Today In History with The Retrospectors

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction was released in Britain on 20th August, 1965 - having already reached No. 1 for four weeks Stateside.  With its distorted guitar riff, raw energy, and thinly veiled sexual frustration, it became the Rolling Stones’ biggest global hit - but initially could only be heard on pirate radio stations in the UK, thanks to the band’s label wanting the Stones back from their US tour to promote it in person; and it was banned by the BBC from mainstream airplay for being too sexually suggestive.  Satisfaction wasn’t just a smash hit; it was a cultural shift, setting the Stones apart from their fellow British Invasion stars, the Beatles, by establishing them as a lurid, horny counterpoint to Lennon and McCartney’s more wholesome music-hall stylings.  And the story of that famous riff? Keith Richards literally dreamed it up, woke in the middle of the night, grabbed his cassette recorder, played the now-iconic “da-da-da da-da-da-da” line, and promptly fell back asleep - leaving an hour of his own snoring on the tape. In this episode, recorded to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of this iconic single, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal why Richards wanted a horn section, not a fuzzy guitar; unpick  Mick Jagger’s surprising and satirical lyrics; and consider how, with Satisfaction, the Rolling Stones finally found their sound… Further Reading: • ‘The Story Behind The Song: ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, The Rolling Stones’ classic they wrote in their sleep’ (Far Out Magazine, 2020): https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/rolling-stones-satisfaction-story-jagger-richards-song/• ‘(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction’ (Library of Congress, 2006): https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/CantGetNoSatisfaction_LeRoy.pdf • ‘The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction’ (ABKCO Music & Records, Inc., 1965): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrIPxlFzDi0 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tippi Hedren, star of Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ and ‘Marnie’, was already known for her activism - primarily rescuing big cats - when, on 19th August, 1975 she visited a Vietnamese refugee camp in Sacramento, California Her nail art dazzled many of the women she met - so she set about helping them retrain as Hollywood manicurists, disrupting an industry which had previously been seen as a Beverly Hills luxury. Today, over half of nail technicians in the USA are of Vietnemese descent. In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider if Hedren’s template for celebrity ambassadorship has ever been bettered; uncover the story of Ted Ngoy, the Cambodian ‘Donut King’; and discover who turned up to a charity event sporting the most expensive manicure of all time... Further Reading: • ‘How Tippi Hedren made Vietnamese refugees into nail salon magnates’ (BBC, 2015): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32544343 • 'Nailed It: A Documentary On How Vietnamese Workers Took Over U.S. Nail Salons’ (NPR, 2019): https://www.npr.org/2019/05/19/724452398/how-vietnamese-americans-took-over-the-nails-business-a-documentary?t=1628758439044 • ‘Kelly Osbourne wears $250k nail varnish by Azature to the Emmys’ (HELLO!, 2012): https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/201209259431/kelly-osbourne-wears-worlds-most-expensive-manicure/ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned South Africa from competing in the upcoming Tokyo Games on 18th August, 1964, after the nation had signalled its intention to send only white athletes to the competition. South Africa attempted to make concessions - such as proposing to hold team trials abroad or including a token number of black athletes - but these were rejected as insufficient, especially with newly independent African nations and the Soviet Union pushing for a boycott, reflecting the growing international condemnation of apartheid. This episode first premiered in 2024, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Immortalised by Shakespeare, Scottish king Macbeth was killed in battle near Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire on 15th August 1057; a demise that brought significant changes to Scotland's monarchy. But the real Macbeth, contrary to his portrayal in the play, ruled for 17 relatively peaceful years and displayed generosity toward the church. That said, his relationship with the real Lady Macbeth - Gruogh, widow of Gilear, the previous king - was, let’s agree, rather complicated.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why witches were included in the script to satisfy King James I; offer a pragmatic explanation for the superstition that actors must never speak the name "Macbeth" in a theatre; and reveal the, er, creative way the Danish minister for finance once escaped responsibility for a nasty shipwreck… Further Reading: • ‘The Real Macbeth: King of Scots, 1040-1054’ (History Today, 1957): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/real-macbeth-king-scots-1040-1054 • ‘Macbeth (r. 1040-1057)’ (The Royal Family): https://www.royal.uk/macbeth-r-1040-1057 • ‘Who Was The Real King MacBeth?’ (Timeline, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq75Cl_osxk This episode first aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A decades-long manhunt closed in on international terrorist Illich Ramirez Sanchez, aka Carlos the Jackal, on 14th August, 1994 - when he was sedated and kidnapped by French intelligence agents in Khartoum, Sudan, following a tip-off by the CIA. Affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Organization for Armed Arab Struggle, and the Japanese Red Army, the Venezuelan militant had been responsible for a slew of major terrorist attacks in the 1970s and 80s, notably the storming of an OPEC meeting in 1975, during which he took hostages and demanded ransoms, and was widely considered the world’s most-wanted man.