Episodes

  • Christmas with Sherlock Holmes

    Christmas with Sherlock Holmes
    Dec 25 2024

    “the compliments of the season” [BLUE]

    There is only one Sherlock Holmes story that takes place at Christmas: "The Blue Carbuncle," which took place on "the second morning after Christmas."

    In his Gas-Lamp for the 1959 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, editor Edgar W. Smith, BSI ("The Hound of the Baskervilles") entertained the idea of what was happening at Baker Street on Christmas Day. And that seemed like a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today. And in Season 9 (debuting in 2025) we'll be adding "Trifling Trifles" as an additional channel of content only for our paying subscribers. Don't miss it!
    Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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    15 mins
  • Sherlock Holmes Was No Burglar

    Sherlock Holmes Was No Burglar
    Dec 19 2024

    “I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal” [CHAS]

    In some cases, Sherlock Holmes was a bit of a vigilante in his pursuit of justice. He didn't mind breaking the law in a good cause. That led to him burgling various households.

    Or did it? S. Tupper Bigelow, BSI ("The Five Orange Pips") was a lawyer by trade and disabuses us of the notion that Sherlock Holmes was a burglar. Some of it is a mere technicality, but it's all a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.

    Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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    29 mins
  • Battlestations!

    Battlestations!
    Dec 12 2024

    “You look like a general who is planning a battle” [HOUN]

    The Battle of Marengo, by Louis-François Lejeune (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)

    One simple sentence in "The Abbey Grange" served as the spark to the fuse of this Trifles episode. In one sentence, Sherlock Holmes referenced two of Napoleon's battles — each with a different outcome.

    But it made us curious: what other famous battles were mentioned, either outright or by implication, throughout the Canon? We chose to discuss six of them. It's just a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.
    Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • Battle of Maiwand
    • Battle of Malplaquet
    • Battle of Agincourt
    • Siege of Khartoum
    • Battle of Marengo
    • Battle of Waterloo
    • Chicken Marengo recipe
    • Other episodes mentioned:
      • Episode 385 - The Long Road From Maiwand
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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    35 mins
  • The December Cases

    The December Cases
    Dec 5 2024

    “He disappeared upon the 3d of December” [SIGN]

    "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is inextricably linked with the month of December. But what about the other cases Sherlock Holmes handled in the final month of the year?

    Our research picked up only one other, and it isn't obvious by a careful reading of the Canon. Jay Finley Christ helps us out with a clever bit of detection and chronology to identify that second story. We compare and contrast these two December babies and it's just a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.


    Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • Other episodes mentioned:
      • Episode 6 - Dating the Missing Three-Quarter
      • Episode 49 - Sherlock Holmes and Rugby
      • Episode 52 - The Second Morning After Christmas
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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    34 mins
  • The Newgate Calendar

    The Newgate Calendar
    Nov 27 2024

    “You seem to be a walking calendar of crime” [STUD]


    Sherlock Holmes used the calendar to help him determine the significance of certain cluse and actions, noting phases of the moon and recurring events.

    But there was another calendar that was useful to Holmes, which he mentioned in passing: the Newgate Calendar. It wasn't a calendar the way we refer to calendars. What was it and why was it of use? It's just a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.


    Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • The Calendrical Holmes
    • Newgate Calendar entries (Pascal Bonenfant)
    • The Newgate Calendar (Wikipedia)
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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    25 mins
  • A Touch of the Dramatic

    A Touch of the Dramatic
    Nov 21 2024

    “it was a dramatic one” [GLOR]

    One of Sherlock Holmes's traits was that he was a master of disguise. And in the very first short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia," we find him in not one but two disguises.

    However, it's more than costuming that made him successful at subterfuge. Curtis Armstrong shares his insights on why Sherlock Holmes was able to fool so many people, including Watson. And it's just a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.
    Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • Bohemian Souls (BSI Press)
    • Revenge of the Nerd by Curtis Armstrong
    • Previous episodes mentioned:
      • Curtis on IHOSE Episode 143: P.G. Wodehouse and Sherlock Holmes
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

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    27 mins
  • The Continental

    The Continental
    Nov 13 2024

    “the Continental express” [FINA]

    When Sherlock Holmes was trying to outrun Professor Moriarty, the trail led from London to Switzerland. It was anything but a straight route. Our travel series traces their trip.

    What did Holmes and Watson's journey onto the Continent entail? How long did it take? And what might we say about their choices? It's just a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.

    Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • Previous episodes mentioned:
      • Episode 218 - Buffets
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0



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    29 mins
  • John Watson, Unreliable Narrator

    John Watson, Unreliable Narrator
    Nov 7 2024

    “you have erred, perhaps” [COPP]

    We have John H. Watson, M.D. to thank for the Sherlock Holmes stories, and we typically take them at face value. That is, we trust that Watson was telling us the truth.

    While Sherlock Holmes complimented Watson for his choice of cases, he also had criticisms of Watson's writing, taking issue with his storytelling process. Does this mean Watson's accuracy might also be called into question? It's just a Trifle.

    Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings for Baker Street Journals and certain tiers receive thank you gifts. Join our community on Patreon or Substack today.


    Leave Trifles a five-star rating and listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Links / Notes
    • All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
    • Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

    Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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    21 mins