The finest, furriest friends to serve our country during wartime get the nod on this Memorial Day episode. Sgt. Stubby helped soldiers detect gas attacks during World War I, and Puffy, the King of All Cats in 1941, used his hypnotic gaze to entertain and soothe veterans while raising money for WWII war bonds.

Forgotten Heroes Podcast

of Pets

“No reason to touch that dial! This is Mrs. Jarvis!” You’ll know what that means after listening to this week’s zanily maternal episode. Follow Mark down the rabbit hole of history as he analyzes the young lady (Anna Jarvis) who started–and lived to regret having started–mother’s day!! Jeff discusses no one forgotten heroine in particular,...

Forgotten Heroes of Mothers

  On this sixth episode of the second season, we bring you: Jason Statham’s lesser-known accomplishment in the field of Russian burgery and a lost, Arthur Miller-inspired mascot for midwestern roast beef slingers “Rax,” known only as Mr. Delicious.  

Forgotten Heroes of Fast Food

As the baseball season has been all but cancelled this year--and will at the very least be delayed--the Forgotten Heroes Team has decided to round the bases with you once more before sliding back into home (isolation). George "High Pockets" Kelly, once described as the "worst player in the hall of fame," nonetheless had one of the best months of April in baseball history, while those of you fearing a cancelled postseason contest this year might take comfort in knowing its happened before: in 1904.

Forgotten Heroes of Baseball II

Randy Johnson--no, not that one--is our personal favorite April Avenger. As part of the (similarly doomed) "No-name" Twins of 1982, he compiled 24 hits, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 7 walks, and a .393/.449/.738 slash line (1.187 OPS) in 69 plate appearances over 17 games. While the rest of his career would feature only 5 more homers and 36 more hits, for a brief, shining moment, all Minnesotans could daydream about having their own Randy Johnson in the Hall of Fame. Also, screw the Metrodome. Long live Target Field!

Minisode: Randy Johnson

Trees are amazing. Can't say enough about them. They give us oxygen, they give us wood, they're just... we love them. In this vortex of environmental awareness (Earth Day 4/22 through Arbor Day 4/24), learn about two forgotten heroes of the dendriform world: the Parliamentary Tree of Old Sarum, Wiltshire, England, and the 400+-year-old Japanese Bonsai that survived Hiroshima. Also, participate in our 'Hug A Tree' flash challenge: see the website for details, $$ prizes, and donations to milliontreesnyc.org.

Forgotten Heroes of Trees

The second in our Greatest Aprils Ever series, Ken Williams hit nine homeruns in 14 April games in 1922. That lands him still 15th best all-time, despite all 14 above him playing at least 20 April games each. Also, screw Ray Schalk, he sucks.

Minisode: Ken Williams

We may sometimes feel that looking all the way to the back of the shelf for supplies at Walmart or Target qualifies us as scavengers; this week, take a headfirst dive into two genuine heroes of the art form: Geek, a brazen buzzard who won the hearts of Hinckley, Ohio (and had a day named in his honor), and the noble "don't call me O-" possum, whose contributions to human society are definitely not understated by the Possum Festival of Wausau, Florida or its founder, Dalton Carter.

Forgotten Heroes of Scavengers

Jeff traces the roots of National Beer Day-- April 7th--to a cadre of New York politicians who won the first battle against Prohibition by authoring a bill to legalize (3.2%) beer in 1932. The group was led by a young senator named Thomas Cullen, whose name is remembered in the title of the bill. Mark takes us on a journey to Vietnam, 2019, where the war was not between humans--rather, it was the deadly effects of ethanol's malicious little brother, methanol, that required Dr. Le "Jean-Claude" Van Lam's last-minute, foamy cure...

Forgotten Heroes of Beer

This week, as we are separated by social distancing and isolation, learn about two heroes who forged through similar circumstances to make a dent in the universe. Leonid Rogozov was a Russian doctor trapped in Antarctica with acute appendicitis; Patricia Young (see post) was just a teenager when her home city of London came under attack by the German Luftwaffe. Also covered: where penguins live, what "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is about (kind of...), why everyone keeps referring to these as "uncertain times," and the strange disappearance of a celebrated author. Next week, join us for what's sure to be a fun time: Forgotten Heroes of Beer!