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how ‘Carlos’ came to acquire not just one, but two nicknames; consider how the politics of the day enabled both his terrorism and his womanising; and reveal why his sperm count ultimately cost him his freedom… Further Reading: • ‘SUDAN SEIZES TERRORIST 'CARLOS THE JACKAL'’ (The Washington Post, 1994): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/08/16/sudan-seizes-terrorist-carlos-the-jackal/4e8d3daa-b064-4ca7-ba16-e6f0d68744aa/?itid=sr_2 • ‘Carlos the Jackal: The Extraordinary Life of the Most Notorious Terrorist Before Bin Laden’ (Vice, 2022): https://www.vice.com/en/article/4awdbq/carlos-the-jackal-communist-terrorist • ‘'Carlos the Jackal' convicted in France’ (AlJazeera English, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2sUuxYcdro This episode first aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Berliners awoke on 13th August, 1961 to find their city divided in half. East German troops had worked overnight to roll out barbed wire and barricades, turning neighbourhoods into no-go zones. It became known as ‘Barbed Wire Sunday’  Before the wall’s construction, East Germans had been bolting westward at the unsustainable rate of nearly 2,000 a day; notably skilled professionals the East couldn’t afford to lose.  The Berlin wall stopped the flow of people, but also turned the city into a dystopia, complete with ghost train stations, split families, and a massive fortified structure with a deadly no-man's-land of guard dogs, watchtowers, and landmines.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how the wall wasn’t actually finished until the 1970s; reveal the escape routes travailed by daring civilians; and uncover the “Wall woodpeckers” who took souvenirs home with them when the wall finally fell...  Further Reading: • ‘Why the Berlin Wall rose—and how it fell’ (National Geographic, 2019): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/why-berlin-wall-built-fell • ‘Berlin Wall History: Everything You Need To Know’ | HistoryExtra: https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/berlin-wall-history-facts-fall-why-built-destroyed-how-long-deaths-killed-graffiti-east-west-life-today/ • ‘The Berlin Wall - How it worked’ (DW Documentary, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khXGMcX59YE Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Get Rich Quick’ scheme pioneered by scamster Charles Ponzi came to an end with his arrest on 12th August, 1920 - but ‘Ponzi schemes’ remain a popular form of swindling to this day.  After promising his victims he could double their money in 90 days, Ponzi was charged with 86 counts of mail-fraud - yet he may not have even initially realized his scheme was illegal. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether Cryptocurrency is the modern-day Ponzi scheme; explain the difference between a Ponzi scheme and a Pyramid scheme; and reveal the ingenious way Ponzi told his Mum he was in prison…  This episode first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc, soundtracked his sister Cindy Campbell’s back-to-school party in the Bronx on 11th August, 1973 - and in doing so, laid down the musical tropes that would become known as hip hop. With his ‘Herculoids’ sound system, Campbell pioneered speaking over records in a Jamaican style; switching between two tracks on the decks, in a process he called the "merry-go-round"; and extending the drum breaks of songs, creating continuous beats that kept the crowd dancing. This episode first aired in 2024 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The dollar emerged as the official currency of the United States at a meeting of the Continental Congress on 8th August, 1786. During the American Revolution, various international coins had remained in circulation - alongside commodities like tobacco and cod. The transition to paper money faced challenges due to counterfeiting concerns, which persisted until the Civil War. The green colour was chosen to prevent easy replication using black and white photography. The value of the dollar was linked to gold until as recently as 1971. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly applaud Benjamin Franklin’s far-sighted interest in creating a new currency; marvel at the extraordinary success the dollar has achieved as the world’s reserve; and reveal the country’s first experiments with a decimal system: Nova Constellatio coins… Further Reading: • ‘History of U.S. Currency’ (U.S. Currency Education Program): https://www.uscurrency.gov/history • ‘Why Is the U.S. Dollar the World's Currency?’ (HowStuffWorks): https://money.howstuffworks.com/us-dollar-worlds-currency.htm • ‘The Continental Dollar: How the American Revolution Was Financed with Paper Money’ (US National Archives, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05mhUlofB_8 This episode first aired in 2023 This episode first premiered in 2024, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dive into the audacious 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition, where Thor Heyerdahl's quest to prove ancient Peruvians colonized Polynesia led to thrilling oceanic challenges. From storms to sharks, the five-man crew faced it all on a 45-foot balsa wood raft. Explore why Heyerdahl's now-rejected theory sparked controversy around Eurocentric views on navigation and ancient migration tales. With an eye on daring design and unexpected food rations, this maritime adventure merges history and modernity in a captivating narrative.