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Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff

Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff

By: Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
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As long as there’s been oppression, there’ve been people fighting it. This weekly podcast dives into history to drag up the wildest rebels, the most beautiful revolts, and all the people who long to be—and fight to be—free. It explores complex stories of resistance that offer lessons and inspiration for us today, focusing on the ensemble casts that make up each act of history. That is to say, this podcast focuses on Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff.

2026 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Part One: Lead Belly: How a Man Named Huddie Ledbetter Beat Everyone Who Tried to Keep Him Down

    Part One: Lead Belly: How a Man Named Huddie Ledbetter Beat Everyone Who Tried to Keep Him Down
    Jun 29 2026

    Margaret talks with Prop about the Texan musician who sung his way out of prison.

    Sources:

    Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly’s Truths from Jim Crow’s Lies, Sheila Curran Bernard

    https://www.nytimes.com/1962/05/20/archives/if-youre-woke-you-dig-it-no-mickey-mouse-can-be-expected-to-follow.html

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/2022/12/22/what-is-woke-meaning-naacp-leaders-talk-about-the-word-martin-st-lucie-indian-river-treasure-coast/8091099001/

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/09/what-is-woke-meaning/11425775002/

    https://www.vox.com/culture/21437879/stay-woke-wokeness-history-origin-evolution-controversy

    https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/scottsboro-boys

    https://www.history.com/articles/scottsboro-boys

    https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/ledbetter-huddie-leadbelly

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    58 mins
  • CZM Book Club: Two Stories from Gaza Writes Back, edited by Refaat Alareer

    CZM Book Club: Two Stories from Gaza Writes Back, edited by Refaat Alareer
    Jun 28 2026

    Margaret reads you two stories and a poem from an anthology of young, Palestinian authors

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    45 mins
  • Part Two: The Gay Ottomans: Homosexuality in the Medieval Ottoman Empire

    Part Two: The Gay Ottomans: Homosexuality in the Medieval Ottoman Empire
    Jun 24 2026

    Margaret continues talking with Kaveh Hoda about the complicated history of homosexuality and homoeroticism in one of the most important empires of the medieval era.

    Sources:

    https://www.jstor.org/stable/41299403
    https://www.thecollector.com/osman-i-ottoman-founder/
    https://islamichistory.org/osman-gazi/
    https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/jmurj/vol9/iss1/4/
    https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/homosexuality-ii/
    https://www.webology.org/data-cms/articles/20220528061731pmwebology%2019%20(2)%20-%20670%20pdf.pdf
    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6074556/
    https://yoksis.bilkent.edu.tr/pdf/files/10.1177-0363199013519126.pdf
    https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/164086
    https://www.juancole.com/2025/12/literature-societies-homoerotic.html

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    1 hr and 15 mins
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