Then This Happened: Musical Stories
True stories are told and musical improvisers cut in and out with songs moving the story along. Each episode is about 15 to 25 minutes long. The show is put together by comedian and musician Matt Griffo. It’s recorded in his tiny studio in Chicago.
- Update frequency
- every 58 days
- Average duration
- 21 minutes
- Episodes
- 20
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2023
2004 Dave Matthews Band Chicago River incident
On August 8, 2004, a tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumped an estimated 800 pounds of human waste from the bus's blackwater tank through the Kinzie Street Bridge in Chicag…
Chance The Snapper & Alligator Robb, a Chicago Tale of Two Lives Saved
Chance the Snapper is a four to five foot long alligator that was found swimming in the Humboldt Park lagoon, in Chicago, Illinois, on the evening of July 9, 2019. The animal was named …
When Charna Met Del Close - A story of the creation of long from improvisation
CHARNA HALPERN
Charna Halpern (born June 1, 1952) is founded the ImprovOlympic, now known as iO. Upon iO's founding, in 1983, with partner Del Close, she began teaching Harold to many st…
Halley's Comet and the Panic of 1910
In 1910, Halley’s Comet was due to pass close by Earth — and everyone from religious fanatics to news reporters stoked the fires of a global panic, believing it was the end of the world…
The Curse of the Ghost of Colonel Sanders and the Japanese Kansai-based Hanshin Tigers baseball team
The Curse of the Colonel refers to a 1985 Japanese urban legend regarding a reputed curse placed on the Japanese Kansai-based Hanshin Tigers baseball team by the ghost of deceased KFC f…
The Story of Y2K - The Year 2000 Problem - The Millennium Bug - The Y2K Glitch - The Y2K Error
When complex computer programs were first written in the 1960s, engineers used a two-digit code for the year, leaving out the "19." As the year 2000 approached, many believed that the s…
The Radium Girls
The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. The painting was done by women at three different fac…
Bret Hart & The Montreal Screw Job - WWF Wrestling incident
The Montreal Screwjob was an infamous unscripted professional wrestling incident that occurred on November 9, 1997, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view at the Molson Centre. Vince McMah…
Music vs Brazil's Military Dictatorship - Bossa Nova Style
Most Brazilians believe their national identity is closely tied to the country’s music, as it unites those of all social backgrounds and creates a place of refuge from real life. Howeve…
The Case of Aileen Wuornos - American Serial Killer
Aileen Wuornos is an American serial killer who murdered at least seven people in 1989–90. Her case drew national attention to issues such as the relationship between gender and violenc…
The Brunost Cheese Fire - A Norwegian Food Disaster
About 27 tonnes of caramelised brown goat cheese - a delicacy known as Brunost - caught light as it was being driven through the Brattli Tunnel at Tysfjord, northern Norway in 2013.
The …
Mercy the Coyote gets in trouble in Chicago
A coyote bit a little boy, Chicagoans wanted the coyote dead, but Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation in suburban Barrington, IL stepped in to show everyone Mercy.
Listen to the unedited…
Super Massive Black Holes and LIGO
Cosmic science. Black holes and how we know about them thanks to multiple scientists and LIGO (The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory).
Listen to the unedited podcast …
The Story of Streeterville - A Chicago Legend
This is a Story about Cap Streeter, a drifter who schemed his way into creating what is now one of the most expensive parts of Chicago.
Steph Charaska (Storyteller)
BAND:
- Drake Shrader (vo…
The Waitangi Day Protest Dildo
The woman who threw a dildo at Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce on New Zealand's national day.
Listen to the unedited podcast and help support the episodes at --> https://www.p…
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal
In 2019, a scandal arose over a criminal conspiracy to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities. The investigation into the conspiracy was nickn…
Jane Fonda The Activist
Jane Fonda has had a life full of activism and has now begun “Fire Drill Fridays.” The protests, which Fonda refers to as "Fire Drill Friday," are to show support for a Green New Deal a…
The Vantablack Feud - Anish Kapoor vs. Stuart Semple & The Chicago Bean
An art feud over color between Stuart Semple and Anish Kapoor. They have been feuding since 2016 when Kapoor received exclusive rights to the Vantablack pigment, said to be the blackest…
Paul McCartney Goes to a Tokyo Jail for a bag of cannabis
In this episode comedian Ron Ervin tells the story of Paul McCartney getting arrested in Tokyo in 1980.
Listen to the unedited podcast at and help support the episodes at --> https://ww…
Cleveland Balloonfest ’86
Balloonfest '86 was a 1986 event in which the United Way of Cleveland in Ohio set a world record by releasing almost one-and-a-half million balloons. The event was intended to be a harm…