This week's podcast deals with the Coup in Guatemala in 1954 where the CIA backed a coup and regime change in order to prevent a communist takeover or help the United Fruit Company's bottom line depending on who you ask. The previous government had supported better working conditions and had redistributed uncultivated land away from large landholders (i.e. UFC) which triggered the United States' greatest fear at the time, communism (or possibly loss of corporate profit). Take a listen and see what you think about operation PBSuccess.

Most people know that Amelia Earhart was a famous aviator, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean and famously disappeared on an attempt to fly around the world. In today's podcast we talk a bit more about her life, how she got into aviation, and how she got her big break as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Come take a listen and find out a bit more about a Kansas legend.

Amy Robsart was born in 1532 in Norfolk, England to a fairly wealthy farming and grazing family. When she was almost 18 she married Roberty Dudley, a younger son of the Earl of Warwick. It was considered to be a love match as opposed to something political or to bind family lines together. However, soon after they were married, Robert became an obvious favortie of Queen Elizabeth I and many thought the two might marry... if he didn't already have a wife. After a lingering illness, Amy was found dead at the base of some stairs, the apparent victim of an accidental fall, or was it. The resulting scandal kept the queen from marrying Robert and is still debated today.

After a week off, we're back. This week's topic is Davey Crockett of coonskin hat fame. Crockett is one of those larger than life characters that often seem to show up in early American history. While most of us know him from The Ballad of Davey Crockett and movies about the Alamo, who was the real Davey Crockett. Was he an American hero, or a drunk who abandoned his family? Versions of Crockett's life range from hero worship to portrayals of him being a degenerate. Take a listen and see where you think the truth lies.

Most people have belonged to a book club at some point in their lives, but have you ever thought about the history of book clubs? Come find out about how book clubs have developed and changed over time, from ancient Greece, to Puritan America, to Oprah. Probably the only thing they all have in common is at least one member who didn't do the reading.

Wolves were effectively irradicated from Yellowstone National Park in the early 20th century and were gone until reintroduced through human intervention in 1995. While many could have predicted what the return of wolves might do to th elk population of the park, the truly remarkable thing is the overall effect on the park all the way down to amount of water runoff. Take a listen this week and find out about the butterfly effect of wolves.

While we sometimes talk about how the practice of medicine has evolved over time from pure magic and ritual to science-based practice, we often ignore the practice of veterinary medicine and how it evolved and developed. If anything, people of the Middle Ages were more dependent on their animals and often had a very strong bond, so there was a large market for people that could heal everything from dogs to horses with their magic incantations and folk remedies. Take a listen and find out all about it.

This week's podcast has a bit of a mobster flair. It's a two parter with the first part dedicated to the life of Henry Hill, the subject of the movie Goodfellas and mentioned a bit previously on our podcast about the Lufthansa Heist. From there we turn our attention to the Copacabana, the NY nightclub famed for some of it's early mob connections and amazingly still open today (if you believe in the Ship of Theseus).