A podcast where two amateur history buffs electrocute each other about bad ass stories from history.
We quiz each other on the episode’s topic and for every wrong answer, we get an increasingly high-voltage electric shock.
It's Hot Ones...For Nerds.
It's History...for people who are history-curious and just need a jackhole getting electrocuted to seal the deal.
It's GET SHOCKED.
Connect with GET SHOCKED (https://www.getshockedpodcast.com/connect.html).
Created, Written and Co-hosted by Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King.
Produced and Edited by Kenneth Fuentes.
Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King explore bizarre and questionable foods throughout history, revealing the surprising culinary habits of historical figures like Lord Byron and George Washington.
29 May 2025
Yummy Mummies: The Egyptian Prescription
Hosts Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King reveal the bizarre Victorian practice of consuming mummies for medicinal purposes and using them as pigments, unearthing a strange historical phenomenon.
17 Apr 2025
Blood Rites & Wrongs: MesoAmerican Sacrifice
The gods give us life. And we must give them life in return.
Specifically in the form of blood, tears, and hearts carved from willing donors.
Ah, the circle of life.
Nearly every ancient culture has their local version of the blood sacrifice to their gods. But the Aztecs created a ritual of passion, spectacle, and gore that goes unmatched.
Today, as we cut to the heart of MesoAmerican Blood Sacrifice, Jolts and Zing learn:
How the Aztecs mastered the art of removing a heart - while it still beat.
What Spanish invaders thought about the local blood sacrifices (and the style of blood sacrifice European Catholics preferred).
What noble martyrs tasted like...to the gods who drank their blood.
Created, researched and performed by Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King.
Produced and edited by Kenneth Fuentes.
6 Mar 2025
Taint Unusual: The History of Anal Sex
Birds do it.
Whales do it.
Ancient Greeks in toga tails do it.
Today, in our deep probe into the history of anal sex, Jolts and Zing learn
How anal sex helps keep the peace
Which non-human species have anal sex
How public opinion (and law) on anal sex has shifted radically through time, and why!
Grab you lube, unclench, and get ready to Get Shocked!
Created, researched and performed by Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King.
Produced and edited by Kenneth Fuentes.
RESOURCES:
Dr. Young's Rectal Dilators (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Young%2527s_Ideal_Rectal_Dilators)
Bend-Over Boyfriend (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bend_Over_Boyfriend)
Shunga Artwork by Hokusai (https://www.roningallery.com/artists/Hokusai/custitem37/Shunga?srsltid=AfmBOop8eRMmWh_znzJXKFiCRybCbWGQ4d5NxwrqWp9YiLHUDNXeBsoZ)(NSFW)
30 Jan 2025
Acid for the People: Hofmann, Leary, & Putting 'PSYCHE' Back Into Psychedelics
One fateful day in 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann pulled out an old ergot compound he'd been ignoring for a decade, and accidentally got a drop of it on his hand. He soon experienced humanity's first ever Acid Trip.
Over the next 20 years, scientists, governments and militaries experimented to learn just what Lysergic Acid Diethylamide could be used for. The results? Astoundingly positive for therapeutic results, from decreasing anxiety to helping addicts go sober.
Then came Timothy Leary, hippies, and the political upheaval of the 1960's.
Today on Get Shocked: The history of LSD.
RESOURCES
US Military Video of Soldiers on LSD – MK Ultra (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_LSD#cite_ref-30)
Full Dragnet Episode: The Big Prophet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThGi1WVk5c)
1957 Broadcast interviewing a housewife who takes LSD on camera. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUNlOhS6w60)
Recording of John Lilly (high on LSD) spending time with Peter the Dolphin (high on LSD) to test the drug’s impact on communication. (https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/hz090gp2873)
16 Jan 2025
Mansa Musa: Gold Mines & Mecca & Mosques, OH MY!
The world's wealthiest man.
Bill Gates? Jeff Bezos? Elon Musk? No, no, and No.
Mansa Musa, "King Moses," leader of the Malian Empire in the 14th Century.
Net Worth: approx. $400billion in 2025 dollars.
