Accidentally Historic Podcast Series

The The Little People of Council Bluffs had talents quite disproportionate to their stature. They were skilled vaudevillians, a top notch sales team for Woodward Candy, operated the candy department at Beno's Department Store, sold real estate, and left an impressive sum of money to the city of Council Bluffs. This podcast looks at how the Jean and Inez Bregant met, their entertainment career, how "little people" were used in advertising at that time, the Woodward Candy Factory and their custom-made home.

There’s more to story of the imposing first high school buildings than education. The desire of civic leaders to make statement, a rivalry between two principals, and even a military need have all figured in. Michael Winchester describes the beginnings of Council Bluffs' first high school and its first hundred years.

A pair of Omaha/Council Bluffs Haunted House historians reminisce about the local haunts of the 70s and 80s and talk about their evolution into the high tech fright factories of today.


Sweet 98 (KQKQ-FM) evolved from a nearly bankrupt progressive rock station into the Omaha area's first personality-driven FM music station and a ratings leader. The transition took place in a dilapidated apartment building at 36th and West Broadway in Council Bluffs in the summer of 1980.

The Dodge family knew how to go big. Their mansion was the finest in town. The General's funeral the largest in Iowa's history. And the most expensive sculptor in the county was hired to create a memorial to Ruth Anne. They also knew how to keep a secret. Very few ever knew the story of how the Dodge family became so embarrassed with their expensive piece of art they scrapped plans for a public dedication.

Investigators of paranormal phenomena have discovered the unique 1885 rotary cell jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa to be teeming with activity. This episode explores what they are finding, why it is here, and how you can search and discover for yourself.

The railroads built the West. And men built the railroads. But in many ways, it was women that made them successful.  Women have played a huge part in the story of trains, from inventing ways to make them safer to robbing them, and just about everything in between. 

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