Forgotten Heroes of Isolation

Or, so is Clara the "Arab Clown?" Happy International Women's History DAY, everyone! We're celebrating with a special podcast minisode dedicated to Theda Bara, a trailblazing actress from the 1910s, and Clara Brown (no, not THAT Clara Brown, who is also a heroine but less forgotten). Our Clara was born in 1839 in Massachusetts. At 21, she was one of the leaders of the historic New England Shoemakers Strike of 1860. Theda Bara in gamine-mode Though early starlet Theda Bara (Theodosia Goodman) is often remembered as an international woman born in “the shadow of the sphinx,” she was actually from Cincinnati. Between 1915-1919, she starred in forty movies, yet only one still exists today. She was one of the first major Hollywood sex symbols. Because of her edgy, “exotic” appeal, she received hate mail and marriage proposals in equal measure on a daily basis. Her successfully cultivated image gave rise to the "vamp" aesthetic. In joining the ongoing male worker's strike, Clara emphasized organizing women around their gender itself (rather than the prevalent gender roles of the day). This approach--unifying the "shopgirl" workers and the "home working" housewives in a joint fight for satisfactory wages and working conditions--met with mixed success. The home workers were more closely allied to their husbands' interests, including the so-called "family wage" that limited an individual woman's earning potential, while (unmarried) Clara & her shopgirls understandably were more concerned with maximizing rights for all workers. Additionally, Clara's faction were much more interested in ameliorating what were typically horrendous working conditions in the factories themselves. Some male leaders of the strike (most notably Willard F. Oliver) tried to cut out the shopgirl's demands, essentially arguing that the prime role of the women in the strike should be to support the wage demands of the men they'd eventually marry. This went over... not well, leading to a schism that fairly quickly turned bitter. In the lead-up to the Women's Procession in Lynn, Massachussets--which took place 160 years ago on this date--negotiations got particularly dicey. At one meeting, as Mary H. Blewett--a great source for extant information regarding Brown--notes: Clara defends her demands At last Clara Brown got the attention of the audience and raised the central question... who had dared to change the wage list? When she received no reply, she began to address the women strikers. Trying to heal the divisions within the women's strike and rally the supporters of the high wage list [the home-workers], Clara Brown again emphasized the power of the shop girls as industrial workers who could obtain the higher wage list for all women workers. "For God's sake, don't act like a pack of fools. We've got the bosses where we can do as we please with 'em. If we won't work our machines... what can the bosses do?" Men, Women, and Work. Mary H. Blewett (130) After being heckled with yells of "Shame" and "Hoe her out" (referring to this, guys, not this) from Oliver & his supporters, Clara was shoved offstage. The Women's Procession (pictured in heading), which drew thousands of women to protest despite a heavy New England blizzard, would be her last involvement in the strike. Giving up on Clara's higher wage and conditions demands was a key factor leading to the weak, mostly management-friendly collapse of the strike a month later.

Forgotten Heroines: Theda Bara; Clara Brown

A special SURPRISE episode for our loyal listeners on this latest leap-day! It's a bissextile bonus! Learn about a quirk in NYS law that counts two days as one, and an old tradition challenging the amatonormative heirarchy! Make sure to stay tuned for more surprises and content leading up to our Season Two premiere on 4/20/20!

Leap Day Is For Lovers (or Compadres!)

Watch as Mark Fusco puts his film knowledge to the test by attempting to predict 9 Oscar winners… with a trip to the movie Cats (in costume) on the line if he is wrong!! We present three categories each Saturday for three weeks before the Academy Awards. This week’s categories: Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Sound Mixing. This week’s bonus game: Moscars Madness! We put the top 32 Best Picture winners of all-time (by inflation-adjusted box office) in a March Madness-style bracket. This week, Mark settles round one of the Eastern Division. Visit our site to download your own clickable (or fillable) bracket!

FHP Presents: The Moscars! (Part Three)

Watch as Mark Fusco puts his film knowledge to the test by attempting to predict 9 Oscar winners... with a trip to the movie Cats (in costume) on the line if he is wrong!! We present three categories each Saturday for three weeks before the Academy Awards. This week's categories: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. This week's bonus game: Moscars Madness! We put the top 32 Best Picture winners of all-time (by inflation-adjusted box office) in a March Madness-style bracket. This week, Mark settles round one of the Western Division.

FHP Presents: The Moscars! (Part Two)

Watch as Mark Fusco puts his film knowledge to the test by attempting to predict 9 Oscar winners... with a trip to the movie Cats (in costume) on the line if he is wrong!! We present three categories each Saturday for three weeks before the Academy Awards. This week's categories: Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. This week's bonus game: Mark and Jeff must name the best movie of any given year a number generator chooses!

FHP Presents: The Moscars! (Part One)

Welcome to the Forgotten Heroes Podcast-- a comedic, weekly deep-dive into lesser-known figures from history across a multiplicity of topics!

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Forgotten Heroes Podcast

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