King Naresuan was a badass warlord who, while he was the reigning King of Thailand, won freedom for his people and fought off a foreign invasion by battling a tyrannical enemy king in a swordfight fought on the back of two rampaging elephants. That's right, an elephant duel with swords. And if you liked this and or previous episodes, tell your friends, tell your enemies, give us a rating and definitely give us a comment! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 16, 2024•54 min•Season 1Ep. 42
The A-10 Warthog is a big, slow, heavily armed flying machine equipped with enough explosives to blast the Moon into about eight billion tiny inedible cheese wheels. And Ben and Pat are going to chat all about it today. But also, one it's more famous pilot's Kim Campbell who flew the warthog over Iraq in the early 2000's. If you liked this episode, please rate us, leave a comment, and share this show with your friends! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 09, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Happy new year! In 2024 we're going to be rolling out some new fun things. Today we wanted to give you a preview of one of them: Bonus episodes. We'll be rolling these out occasionally to deliver fun stories that don't quite fit into the regular Badass of the Week mold. Take a listen. And if you're reading this: scroll on down and like, rate and share this show with your friends! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 02, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Klondike Joe Boyle was a Yukon Lumberjack Commando Secret Agent who managed a Stanley Cup hockey team, outfitted a World War I machine gun company, received astronomically high military honors from England, Canada, France, Romania, and Russia, stole the Romanian crown jewels from a vault in Moscow, hijacked a train, probably romanced European royalty, and once fought a shark in hand-to-hand combat armed with nothing more than a hunting knife. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 26, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 40
One of the most colorful and hilariously-narcissistic figures in all of history, Alcibiades was a hard-partying, self-obsessed Athenian nobleman who caused mischief anywhere he went, shifted alliances as it suited him, and routinely found himself fleeing from people who wanted to murder him. But he also happened to be a genius military commander who won huge battles in the Peloponnesian War... while leading armies on both sides of the conflict. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 39
In this episode Ben and Pat dive into the story of Abdel Kader Haidara and his librarians who, in 2011, formed a secret plot to smuggle hundreds of thousands of ancient and priceless books and texts out of Timbuktu and away from the book-burning jerkwads known as Al Qaeda. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Tsar Peter Romanov was a strong leader who overcame difficult odds to seize the throne of Russia, then forge his dominion into a dominant Empire that became a powerful force in European politics for years to come, but he was also possibly the hardest-partying world leader in all of human history. Ben and Pat discuss Peter the Great's lifelong fight... for the right... to party! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 05, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Colonel Jack Churchill was a British military Commando who went into World War II armed with a claymore sword, an English longbow, and a set of bagpipes, and led all his cover special ops operations by pointing his sword at the enemy and screaming the word "COMMMMANNDOOOOO!!!!" as loudly as possible. He was a model, an actor, a war hero, and a world-traveling adventurer who fought the Nazis with weaponry that had been obsolete for over a century, was continually awarded with medals of bravery fo...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 36
The Father of All Turks, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a revolutionary, a hardcore military commander, a bulwark against Fascism, a reformer, a humanitarian, and a man who worked to rebuild bridges with the peoples he had warred against. The United Nations declared him a humanitarian hero, the Australians built a statue for him even though he'd fought against them in war, and it's actually illegal in Turkiye to say anything bad about him in public. Not just anybody gets that sort of treatment. See o...
Nov 21, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 34
If you're not familiar with the mythology of ancient Mongolia, strap in for this one. Pat recounts one of the great stories from the epic Jangar Cycle of heroic myths, a series of bone-crushing sagas detailing the exploits and adventures of the Kalmyk peoples. In this story, Scarlet Lion Khongor single-handedly attempts to avenge the honor of his Lord against the massive unyielding armies of Khan Iron Head Mangna! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 14, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 33
If you are in to badass swordfights, debauchery, classical music, big fancy hats, and a couple unlikely heroes face-stabbing their way to success against seemingly-impossible odds, then this is the episode for you. Julie D'Aubigny and Joseph Boulogne -- better known as La Maupin and the Chevalier de Saint-Georges to the adoring hordes of onlookers cheering them on in battle and on the musical stage -- were two of the most badass swordfighters in the history of Early Modern France. Pat and Ben di...
