General Curiosity

**TRIGGER WARNING: discussion of torture/execution around minute marker 58:00-59:30.Today we dive straight into 1607 Jamestown… again– this time focusing less on fort drama and more on those first, messy, fascinating encounters between the English and the Powhatan. Through a mix of curiosity, confusion, and occasional audacity, the English explore nearby villages, attempt diplomacy (sometimes sincerely, sometimes… not), and slowly start to grasp the complex political landscape they’ve stumbled into. Along the way, cultural misunderstandings, language barriers, and wildly different worldviews lead to both moments of cooperation and the seeds of future conflict. Despite early gestures of friendship, things begin to unravel—food shortages, violence, and increasingly aggressive English tactics push relationships to the brink and lead to the capture of John Smith. Oh no… poor baby…The main sources for this episode are:Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America, written by Benjamin Woolley, and published in 2007 by HarperPress UKJamestown, The Truth Revealed, written by William Kelso, and published in 2017 by the University of Virginia PressPocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, written by Camilla Townsend, and published in 2004 by Hill and WangTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In 1607, Jamestown’s settlers arrived in Virginia after a turbulent voyage, only to face immediate challenges from leadership conflicts, fragile relations with local Algonquian groups, and a harsh environment. Infighting among leaders like Edward Maria Wingfield and John Smith, combined with drought, disease, and dwindling supplies, pushed the colony into crisis. By winter, starvation, suspicion, and instability had brought the settlement to the brink of collapse. The main sources for this episode are:Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America, written by Benjamin Woolley, and published in 2007 by HarperPress UKJamestown, The Truth Revealed, written by William Kelso, and published in 2017 by the University of Virginia PressPocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, written by Camilla Townsend, and published in 2004 by Hill and WangTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

