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A Recast of ‘Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff’

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.

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Recastable Episodes (168)

1. Part One: How We Beat Polio But Not the Mythmaking Around Jonas Salk May 12, 2025
1. Introducing: Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff April 22, 2022
2. Part Two: How We Beat Polio But Not the Mythmaking Around Jonas Salk May 14, 2025
2. Part One: The Haymarket Affair: The Bomb & the Eight-Hour Workday May 2, 2022
3. CZM Book Club: Soria Moria Castle May 18, 2025
3. Part Two: The Haymarket Affair: The Bomb & the Eight-Hour Workday May 4, 2022
4. Part One: Habeus Corpus and the Peasant Origins of Western Democracy May 19, 2025
4. Part One: The Jane Collective: Direct Action Abortion Access Works May 9, 2022
5. Part Two: Habeas Corpus and the Peasant Origins of Western Democracy May 21, 2025
5. Part Two: The Jane Collective: Direct Action Abortion Access Works May 11, 2022
6. CZM Book Club: The Abbot of Druimenach May 25, 2025
6. Part One: The Civil War Within the Civil War: How the South Won the War for the Union May 16, 2022
7. Part One: The Alter-Globalization Movement: From the Zapatistas to the Battle of Seattle May 26, 2025
7. Part Two: The Civil War Within the Civil War: How the South Won the War for the Union May 18, 2022
8. Part One: The Paris Commune: How to Steal Back Your Own City May 23, 2022
8. Part Two: The Alter-Globalization Movement: From the Zapatistas to the Battle of Seattle May 28, 2025
9. Part Two: The Paris Commune: How to Steal Back Your Own City May 25, 2022
9. CZM Book Club: The Revolutionary Fables of Ricardo Flores Magón June 1, 2025
10. Part One: Gay Resistance to Nazis May 30, 2022
10. CZM Rewind: Part One: Before the Mexican Revolution: Ricardo Flores Magón and the peasants who ended a dictatorship June 2, 2025
11. Part Two: Gay Resistance to Nazis June 1, 2022
11. CZM Rewind: Part Two: Before the Mexican Revolution: Ricardo Flores Magón and the peasants who ended a dictatorship June 4, 2025
12. Part One: Russian Nihilists: The Gender-bending Subculture that Blew Up the Tsar June 6, 2022
12. CZM Book Club : The Revolutionary Fables of Ricardo Flores Magón, Part Two June 8, 2025
13. Part Two: Russian Nihilists: The Gender-bending Subculture that Blew Up the Tsar June 8, 2022
13. Part Three: The Alter-Globalization Movement: From the Zapatistas to the Battle of Seattle June 9, 2025
14. Part One: The Anarchist Revolution in the Spanish Civil War June 13, 2022
14. Part Four: The Alter-Globalization Movement: From the Zapatistas to the Battle of Seattle June 11, 2025
15. Part Two: The Anarchist Revolution in the Spanish Civil War June 15, 2022
15. CZM Book Club: After the Dance by Leo Tolstoy June 15, 2025
16. Part One: The Public Universal Friend: A Non-binary Icon in Revolutionary-Era America June 20, 2022
16. Part One: The Black Bloc: It’s a Tactic, Not an Organization June 16, 2025
17. Part Two: The Public Universal Friend: A Non-binary Icon in Revolutionary-Era America June 22, 2022
17. Part Two: The Black Bloc: It’s a Tactic, Not an Organization June 18, 2025
18. Part One: When Women Were Computers: A Tale of Space and Math June 27, 2022
18. CZM Book Club: Two More Stories by Leo Tolstoy June 22, 2025
19. Part Two: When Women Were Computers: A Tale of Space and Math June 29, 2022
19. Part One: The Battle in Seattle: How Scrappy Protesters Shut Down the World Trade Organiation June 23, 2025
20. Part One: Blair Mountain: When Miners Went to Literal War Against Their Bosses July 4, 2022
20. Part Two: The Battle in Seattle: How Scrappy Protesters Shut Down the World Trade Organization June 25, 2025
21. Part Two: Blair Mountain: When Miners Went to Literal War Against Their Bosses July 6, 2022
21. CZM Book Club: Assembly Line, by B. Traven June 29, 2025
22. Part One: How To Break Out of Prison: In Minecraft and Elsewhere July 11, 2022
22. Part One: Bread And Puppet: The Dawn of Giant Protest Puppets June 30, 2025
23. Part Two: How To Break Out of Prison: In Minecraft and Elsewhere July 13, 2022
23. Part Two: Bread And Puppet: The Dawn of Giant Protest Puppets July 2, 2025
24. Part One: Birth Control Pioneers & the Jerk Who Tried to Stop Them July 18, 2022
24. CZM Book Club Presents: The Evolution of an Agitator, by Lizzie M. Holmes July 6, 2025
25. Part Two: Birth Control Pioneers & the Jerk Who Tried to Stop Them July 20, 2022
