Stuff You Missed in History Class
Oct 9, 2026 · 40 min · 27 segments
Tracy ponders how Sara Weiss knew some of the things she knew and whether her husband characterized her as less informed than she was. Holly talks about a possible relative of Theophilus Brome. See…
Tracy V. WilsonHostHolly FreyHost
A big question in my mind as I worked on this is how she knew about the stuff that she was including in the book that was related to life on Earth.
I'll just say I do not believe she was receiving psychic communications from a band of famous dead people on Mars.
That, and so then my question is just, like, she seemed to have had a, at least a working knowledge of a number of 19th century scholars, naturalists, writers, and also Giordano Bruno, and the Giordano Bruno part might make the most sense given that she had, like, a very religious upbringing.
That might have been something that she came into contact with when she was only allowed to read religious works, even though he was a heretic.
But she wasn't characterized as someone who was really, like, well or ri- or widely read.
It comes vaguely from her husband, mostly, so it could, your, it could just be how he was positioning her.
[laughs] The number of letters that passed between him and the psychical investigator, Hyslop, whatever his first name was, was a number of letters that if I had been in Adolph's place, I would have been annoyed, because reading through the whole exchange, it's like, "Oh, I have one more thing.
A big question in my mind as I worked on this is how she knew about the stuff that she was including in the book that was related to life on Earth.
I'll just say I do not believe she was receiving psychic communications from a band of famous dead people on Mars.
That, and so then my question is just, like, she seemed to have had a, at least a working knowledge of a number of 19th century scholars, naturalists, writers, and also Giordano Bruno, and the Giordano Bruno part might make the most sense given that she had, like, a very religious upbringing.
That might have been something that she came into contact with when she was only allowed to read religious works, even though he was a heretic.
But she wasn't characterized as someone who was really, like, well or ri- or widely read.
It comes vaguely from her husband, mostly, so it could, your, it could just be how he was positioning her.
[laughs] The number of letters that passed between him and the psychical investigator, Hyslop, whatever his first name was, was a number of letters that if I had been in Adolph's place, I would have been annoyed, because reading through the whole exchange, it's like, "Oh, I have one more thing.
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