Retropod

The Post's new Retropolis columnist, Petula Dvorak, introduces herself and reintroduces you to what can be uncovered with a good look at history. Petula shares her Retropolis column "The presidential inauguration that made everyone sick" about the aftermath of James Buchanan’s inauguration. America became obsessed: Was the fatal illness called the “Buchanan Grip” an assassination attempt? Or just a disease-ridden hotel?

Transcribed - Published: 18 January 2025

In the 1950s, a child trying to call Santa Claus accidentally called NORAD and changed Christmas Eve forever.

Transcribed - Published: 25 December 2019

Benjamin Franklin, the most colorful of America's Founding Fathers, had a misunderstood, electrical and ultimately homicidal relationship with turkeys.

Transcribed - Published: 27 November 2019

When Eugene Cernan walked on the moon, he didn’t know he’d be the last astronaut to make the journey.

Transcribed - Published: 1 November 2019

White House maid Elizabeth Jaffray not only cleaned up after presidents, she had an amazing insight into their appetites.

Transcribed - Published: 24 October 2019

In 1950, Mary Ann Van Hoof gathered an estimated 100,000 people to see the Virgin Mary on a farm in Necedah, Wisconsin.

Transcribed - Published: 9 October 2019

From the mid-1800s to well into the 20th century, the Capitol’s Demon Cat was the top dog of Washington ghost stories.

Transcribed - Published: 8 October 2019

President Abraham Lincoln had two loving and supportive mothers in his lifetime. The second helped him cope with the tragic loss of the first.

Transcribed - Published: 1 October 2019

More than 50,000 soldiers died during the Battle of Waterloo, but their teeth lived on.

Transcribed - Published: 25 September 2019

Their 38-year marriage endured his incarceration and hers.

Transcribed - Published: 5 September 2019

Samuel Cutler Ward, also known as the “King of the Lobby,” is credited with shaping the craft of lobbying. And like lobbyist and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, he also had some seriously expensive tastes.

Transcribed - Published: 19 August 2019

"The Birth of a Nation" depicted life after the Civil War in a way that glorified Klansmen. The film and its cultural impact led one man to conclude that the time was right to bring back the Klu Klux Klan.

Transcribed - Published: 16 August 2019

It’s World War II, and you’re King George VI of England. You fear a Nazi invasion of England could come at any moment. How do you protect the crown jewels? Not even Queen Elizabeth II knew how her dad did it - until recently.

Transcribed - Published: 15 August 2019

An American in the 1940s would not recognize the woman from the “We Can Do It!” poster as Rosie the Riveter.

Transcribed - Published: 14 August 2019

In April 1917, Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress, faced an agonizing choice: should she, or should she not, vote for the United States to enter World War I?

Transcribed - Published: 9 August 2019

The most recent British royal wedding puts all eyes on the Windsor family. But perhaps no royal is as controversial as Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip.

Transcribed - Published: 2 August 2019

Host Lillian Cunningham's next podcast explores the real story of why we went to the moon -- a darker, but truer story than the one you've heard before. Listen to this trailer, and subscribe on your favorite podcast app or at washingtonpost.com/moonrise

Transcribed - Published: 19 July 2019

The Alderson Federal Prison Camp has a history filled with powerful women. Some pushed for the prison to be built. Others served time there.

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2019

In 1998, the world briefly panicked over an asteroid that seemed headed straight for Earth.

Transcribed - Published: 2 July 2019

Suzanne Lenglen was physically ferocious, always fashionable and a disrupter of convention.

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2019

When the NRA was founded in 1871, its primary concern was not gun rights or the Second Amendment.

Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2019

Oregon’s original constitution banned black people from the state, and the law stayed in the constitution for well over 100 years.

Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2019

When the White House was built over 200 years ago, it lacked certain modern conveniences. A hodgepodge of improvements have been added over the years.

Transcribed - Published: 14 June 2019

If you love gossip, drama and D.C. politics -- this story is the gift that keeps on giving.

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2019

On the day before D-Day, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a speech to the troops that totally masked how nervous he actually was.