Today (a day late, I know!) we officially set off on our deep dive into the founding of Jamestown by focusing on the high-stakes, top secret planning and chaotic voyage of 1606–1607. Driven by a desperate need for profit and backed by the newly formed Virginia Company, England’s colonization effort was a risky business venture shaped by secrecy and competition with Spain. We start introducing some key figures- and their controversial backgrounds- as we try to immerse ourselves in the experiences of these brave adventurers. The journey itself was plagued by delays, dwindling supplies, interpersonal drama, and navigational difficulties, before the group miraculously limped into the Chesapeake Bay. The main sources for this episode are:Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America, written by Benjamin Woolley, and published in 2007 by HarperPress UKJamestown, The Truth Revealed, written by William Kelso, and published in 2017 by the University of Virginia PressPocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, written by Camilla Townsend, and published in 2004 by Hill and WangTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In this kickoff episode to a deep-dive series following the Jamestown Colony, we introduce the messy, dramatic, and often brutal first two decades of Jamestown—from desperate survival and nonstop infighting to uneasy relationships with the Powhatan Confederacy, the Starving Time, and the major turning point(s) of 1619. Along the way, we start to see how this scrappy, barely-holding-it-together colony became the point of no return that helped set the America—and its eventual revolution—into motion.The main sources for this episode are:Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America, written by Benjamin Woolley, and published in 2007 by HarperPress UKJamestown, The Truth Revealed, written by William Kelso, and published in 2017 by the University of Virginia PressPocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, written by Camilla Townsend, and published in 2004 by Hill and WangTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In the final episode of the Pocahontas series, we untangle the myth from the much more complicated—and tragic—reality of Pocahontas’s life. Drawing from both English records and Mattaponi oral history, the episode follows her captivity by the English, her conversion and marriage to John Rolfe, and the political role she was forced to play as a symbol of colonial “success.” After traveling to London as propaganda for the Virginia Company, Pocahontas realized the true scale of English power before falling ill and dying in England at just nineteen. Her story reveals not a fairytale romance, but a young woman navigating captivity, diplomacy, and survival in the earliest—and most consequential—years of English colonization.The two main sources for this episode are:Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, by Camilla Townsend, published in 2004 by Hill and Wang.The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History, by Dr. Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow and Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star", published in 2007 by Fulcrum PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In this episode, we look beyond the legend to meet the real Matoaka—later known as Pocahontas—through Powhatan perspectives and sacred Mattaponi oral history. Raised in the Powhatan capital and deeply loved by her father, Wahunsenecawh, Matoaka became a child ambassador to the struggling English settlers at Jamestown, bringing food and messages of peace while learning their language. But as English expansion, violence, and exploitation grew, the fragile relationship between the Powhatan and the colonists collapsed. After coming of age, marrying the warrior Kocoom, and attempting to live quietly away from the English, Pocahontas became the target of a colonial power play—culminating in her kidnapping in 1613, a turning point that would reshape her life and the future of Jamestown.The two main sources for this episode are:Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, by Camilla Townsend, published in 2004 by Hill and Wang.The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History, by Dr. Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow and Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star", published in 2007 by Fulcrum PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In this episode, we introduce the story of Jamestown by shifting the focus away from the English colonists and onto the Powhatan people—especially the girl history flattened into myth: Pocahontas, born Matoaka. Drawing from both academic research and sacred Mattaponi oral history, we explore the political sophistication, cultural traditions, and leadership of Wahunsenacawh (known by the English as “Chief Powhatan”) and the world Matoaka inhabited long before inflated legend John Smith ever arrived. Challenging Disney-fied narratives and textbook omissions, this episode reframes early colonial history through Indigenous perspectives and sets the stage for a deeper, more honest reckoning with the legacy of colonization and the kickstart of what became the United States of America.The two main sources for this episode are:Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, by Camilla Townsend, published in 2004 by Hill and Wang.The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History, by Dr. Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow and Angela L. Daniel "Silver Star", published in 2007 by Fulcrum PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In this finale of the Roanoke series, we trace what happened after the colonists were left behind—following John White’s failed return, Raleigh’s convenient indifference, Jamestown’s lackluster searches, and centuries of rumor, propaganda, romantic revisionism, white supremacist myth-making, and headline-grabbing hoaxes like the Dare Stones. We dig into what archaeology actually tells us, unpack how a carved word—“Croatoan”—became a national mystery, and examine how the story has been twisted to serve everything from gothic drama to racist origin myths. Rather than a simple disappearance, Roanoke emerges as a complicated foundation story about survival, assimilation, diversity, and the uncomfortable truths at the heart of American identity—setting the stage for Jamestown, Plymouth, and the Revolution to follow. The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In need of a buffer to finish the final episode of the "Lost or Left Behind?" series, today's episode is an introduction to a mini-series coming soon. It's a deep dive into the U.S. Constitution born out of equal parts curiosity and concern. Starting with the often-forgotten Articles of Confederation, Alex breaks down how America’s first attempt at self-government prioritized state power so heavily that the federal government was left toothless: no president, no courts, no federal taxes, no standing army, and unanimous agreement required for basically everything. By unpacking what didn’t work—and why—the episode sets the stage for understanding the Constitution not as sacred mystery text, but as a practical fix to a failed draft. Think of it as a study guide for democracy in stressful times, with history, context, and a reminder that learning (and governing) is built on figuring out what went wrong and daring to fix it. Resource:US National Archives: Articles of Confederation: https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/articles-of-confederationTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In this episode, we revisit the so-called “Lost Colony” of Roanoke and why it was never truly lost. From John White’s disastrous attempts to return with supplies, to political indifference, imperial distractions, and missed chances at Croatoan, we unpack what likely happened to the settlers—and why the mystery has endured. Along the way, we explore Indigenous perspectives, question long-standing colonial myths, and introduce how Roanoke’s legacy rippled forward into American history, leaving us with more insight than certainty… and plenty to stay curious about. The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

