Publishing Details
About This Podcast
Explore Statistics
Recent Episodes
Prick the Balloon 25 - Executive Orders
Before you lose faith in our country's institutions over the actions of a wannabe dictator, take a look at the history of executive orders by past presidents. It's a mixed bag, but one thing is for…
Prick the Balloon 24 - Early Aviators
From the Wright Brothers to Lindbergh was barely over two decades, but the dash, daring, heroics, and heartbreaks were numerous in the beginning of powered flight. Prick the Balloon applies its usual…
Prick the Balloon 23 - Election Rant and History
Many of us were not happy with the 2024 election outcome. Mike offers both relevant history lessons to ease the pain and blunt political criticism that hopefully provides food for thought. Back to…
Prick the Balloon 22 - Rutherford B Hayes
The first in an occasional subseries about somewhat underrated presidents looks at Rutherford B Hayes. Certainly not a great commander in chief, but maybe one who deserves a little more respect than…
Prick the Balloon 21 - Foreign Policy Mistakes
The US has had some glaring mistakes in foreign policy throughout our history, though we've gotten things right more than we've gotten them wrong. The "Containment Policy" created under Truman but…
Prick the Balloon 20 - Women's Rights
As the current Supreme Court dismantles decades of precedent, no one should consider their rights to be safe. That is especially true for the rights of American women. How did we reach the gains that…
Prick the Balloon 19 - American Rebellions
There have been a handful of times over the last 450 years when a group of Americans felt aggrieved enough to take up arms. Other than the combined colonists in 1775 (and American-Mexicans and some…
Prick the Balloon 18 - Art Donors
The wealthy Americans who have gifted artwork to the nation's museums are a total mixed bag. They come from all ends of the political spectrum, and, aside from their donations, some lived more…
Prick the Balloon 17 - Americans Abroad
A recap of vacation leads to the recent and not so recent history of certain US foreign relations and how that impacts what everyday citizens of other countries think about Americans in general. Our…
PTB Quickie 2 - Post Civil War Voting Rights
The Voting Rights Act exists for a very important reason. Here's a quickie (relatively) about a murderous and violent overthrow of an election for reals. Not the totally fabricated nonsense currently…
PTB Quickie 1 - WPA Guides
The New Deal-era Federal Writers Project produced some wonderfully fun guides to each of the 48 states, plus Alaska and Puerto Rico and several cities. This short episode explains and shares. Host…
Prick the Balloon 16 - Petticoat Affair
Petty bickering over a cabinet member's wife tore the Jackson administration apart for two years, but was it really just bitter politics as usual? It all pitted a president against a vice-president…
Prick the Balloon 15 - Integrating Sports
Sports has often led the way in civil rights, so even non sports fan will find great nuggets of both outrage and triumph in this episode. No prior knowledge required. Game on. Host Mike Vance Writer…
Prick the Balloon 14 - Texas Liberals
We face stereotyping in so many different ways every day, and lumping people and places and things all together is almost always a bad idea. This episode makes the strong case that American…
Prick the Balloon 13 - Woodrow Wilson Part 2
The sad and frustrating story of Woodrow Wilson resumes as the U.S. enters WWI. Unfortunately for Wilson, his legacy largely goes downhill from there. It ends with a president unable to perform his…
Prick the Balloon 12 - Woodrow Wilson Part 1
People are complicated, but few in American history are more confounding than Woodrow Wilson, who hit the extremes of good and bad. He left so much to unpack that it takes two episodes. In this first…
Prick the Balloon 11 - Angry Old Men
Not all angry old men are men, or even old, but they have definitely obstructed progress in our country over the years. Others just want you to get off their lawn. This episode explores both. Host…
Prick the Balloon 10 - News Bias
One side loves to complain about bias in the news. As always, they fail to understand the history of the topic. We had finally tamped down much of it until the system was blown apart by a…
Prick the Balloon 9 - Party of Lincoln My Ass
Political parties change. What was once a bunch of liberals becomes conservative, and vice versa. The run through of American political parties is fascinating and laugh provoking. Host Mike Vance…
Prick the Balloon 8 - Americans and Animals
How is our relationship with animals? Have we gotten better or worse in our interactions with and stewardship of the animal kingdom around us? Mike lays it out so you can decide. But you'd better be…
Frequently Asked Questions
Prick The Balloon has published 27 episodes since September 2023, covering topics in Comedy, History.
Prick The Balloon is currently dormant with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 43m.
Similar Podcasts
The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds
All Things Comedy
911 episodes
Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
Justin McElroy, Dr. Sydnee McElroy
584 episodes
Past Gas
Donut Media
340 episodes
History Hyenas with Chris Distefano and Yannis Pappas
Chris Distefano and Yannis Pappas
300 episodes
No Such Thing As A Fish
No Such Thing As A Fish
698 episodes
You're Dead to Me
BBC Radio 4
276 episodes