Dead Ideas

Dead Ideas The Podcast of Extinct Thoughts and Practices. We explore ideas once believed to be true but no longer.
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05/09/2022

Did you know that Europe had its own third gender tradition, which arose, flourished, and then disappeared over the span of a few centuries? In the Byzantine Empire, this third gender was called a eu**ch. They began as exotic imports from abroad, but quickly became a local tradition both feared and....

01/08/2022

19th-century writers called Lakota women virtually enslaved to their husbands, but were they? Or were they skilled artisans, valued by the community, and empowered within their marriages? It turns out the working woman of the modern West owes much to the skilled craftswoman of the Great Plains. Spec...

04/07/2022

If you had to choose between giving up your way of life or facing the death of your people, what would you do? What if it meant having to give up ever feeling like a man, a woman, or your authentic self again? Lakota historian Jeff Means is here to helps us understand that question.

06/06/2022

After hunting bison for centuries, the Lakota suddenly switched to cattle in the late 19th century. Why did they hunt cattle? Why was it crucial to maintaining the gender norms of Lakota men, women, and those Two-Spirit folk called the winkte? And why was the cattle hunt their last best hope for sur...

02/05/2022

Today, female toplessness is taboo in Western culture, but did you know that until quite recently indeed, showing nip was normal? Not only was it normal, but it was often the height of fashion. Noble women and even queens all sported this particular wardrobe choice. So, when did this begin, and how....

04/04/2022

What would it be like to live through almost the entire recent history of the transgender movement, from near-complete marginalization in the 1960s to glimmers of mainstream acceptance in the present? Alexandra Billings, who plays Davina on the hit TV show Transparent, did just that. We talk to her....

07/03/2022

Were there q***r folks in the Wild West? We address comments made by actor Sam Elliot about the "evisceration of the American myth" by the new Western film The Power of the Dog, and take a look at the hard evidence for q***r folks on the frontier. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Support...

21/02/2022

Our latest Patreon patron portrait: Shaun Kelly and Chris as Warriors in the Theban Sacred Band!

07/02/2022

Is it just me, or does the image of the cowboy feel Whiter than White? Yet, in actual history, 1 out of 4 cowboys was Black. The Wild West was surprisingly welcoming in some ways to African Americans, except when it came to in*******al s*x. And s*x may be why it now feels like cowboys were all one s...

03/01/2022

Calamity Jane, Little Joe Monahan, and Mrs. Nash... What was life like for those who dared to cross-dress in the Wild West? Why were their stories twisted to fit an emerging American mythos in the 20th century? And what does that say about how we view cross-dressing today? Don't forget to subscribe,...

25/12/2021

So uh... 2021, huh folks? What can I say, well... at least it was better than 2020, right? And actually it was a pretty decent year for us as a show, with some significant milestones. Come celebrate with us with a retrospective of all the skits from this year, plus a new one as a special treat just....

06/12/2021

If your s*xuality had a superpower, what would it be? That's kind of an odd question, so let me go first. For Jen Winston, author of the new book Greedy, their bis*xuality's superpower is a kind of vision, vision that allows a person to see things that other folks may struggle to see. Jen is here to...

06/09/2021

Today's showcase episode traces the evolution of obscenity laws and the struggles of a community to obtain the kind of s*x-positive, identity-affirming erotic material that most of us today of all orientations pretty much take for granted. Well, it wasn’t always that way, especially for g**s. In f...

02/08/2021

We've looked at s*x and gender all across history, but what about me? What's my s*x and gender? How do I attempt to live out a non-toxic straight male masculinity in the modern era? It's an exclusive tell-all exposé today as we celebrate 100,000 downloads. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and revie...

17/07/2021

Latest portrait: Leo the One-eyed Cat as Chinese Pirate!

Get your portrait by pledging at patreon.com/btnewberg

05/07/2021

The seiðmaðr was a male witch, and when you think of witches as women, that’s how the Norse thought of them too. These men defied their culture’s gender norms, and for it they received ridicule, not unlike the phenomenon today of bronies – you know, guys who are really into My Little Pony. W...

07/06/2021

The Sacred Band of Thebes, comprised entirely of gay male lovers, was Ancient Greece’s original response to the g**s in the military question. What was that like? How did it function? And what was its lasting legacy? That’s what we’re going to find out today, just in time for Pride Month. Here...

26/05/2021

Our latest portrait: Angus Keen as Modern Viking with Molotov Cocktail!

Get your portrait by supporting the show at patreon.com/btnewberg!

10/05/2021

We all know the Victorians were notorious prudes about s*x, right? But was that really true? Well, yes and no. The truth is, they were both prudish and prurient. The age of Victoria was bursting at the seams with variety as people coped with a new, massively urbanized world. Much of the consternatio...

05/04/2021

Viking warrior women were not common, but they did probably exist. And they went against the gender norms of their day. Such brave swordswomen were, in fact, gender benders. And perhaps some of them may even have been what we would today call transgender. These warriors rocked the longboat of their....

01/03/2021

From the practical sports bra to Victoria’s secret to Lady Gaga’s fire-spitting pyro bra, the brassiere has become a cornerstone of modern women’s wear. But where did these little lovelies come from? Here to tell you the story is Kate of The Exploress. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and revi...

Our latest patron portrait: James Shrader as Viking noble with Adder!Support patreon.com/btnewberg and get your portrait...
02/02/2021

Our latest patron portrait: James Shrader as Viking noble with Adder!

Support patreon.com/btnewberg and get your portrait!

01/02/2021

What was it like for Black men who fought in the American Civil War? Why did they fight for a racist country, and what did this act mean for their sense of manhood? Here today to help us understand the perspective of these Black soldiers is military scholar Versalle F. Washington, who prefers to go....

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