Show Notes
Spite Houses: The architectural equivalent of a middle finger. They’re structures or dwellings designed specifically to piss someone off. This week, Norm does a deep dive into a truly ridiculous spite house, built and owned by an eccentric millionaire named Joseph Richardson.
It all started when a man made an offer on Joseph’s 5-foot wide, 102-foot deep tract of land in New York City. Joseph was so offended by the man’s (completely reasonable) offer, that he built an odd, skinny structure right next to the man’s beautiful apartment building. And the wildest part of it all? Joseph Richardson lived in his spite house for fifteen years.
Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Norm pulled from: Alpern, Andrew. Holdouts!: The Buildings That Got in the Way. McGraw-Hill, 1984. Documentary History of American Water-Works. “Biography of Joseph Richardson.” http://www.waterworkshistory.us/bio/Richardson/index.htm. Find a Grave. “Joseph C. Richardson (1814-1897).” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58229813/joseph_c-richardson. Miller, Tom. “The Lost 1882 ‘Spite House’ -- No. 1218 Lexington Avenue.” Daytonian in Manhattan, August 27, 2012. https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-lost-1882-spite-house-no-1215.html. New York Architecture. “New York Architecture Images - Spite House.” February 1, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120201111125/http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GON/GON005.htm. New York Daily Herald. “Corporate Elections.” April 8, 1873. New York Daily Herald. “Marriages and Deaths.” July 14, 1872. New York Daily Herald. “The City Railroad Bills.” February 12, 1873. New York Herald. “Financial and Commercial.” March 12, 1874. New York Herald. “Railroads in Utah.” January 27, 1875. New York Herald. “‘Uncle Ben’ Richardson Dead.” February 22, 1889. New York Times. “Calls Them Embezzlers.” March 20, 1895. New York Times. “Joseph Richardson Dead.” June 9, 1897. New York Times. “Joseph Richardson Dying.” April 16, 1897. New York Times. “Meeting of the Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad.” March 7, 1873. New York Times. “Mr Richardson’s Faculty.” June 14, 1897. New York Times. “Mr. Richardson’s Funeral.” June 12, 1897. New York Times. “Richardson Will Contest.” November 18, 1897. New York Times. “Richardson’s Money Gone.” December 23, 1897. New York Times. “Spite House Case Dismissed.” November 1, 1900. New York Times. “Stormy Railroad Meeting.” October 19, 1877. New York Times. “Struck in the Tunnel.” August 21, 1888. New York Tribune. “Evicted, Goes to Country.” August 21, 1910. New York Tribune. “Rapid Transit Schemes.” September 22, 1875. The Universe of Discourse. “The Spite House.” https://blog.plover.com/tech/spite-house.html. The World. “Strange Heirs of Joseph Richardson.” June 13, 1897. Utah Rails.Net. “The History of Utah’s Railroads, 1869-1883.” https://utahrails.net/reeder/reeder-chap6.php. Valentine’s Manual of Old New York. The Chauncey Holt Company, 1921.
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Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.
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Calling all Dancing Queens! In this two-part series, Kyla Pitts-Zevin (Kristin’s sister & mayor of all of Kristin’s podcasts) tells us about the Swedish pop music group, ABBA. She tells us the band members' surprising backstories and about the iconic Eurovision performance that launched them into stardom. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kyla pulled from: The Story of ABBA by Jan Gradvall Documentary: The Joy of ABBA Documentary: ABBA: THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL Wikipedia ABBASITE the official website of ABBA “How ABBA's two marriages and divorces split the group apart for nearly 40 years,” by Tom Eames for People Magazine Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts! Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.
As soon as David Reimer learned the truth, he knew what he wanted to do. He began presenting as a man. He got a new name. He started testosterone therapy. He underwent surgery. But just when it looked like he had a shot at a normal life, he discovered that Dr. John Money had been writing about him for years. Dr. Money had falsely presented David as proof that we are all born gender neutral, and that parents could choose their child’s gender identity, provided they did it early enough. David knew that what had happened to him was now happening to children all over the world. He decided to put a stop to it. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from: “The True Story of John/Joan,” by John Colapinto for Rolling Stone An episode of PBS NOVA, “Sex: Unknown” “Intersex,” The Cleveland Clinic “It’s Intersex Awareness Day. Here Are 5 Myths We Need to Shatter,” Amnesty International "John William Money, 84, Sexual Identity Researcher, Dies," by Benedict Carey for The New York Times. "Milton Diamond, Sexologist and Advocate for Intersex Babies, Dies at 90" by Clary Risen for The New York Times. “David Reimer, 38, Subject of the John/Joan Case, Dies” Associated Press “Dr. Money and the Boy with No Penis,” BBC “What were the real reasons behind David Reimer’s suicide?” by John Colapinto for Slate Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts! Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.
