SPILLED.

• Confessions of the Castrated Choir Boys

  This week we’re diving into the castrati, the choirboys who paid the ultimate price to hit the high notes. We cover how the church justified it, what actually went down in the procedure (spoiler: it’s grim), and why these singers were so popular. Of course, we can’t resist the scandals, the bedroom rumors, and all the messy ways castrati blurred gender and power. As always, there are way too many ball jokes and questionable accents, yet a surprising number of parallels to modern pop stars.

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• Should Men Farm and Women Fight? The Dahomey Amazon Warriors

  This week we’re talking about the Dahomey Amazons, the all-women military force from West Africa who had European colonizers absolutely terrified. We get into how their story has been twisted over time, what they tell us about gender roles, and why African history deserves way more credit than it usually gets. Along the way there are plenty of side tangents, questionable sex jokes, and a few moments that would definitely get us banned from giving guided tours at any respectable museum.   Sources:  Baëta, C. G. “Review: Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief by E. Bolaji Idowu.” The Journal of African History, vol. 4, no. 1 (1963), pp. 134–135. Law, Robin. “The ‘Amazons’ of Dahomey.” Paideuma, vol. 39 (1993), pp. 245–260. Alpern, Stanley B. “On the Origins of the Amazons of Dahomey.” History in Africa, vol. 25 (1998), pp. 9–25. Yoder, John C. “Fly and Elephant Parties: Political Polarization in Dahomey, 1840–1870.” The Journal of African History, vol. 18, no. 1 (1977), pp. 65–90. Forbes, Frederick E. Dahomey and the Dahomans. 2 vols., London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1851. Burton, Richard F. A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome. 2 vols., London: Tinsley Brothers, 1864.

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• Was Ben Franklin a Zaddy?

  Before he was flying kites in storms or posing on the $100 bill, young Benjamin Franklin was stirring trouble—and hearts. In this episode, we sift through the flirtatious, scandalous, and occasionally eyebrow-raising side of America’s favorite Founding Father: from the cheeky Silence Dogood letters that charmed colonial Boston, to fathering a child out of wedlock, to his rumored Parisian romance with Madame Brillon. We’ll also unpack his essay “Fart Proudly” (yes, really) and his infamously unfiltered advice on choosing a mistress. Was Franklin a true 18th-century heartthrob or just history’s most charismatic chaos agent? Let’s gossip.   Sources: "1776–1783: Diplomacy of the American Revolution." Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, 1997–2001 archive. Diplomacy is Our Mission, U.S. State Dept., https://1997-2001.state.gov/about_state/history/time1.html. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025. “Fighting for Independence: An Alliance with France.” Diplomacy Is Our Mission, U.S. State Department, https://diplomacy.state.gov/online-exhibits/diplomacy-is-our-mission/security/fighting-for-independence-an-alliance-with-france/. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.   “Benjamin Franklin in France.” The Americas, Cambridge University Press.   Boyd, Julian P. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin. Vol. 6, Yale University Press, 1963. JSTOR.   “Divided Loyalties: Benjamin and William Franklin.” Monticello, 21 Mar. 2021, www.monticello.org/research-education/blog/divided-loyalties-benjamin-and-william-franklin/. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.   Copeland, Thomas W. “Franklin’s Mistress Letter: Satire or Sincerity?” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 3, July 1971, pp. 421–437. JSTOR.   “Enlightenment Irony and Satirical Ethics.” American Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1, Spring 1977, pp. 45–63. JSTOR.   “Fart Proudly.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, Winter 1975, pp. 190–200. JSTOR.   Franklin, Benjamin. “Letter from Benjamin Franklin to a Royal Academy About Farting (1781).” Teaching American History, teachingamericanhistory.org/document/letter-to-a-royal-academy/. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.   Goodman, Dena. “Sociability and Politeness in Enlightenment France.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 23, no. 3, Spring 1990, pp. 329–350. JSTOR.   Granger, Lester. “Franklin's Literary Satire.” Early American Literature, vol. 10, no. 3, Winter 1976, pp. 223–237. JSTOR.   “He Was a Founding Father. His Son Sided with the British.” National Geographic, 12 June 2024, www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/founding-father-benjamin-franklin-son-sided-with-british. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.   Lemay, J. A. Leo. “Franklin’s Autobiography and the American Dream.” The New England Quarterly, vol. 47, no. 2, June 1974, pp. 208–233. JSTOR.   Lopez, Claude-Anne. “Franklin and Madame Brillon: An Intimate Portrait.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 41, no. 2, Apr. 1984, pp. 181–213. JSTOR.   Mulford, Carla. “Irony and Intimacy in Franklin’s Correspondence.” Early American Literature, vol. 14, no. 3, Winter 1979, pp. 267–284. JSTOR.   Oberg, Barbara B. “Sex and Satire in the Age of Franklin.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 99, no. 4, Oct. 1975, pp. 450–462. JSTOR.   Skemp, Sheila L. “William Franklin: Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King.” Journal of American Studies, vol. 24, no. 3, Dec. 1990, pp. 359–377. JSTOR.   “William Franklin.” American Battlefield Trust, www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/william-franklin. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.  