The English head back to Roanoke despite everything that should have stopped them: broken alliances, recent violence, and the very clear message that the Secotan did not want them there. In this episode, we follow appointed governor John White and a small group of men, women, and children as they’re inexplicably deposited back into a tense Indigenous landscape shaped by power, memory, and hard-earned mistrust. With greed, optimism, and denial steering the ship, this return sets the stage for America’s first great mystery—not so much a vanishing act as a deeply puzzling decision to try again. The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

This episode unpacks the first Roanoke colony and reveals that the real mystery isn’t what happened to those left behind, but why the English thought it was a good idea to try at all. What starts as an ambitious venture quickly devolves into lost supplies, cultural arrogance, spreading disease, and a series of violently bad decisions. While observers like John White, Thomas Harriot, and Joachim Gans worked to understand and document the Secotan and Croatoan, reckless leadership burned bridges—literally and figuratively. By the time the colony is abandoned in 1586, it’s clear Roanoke wasn’t undone by the New World, but by impatience, prejudice, and the English talent for making a bad situation worse.The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones. To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

**Content Warning**: This episode includes a very brief description of the gruesome atrocities by the Spanish against Native Americans. If you wish to skip it, skip from minute marker 8:20 to 8:50.This episode strips away the myth of Roanoke as a spooky disappearance and instead digs into the context that doomed it from the start, exploring England’s late-1500s colonial ambitions, rivalry with Spain, and the dangerous blend of greed, religion, and entitlement driving expansion. Through the contrasting experiences of Manteo and Wanchese, it highlights early cross-cultural encounters, English assumptions of superiority, and a string of poor leadership decisions that quickly soured relations with Native peoples. The takeaway: what’s truly fascinating about Roanoke isn’t that it was lost, but that it was ever sent at all.The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

This episode is more a summary, kicking off a deep dive into the infamous Lost Colony of Roanoke and peeling back the layers of myth to ask whether the colony was ever truly “lost” at all—or simply abandoned. Driven by imperial rivalry, dreams of gold, and the ever-elusive Northwest Passage, we'll cover the colony’s rocky beginnings, its fraught relationships with local Native nations, the political chaos that delayed White’s return, and the haunting clues left behind when the settlement was found empty. We also touch on the human experience: a father's separation from his family.The two major sources for this series of episodes are:The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, by Andrew Lawler, published in 2018 by Anchor BooksThe Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, by Scott Dawson, published in 2020 by The History PressTo get updates and other content, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

For millennia, the tradition of telling ghost stories around the fire was a Christmas/Yule/Solstice tradition. I'm personally disappointed the practice has died down, so here I am, bringing it back! Merry Christmas, Blessed Yule, Happy Solstice, and enjoy!The short story read is "The Ghost's Summons" written by Ada Buisson and published posthumously in 1868. For other content and updates, follow me on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.To get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

Welcome to tales of my travels! From James Oglethorpe’s utopian (and wildly short-lived) vision of a sober, lawyer-free, anti-slavery colony, to a booming slavery-dependent economy, this episode traces how idealism, alliance, exploitation, and resilience shaped the charming city of Savannah, Georgia (the US State, not the country!). Along the way, we wander through cotton-fueled wealth built on enslavement, Civil War occupation and near-destruction, haunted cemeteries, architectural rebirth, and modern preservation efforts that saved Savannah from decay. It’s part walking tour, part historical reckoning, and part personal reflection on privilege, memory, and why understanding the full, messy story of a place—especially the parts we were never taught in school—makes travel, and history itself, far more meaningful and enjoyable.To get updates and other content, follow me  on Instagram and Threads @thecuriousalexjones.Sources used for this episode include my amazing and knowledgeable tour guide, Wikipedia, visitsavannah.com, georgiaencyclopedia.org, and georgiahistory.comTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In this episode, we pick up right where we left off—Plymouth on the brink, alliances hanging by a thread, and Ousemequin suddenly kidnapped in a swirl of Wampanoag-Narragansett rivalries. As the Pilgrims scramble to rescue their tenuous lifeline, we dive into the tangled politics, uneasy trust, and cultural misunderstandings that shaped the colony’s fragile first year and later spread.  We wrap up the Mayflower by exploring how an alliance born of desperation helped spark centuries of conflict and myth-making. And as we head toward America’s 250th, we ask what it really means to confront our past with curiosity, honesty, and critical thinking. Explore more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram.The 2 major sources used for this episode series are:Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

