HILF: History I'd Like to F**k

Dawn recorded her first episode of HILF in June of 2021 and- as a podcaster - came in rather cold. Microphones, editing and distribution were new, but a love of History and way with people were very …

About 40 people joined Dawn and special guest, Rachel Scanlon in The Glendale Room for a night of comedy, history and Lesbians!

Not included in the recording, was the first part of the live show which…

For over a year during the Covid Lockdown, Zari was the only person outside of Dawn's house that she spoke to in person. Chats in doorway turned to coffee on the patio - turned to tea at her kitchen …

Lauren Prichard is a renowned actress and improviser whose credits include Disney, Upright Citizens Brigade and MADtv. She and Dawn work together as street improvisors in the New York Window element …

Dawn and guest, Brian Kiley, were backstage at a comedy show when they first realized their shared love for History. In this episode, the two get to really let their nerd-flag fly and take turns shar…

It is one of the darkest, yet most alluring parts of early American History, and although it only lasted for one year [1692-1693] the Salem Witch Trials spellbind us to this day. Dawn sits down with …

It may seem unthinkable now - people considered it unthinkable at the time - but for about 13 years in America, alcohol was constitutionally banned. The 18th Amendment made criminal the distillation,…

Rashid and his wife Kasey started the social channel THE BARLESS TENDER during covid for all of us boozehounds who found ourselves suddenly bar-less - but no less-thirsty. Not only do they demonstrat…

Christine Blackburn is not only the guest for this episode, but also the gracious host as we recorded at her kitchen table in Los Feliz, California. Christine is the host of the long-running and much…

Wayne Federman, author of The History of Stand-Up, makes it clear early in his book - and in our conversation - that this is not the history of Comedy in general. We are not necessarily concerned wit…

As Shelby and Dawn resume the tale of Mary Read and Anne Bonny from PART 1, they begin with a discussion of how they themselves earn their loot - not as pirates, but even more notorious - as entertai…

00:01:56 - Actor, Shelby Young, a fun and funny FORCE to be reckoned with. 

• Leia - Star Wars Forces of Destiny
• Rayna - Baby Shark’s Big Show

00:03:15 - Also, Shelby is a babe. Top shelf mega babe. What …

Welcome to a particularly delicious romp through the history of the Spice trade with my guest, 'television's own' Wayne Wilderson. His IMDB Credits read like a CVS receipt and you'll find he is as ef…

Dawn and Ryan continue their conversation (and open another bottle of wine) as they jump right back into the history of profanity, beginning with Ryan's favorite swear word, 'shit.'

PART 1

00:03:30 - D…

The name of this podcast includes profanity, so it may not be terribly surprising that Dawn was delighted to embrace the subject of the next episode: The F-Word

Her guest is the delightful and hilario…

When my husband, Andrew Melby, suggested that Krampus would be a good HILF subject to do for our first Holiday episode, he unwittingly stepped into the guest seat.  Krampus - the pagen-era Yuletide d…

No one expected James K Polk to be president. He was a quiet, frail, Tennessee Democrat with no military record who had just lost his governor's seat... again. But history is a party my friends, and …

It was the day before Thanksgiving, 1971, when the last passenger boarded a short flight from Portland to Seattle. With no ID's required to fly at the time, he paid for his ticket with cash ($20) and…

John Dillinger’s career was short.  The time between his first bank robbery and his killing by the FBI on the streets of Chicago, was just under 21 months. His impact on American culture, however, is…

Mary Shelley began writing her novel, Frankenstein, in 1816 when she was only 17 years old. Today it remains one of the most-assigned books of all time, finding it's way into classes ranging from Law…