Stuff You Missed in History Class · iHeartPodcasts

Unearthed Year-end 2025, Part 1

January 12, 2026·43 min·3 clips

Shackleton privately doubted his ship's strength, contradicting his public claims before the doomed Antarctic expedition.

Tracy Wilson and Holly Frey open by framing Unearthed as a recurring Stuff You Missed in History Class segment that tracks discoveries that were literally and figuratively unearthed in the previous quarter. This installment covers the final quarter of 2025 and is the first of two parts, with the second covering additional discoveries. The opening story follows up on a theme from the previous Unearthed: the executive branch's scrutiny of the Smithsonian Museums. Earlier in the year, a committee requested the Smithsonian submit materials about its exhibits and collections for review. The Smithsonian submitted documents on September 18th. On December 18th, three months later, the White House posted a letter on its website to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, characterizing the submission as a partial production that was woefully incomplete and warning that federal funding could be withheld unless the museum comes into full compliance. The letter explicitly referenced Executive Order 14253, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, framing the Smithsonian's compliance as a condition of continued federal funding. The hosts do not take a political position but contextualize this as a significant moment in the history of American cultural institutions and federal funding relationships. Subsequent Unearthed items, which are the bulk of the episode, cover archaeological discoveries including newly identified letters from historical figures, an exhumation with forensic findings, new research on ancient animal populations, and updates to ongoing digs in multiple continents. The second part of the segment covering additional 2025 discoveries is released as a separate episode.

As heard by us

A brisk year-end roundup where new evidence keeps reshaping stories from Cabah, Tulsa, and Boston.

Stuff You Missed in History Class uses its year-end Unearthed format as a brisk survey of historical work still in motion. The episode moves from restored hieroglyphs on the Foundation Stone at Cabah, where translators have substantiated the name of the female ruler Ixchakchian,…

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The last known survivor of the 1942 Coconut Grove fire died this year at 101.

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