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High Tales of History

High Tales of History

Written by: High Tales of History
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 Two sisters get stoned and surprise each other with a story from history's vault of the weird and the wonderful! Covering topics all around the world and all through time that you won't find in your history books!High Tales of History World
Episodes
  • 112. How Language Made Us Human: The History of Language

    112. How Language Made Us Human: The History of Language
    Dec 19 2025
    Put on your science pants Smoke Circle! KT is bringing us across the season six finish line with the brief history of language--from the first sounds of hominids to the formations of grammar to how culture shapes language around the world and how it is ever-evolving and changing year by year.We love a topic in which science and history shake hands and take us all on a hazy trip leaving us going "whoa dude...that was deep."We will be back again for season seven on February 6th, 2026! In the meantime, be sure to give us a follow on the socials and if you're really missing some new content, check out our Patreon, The Best Buds Club! It's all linked below!~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistoryPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@High Tales of History⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠Email—hightailingthroughhistory@gmail.com⁠ ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-language-shapes-thought/https://sproutsschools.com/linguistic-relativity-how-language-shapes-thought/#:~:text=Linguistic%20relativity%20theory%20suggests%20that%20the%20languages%20we%20pick%20up,even%20our%20sense%20of%20selfhttps://www.pimsleur.com/blog/how-language-shapes-the-way-we-think-and-see-the-world/#:~:text=The%20language(s)%20we%20speak%20don't%20prohibit%20us,about%20all%20of%20human%20languagehttps://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/executive-systems-of-the-brain/attention-language-lesson/v/language-and-cognitionhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010028501907480https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/13/?fbclid=IwAR2aVKquukZc3pQFauPgIn86Atf83ZYUDIpdhRm5Rx3w4vQoNrowAX1PEuk https://news.mit.edu/2025/when-did-human-language-emerge-0314#:~:text=A%20new%20analysis%20suggests%20our,March%2014%2C%202025https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5525259/#:~:text=No%20one%20knows%20for%20sure,by%20around%2070%2C000%20years%20agohttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/magazine/animal-communication.htmlhttps://bmcbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12915-017-0405-3#:~:text=Humans%2C%20on%20the%20other%20hand,our%20short%20history%20than%20geneshttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5525259/Everett, D. L. (2017). How language began: The story of humanity's greatest invention. Liveright Publishing.Bickerton, D. (1990). Language and species. University of Chicago Press.~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • 111. How to Start a War with Michael Trapani

    111. How to Start a War with Michael Trapani
    Dec 5 2025

    It's our penultimate episode of season 6 and we've got an amazing guest to share it with! Author, podcaster and all around kick ass dude, Michael Trapani, joins the Smoke Circle to talk about his gripping book "How to Start a War: The Rise of Extremism, the Fall of Democracy and the Lead Up to World War II"

    Like many major world events, World War II has many smaller events that lead to the flash bang moments that get etched into our history books. Michael's book is all about those layers. Together we talk about the power of the common person, what happens when decisions are made out of fear and that, yes, Nazi High Command really was hopped up on drugs all the damn time.

    ~~~~*

    Check out what Michael's Doing!

    Website -- https://www.howtostartawar.com/

    Podcast -- Listen on Podbean or wherever you get your favorite podcasts!

    Instagram -- @howtostartawarbook

    TikTok -- @howtostartawar

    ~~~~~*

    The Socials and Patreon!

    Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    TikTok⁠- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistoryPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    YouTube-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@High Tales of History⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

    Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠

    Email—hightailingthroughhistory@gmail.com⁠

    ~~~~~*

    Mentioned in the Stories:

    Episode 37: The Third Wave Social Experiment

    ~~~~~~*

    Source Material and References:


    Trapani, Michael. How to start a war: The rise of extremism, the fall of democracy, and the lead up to World War II. S.l.: Blackstone Audio, 2024.

    ~~~~~~~*

    Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • The History of Dragons Around the World

    The History of Dragons Around the World
    Nov 21 2025
    It's episode 110 and KT is bringing her deep love of dragons to the Smoke Circle! While you might think dragons are more likely to be found in fantasy novels and mythology books than in the pages of history, KT explores the cultural significance of dragons across various civilizations, touching on creation myths and the role of dragons in both chaos and order. We'll be talking about the rich symbolism and cultural significance of dragons across different civilizations, particularly contrasting Eastern and Western perspectives as well as how dragons are perceived as benevolent forces in Eastern cultures, while in the West, they often symbolize greed and destruction. So join us for a fun adventure (maybe we'll meet Puff the Magic Dragon along the way?? Wiiiiiink!)~~~~~~~~~*The Socials and Patreon!Patreon-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Best Buds Club!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistoryPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube-- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@High Tales of History⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠ -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠High Tales of History or ⁠⁠@HighTalesofHistory ⁠Email—hightailingthroughhistory@gmail.com⁠ ~~~~~~*Source Material and References:https://www.history.com/articles/dragon-mythshttps://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-surprising-history-of-dragons/HgVxM6TaZ5rRJg?hl=enhttps://youtu.be/hpdN0N_XxQM?si=0adLD03-aGcQxJx4https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/articles/dragons-and-their-origins/#:~:text=The%20anthropologist%20David%20E.,they%20formed%20the%20island%20archipelagoshttps://dragondreaming.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/thefootprintsofdragons.pdfhttps://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4gn0i2ard_gC&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=dragons+and+the+history+of+mankind&ots=KNEAc3lnEQ&sig=nNXZXmwhfQ15NlaLInuZKRvVlYU#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20240208-the-surprising-4000-year-history-of-dragonshttps://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/08/the-origins-of-dragons/144532#:~:text=Dragons%20have%20appeared%20independently%20in,through%20the%20ages%20with%20Rahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functions_of_the_Pharaoh#:~:text=Chief%20of%20the%20armies%2C%20the,common%20good%20and%20social%20agreement https://studycli.org/chinese-culture/chinese-dragons/ https://windhorsetour.com/blog/the-meaning-of-chinese-dragons#:~:text=This%20dragon%20is%20believed%20to,west%2C%20north%20and%20southhttps://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsl/books/edited-volume/1643/chapter-abstract/107454535/Place-names-describing-fossils-in-oral-traditions?redirectedFrom=fulltext https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_gu#:~:text=Long%20gu%20are%20remains%20of,be%20the%20remains%20of%20dragons~~~~~~~*Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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    55 mins
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