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After pitching articles on obscure medical conditions with a touch too much enthusiasm, Katie Lambert was made health editor at HowStuffWorks.com. She also co-hosts the “Stuff You Missed in History Class” podcast as a convenient excuse to talk about dueling and historical plagues. Katie earned her bachelor's degree in English at the University of Georgia. She spends her free time rearranging her Netflix queue, buying books to read in the park, planning imaginary trips to Morocco and Argentina, and deciding which fantastic restaurant she'll try next.
Most Recent: Katie Lambert Postings
If you’ve listened to our brief history of vaudeville podcast, you know that there’s a follow-up on the way — notable vaudevillians! All chosen by our Twitter followers and Facebook fans, no less. But one of the notables we didn’t get to cover in depth, and a favorite of mine, is singer Sophie Tucker, most famously known as “The Last of the Red Hot Mamas.”
Red hot AND HOW. You won’t find a bio of Ms. Tucker that doesn’t include the words “bawdy” or “brassy” (I know — I tried).
What’s the most beautiful book in the world? Why, the Book of Kells, of course. The illuminated manuscript is Ireland’s national treasure, and for good reason. Besides its beauty and the skill and craftsmanship involved in its manufacture, it also survived through the centuries come hell or high water — or Vikings, at least.
Nellie Bly, Girl Reporter, didn’t want to write about fashion and flower shows. Our spirited heroine was more interested in Things That Mattered. She began her writing career by responding to a newspaper column that urged women to stay in the kitchen. Her letter was so inspired that she was hired at the Pittsburgh Dispatch.
Sarah and I started off “Who stole the Amber Room?” with a discussion of American Girl dolls, mainly because we talk about them much more often than you’d think two 20somethings would, but also because pioneer Kirsten had a lovely, much-coveted amber necklace. Now imagine an entire room paneled with the fossilized resin and backed in gold leaf, decorated with mosaics in semiprecious stones. When Hitler took a shine to the treasure, it disappeared.
Our next topic was Irish hero Brian Boru, a guerrilla warrior who drove the marauding Vikings out of Ireland and became high king before dying bloodily by Viking hands. But history is never as simple as that.
It’s been requested that we list our favorite history movies, and you know how Sarah and I love playing fairy godmother. Wish granted.
And since we like to be inclusive, here are some HowStuffWorks staff favorites as well.
When I dance, it’s not usually with bananas around my waist, but I am not Josephine Baker. She walked her cheetah down the Seine, she enchanted Picasso and Hemingway — and she went on to become a spy for the French Resistance and an adoptive mother to 12.
The Romanov family ruled the Russian Empire from 1613 to 1917, no short reign. Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra were in charge when it ended — and they and their family disappeared. What happened to them? And did Anastasia escape?
Tonight from 7 to 8:30 (EST), enjoy a live webcast from The Carter Center. The event is titled “Africa: Elections Aren’t Enough,” and the panel discussion will be led by award-winning author Paul Collier.
You’ll find a link to the webcast on the home page at www.cartercenter.org.
This week in podcasts, we have an unusual cast of characters.
Zenobia was a third-century queen of ancient Palmyra who styled herself after Cleopatra — and faced off with the Roman Empire.
Doctress Mary Seacole was as famous in her lifetime as Florence Nightingale for her work during the Crimean War, yet most of us have never heard of her.
Another entry in our salute to Black History Month, Stokely Carmichael was both a fresh-faced college kid staging sit-ins and the man who coined the term “Black Power.”
And last but not least, Giuseppe Garibaldi was the gaucho-attired man who defeated a Bourbon monarch to help unite Italy.
Some carbolic acid with your whiskey?
by Katie Lambert | February 24, 2010
It’s easy to romanticize Prohibition — the days of glamorous danger, speakeasies, bootleggers and flappers. The idea of standing up to the government’s enforcement of morality is appealing as well, as those of us who live in states with blue laws (like Georgia) can attest. I always pick up a bottle of wine during my Sunday evening grocery shopping before realizing what day it is and putting it back on the shelf. But as Deborah Blum reminds us on Slate this week, Prohibition was deadly.
What was Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment?
by Katie Lambert | February 22, 2010
Black soldiers fought at the early important battles of the war: Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. But when Washington took charge of the Continental Army, he decreed that recruitment of black soldiers was at an end, and he later purged the remaining soldiers from his army. It seems the idea of armed blacks was a great enough threat to risk losing a war for.
With this ban, the embattled royal governor of Virginia saw his chance. On Nov. 14, 1775, he issued a proclamation declaring that he’d free any slaves who joined the Loyalists in their fight.
If you were going on safari, what would you bring? A compass, some sunscreen, a few maps? If you were Charles Bedaux, that simply wouldn’t be good enough. Instead, you’d stock up on Champagne, truffles and silk pajamas before attempting to travel from Edmonton, Alberta to Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. The man had a sense of style.
Haven’t heard of superstar Satchel Paige? Here’s why: Because of the unspoken segregation in MLB, he didn’t join the big league until he was 42. He was the oldest rookie in history, despite years of being the absolute best on the field.
Recent Postings by Category
BrainStuff
- Thank You and Best Wishes to Marshall Brain
- Contest – Design a $300 house and win $25,000
- How the Philtrum works – the place under your nose where your face comes together
The Coolest Stuff on the Planet
- Golden Fields of Canola
- The Park That Never Sleeps: Central Park
- Draw a Pretty Picture With Your Bike and Your Phone
Keep Asking
- Why can a 5 foot 8 inch man dunk a basketball on a 10 foot rim while some people of taller stature can’t?
- What happens to our sun once it runs out of fuel?
- How do we know the age of the universe?
Stuff Mom Never Told You
- Who invented the Christmas card?
- How the Kinsey Report Fueled Whiskey Sales
- How to Get Your Wedding Announcement into The New York Times
Stuff to Blow Your Mind
- Blow Your Mind: Nebula in a Box
- Blow Your Mind: Three Minutes Till Impact
- Touching the Void: Psychedelics and Death
Stuff You Should Know
- Stuff You Should Know at SXSW
- The Southern Death Cult, the Maya and Georgia
- Deformed Baby Spider Brains
The Stuff of Genius
CarStuff
- Listener Mail: What’s the world’s largest engine?
- Listener Mail: What makes a “classic car” classic?
- Was Chrysler’s “It’s Halftime in America” Super Bowl commercial a little too political?
How-to Stuff
- How to Enjoy the Fruits of Your Labor
- How to Travel the World in 4 Days
- How to Smell Like Someone at HowStuffWorks
PopStuff
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 68: Astrology: What’s PopStuff’s Sign?
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 67: Collecting: PopStuff’s Cabinet of Curiosities
- PopStuff Show Notes: Episode 66: Tracy and Holly’s Running Playlists
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
- Good News from the Oldest Mayan Calendar
- One Year Later: Colony Collapse Disorder
- Who Killed Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Stuff to Change the World
- Who will own the Arctic?
- Obesity: The New Global Crisis
- Bill Gates Makes For A Pretty Decent Cartoon
Stuff You Missed in History Class
- Butch Cassidy: Should we read between the lines?
- Are we rooting for D.B. Cooper?
- Party Time: A Look at Unconventional Politics
