How We Research Each Episode

Every episode of Strange Moments in History starts with a primary source problem. Before we talk to a guest, before we write a single question, we go back to the original documents — the chronicles, the diplomatic records, the trial transcripts, the letters — and ask what they actually say, as opposed to what subsequent historians have said they say.

This sounds obvious. It is surprisingly rare. A significant number of history's best anecdotes have been embellished, misattributed, or simply invented at some point in the chain of retelling, and the embellishments are often more interesting than the original event.

The story of the Cadaver Synod, for example, includes details that appear in some accounts and not others, sourced to documents that may or may not have existed. Part of our job is to trace that chain — to find where the story changed and ask why.

Our guests are chosen because they have done that work themselves. We are not looking for people who can tell a good version of the story. We are looking for people who can tell us where the good version diverges from the true one.