In this episode, we dive back in with the Mayflower Pilgrims as they limp into Patuxet—land they’ve commandeered from the Wampanoag—and struggle through a brutal winter of illness, hunger, and chaotic colonial drama, all while the Wampanoag, led by Massasoit Ousemequin, weigh whether to wipe them out or work with them.  From glacial-paced house-building to the shock of an unexpected Native visitor, through Tisquantum’s complicated, world-spanning backstory and the uneasy alliance that followed, this episode unpacks just how razor-thin the Pilgrims’ survival really was—and how these early, fragile relationships helped set the stage for the future United States. Explore more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram.The 2 major sources used for this episode series are:Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

This Thanksgiving mini-episode untangles the myths around Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims, and that famous 1621 feast—spoiler, it was way less magical than the storybook version—and shows how the real meaning of the holiday actually comes from Lincoln using Thanksgiving to help reunite the country during the Civil War. By zooming out and telling the whole messy, fascinating truth, we can still celebrate gratitude, connection, and the good in our lives… just without the sugar-coated mythology. Please excuse the mic bumps in the background, I had to record in the tiny closet of a hotel room while vacationing for the holiday!Explore more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram.The 2 major sources used for this episode series are:Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

Today, we put a pin in the Pilgrims and focus (extra long) on the world they were walking, or rather stumbling, into. Long before the Pilgrims commandeered one of their abandoned villages, there existed a widespread population of sachemships, rich creation stories, highly sophisticated agricultural techniques, and engineering that outclassed the colonists’ "civilized" huts. We cover their 13-moon calendar, community-first values, and the political pressure they faced after devastating epidemics and growing threats from the Narragansett. All of it builds to 1620, when their leader has to decide if these fragile newcomers at Patuxet are a problem… or the unlikely allies he needs.Explore more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram.The 3 major sources used for this episode series are:Colonization and the Wampanoag Story, by Linda Coombs, published in 2023 by Crown Books for Young Readers Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

The Separatists who founded Plymouth Colony set out to build God’s perfect community—and immediately met with obstacles. After fleeing England, ditching the Dutch, and surviving a miserable Mayflower voyage, they landed way off course and wrote the surprisingly secular, and later influential, Mayflower Compact to keep the peace. What followed was an exhausting exploration, stolen corn, and divine excuses, as they laid the shaky, ironic groundwork for America’s “city upon a hill." Explore more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram.The 2 major sources used for this episode series are:Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

They left England for “religious freedom”… but only for themselves. As we explore the deep roots causes of the American War for Independence, which started in Massachusetts, we dive into the real, detailed story of the Mayflower Pilgrims — from sneaking out of England and clashing with the Dutch to surviving a leaky ship and founding Plymouth Colony. It’s a tale of faith, stubbornness, irony, and the birth of unique personality- one that would, generations later, influence the founding of a nation. Explore more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky.The 2 major sources used for this episode series are:Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.

The definition of "curiosity":  1. A strong desire to know or learn something or 2. A strange or unusual object or fact.This podcast is all about my passion for learning and what I am currently learning about. And I have to do something with all that information! So if you would like to learn some new things, please follow!Learn more by following @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram, Threads, and BlueskyThe 2 major sources used for the upcoming episode series are:Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2007 by Penguin BooksThis Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving by David J. Silverman, published in 2019 by Bloomsbury PublishingTo get updates and other content, follow @thecuriousalexjones on Instagram and Threads.