Today In History with The Retrospectors

• Cecil The Lion: Trophy Kill

  Minnesotan dentist Walter Palmer killed Cecil The Lion on 2nd July, 2015; ending the life of a beloved and photogenic big cat, and kickstarting his career as the internet’s most vilified trophy hunter. Cecil, who lived in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, wasn’t just any lion - he was being tracked by Oxford scientists, and was a hit with tourists, known for his majestic black mane and his chill attitude toward safari vehicles. Palmer used a bow and arrow, returning 11 hours later to finish the kill, behead him, and leave the body to rot.  The backlash was explosive. Palmer’s dental office, homes, and reputation were targeted with vandalism, hate mail, and death threats; his Yelp reviews are still haunted by Cecil’s ghost. While many in Africa were confused by the global outrage, Western celebrities like Jimmy Kimmel, Ricky Gervais, and Ellen turned the story into a viral cause. Palmer claimed ignorance - he didn’t know Cecil was special. But critics asked: why be okay with killing a lion at all? In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the ethics of big game hunting; investigate Palmer’s trophy-hunting past (and present); and, ten years on from this viral moment, ask if the backlash following Cecil’s death led to any positive outcomes…  Further Reading: • ‘Why Cecil the Lion Was So Popular With People’ (National Geographic, 2015): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/150730-cecil-lion-africa-hunting-science-animals • ‘Cecil the lion’s legacy: five years on’ (University of Oxford, 2020): https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-12-21-cecil-lion-s-legacy-five-years • ‘Cecil The Lion’s Death: What Really Happened Is Revealed In New Book 'Lion Hearted'’ (TODAY, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgwHH9oS3IA Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• The Walkman Effect

  Sony’s revolutionary cassette player, the Walkman, debuted in the USA on 1st July, 1979, costing $150. It went on to shift a staggering 450m units. Boasting a classy aluminium chassis, audio splitter, and novelty ‘Hotline’ button for dance parties, the device took off after an advertising campaign featuring sexy models and an elderly Japanese monk. In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca reveal the genesis of the Walkman’s brand name; consider whether it deserved an even HIGHER place in TIME’s list of the Top 50 Most Influential Gadgets, and ask if, in 2021, we are living in the shadow of ‘The Walkman Effect’... Further Reading: • ‘The History of the Walkman: 35 Years of Iconic Music Players’ (The Verge, 2014): https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/1/5861062/sony-walkman-at-35 • The original TV spots for the Walkman in Japan (1979): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrrTv_BzAAQ • TIME’s list of the 50 Most Influential Gadgets of All Time (2016): https://time.com/4309573/most-influential-gadgets/ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. This episode first aired in 2021 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Writing 'Gone With The Wind'

  Margaret Mitchell’s first and only novel, Gone With The Wind, was released on 30th June, 1936, and delighted readers and critics alike, shifting millions of copies and scooping the Pulitzer Prize. But its romanticised tales of life in the South - complete with glorified depictions of slave labour and the Confederate Army - was divisive for African-Americans at the time, and is now recognised as overtly racist. Mitchell, a ‘flapper’ who had a racy private life compared to her cohort, died after being struck by a car. But her magnum opus remains consistently ranked as one of America’s favourite books. In this episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Martin Luther King, Jr. was involved in the premiere of the movie; consider an alternative name for the novel's lead character; and reveal the mind-boggling amounts of money paid for copies of the book, and the film rights… Further Reading: • ‘Margaret Mitchell's 'Gone With The Wind' Turns 75’ (NPR, 2011): https://www.npr.org/2011/06/30/137476187/margaret-mitchells-gone-with-the-wind-turns-75 • ‘The Long Battle Over ‘Gone With the Wind’’ (The New York Times, 2020): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/movies/gone-with-the-wind-battle.html • ‘Gone with the Wind - By Margaret Mitchell. FULL Audiobook’ (Complete Audiobooks, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mpo9-P5BQ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Meet The Black Donnelleys

  The deadly fight between Patrick Farrell and James Donnelly on 27th June 1857 kickstarted one of the longest-lasting and most violent feuds in Canadian history. The property the Donnellys had been squatting on had been previously leased by Farrell. A judge had ruled that the lot be split 50/50, but, at a barn raising bee, Donnelly chucked a handspike at Farrell, who died two days later. Decades later, the Donnelly family’s homestead was attacked by a vigilante mob, leaving five of their family dead. In this episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask why nobody was convicted of the murders, despite two trials and a reliable eyewitness; reveal why the Donnelleys became known locally as the ‘black’ Donnelleys, a nickname which persists to this day; and unearth, amongst one of their number, a surprising predilection for poetry… Further Reading: • ‘History | Lucan Museum’ (donnellymuseum.com): https://www.donnellymuseum.com/history • ‘Black Donnellys - The Outrageous Tale of Canada's Deadliest Feud, By Nate Hendley’ (Formac Publishing Company Limited, 2018): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Black_Donnellys/sK5jDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 • ‘The Doomed Donnellys of Ontario’ (TVO Today, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqqfg3PND7o Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Scanning The First Barcode

  At a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a packet of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum became the first ever product to have its barcode scanned - at 8:01 a.m. on June 26th, 1974. Inspired by the morse code training of his Boy Scout days, Norman Joseph Woodland first sketched out a barcode on a Florida beach in 1948, drawing dots and dashes in the sand. Together with fellow Drexel Institute graduate student Bernard Silver, he received a U.S. Patent in 1952 - but it would be another 20 years before IBM produced the technology that could be rolled out to grocery stores. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the invention accelerated the growth of the largest retailers; consider Woodland’s original ‘bullseye’ barcode design; and reveal why conspiracy theorists think barcodes are the DEVIL’s work… Further Reading: • ‘How the barcode changed retailing and manufacturing’ (BBC News, 2017): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38498700 • ‘N Joseph Woodland obituary’ (The Guardian, 2012): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/dec/16/n-joseph-woodland • ‘How Do Barcodes Work?’ (sciBRIGHT, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfeVckbQxdQ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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