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• The Truth Behind (some) Catholic Virgin Saints

  What do a beheaded music lover, a teenage runaway, a dragon-slayer, and a girl who just wanted to stay single have in common? They all became virgin saints — whether they asked for it or not. In this episode, we unravel the lives (and afterlives) of St. Agnes of Rome, St. Cecilia, St. Margaret of Antioch, and St. Margaret of Cortona — four women whose stories were polished, rebranded, and passed down as holy templates of purity and pain. There’s a lot of uncomfortable questions about control — especially over young women’s bodies, choices, and legacies. These weren’t passive martyrs - they were messy, complicated figures whose real power may have been in how inconvenient they were. This week, we’re peeling back the gold leaf to ask: Who gets remembered as a saint — and what did it cost them?   Sources:  Elliott, Dyan. “The Bride of Christ and the Milk of the Virgin: An Example of Marginalia as a Source for Women’s History.” Signs, vol. 14, no. 2, 1989, pp. 252–268. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3174397. Bitel, Lisa M. “Body of a Saint, Story of a Saint: Creating a Sacred Past.” History of Religions, vol. 30, no. 2, 1990, pp. 116–140. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1062951. Lochrie, Karma. “Between Women: Imagining.” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, vol. 4, no. 4, 1998, pp. 523–556. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41678197. Hollywood, Amy. “Virginity and the Invention of Heterosexuality.” Journal of the History of Sexuality, vol. 10, no. 1, 2001, pp. 1–32. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3704550. Petroff, Elizabeth Alvilda. “Women and Mysticism.” Mysticism and Spirituality, vol. 1, 1986, pp. 113–135. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40339263.

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• The Dark Lady of Doona: Ireland's Pirate Queen

  In this episode, we dive into the legend and legacy of Ireland’s Pirate Queen: from her wild childhood as “Grace the Bald” to the rumors she gave birth on a ship and went back to battle within the hour. We chart her rise through maritime conquests, clan warfare, and a jaw-dropping face-to-face with the English queen herself. Along the way, we unpack the geopolitical tug-of-war between England and Ireland, and how Grace used her femininity—not in spite of it—as a strategic force in a man’s world.       Sources:  Chambers, Anne. Granuaile: The Life and Times of Grace O'Malley. Gill & Macmillan, 2003. Knox, H. T. “Grace O’Malley.” Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, vol. 4, no. 2, 1905, pp. 65–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44973429. Accessed 25 June 2025. Maguire, Conor. “Grace O’Malley: The Queen of the West.” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, vol. 32, no. 126, 1943, pp. 225–30. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30100558. Accessed 25 June 2025. Ohlmeyer, Jane H. Making Ireland English: The Irish Aristocracy in the Seventeenth Century. Yale University Press, 2012. Chambers, Anne. Granuaile: Ireland’s Pirate Queen. Gill Books, 2003. Canny, Nicholas. Making Ireland British, 1580–1650. Oxford University Press, 2001. McNeill, Mary. Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas. Irish University Press, 1972. O’Dowd, Mary. A History of Women in Ireland, 1500–1800. Pearson Education, 2005. Staton, Tracy. “Grace O’Malley: The Pirate Queen of Ireland.” Rebel Women, 1998.  

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