Ridiculous Romance

Lu Buwei was a merchant in Ancient China who managed to manipulate the system to wind up the prime minister of the Qin state. But to distance himself from a scandalous affair with the queen, he had to find her a nice, big, girthy distraction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We got together with Lianna and Siena, the hilarious hosts of Tossed Popcorn, to talk about the movie "50 First Dates" along with a few true stories of couples dealing with amnesia. Will we make lasting memories with our new friends? Or do these two make us laugh so hard that we forget what we were even talking about?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oskar Kokoschka was an Austrian painter, poet, and playwright who channeled his romantic experiences into his unconventional art. First an extremely NSFW "children's poem", then his riot-causing experimental play about gender warfare, and finally a nightmarish sex doll replica of his evil ex-girlfriend, Alma Mahler! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charles Vance Millar, a Canadian man with more dollars than sense, put in his will that 10 years after his death, the person who had birthed the most children would receive an outrageous fortune. Surprise! Somebody who had too much money played games with people who needed it. Ah well... On your marks, get set, PUSH!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Eugenia Kuyda created the A.I. Chatbot program Replika, she just wanted to give people a nice robot friend to confide in. But of course, so many users wanted to feel a different kind of algo-rhythm in their robot romances. Now people all over are putting 1's in their 0's and may be changing the future of dating, sex, and human connection!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1863, America's biggest celebrities were three dwarfs, locked in a love triangle that had America more captivated than Brangelina and Bennifer combined! But it was General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren's "Fairy Wedding" that brought a massive fortune to them and their super-producer, P.T. Barnum. So how did Commodore Nutt take it? Listen to find out!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Noyes thought he was God's chosen disciple on Earth and that it was his job to bring about Christ's Millennial Kingdom. And he knew there was only one way to do it: a two-decade free love orgy in upstate New York! Find out how it made its way to your plate in this kinda sexy, kinda scary episode. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roberta was barely interested in Ken's computer coding. But after playing the text-based game "Adventure" she started to wonder if there was more to these machines. Soon, the couple was running Sierra On-Line, and they brought us the dragon-slaying, wizard-dueling, skeleton-xylophoning adventure series that changed gaming forever: King's Quest!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The actress Harriet Smithson had no idea who Hector Berlioz was. That didn't stop him from moving in next door and writing an opera for her! After another failed marriage, an abandoned murder-suicide plan, and a French maid disguise, he finally caught her eye. But that wasn't the end of this composer's outrageous search for love!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Avast ye scalliwags and be wary when ye travel at sea. For the notorious pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read may plunder yer ship and send ye to Davy Jones's locker! Captain Calico Jack was clever enough to bring these women aboard, and the three of them terrorized the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.