Futility Closet
By Greg Ross
Forgotten stories from the pages of history. Join us for surprising and curious tales from the past and challenge yourself with our lateral thinking puzzles.
Latest episode
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365-Lateral Thinking Puzzles
Play along as we untangle eight strange-sounding situations using yes-or-no questions. -
364-Sidney Cotton's Aerial Reconnaissance
Sidney Cotton risked his life to gather aerial photos during World War II. -
363-The Lambeth Poisoner
In 1891, an unknown criminal began poisoning women in London. -
362-The Leatherman
Between 1856 and 1889, a mysterious leather-clad man walked the roads of Connecticut and New York. -
361-A Fight Over Nutmeg
Englishman Nathaniel Courthope spent four years defending a tiny island's nutmeg from the Dutch. -
360-Haggard's Dream
One night in July 1904, H. Rider Haggard dreamed that his daughter's dog was dying. -
359-Stranded in Shangri-La
In 1945, a U.S. Army transport plane crashed in the highlands of New Guinea. -
358-The Radium Girls
In the 1920, painters of luminous watch dials began to fall mysteriously ill. -
357-Scenes From an Earthquake
Stories from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. -
356-A Strawberry's Journey
A French spy, a transatlantic voyage, and the birth of the modern strawberry.