Useless Information Podcast

Podcasting since 2008! - It really is all true! Quirky, bizarre, and unusual stories from the Flip Side of History.

History
Comedy
Society & Culture
76
Retrocast #7 - UI Podcast #165
A man falls out of a window and is saved by a flagpole, seven tonsillectomies done in an assembly line fashion, and more!
20 min
77
The Glass House Girl - UI #164
The true story of Hollywood actress Edna Kirby who lived in a glass house for the better part of 25 years.
34 min
78
Bad Apples #3 - Sunset Boulevard - UI #163
We review the classic movie "Sunset Boulevard." Directed by Billy Wilder, this movie tells the story of a struggling screenwriter who gets into a dangerous relationship with a faded Hollywood actress who dreams of a big comeback.
43 min
79
Retrocast #6 - UI Podcast #162
Christmas episode! A reindeer that bit a boy’s finger, a lawsuit over the world’s largest Christmas stocking, the first Christmas film ever made, and much more!
38 min
80
Tom McGee's Back on the Chain Gang - UI #161
Tom McGee wanted nothing more for Christmas than to be able to spend time caring for his hogs. The only catch was that he needed to commit a crime and hope that a judge would sentence him to time on one of Georgia’s infamous chain gangs.
27 min
81
Retrocast #5 - UI Podcast #160
In this episode: A proud father who kidnapped his newborn daughter, a mother jailed for cooking a woodpecker, Einstein gives a student incorrect math advice, a snake that joined a woman in the bathtub, and much more!
35 min
82
The Forgotten Man - UI Podcast #159
A Catch-22: As long as a man remained on death row, he could live. If he tried to get off, he could die. Which would he choose?
29 min
83
Retrocast #4 - UI Podcast #158
The day corsets were arrested, a university lingerie auction, US Customs bans Alice Cooper’s panties, a fish who milked a cow, a box of cookies that started a fire, the highest-paid act at Woodstock, and more!
32 min
84
Don't Mess With Minerva Miller - UI Podcast #157
In 1911, Minerva Miller and two friends went to The Paterson Show to watch a movie. A ticket was 5 cents, but Mrs. Miller was told that she would have to pay 25 cents because she was black. She decided to challenge the theater's racist policy.
29 min
85
Retrocast #3 - UI Podcast #156
A 72-year-old woman who married a 20-year-old man, a 16-year-old girl arrested for cursing, a woman who had some run-ins with modern appliances, speaking English deforms the mouth, a husband who refused to buy his wife false teeth, and more!
24 min
86
Lost in the Mountains - UI Podcast #155
In 1941, 5-year-old Pamela Hollingworth disappeared into the dense forest of New Hampshire's White Mountains. Murder? Kidnapping? Find out what really happened to Pamela Hollingworth.
27 min
87
Retrocast #2 - UI Podcast #154
Boy runs away because he can't master Latin, a mother who loaned her son to a stranger, a man who survived a Nazi firing squad, cows killed by lightning, man's leg broken three times, 200 hog call records stolen, a helicopter melon thief, & more!
23 min
88
Two Worlds Collide - UI Podcast #153
In 1932, Redondo Beach school superintendent Elliott B. Thomas mysteriously disappeared and his office was ransacked. Was he kidnapped? Could he have been killed? Or was something else going on? Also, learn about a new chemical element called Administratium.
27 min
89
Retrocast #1 - UI Podcast #152
A 106-year-old woman seeks a husband, 5 phonograph records is admission to a dance, Australia gives the US an albino kangaroo, Johnny Cash promoting the Home Equipment Co., A country could be 49th US state, and more!
25 min
90
A Blind Eye - UI Podcast #151
In 1933, Helen Vasko was diagnosed with a malignant eye tumor that threatened her life. Her parents would not consent to surgery and the case ended up in court. Listen to find out which side won this landmark case.
28 min
91
A Fortune to the Dogs - UI Podcast #150
When Isabel McHie was pulled off of a train in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1935, she confirmed to the world that she truly was eccentric. It was a reputation that continued long after she died.
46 min
92
Bad Apples #2 - The Hitch-Hiker - UI Podcast #149
In this episode, my wife Mary Jane joins me to review the classic movie "The Hitch-Hiker." Directed by Ida Lupino, this movie was inspired by the crimes of mass murderer Billy Cook, which was told in podcast #148 titled "Badman Billy Cook."
25 min
93
Badman Billy Cook - UI Podcast #148
There's a killer on the road. The mostly forgotten true story of the manhunt for mass murderer Billy Cook in 1951. His crime spree was the inspiration for a verse in one of rock's most classic songs.
36 min
94
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu
In this episode, I make an important announcement about the future of the podcast.
18 min
95
The St. Louis Diphtheria Tragedy - UI Podcast ...
The diphtheria vaccine saved many lives until children started dying from it back in 1901. One could say that it was all the fault of a horse named Jim.
38 min
96
The Price of a Kiss - UI Podcast #146
In 1919, Chicago doctor Justin L. Mitchell forcefully kissed nurse Mathilde Benkhardt without her permission. She challenged him in court and the outcome may have ruined him for the rest of his life.
39 min
97
Bad Apples #1 - The Best Years of Our Lives - U...
In this episode, my wife Mary Jane joins me to review the classic movie "The Best Years of Our Lives." Released in 1946, the movie won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor.
33 min
98
The Sleep-Walking Murderer - UI Podcast #144
In 1930, Michael Filosa slashed his half-brother Salvatore De Hall to death while he was sleep-walking. Could he have really done such a thing?
39 min
99
A Grateful Mother - UI Podcast #143
The heartwarming true story from the 1950s of a secret Santa and the generous Christmas gifts that he gave to Helen Arnold's family in Akron, Ohio.
35 min
100
The Runaway Miss America - UI Podcast #142
Bette Cooper never dreamed of winning a beauty pageant and was shocked when she won the 1937 Miss America title. Within hours, Bette had disappeared. Where could she have gone?
45 min