When we recently stumbled upon a new blog called Bangable Dudes in History with the tagline “dead man porn for your still-beating heart,” we knew that we had to get in touch with its possibly warped creator. Click through to read our brief interview with blogger Megan B., and check out some of our favorite pie charts from her vault of hot dead dudes (sorry, no dead ladies as of yet!) — from Alexander Hamilton to the last Emperor of China.
Flavorpill: What was your inspiration for starting the site?
Megan B: I made the random aside on my personal blog one day that Alexander Hamilton was a total stud, a fact that comprised a tangent that resulted from another tangent on my love for the Federalists. After a reader agreed with me — and out of extreme boredom — I decided there was a serious niche to be filled for features on hot dead guys. The blog feature morphed into its own blog shortly thereafter.
Alexander Hamilton
FP: How do you decide who makes the cut?
MB: Initially I was just posting portraits of hot guys I became familiar with at one of the museums I worked at in grad school, but then I decided to poll readers for suggestions. I generally select the featured few based on their portraits — superficial, I know — but I also try to factor in life events that could be used for humorous purposes out of context in a pie chart.
Jean-Paul Marat
FP: What has the reaction been like?
MB: The blog elicits some of the most random responses and assertions. I was once lumped together with fetishists on some Live Journal board, which initially made me a bit defensive since the site is a total product of my inner tween; it’s not like I want to bone dead guys’ bodies in the grave. But then I got over myself and embraced the love. The site is whatever people want it to be, though it’s weird having my ‘prose’ quoted on Tumblr.
Aisin-Gioro Puyi
FP: Why did you decide to break each guy down into pie chart form?
MB: I knew the posts needed an aesthetic appeal outside of the portraits being featured, and pairing graphs with history with hot, bangable dudes seemed poetic. I initially was going to use Excel to make the graphs, but realized the end result looked too 9th-grade-chem-lab, so I rediscovered Daytum, which provides graphs that are much cleaner and more colorful. Possible impending copyright infringement.
Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (aka young Joseph Stalin)
FP: What has surprised you the most while working on this project?
MB: I beat down on the writing of my blog all the time, since I know I’m not that funny. And do you know how hard it is to condense life events into concise phrases below pie charts and still have them read as funny? Thus I’m amazed by the reception the blog’s been given, since I initially expected only harsh internet quips. But everybody who’s read it and/or has submitted suggestions is totally rad, and I plan on pumping out a few more historical boners in the near future to increase the catalogue. Is that too juvenile to say?
Have a submission idea? Send it to bangabledudes [at] gmail [dot] com, and Megan will pie chart him/her for you!