Under the watch of Mansa Musa, Timbuktu became the center of islamic learning and science. West Africa grew into an international trading force (supplying European nobles and elite with gold). Through all of this, Musa led the empire with a shockingly un-empereor-like hand.
Today, find out...
What nation's economy did Mansa Musa destroy during a short visit en route to Mecca?
What fashion trend - which had a resurrection as a 1990's fad - did Musa popularize?
What truly wild personal problems has insane wealth solved for the more contemporary filthy rich?
Today: Mansa Musa, King of Mali, History's wealthiest man. Get Shocked!
26 Dec 2024
Holiday Treat
A little stocking stuffer for you Shockers - some outtakes from our recent episode on Vampires.
We'll be back with our next full episode on January 16, 2025, diving into the story of the wealthiest man ever to live: Mansa Musa, King of 14th Century Mali!
12 Dec 2024
Vampires Are Real and So Can You
Vampires suck. And thank goodness they do.
Complicated creatures full of flaws: no mirrors means bad hair days. Fangs make dentist visits tough. And they can’t eat stake.
But today's vampires have plenty to love: immortality, shape shifting, badassery and power. More often than not, they’re totally sexy.
Think snake-necklaced Salma Hayek. Long-locked, pastel-suited Gary Oldman. Kate Beckinsale cling-wrapped for your pleather.
But talk about a glow-up! Before Bram Stoker’s Dracula, stories and folktales showed vampires as stinking, filthy, peasants (no class judgment here – vampires just had these qualities). They came from the smallest villages, in the most rural communities.
How, in 500 years, did vampires transition from The Stinking Vampyr of Pentsch, to sparkle-chested Edward “I only eat woodland creatures” Cullen?
Well, immortality leaves plenty of time for a glow up.
Today: The real history of vampires. Or, the history of Real Vampires.
Let’s Get Shocked.
RESOURCES
Vampires in the Sefer Hasidim: https://www.torahmusings.com/2011/10/vampires-and-witches-in-sefer-hasidim/ (https://www.torahmusings.com/2011/10/vampires-and-witches-in-sefer-hasidim/)
Estries in the Sefer Hasidim: https://templeofmiriam.com/blog/sefer-hasidim-alukah-and-estries?srsltid=AfmBOoqUuIm990DKfyPMeleYKIhD-zsrkB_FX9akdWHyZlxnx5L6eq2A (https://templeofmiriam.com/blog/sefer-hasidim-alukah-and-estries?srsltid=AfmBOoqUuIm990DKfyPMeleYKIhD-zsrkB_FX9akdWHyZlxnx5L6eq2A)
Johannes Cuntius
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/sk53s8NGr6znMccN8xpSNM/nine-fangtastic-facts-about-european-vampire-literature (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/sk53s8NGr6znMccN8xpSNM/nine-fangtastic-facts-about-european-vampire-literature)
https://occult-world.com/cuntius-johannes-pentsch-vampire/ (https://occult-world.com/cuntius-johannes-pentsch-vampire/)
JIANGSHI (Chinese Hopping Vampire) CLIPS
Encounters of the Spooky Kind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTD9cVr2naM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTD9cVr2naM)
Mr. Vampire II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt8nC4rRc0U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt8nC4rRc0U)
Mr. Vampire IV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ASFhUsFOio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ASFhUsFOio)
Henry More: An Antidote Against Atheism
https://archive.org/details/antidoteagainsta00more/mode/2up (https://archive.org/details/antidoteagainsta00more/mode/2up)
28 Nov 2024
Booty and Junk: The Salty Life and Crimes of Zheng Yi Sao
Who’s got two swords and went from poor fisher woman to pirate Queen in less than a decade?
Today, Zing ‘N’ Jolts set sail for the early 1800s to track the facts on a woman who truly defied the patriarchal society of her birth. For young girls growing up in a poor fish village, there were two options: stay where you are, or sex work as a means of upward mobility (err…horizontal mobility?).
Today’s heroine took the second option, and boy did she use it to jump the ranks. Becoming internationally renowned for her efforts above a Flower Boat, she seduced a pirate king and – when he died – took over the biggest pirate armada to ever sail.
Today: Booty & Junk: The Life and Crimes of Zheng Yi Sao. Let’s get shocked!
