Sources:historicengland.orghistoryextra.commuseumofthemind.orgmuseumofthemind.org2historicengland.org2bbc.comqmro.qmul.ac.uklatimes.commuseumofthemind.org3museumofthemind.org4Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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The Essex: Shipwreck, Survival, and a Whale that Sank a Ship
Apr 1700:55:59Tap to summarizeThis week on The Darkives, we have a whale of a tale. Let's sail out to sea in 1819 aboard the whaling ship Essex, a voyage that would turn into one of the most unbelievable survival stories in history.When a massive sperm whale attacked and sank the ship, the crew was left stranded in the open ocean with only three small boats and barely enough supplies to survive.What followed was a series of desperate decisions... Drinking seawater, choosing whether to stay on a remote island or risk the open ocean, and eventually, facing choices no one ever thinks they’ll have to make.We get into what really happened after the Essex went down, how the crew tried to survive against impossible odds, and how this story would go on to inspire Moby-Dick.This isn’t just a shipwreck story… it’s what happens when survival pushes people past their limits.So how did it all go so wrong? And what do you do when there are no good options left?Serious history. Told not so seriously.Enjoying the show? Leave us a rating/comment or share us to a fellow history lover.Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on- instagramSources:https://www.britannica.com/topic/Essex-whaling-shiphttps://www.americanheritage.com/essex-disasterhttps://www.gutenberg.org/files/61931/61931-h/61931-h.htmhttps://www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/history-whalinghttps://essex.nha.org/the-whaleship-essex/https://essex.nha.org/the-aftermath/Theme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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The Bone Wars: When Scientists Sabotaged Each Other Over Dinosaurs
Apr 1000:47:29Tap to summarizeThis week on The Darkives, we’re digging into one of the strangest rivalries in scientific history… and yeah, it gets way more chaotic than you’d expect.In the late 1800s, two paleontologists, Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, basically went to war over dinosaur bones. What started as competition quickly turned into full-on sabotage; stolen fossils, destroyed evidence, and some very public attempts to ruin each other’s careers.And the wild part? This wasn’t happening in secret. The feud played out in newspapers, in the field, and across the growing world of American science… dragging in other figures like Joseph Leidy, who at one point just wanted no part of the chaos.We get into how this rivalry started, how bad it actually got, and how two brilliant scientists managed to push dinosaur discovery forward while also actively making each other’s lives worse.Because somehow, in the middle of all this pettiness… they helped shape everything we know about dinosaurs today.Serious history. Told not so seriouslyEmail us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on- instagramSources:ebsco.compbs.orgebsco.com 2coloradoencyclopedia.orgebsco.com 3paconservationheritage.orgarchives.upenn.eduTheme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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The Lost City of Z and El Dorado: The Explorers Who Never Stopped Searching
Apr 300:42:49Tap to summarizeA city of gold. A ritual in a sacred lake. And a legend that refused to die.This week, Jamie and Leo head deep into South America to unravel the story of El Dorado. The myth of “the gilded one" and the enduring mystery of the Lost City of Z.The legend begins with indigenous rituals at Lake Guatavita, where stories of gold-covered rulers and offerings sparked centuries of obsession. What followed was a wave of expeditions into the jungle, each one chasing a fortune that may have never existed.Among them was Gonzalo Pizarro, whose spectacular journey through the jungle gave the Amazon it's name. Years later, Sir Walter Raleigh helped fuel the legend while chasing it himself. Then there was Percy Fawcett, whose final expedition into the jungle became one of history’s most famous unsolved disappearances.As the story unfolds, the line between myth and reality starts to blur.Was El Dorado ever a real place? What actually happened to Percy Fawcett when he vanished into the Amazon?Sit down with us as we pull another file from The Darkives.Serious history. Told not so seriously.Email us: thedarkivescommunity@gmail.comFollow us on- instagramSources:forbes.comnewspapers.combritannica.comlivescience.comnationalgeographic.comnationalgeographic.com 2history.compenn.museumhistoryextra.comTheme music: Ways of the Wizard-geoffharveyUsed with permission, Thank you Geoff!licensed through: PixabayOther music used: licensed through Pixabay-used under the Pixabay Content License
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