Seventeenth-century author Sir Thomas Browne was a true Renaissance man:  a doctor, a scholar, a scientist, and… a mythbuster! In this episode,  Jen will delve into Pseudodoxia Epidemica, Browne’s 1646 compendium debunking hundreds of ancient legends, myths, and old wives’ tales.

12 - Thomas Browne - Renaissance Mythbuster

The complete success of La Croisière Noire leads André Citroën to  attempt the genuinely insane, a full expedition from Beirut to Peking.

For the list of sources, please go to www.thewonderkamer.ca

11 - The Citroën Expeditions, part 2

Tracy reveals her passion for automotive history as we learn about the Citroën expeditions. In this first part, French automaker André Citroën commissions two African expeditions done entirely by car. 

For sources, please visit www.thewonderkamer.ca

10 - The Citroën Expeditions, part 1

In the final part of the VTubers series, Dave steps away from the exploitation of talent by their employers, and instead examines pressures from the fans and media. When VTuber companies or talents try to stay apolitical, they may find themselves stepping into politics anyways. Here we explore the lewdtuber agency VAllure, the controversies of Pipkin Pippa, and the highway robbery of ninety-dollar coffee.

For sources and additional links, please visit www.thewonderkamer.ca

09 - Vtubers, part 3 - Culture Wars

Part 2 of our series of VTubers explores the rise and fall of the American "talent first" agency Vshojo. And how one of the most promising businesses in the scene resorted to robbing a charity to stay afloat.

For sources and links, please visit www.thewonderkamer.ca

08 - Vtubers, part 2 - The Fall of Vshojo

Dave begins his descent into madness as he explores the sprawling world of vtubers,  a multi-billion dollar industry featuring streamers who perform behind animated avatars. In part one, he investigates "black corpos," the unethical corporations notorious for exploiting talent and sparking endless scandals.

Sources and additional materials are available on the website at www.thewonderkamer.ca

Updated with errata. 

07 - Vtubers, part 1 - the Black Corpos, with errata

Join us for the final episode of Jen's look into the life of Kurt Cobain.

06 - The Kurt Cobain Tragical History Tour - part 2

Jen explores the life of rock star Kurt Cobain by taking a psychogeographical journey into the heart of Washington State. Part 1 begins in Seattle and takes us to Aberdeen, WA.

Part 2 will be released next week, on March 19, 2026.

Apologies for the state of Tracy's mic. It was in the process of dying.

Sources and further reading can be found at www.thewonderkamer.ca

05 - The Kurt Cobain Tragical History Tour - part 1

Tracy dives into the history of sex work in the settlement of the Canadian prairies. Here she talks about how sex workers were foundational to the economic and cultural function of early settlements, with special emphasis on Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary.

Sources and Further Reading

Bourgeois, N. (2018). Race, space, and prostitution: The making of settler colonial Canada. POWER. https://www.powerottawa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Bourgeois-2018.pdf

Gray, J. H. (1971). Red lights on the prairies. Macmillan of Canada.

Lee, G. (2015, June 17). Prostituted words: Time for a new style guide. Rabble.ca. https://rabble.ca/columnists/prostituted-words-time-new-style-guide/

Nichols, J. (2022). The other little house: The brothel as a colonial institution on the Canadian prairies, 1880–93. Journal of Social History, 56(1), 58–84. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shac014

Stella, l’amie de Maimie. (n.d.). Language matters: Talking about sex work [Information sheet]. Global Network of Sex Work Projects. https://www.nswp.org/sites/default/files/StellaInfoSheetLanguageMatters.pdf

04 - The Other Little House on the Prairie

Although Walter Raleigh is famous for founding the first permanent  settlement in North America, history has largely forgotten his  half-brother who was a genius, a fool, a bloodthirsty psychopath, a  terrible explorer, and somehow founded the British empire.

Sources and Further Reading

Chidsey, D. B. (1932). Sir Humphrey Gilbert: Elizabeth's racketeer. Harper & Brothers.

Gosling, W. G. (1911).The life of Sir Humphrey Gilbert: England's first empire builder. [Electronic Version]. https://archive.org/details/lifeofsirhumphre00goslrich/page/n1/mode/2up

Gilbert, H. (1576). A discourse of a discouerie for a new passage to Cataia [Electronic version]. Henry Middleton for Richarde Ihones. https://archive.org/details/discourseofdisco00gilb

Elizabeth I. (2025, August 27th). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I

Schulman, M. (2022). A timeline of the age of exploration. Historycentral.com [https://www.historycentral.com/]. https://www.historycentral.com/explorers/Index.html

Canadian Museum of History. (n.d.). Jacques Cartier 1534-1542. Virtual Museum of New France. Retrieved from https://www.historymuseum.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-france/the-explorers/jacques-cartier-1534-1542/

03 - The Many Failures of Sir Humphrey Gilbert

Jen, Dave, and Tracy are three dilettantes who are interested in everything! Join us bi-weekly for a new story.

Tracy Powell

Shows