Sofa King Podcast

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we talk about the life, drugs, music, and drugs (so many drugs) of Billie Holiday. She is considered one of the all-time greats of American music and jazz, but she had a troubled past. Billie worked in brothels as a child and was repeatedly raped and sold through early sex trafficking by the same madam her mother worked for. Through all this, her love of music and dedication to the craft got her off the streets and into singing. At 16, she was singing in clubs in New York, and by 18 she was working for Benny Goodman. However, along the way she became addicted to drugs, big time. Meanwhile, a horrible man named Harry Anslinger was in charge of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He was a racist and thought blacks, jazz, and drugs were ruining America. When he couldn’t literally bring down all of jazz music (which he tried to do), he put all his efforts on bringing down Billie Holiday. She battled his agents and her own demons through her tumultuous life. Give this one a

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about the Warrior Monks of Shao Lin. Yes, there is a real Shao Lin Temple, and yes it still exists. 400 monks are allowed to train there, and supposedly 100 are warrior monks, dedicated not just to studying Buddha but also perfection of Kung Fu. In this episode we talk about the history of the Shao Lin Temple. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times, and often the Warrior Monks saved emperors and defended villages. There is a lot of mythology and mysticism surrounding this place, and it all seems to have a grounding in the truth of history. We examine several documentaries about modern day Shao Lin Kung Fu taught at the temple and look at the truths and secrets of this holy order.   Visit Our Sources: https://www.learnreligions.com/warrior-monks-of-shaolin-4123247 https://blackbeltmag.com/15-popular-beliefs-about-training-at-shaolin-temple https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-shaolin-monks-195814 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaoli

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we look at the most important point of arrival to the United States for more than 60 years, Ellis Island. This small (mostly manmade) island near New York City is famous for admitting ancestors of roughly 40% of all Americans. It was where the mass influx of Irish came during the potato famine, where Jews escaped prosecution, and the Italian Mob became a New York City Import. What happened there, and why did some call it the Island of Tears? Ellis Island started as, believe it or not, an island. Eventually, the Dutch bought it catch shellfish, and eventually it became known as Gibbet Island, named after the wooden posts where dead pirates were hung to death and displayed for incoming ships to see. Nice one. Eventually, a man named Samuel Ellis bought it, and after another immigration center closed in 1890, Ellis Island became the go to destination for incoming immigrants from the East. It served as both a processing center for paperwork, a health and legal screening

Born in Chicago, Eliot Ness was a smart, officious child. He dressed well and always did his homework—so much so, that his nickname in high school was Elegant Mess. His brother in law was a fed, and he inspired the young Eliot to become a federal investigator as well. Shortly after college, he joined the Treasury Department. He ultimately landed a job in the Prohibition Bureau battling mobsters and bootleggers. Once the president decided to stop Al Capone in Chicago, The US District attorney hired Eliot Ness on the spot. Many federal agents were corrupt or downright evil (such as Kinky Thompson), so they needed someone with integrity. Ness read the files of every agent and assembled his super team of The Untouchables. They resisted bribes and took the war to Capone, eventually forcing him to import liquor instead of make his own. While their lives were threatened regularly, they stayed the course and brought Capone down. After that, Ness moved to Ohio and cleaned up the 10th largest city in America, Clevela

On this episode of the World Famous Sofa King Podcast, we travel back time and look at the first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huan. His legacy is one of power, unification, reformation, and madness in the quest for eternal life. He was the one who started construction of the Great Wall of China and fought a massive series of wars to unify the 7 warring states to serve him as emperor. He drank mercury, burned books, killed just about everyone, and left behind the amazing army of terra cotta soldiers. Everything about this guy is controversial, even his birth. One account is that the was the son of a kidnapped prince and a wealthy consort. Another is that he was the son of this consort and a powerful merchant named Lu Buwei who just used the prince to give his unborn son power. Either way, Lu Buwei put this prince in power as king and then after his death, ruled the kingdom until (his son) the prince was old enough to take power. And take power, he did. Qin Shi Huan ruled over a period known as Warring S

