Dirty Sexy History

“The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” was a hit musical on Broadway, later made into a movie starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds. But what about the Chicken Ranch, the real brothel the story was based on? This week, we talk to Jayme Lynn Blaschke about the history of sex work in Texas, the first brothels in La Grange, poultry as payment, and Miss Edna, the last madam of the Chicken Ranch. Jayme is the author of “Inside the Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse.”

While WWI was fought overseas, there was another war closer to home—a war on women known as “The American Plan.” Under the American Plan, tens of thousands of women were detained and injected with toxic chemicals based on their perceived ability to spread venereal disease, all in the name of protecting our soldiers. This week, our guest is comedian and sex-worker rights advocate Kaytlin Bailey, host of the Oldest Profession Podcast. We are talking about the history of sex work in America, the Mann Act, the Comstock Act, and the lasting legacy of the American Plan, which can still be felt today.

Nineteenth century France was a “nation on drugs”: psychotropic drugs were widely used and easily accessible for everything from everyday pain and mental issues to surgeries and brothel visits. This week, we talk to Dr Sara Black about the rise of Opium, Morphine, Cocaine, Ether, Chloroform, and Hashish—how they were researched and normalized until they were used by most of the country. We’re talking medical history, obstetrics, aphrodisiacs, psychiatric care, recreational use, philosophy and more. Dr Black’s new book is Drugging France: Mind-Altering Medicine in the Long Nineteenth Century.

The history of New York City isn’t only found in its museums—it’s in the names you find all over the city. This week, we talk to Rebecca Bratspies, author of Naming Gotham, about some of the remarkable people who leant their names to New York’s infrastructure: Anne Hutchinson, Adriaen van der Donck, Casimir Pulaski, Tadeusz Kościuszko, William Cullen Bryant, John Jacob Astor, and more. [minor correction: Rebecca mentions Mrs. Astor’s “top 200,” but meant to say “400”]

George Remus was an infamous bootlegger in Jazz Age America, so wealthy and ostentatious that he is thought to be the real-life inspiration for Jay Gatsby. This week, we talk to Abbott Kahler about his bootlegging business, toxic marriage, legendary parties, and the bad-ass woman who wouldn’t rest until he was behind bars. Abbott’s book is The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder that Shocked Jazz Age America

Whales have been in the news all week, but it’s not the first time they’ve attacked ships. This week, Jess talks about the 19th century whaling industry, historical whale attacks, and the tragic sinking of the Essex in 1820. We cover the real-life inspiration for Moby Dick, an enormous white whale who sunk twenty ships off the coast of Chile. There’s even a bonus segment on whale products in Civil War era makeup courtesy of Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1863.

Many historical love stories take you up until the wedding with the presumed happily-ever-after, but what happens next? What if things go wrong? This week, our guest is Dr. Jacqueline Beatty, author of In Dependence: Women and the Patriarchal State in Revolutionary America. We cover 18th century marriage, divorce, financial dependence, women's networks, and how women played into society's perception of them as weak to get what they wanted.

Between 1827 and 1832, one ship—the Black Joke—captured thirteen slave ships and freed an incredible 3,000 people. The true story of the Black Joke is about so much more than one ship; today we also talk about diversity among sailors, gay relationships in the British navy, Britain’s complicated relationship with the slave trade, and how slavery was finally abolished. Our guest is historian and Jeopardy champion AE Rooks, author of the Mountbatten Maritime Media Awards’ Best Book of 2022, The Black Joke: The True Story of One Ship’s Battle Against the Slave Trade.

We are kicking off Season Three with an extra-long episode with Andrea Janes and Leanna Renee Hieber, historical ghost tour guides and authors of A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts. From the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire to the Winchester Mystery House, we cover a lot of ground, discussing theoretical physics and the Stone Tape theory, famous ghosts, and the everyday horror of living as a woman in 19th-century America. What can ghost stories tell us about real history? A lot. We cover all this and more this week on DSH. Don't miss our special bonus Patreon mini episode this week, where Andrea, Leanna, and Jess share some of their personal ghost stories from historic sites. Subscribe and check it out at patreon.com/dirtysexyhistory

America is experiencing a crisis of “bad history,” with fake history being used to justify regressive policy decisions while real history is being removed from schools and libraries. Why is it happening, and what are the dangers of fake history? For the Season 2 finale, our guests are Princeton history professors Dr Kevin Kruse and Dr Julian Zelizer, editors of New York Times Bestseller Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past. This episode covers everything from the Civil Rights Movement to current protests, from the “Lost Cause” and Reagan to gun control and Trump’s indictment. It’s a big episode that covers a lot of ground, attempting to answer, “Is history inherently political?” We’ll be back with Season 3 on May 10th.