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2019

The spy business is all about masking the truth. One CIA agent’s deceptions and sham identities were so enterprising that he earned the nickname “Master of Disguise."Related episodesThe rat that helped win the Cold WarThe pistols that almost fell from the sky The pistols that almost fell from the sky That time the CIA stole a Russian submarine The ax that killed Leon Trotsky

Transcribed - Published: 7 June 2019

Joseph Stalin wanted his political rival dead. When bullets didn’t do the job, his intelligence service tried something even more gruesome.Related episodesThe rat that helped win the Cold WarThe pistols that almost fell from the sky The pistols that almost fell from the sky That time the CIA stole a Russian submarine

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2019

When a Russian sub sank at the height of the Cold War, the CIA got help from Howard Hughes and created a fictitious mining operation to snag the vessel at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.Related episodesThe rat that helped win the Cold WarThe pistols that almost fell from the sky The ax that killed Leon Trotsky

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2019

During World War II, U.S. intelligence operatives devised a plan to airdrop one-shot handguns, nicknamed the Liberator pistol, to allies in Europe in hopes of ending the war quickly.Related episodesThe rat that helped win the Cold WarThat time the CIA stole a Russian submarine The ax that killed Leon Trotsky

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2019

In the first of a weeklong series of episodes about spies, subterfuge and intelligence, a look at how the CIA used dead rats to send secret messages in the former Soviet Union.Related episodesThe pistols that almost fell from the skyThat time the CIA stole a Russian submarineThe ax that killed Leon Trotsky

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2019

In the 1950s, Dr. Virginia Apgar created a quick test that nurses have since performed on millions of babies just after birth. She is considered one of the most important figures in modern medicine — a world that almost pushed her away.

Transcribed - Published: 31 May 2019

When author Ernest Hemingway killed himself in 1961, the political strain between the United States and Cuba was escalating. In the midst of that struggle, Hemingway's widow scrambled to recover the author's work from his beloved home in Cuba.

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2019

In 1939, an unknown copy editor from Washington, D.C., begged famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design his family a home. The result was a modern house that stood decades ahead of its time.

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2019

The world watched Notre Dame as it burned in April. But the cathedral has endured a lot in its 856 years.

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2019

Beginning in the earliest days of baseball, fans, journalists and even physicists disputed whether or not pitchers could make a ball curve.

Transcribed - Published: 24 May 2019

While on a research trip to the Arctic in the early 20th century, scientist Clarence Birdseye — a name you might recognize from the frozen food aisle — made an observation that would go on to change the way we eat.

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2019

In the 1950s, millions of people suffered from measles every year. David Edmonston, an 11-year-old student, became the cure.

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2019

The nurse who founded the American Red Cross had no formal training in medicine. She tended to countless wounded soldiers.

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2019

Every year, freshmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis take part in an annual tradition where they must climb a 21 foot high obelisk covered in vegetable shortening and place a hat at the very top.

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2019

More than a decade ago, bestselling historian David McCullough stumbled upon an important name from the past that even he’d never come across before. What he discovered was the story of pioneering American idealists.

Transcribed - Published: 17 May 2019

In the 1950s, Charles Van Doren, a quiet professor in New York City, became wrapped up in one of the biggest television quiz show scandals in history.

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2019

Paint-by-number was a national phenomenon. And then, the paint sets disappeared from the shelves.

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2019

Jazz singer Ethel Ennis’s voice wowed audiences and won praise from critics. But when she was faced with the opportunity to become a superstar, Ennis chose a different path.

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2019

Serving as special counsel is probably only the third hardest job Robert Mueller has held. His life in public service started when he just 23 years old, as a Marine lieutenant in the Vietnam War.

Transcribed - Published: 13 May 2019

Anna Jarvis would absolutely hate what Mother's Day has become.

Transcribed - Published: 10 May 2019

People have long been fascinated by the books presidents choose to read. But how much do reading habits actually reveal about a president?

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2019

While President Grant had an impressive resume on the battlefield, he was known to be a patsy when it came to helping job hunters. People used to walk right into the White House and ask the president to find them a job.

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2019

We dug through The Washington Post's archives and consulted the Pro Football Hall of Fame to bring you a rundown of the best presidential ballers.

Transcribed - Published: 24 April 2019

The town of Chillicothe, Missouri, discovered they have a surprising claim to history: the creation of sliced bread.

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2019

The Apollo 13 astronauts never said “Houston we have a problem.” Here’s why you think they did.

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2019