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we explore some true crime and look at the life and murders of Lonnie David Franklin JR, aka, The Grim Sleeper. This serial killer was considered the longest operating killer west of the Mississippi River, and it took decades to catch him. He preyed on prostitutes in South Central Los Angeles, and he was only caught due to a piece of pizza and a crazy DNA match that didn’t even connect to him. Nobody really knows much about The Grim Sleeper’s youth, except that he was born in South Central LA in 1952. He spent some time in the army, but he was dishonorably discharged for gang raping a woman in Germany where he was stationed. Back in the states, he lived a typical blue collar life. He was married with two kids, worked in sanitation and even for the LAPD for a bit (not as a cop...). But in the meantime, a string of murders originally assigned to the Southside Slayer were mounting in the worst parts of South Central. Hookers were being found shot in the chest, but ther

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King podcast, we look at the life, power, assassination, and conspiracy theories surrounding Robert Kennedy. Bobby Kennedy was of course John F Kennedy’s younger brother. He was raised in the Kennedy shark tank by their father Joe Kennedy, and he had no real choice but to be a political powerhouse. He was behind his brother’s election as president, came up with the solution to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and was a political powerhouse that most people underestimate. But he also made enemies, one who took his life. Bobby was a quiet child in a family that had no use for quiet children. His father was so powerful and ambitious that young Bobby soon became invisible to him. He also became his mother’s favorite, adopting many of her traits and interests. He served in WWII and when he got out started a career in politics. From early on, he was behind the scenes in many senate committees and worked to get his brother John elected first to lower positions and ultimately to the

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we travel back in time and look at the history of the Underground Railroad. Some people estimate that this unofficial network of abolitionists helped 100,000 slaves escape to Canada. Key figures such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, and John Brown helped this movement grow and served as a beacon of hope for millions of American black slaves. The Underground Railroad was of course neither underground nor a railroad, but it did use railroad terminology to help code what they were talking about. In fact, everything from the roles people played to the religious songs that slaves would sing on the plantation served a purpose. Some songs would give directions North and others warnings to nearby slaves on the run, all in the guise of religious music. Pretty ingenious. There was no central leader or even a formal group that was the Underground Railroad. Instead, it was just a whole lot of like-minded individuals who wanted human lives to matter and par

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we take a look at the largest volcanic eruption in the modern history of the United States, the eruption of Mount St. Helens. This volcano started grumbling and causing a superstring of earthquakes in March of 1980, but on May 18, the volcano erupted. Two hundred and thirty square miles of forest were destroyed instantly as the equivalent of 1500 Hiroshima level nuclear bombs went off. Even though it was being watch closely by volcanologists, photographers, and the world, it’s violent explosion surprised almost everyone. Luckily a scientist who died in the eruption convinced the government to keep people away; this action is thought to have saved as many as a thousand lives. The destruction was inconceivable, but it may be in forms you weren’t expecting. For example, much of it was a tsunami like flow of water as called a Lahar that turned 46 billion gallons of glacial melt into several rivers of cement. The ash plume circled the globe and erased all geological feat

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we hit you with a little urban guerrilla true crime and look at the kidnapping, crimes, and domestic terrorism or Patty Hearst. Patricia Hearst is the granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst. In 1974, she was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley by a group called the Symbionese Liberation Army. While she was with them, she helped them rob a couple banks, shot up a sporting goods store, and made homemade bombs. Was she abused, drugged, and raped to become a victim-participant, or did she willingly join forces? Patty Hearst was born to a very wealthy family, obviously, but she was nowhere near granddaddy rich. She lived a normal life and eventually went to college at UC Berkeley to study art history. Meanwhile, a man named Donald DeFreeze was starting a terrorist group called the SLA. Their goal was to fight for the poor in America. Or something. After a few months, Hearst released recordings of herself saying she had joined the cause and shortly after that, she