25. CZM Rewind: Part One: The Battle of Negro Fort: Florida's Maroon Community July 7, 2025
26. Part One: The Japanese Anarchist Women Who Kept Trying to Kill Emperors July 25, 2022
26. CZM Rewind: Part Two: The Battle of Negro Fort: Florida's Maroon Community July 9, 2025
27. Part Two: The Japanese Anarchist Women Who Kept Trying to Kill Emperors July 27, 2022
27. CZM Book Club: Diary of a Lunatic by Leo Tolstoy July 13, 2025
28. Part One: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising & Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust Aug. 8, 2022
28. Part One: The National Lawyers Guild: The Legal Arm of Basically Every Social Movement in the US July 14, 2025
29. Part Two: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising & Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust Aug. 10, 2022
29. Part Two: The National Lawyers Guild: The Legal Arm of Basically Every Social Movement in the US July 16, 2025
30. Part One: Food Not Bombs, The Criminal Mutual Aid Conspiracy Aug. 15, 2022
30. CZM Book Club: Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne July 20, 2025
31. Part Two: Food Not Bombs, The Criminal Mutual Aid Conspiracy Aug. 17, 2022
31. Part One: Street Medics: The People Who Wash Pepperspray Out of Your Eyes July 21, 2025
32. Part One: The Diggers, the Levelers, the Ranters, and John Darnielle Aug. 22, 2022
32. Part Two: Street Medics: The People Who Wash Pepperspray Out of Your Eyes July 23, 2025
33. Part Two: The Diggers, the Levelers, the Ranters, and John Darnielle Aug. 24, 2022
33. CZM Book Club: How to Live Like the World is Ending by Margaret Killoy July 27, 2025
34. Part One: Roger Casement: The Gay Irish Anti-Colonial Knight Aug. 29, 2022
34. CZM Rewind: The Japanese Anarchists Part 1 July 28, 2025
35. Part Two: Roger Casement: The Gay Irish Anti-Colonial Knight Aug. 31, 2022
35. CZM Rewind: The Japanese Anarchists Part Two July 30, 2025
36. Part One: Chumbawamba: How to Sell Out, But in a Good Way Sept. 5, 2022
36. CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part One Aug. 3, 2025
37. Part Two: Chumbawamba: How to Sell Out, But in a Good Way Sept. 7, 2022
37. Part One: Indymedia: How Lefty Techies and Journalists Reinvented the Internet Aug. 4, 2025
38. Part One: Dutch Squatters Accidentally Save The Country From Ruin Sept. 12, 2022
38. Part Two: Indymedia: How Lefty Techies and Journalists Reinvented the Internet Aug. 6, 2025
39. Part Two: Dutch Squatters Accidentally Save The Country From Ruin Sept. 14, 2022
39. CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Two Aug. 10, 2025
40. Part One: The IWW and the Hobos Who Saved Free Speech Sept. 19, 2022
40. Part One: Alter-globalization Continues: How the Movement of Movements Used Carnivals and Riots to Fight Neoliberalism Aug. 11, 2025
41. Part Two: The IWW and the Hobos Who Saved Free Speech Sept. 21, 2022
41. CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Three Aug. 17, 2025
42. Part One: Aqua Tofana: How to Kill Your Husband Sept. 26, 2022
42. CZM Rewind: Part One: The Jane Collective: Direct Action Abortion Access Works Aug. 18, 2025
43. Part Two: Aqua Tofana: How to Kill Your Husband Sept. 28, 2022
43. CZM Rewind: Part Two: The Jane Collective: Direct Action Abortion Access Works Aug. 20, 2025
44. Part One: The Modern School & Francisco Ferrer: School Shouldn't Be Terrible Oct. 3, 2022
44. CZM Book Club : Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Four Aug. 24, 2025
45. Part Two: The Modern School & Francisco Ferrer: School Shouldn't Be Terrible Oct. 5, 2022
45. Part Two: Alter-globalization Continues: How the Movement of Movements Used Carnivals and Riots to Fight Neoliberalism Aug. 25, 2025
46. Part One: Crime Pays: The Sophie Lyons Story Oct. 10, 2022
46. CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Five Aug. 31, 2025
47. Part Two: Crime Pays: The Sophie Lyons Story Oct. 12, 2022
47. Part One: The Surprising Stories Behind Foosball and Air Mail Sept. 1, 2025
48. Part One: The Vampires are on Our Side: Antifascism in Film Oct. 17, 2022
48. Part Two: The Surprising Stories Behind Foosball and Air Mail Sept. 3, 2025
49. Part Two: The Vampires are on Our Side: Antifascism in Film Oct. 19, 2022
49. CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Six Sept. 7, 2025
50. Part One: Sholem Schwarzbard: The Jewish Assassin Who Ruled Oct. 24, 2022
50. Part One: Pirate Radio: From International Waters to Squatted Apartment Buildings Sept. 8, 2025
68 more episodes