When he was just seven months old, David Reimer became the victim of a botched circumcision. The accident left him without a penis. His parents, Janet and Ron Reimer, were distraught. They wondered what kind of life David would have. Experts told them that there was little to be done. But then one night, they happened to see an interview with the prominent sexologist Dr. John Money. Dr. Money was charismatic. He was confident. He was credentialed. He had a theory that we are all born gender neutral, and that you could actually choose a child’s gender, provided you made the switch before the child turned two years old. Janet and Ron Reimer were filled with hope. They wondered if, with Dr. Money’s help, they find the solution to their son’s tragic accident. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, Kristin pulled from: “The True Story of John/Joan,” by John Colapinto for Rolling Stone An episode of PBS NOVA, “Sex: Unknown” “Intersex,” The Cleveland Clinic “It’s Intersex Awareness Day. Here Are 5 Myths We Need to Shatter,” Amnesty International "John William Money, 84, Sexual Identity Researcher, Dies," by Benedict Carey for The New York Times. "Milton Diamond, Sexologist and Advocate for Intersex Babies, Dies at 90" by Clary Risen for The New York Times. Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts! Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.
You might have thought we couldn’t make it through last week’s episode, but just like Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbor, we’re alive, we’re here, and we’re really pissed at you for listening to other podcasts while we were gone. In this episode, Normie C continues to decipher fact from fiction. Meanwhile, Kristin wonders whether we’ll ever hear more about Michael Shannon’s surfboards. Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, we pulled from: Bay, Michael, dir. Pearl Harbor. Touchstone Pictures, 2001. Cutrer, Thomas W., and T. Michael Parrish. Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor, and the Birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Texas A&M University Press, 2018. “Doolittle Raid.” http://public1.nhhcaws.local/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/world-war-ii/1942/halsey-doolittle-raid.html. Imperial War Museums. The Reason Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor. 2021. 13:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so4v_2zq35k. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. “US Intelligence Failures at Pearl Harbor.” September 18, 2025. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/us-intelligence-failures-pearl-harbor. U.S. Department of War. “Pilots Fought Back Heroically Against Pearl Harbor Attack.” https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/3973184/pilots-fought-back-heroically-against-pearl-harbor-attack/. Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts! Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.
In this two-part series, we analyze Michael Bay’s 2001 box office smash, Pearl Harbor. Normie C points out historical inaccuracies. Kristin points out cringey dialogue. Above all, we ask ourselves the *important* questions. Questions like: Is Pearl Harbor just Titanic for boys? And, if this film had a $140 million budget, why does Jon Voight’s butt-chin prosthetic look so much like Silly Puddy? Finally, isn’t it cute that we made fun of this movie for being too long, but we couldn’t fit our own analysis into one episode?? Remember, kids, history hoes always cite their sources! For this episode, we pulled from: Baldwin, Tess E. “The Park Avenue Tunnel Wreck of 1902.” Discovering NYC, January 9, 2025. https://discovering.nyc/the-park-avenue-tunnel-wreck-of-1902/. Bay, Michael, dir. Pearl Harbor. Touchstone Pictures, 2001. Cutrer, Thomas W., and T. Michael Parrish. Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor, and the Birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Texas A&M University Press, 2018. Default. “Huff-Daland Duster 1925-ca.1948.” Accessed September 21, 2026. https://deltamuseum.org/research/history/aircraft/crop-dusters/crop-dusters/huff-daland-duster-1925-ca.1948. Imperial War Museums. The Reason Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor. 2021. 13:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so4v_2zq35k. Kan, Kenneth C. First in the Air: The Eagle Squadrons of World War II. Air Force History and Museums Program, 2007. Are you enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Then please leave us a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts! Are you *really* enjoying An Old Timey Podcast? Well, calm down, history ho! You can get more of us on Patreon at patreon.com/oldtimeypodcast. At the $5 level, you’ll get a monthly bonus episode (with video!), access to our 90’s style chat room, plus the entire back catalog of bonus episodes from Kristin’s previous podcast, Let’s Go To Court.