The Bones and Bobbins Podcast

S02E22: Historical ways to confirm death and the art and science of modern embalming practices.

It was really hard for people throughout history to tell exactly how dead the bodies of other people were, so some questionable decisions were made in the pursuit of confirmation. (Including one involving invisible ink and a very dramatic reveal!) But, now that we’re a bit better at making sure we’re not burying folks alive, that scientific enthusiasm and creative ingenuity is being applied to methods to make bodies look LESS dead. So we’ve come full circle, it would seem. 

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/11/12/season-2-episode-22

A Halloween bonus episode featuring Natali and the girls. ("The girls" being Natali's delightful and witchy teen daughters, who came to Haley's rescue!)

Once upon a Halloween week weary, a book deadline and a black cat shook things up dearly. So a witch grabbed her kids, all two, and lo chaos did ensue. Consider it a trick though meant as a treat, this episode comes with love and a bit un-neat. 

Show notes: https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/10/29/halloween-bonus-season-2-episode-21-5

S02E21: Kate Warne, the heroic first woman Pinkerton detective, and Pearl Tytell, handwriting detective and trailblazing forensic document examiner.

When you need a tricky job done, you have to hire the best! As the first lady detective, Kate Warne’s work with the Pinkertons opened new investigative doors for the agency, helped foil a presidential assasination plot, and paved the way for the creation of the CIA. (We’re also told that she did a fabulous southern belle cosplay.) Pearl Tytell’s groundbreaking document investigation techniques exposed fraud in the highest levels of the government and the lowest reaches of backroom business deals and career-ending gossip mills. (She once even uncovered a fake claim to Russian royalty!) At times, her analysis carried more weight in the courts than the opinion of the FBI. From typewriter quirks to ink colors and paper stock, when Pearl was the expert witness, everybody listened!

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/10/15/season-2-episode-21

S02E20: Slender Man and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Whether written at the dawn of a nation or crowd-sourced on the internet, all urban legends hold within them at least a tiny kernel of truth. Here’s what happens when those distorted stories stop being fiction and become real living nightmares.

(Heads up: The first story involves violence against children. Listen at your own discretion.)

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/10/01/season-2-episode-20

S02E19: Mrs. Margaret Smith-Wilkinson, nicknamed the Countess of Monte Cristo, and Lady Jane Lewson, the possible real life inspiration for Miss Havisham.

Come meet a hotel mogul turned high society con artist (who probably wasn’t a black widow), and the enigmatic walking fire hazard that might have inspired Dickens’ fictional jilted bride; two women whose actual lives are truly the stuff of fiction.

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/09/17/season-2-episode-19

S02E18: Woven spells, sewing magic, and the history of spinsters.

Is there someone in your life who knits with glass needles, spins their own yarn, sews their own patterns, or dyes their own thread? Yes? Well, we strongly discourage getting on their bad side. You know, just in case they decide to throw that project into the fire.

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/09/03/season-2-episode-18

S02E17: Personal Ghost Stories and Haley’s Haunted Mom.

I mean, who doesn’t want to hear stories about a spooky local legend, a whispering apparition, a 1970s UFO, and Haley’s mom talking about the little girl ghost in her hall who looks just a bit too familiar?

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/08/20/season-2-episode-17

S02E16: Sewing spacesuits and the science lab at the Eiffel Tower.

Did you know that the Eiffel Tower doubles as art and science? It’s true! Also true: sewing a space suit is hard, and then your work gets shredded.

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/08/06/season-2-episode-16

S02E15: Catacomb saints and the Sedlec Ossuary.

Here for all of your bejeweled skeleton and fancy skull garland needs!

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/07/23/season-2-episode-15

S02E14: The doctor-prescribed history of condoms and vibrators.

From “American tips” to hysteria treatments (and, somehow, maybe also bees), the history of getting off is exactly as awkward as you think it is. 

Show notes:  https://www.bonesandbobbins.com/2021/07/09/season-2-episode-14