Resources
• Mr. Glasspoole and the Chinese Pirates https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:810058 (https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/orbis:810058)
• Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790 – 1810, by Dian H. Murray
• A narrative of the captivity and sufferings of John Turner ... among the Ladrones or pirates, on the coast of China showing the manners and customs of the natives ... in the year 1807
14 Nov 2024
Frida Be You and Me
Jolts and Zing dive into the life, loves, and art of the iconic Frida Kahlo (1907 – 1954). The renowned Mexican painter, celebrated for her feminism, indigenous fashion, and relentlessly personal artistic vision, has become ubiquitous in pop culture. But beyond the headlines of her work and chronic pain, lie incredible – and startling – details.
Today: Frida Kahlo. Let’s Get Shocked.
Warnings: Strong Language, adult themes including graphic violence, sex, miscarriage, and communism.
Resources
Museo de Frida Kahlo: https://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx/?lang=en (https://www.museofridakahlo.org.mx/?lang=en)
Frida Kahlo: An Open Life, by Raquel Tibol. https://books.google.com/books?id=HJaFg3S7AZQC&q (https://books.google.com/books?id=HJaFg3S7AZQC&q)
FRIDA: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, by Hayden Herrera
Donate to support Get Shocked! (https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9NNN0497Z2WPD/checkout/2BBZ5O2CD4CAZL47CDU6DHLA)
Created, Written and Co-hosted by Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King.
Produced and Edited by Kenneth Fuentes.
31 Oct 2024
The History of Poop: Manure to Sewer
"I eat, therefore I poop." - Renee Descartes (mistranslated by Daniel Berger-Jones.
Poop. Caca. Dookie. For most of us, it's an everyday activity. But how much do we really know about it?
What did people do before toilet paper? Before toilets? Why does it look and smell and, gulp, sound like that? Who realized we shouldn't keep it all around us, and how did people find ways to move it?
And: What does poop teach us? Can we turn shit into gold?
This week, Jolts and Zing take the plunge into the depths of what it means to be alive and, therefore, to Poop.
Today: The History of Poop, Manure to Sewer
Warnings: Strong Language, naughty humor, graphic bodily functions.
Sources:
Remaking the John: The Invention and Reinvention of the Toilet, by Francesca Davis DiPiazza
Poop Happened: A History of the World from the Bottom Up, by Sarah Albee
Gates Foundation: 10 Years of Reinventing the Toilet (https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/sanitation-reinvent-toilet)
Medical Advances Survey (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jan/19/health.medicineandhealth3)
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Omniprocessor-From-Poop-to-Potable (https://www.gatesnotes.com/Omniprocessor-From-Poop-to-Potable)
Donate to support Get Shocked! (https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9NNN0497Z2WPD/checkout/2BBZ5O2CD4CAZL47CDU6DHLA)
Created, Written and Co-hosted by Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King.
Produced and Edited by Kenneth Fuentes.
28 Oct 2024
Get Shocked - Season 1 Trailer!
Introducing GET SHOCKED, launching Thursday, October 31. Co-hosts Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King quiz each other on the stories of people and events we all sort of know, but barely, and inaccurately.
Every wrong answer receives an increasingly high-voltage electric shock. The facts will stun you.
Season 1 launches on Thursday, October 31, with The History of Poop: Manure to Sewer. Check out the trailer!
Future episodes cover a range of topics including artist and icon Frida Kahlo, Meso-American Blood Sacrifice Rituals, The Carlisle Industrial Indian School, tales of real-life vampires, and much, much more.
New episodes released every two weeks. GET SHOCKED is available on all major podcast platforms.
Full information found at www.GetShockedPodcast.com (http://www.GetShockedPodcast.com)
Inquiries, contact: getshocked.podcast@gmail.com (mailto:getshocked.podcast@gmail.com)
Instagram: @getshockedPod
Donate to support Get Shocked! (https://checkout.square.site/merchant/9NNN0497Z2WPD/checkout/2BBZ5O2CD4CAZL47CDU6DHLA)
Created, Written and Co-hosted by Daniel Berger-Jones and John J King.
Produced and Edited by Kenneth Fuentes.
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6 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 16 / 100
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