Little Tiny

A scientist who experiments on randy rabbits and an infamous Women’s Liberation activist have an unlikely, but fateful meeting at a New York City dinner party. One short conversation becomes the catalyst for a new kind of women’s liberation, causing seismic shifts in a brutally sexist culture and even stifling a baby boom.

A Portuguese princess sold into marriage, an English king suffocated in debt and an exotic leaf that will unlock England’s future. A tale of how one person can transform a culture by daring to be different, and how one tiny trend can shape an empire.

Two astronomers discover a curious sound in space that will drive them to madness — or at least have them chasing pigeons for two years — and give us a new perspective on the universe. These scientists will help prove an extraordinary theory and go on to win the Nobel Prize, but you wouldn’t know it watching them scrape pigeon poop out of their telescope.

An entire German city is dying of a mysterious illness, and the royal physician is sent to a nearby monastery to find out what the cause is, and how to stop it. This is only the beginning of a story spanning millennia, in which excruciating and unnecessary deaths are linked by one common factor — greed.

A small group of Vietnamese refugees and a Hollywood actress collude to find refugees work in a hostile America, chasing an American Dream that actually comes true. There is no sweetening the outcome of the Vietnam War for the Vietnamese people, but there is hope in this story of enterprise, innovation and defiance.

After the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people, an inquest was held to find out how it happened. Theories abound, but there is one fact that stands out from the court proceedings: if David Blair hadn't been fired, the Titanic — and all the people on board — might have been saved.

America has a reputation for supporting war efforts, but this wasn’t always the case. Mere months before they joined World War I, the US voted in a landslide victory to keep the peace. But a flaky President and a special treat, baked by two women on the Western Front, would help change this sentiment, for good.

Walt Disney’s first great success wasn’t a cartoon mouse. Years before Mickey paraded onto our screens, Disney created a cartoon that took him to soaring heights and then to crushing lows in the space of a year. His reputation, his career and his future empire were all held to ransom by a small, mischievous rabbit.

Wu Zetian is the first, and only, woman Emperor of China. Behind her success is a trail of blood and intrigue that begins with the strangling of her own baby. She is an enigmatic figure, one who reinvigorated China, but her rule came at a cost.

Queen Marie Antoinette is infamous for provoking the 18th century French Revolution with her excessive spending. But her trial, execution and the subsequent bloodied period known as the ‘Reign of Terror’ might have been prevented, if not for her husband, King Louis XVI, handing out a small tip to a passer by.

History is full of Little Tiny things that have made a big difference in the world. Whether it’s the key that sank the Titanic, the coin that lead to Marie Antoinette’s beheading, or the cup of tea that saved the Industrial Revolution. On this podcast you’ll learn how small objects, ideas and actions have shaped history, for the better ... and also for the worse. Join host Kara Schlegl as she tells you stories in history through the eyes of the little guy.