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we look at one of the all-time fascinating medical cases, the story of Joseph Merrick--The Elephant Man. Due to a hardcore medical condition, Merrick was deformed beyond recognition as a human being, with a massive head, huge protrusions all over his body, and even skin lesions that smelled. Add a dash of Victorian superstitions, and you have a man who was destined for misery at every turn. None of us are likely to have heard of him if it wasn’t for a world famous play and then a movie called The Elephant Man, but his story is one of sorrow, perseverance, and a surprisingly happy ending. The narrative in those fictions has some truth to it, but the real story varies quite a bit. What we know about him is that he wasn’t born like this. As a young child, he started to get deformities that only increased up till the day he died. His family eventually kicked him out, and even the work he could do got taken away once he was too deformed to perform skilled labor. By then,

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we visit the dark king of techno, Trent Reznor. Many people don’t know him by name since he is the front man for Nine Inch Nails, but in a way, he IS Nine Inch Nails. The other band members come and go, but his writing, his producing, his ideas and lyrics are what the band really is. He is considered by many in the music industry to be one of the most influential artists alive. He has won Grammys and Oscars, and he has done sound tracks to some of the most popular movies of the past decade, all while taking shots at the hypocrisy and ignorance of typical American Culture. Trent Reznor was a talented child, and by high school was a master of the piano and could play just about every other instrument out there. He started college as a computer engineer, but he dropped out to try to make it with music. He got a job as a janitor at a music studio, and he was allowed to play around in the booth when they weren’t booked. Here, he taught himself to be a produce

On this episode of the World Famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about a strange bit of true crime, the case of Dr. Quincy Fortier. He was a fertility expert for four decades, and he’s known to have impregnated at least 26 women with his own sperm. Aside from dozens of unwitting children across the nation, he also molested his own children, even impregnating one with his own sperm! This monster died before any strong legal action could be brought his way, but he impacted so many lives He started as a Norman Rockwell type Americana doctor. He took interest in medicine watching the cows give birth back home on the farm, got into medicine, and then served as a field surgeon in World War Two, making it all the way to the rank of Colonel. Once back in the states, he opened his own women’s hospital, and that’s where the dirty deeds were done. One by one, he would impregnate women with his own sperm, instead of random sperm from donors. In some cases, he was supposed to use the husband’s sperm but used his own inste

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we get our Golden Girls on and talk about the life of the one and only Betty White. While most of you known her from her role as Rose on that smash hit show, some may know her from her life in game shows or any of the endless rolls and Emmys afterward. She is the oldest person to host Saturday Night Live (was 88 at the time), and she was pioneer for both women and black actors in Hollywood. She started off wanting to be a forest ranger. Why? She loves animals and the outdoors. But turns out, back in the day, women couldn’t be rangers. So, she set her sights on acting and entertainment. After a bit of a dis, some movie execs told her she didn’t have the looks for film, so she started in Radio. She took off, landing lots of local jobs in LA, then a local TV show in LA, and then finally a national show on NBC called Life With Elizabeth. In her role as head of the show, she pissed off the south by insisting a black actor stay in the show, even though it may be what got t

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we do a somewhat unique show and do a deep dive on the Netflix documentary called The Social Dilemma. What exactly is the dilemma? Well, for one it’s privacy and the way that apps like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and all the rest use our data and manipulate us. Worse, however, is the ability to the platforms to isolate us in ocean of our own making, where our own politics, fears, prejudices, and hopes are the only thing we see. These apps distort our world view to the point where there is no more truth, just bias and a divide that keeps putting a wedge between us more and more. We talk about the three main goal of the apps—engagement, growth, and advertising. The algorithms used by these companies are far more sophisticated that we could dream, and even the creators no longer have control of what their AIs do or how they do it. More to the point, the social media apps are leading us to a dystopia where we all hate each other and only see one narrow world view. If you

