Vienna Past and Present Podcast
1) The Florentine Diamond: Lost, Found, and Packed in Cardboard
The Florentine Diamond is one of Europe's most famous missing jewels—or at least, it was. In this episode, we trace the extraordinary journey of a 137-carat diamond from Renaissance Florence and the M...Show More
2) Zeitgeist: Runaway Nuns!
If you saw some nuns escaping a retirement home to return to their former castle, what would you do? If you're at all unsure, you should hear the story of the nuns of Castle Goldenstein, the recent *d...Show More
3) The Habsburg Vampire Panic: When Maria Theresia Took on the Undead
In our first Halloween episode, we sink our teeth into the true story of the vampire panic that swept through the Habsburg borderlands during the Age of Enlightenment—because nothing says "reason and ...Show More
4) Felix Baumgartner: Living on the Edge
This week, we're freefalling into the story of Felix Baumgartner, Austria's very own daredevil skydiver who leapt from the stratosphere (literally). Along the way, Stephen valiantly attempts some Germ...Show More
5) Wilhelm Reich: The Prophet of the Better Orgasm
In this episode, we uncover the strange and fascinating life of Wilhelm Reich, a once-promising Vienna-trained psychoanalyst whose career took a sharp turn into uncharted territory. From a scandalous ...Show More
6) Gänsehäufel - Vienna’s beloved goose pile
This week, we’re headed to the seaside! Or at least, as close as Vienna gets— we’re talking about the Gänsehäufel, the beloved island in the Danube that's been offering sun, swims, and skin (lots of i...Show More
7) Zeitgeist: 12 Points to Austria!
Try as we might to talk about literally anything else, Eurovision keeps pulling us back in. Are we closet fans? Maybe. Probably. OK, fine—yes. In this Zeitgeist episode, we set out to cover a range of...Show More
8) Weighing In: Vienna’s Street Scales
This week, we step onto one of Vienna’s most curious bits of street furniture: the humble street scale. Scattered across the city in over 150 locations, these coin-operated relics have no real reason ...Show More
9) Arnold: American Attitude and Austrian Schmäh
In this episode, we’re talking all things Arnold. After watching the Netflix documentary Arnold, we came away with a new-found respect for the man who went from a small town to global superstardom. Bu...Show More
10) Vienna’s Snow Palace: Soap, Sawdust, and a Ski Jump
Long before Dubai put ski slopes in the desert, Vienna had its own indoor skiing dream: the Schneepalast (Snow Palace). Opened in 1927 as the world’s first permanent hall for year-round skiing, it was...Show More