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we talk one of the all-time legends of the music industry, the one and only Quincy Jones. He wasn’t just a music prodigy, he understood the business in a way nobody else ever has. He worked with some of the greatest of all time, from Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles to Dizzy Gillespie and Elvis Presley. He created the sound of Michael Jackson’s three biggest albums, and has won a whopping 28 Grammy awards. He created The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Mad TV, and worked on film with greats like Steven Spielberg. But he started with humble beginnings in Chicago. After his mother went insane, his father moved to Seattle, and he started to learn music. At 14, he met a young Ray Charles, and they broke into the music world together. He got into a prestigious music school and then transferred to another one, but ultimately left, so he could tour with legendary Lionel Hampton’s big band. From there, he met and worked with bigger and bigger stars until he was hired by Mercury record

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we look back at a little known group from World War Two called the Night Witches. Known as the 588th Night Bomber Regimen, this all female group of Soviet pilots were such a terror to the Nazis that any German who could shoot one down would instantly receive their prestigious Iron Cross medal. Over the course of the war, they flew around 30,000 missions. They were the most decorated unit in the entire Soviet air force. Their story is a very interesting one. At first, women couldn’t serve in the Soviet air force, but a woman named Major Marina Raskova (The Russian Amelia Earhart) convinced Stalin to let it happen. He signed in three women regiments, including the 588th. Ironically, the biggest difficulty they faced was also the biggest part of their legacy and infamy. They flew the worst planes. They were given old plywood biplanes meant for crop dusting. They had no armor, no radio, no parachute, no light. However, they were so old and slow, that they f

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we look at the one and only kings of rock, the immortal Run-DMC. Composed of DJ Run (Joseph Simmons), DMC (Darryl McDaniels), Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizzel), this trio set the world of Hip Hop on fire and managed to take it from streets and dance clubs to the entire world. Without Run-DMC, Russel Simmons, and their unique take on style and marketing, the rap world would be an entirely different place. The three of them met each other as teens in Hollis, Queens, New York. When Run was only 17, he worked with the legendary Kurtis Blow thanks to his promoter/producer brother Russel Simmons. Eventually, Run, DMC, and JMJ wanted to record together, but it took them some convincing to get Russel on board. He changed their name to Run-DMC, insisted they keep a street looking style, and the rest was rap history. They started release hit after hit, becoming the first rap albums to make national attention and even get played on MTV. They had a lucrative deal with Adidas since

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we go back in time and look at two of the most famous train robbers and desperadoes from Cowboy Days, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These two are linked through all of U.S. history, but they were really part of a much larger game called The Wild Bunch (and weren’t even that good of friends). The Wild Bunch led the most successful career of train robbery in the American West, and some scholars say they were only brought down by the hiring of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Butch Cassidy was born Robert Parker, but took his name from a mentor he met, who probably taught him how to steal and sell cattle and how to shoot a gun. Cassidy frowned upon violence, ironically, and boasted to have never killed a man. The other famous member of the gang was The Sundance Kid, aka Alonzo Longabaugh. Both of these men did various crimes from petty to preposterous and eventually joined forces in the Wild Bunch. They were joined by a cast of characters with amazing names: “Elzy

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about one of the strongest cases of UFO sightings, the Ariel School Encounter in Zimbabwe. What makes this one such a good case? For one, it was in a rural area, and it had over 60 witnesses. They were in such a remote location, they were not subjected to bias from mass media and popular culture, and they came from different ethnicities and religious backgrounds. What did they see? Well, common story is that several glowing silver orbs in the sky were flashing red lights. They lowered, and then two beings came out and bounced from the earth as if they were humans walking on the moon. They were riffs on a Gray Alien, almond eyes, short, thin bodies, but these had long flowing black hair. Once they were near the children, they looked at them with “evil eyes” and apparently sent a message to their brains. We are destroying the planet, and we need to stop. An African Ufologist named Cindy Hind was there the next day to investigate and reached out to