Nov 07, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Ben and Pat are joined on a special Halloween episode by Tani Caesar (Unhinged History) to talk about a couple of infamous (and spoooooky) Eastern European nobles -- Elizabeth Bathory, the terrifying Blood Countess of Hungary, and th equally-notorious Vlad III of Wallachia, better known outside of his native Romania as Vlad the Impaler (or, if you prefer, Vlad Dracula). This one is going to be gruesome and unhinged, but luckily we'll have Tani here to help us get through it. See omnystudio.com/l...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Ben and Pat discuss two warrior queens from the fringes of the Roman Empire who stood against impossible odds and defied the Caesars with their military might: Amaniraneas, the Kandake of Sudan, who led war elephants into battle against the armies of Emperor Augustus; and Zenobia, a Syrian Queen who conquered Roman Egypt and squared off against the legions of Aurelian. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Oct 24, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Two of Imperial Rome's most infamous women come together for this episode, as Pat and Ben discuss Locusta the Poisoner -- perhaps the most prolific and deadliest assassin of the Ancient World -- and the woman who gave her the majority of her most notorious missions: Julia Agrippina. Caligula's sister. Nero's mom. If you like political intrigues, murder mystery, amateur botany, cutthroat diplomacy, and the idea of two women who never met a problem that couldn't be solved with a syringe of cyanide...
Oct 17, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 29
St. Olha of Kyiv was a Viking Warrior Princess who unleashed a dump truck of bloody vengeance on all who opposed her, cleansed the countryside of her enemies in a sea of unquenchable flames, conquered hordes of vicious barbarians, pissed off a Byzantine Emperor so hard he kicked her out of Constantinople, successfully outwitted two foreign kings who tried to marry her, saved her people during in the Siege of Kyiv with nothing more than her own fearlessness, instituted the first taxation system i...
Oct 10, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 28
This week we talk about America's most badass president! Professor Greg Jackson of History That Doesn't Suck joins the show to talk about the rough-riding cowboy, amateur boxer, former NYPD commissioner, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Medal of Honor Recipient who once declared war on Spain without any authority to do so and once gave an 80-minute campaign speech with a .38 caliber bullet in his chest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 03, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 27
America's most famous commander from the Second World War, "Old Blood and Guts" was a bombastic leader who fought hard, swore harder, and thought that defending his flanks was for cowards and losers. We follow the complicated, intense, and action-packed life of George S. Patton from an Olympic athlete to his adventures fighting Pancho Villa, to his career as one of America's founding fathers of armored warfare, and across the raging battlefields of North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany during...
Sep 26, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Born in an Ottoman prison and raised on the high seas, 19th century Greek revolutionary admiral Laskarina Boubolina build a shipping empire that spanned the Mediterranean, defended it against pirates, rival companies, and corrupt politicians, and then led a fleet of warships into battle to liberate her country from Ottoman rule. In this episode, Ben and Pat talk about the Greek heroine, her role in the Revolution, and her own personal naval war against the Turks. See omnystudio.com/listener for ...
Sep 19, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In part 2, Pat and Ben continue the story of Miyamoto Musashi, who has now drawn the rage of the Yoshioka Clan of sword instructors. They swear vengeance upon the strange wandering ronin, set a trap for him, and hope to ensnare Feudal Japan's greatest swordsman in a massive ambush. Musashi may be a peerless fighter, without equal, but with the enemy outnumbering him so heavily, it will be a struggle for even the greatest warriors to survive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 14, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 24
There is a term in Japan: kensei. Sword Saints. The peerless warriors bestowed with this honorific title were such hardcore blade-swinging warriors that they were actually believed to have possessed otherworldly abilities with their weapon of choice. Fierce fighters, perfectly-tuned machines who had ascended to a plane where they had become one with the sword. Their movements were precise, their reactions instinctive, their form as flawless and graceful as it was deadly. At the forefront of this...
Sep 12, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In this episode, Ben and Pat are joined by special guest Daniele Bolelli (History on Fire, the Drunken Taoist) to discuss his favorite badass of all time -- Japanese Zen Buddhist monk Ikkyu Sojun, an extremely unlikely character more well-known for his wild parties and drunken carousing than his ability to slaughter his foes on the battlefield. Daniele discusses the strange, mystical, and genuinely-hilarious life of one of Japan's most eccentric weirdoes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
Sep 05, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 22
"The White Death," Simo Hayha was just an ordinary Finnish farmer that somehow ended up recording more confirmed kills than any other sniper in military history. In this episode Ben and Pat discuss how this ordinary dude from Finland became the deadliest soldier ever recorded. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 29, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 21
The most revered of all the sword-swinging Viking rulers, the legendary Olaf Crowbone, baptized the Vikings the only way he knew how — with extreme violence. Pat and Ben talk about the national hero of Norway, a guy who consistently dealt with all possible foes by planting them on the point of his sword. This episode has action, adventure, death, destruction, Viking longships, epic battles, and just the slightest hint of religious philosophy thrown in for good measure. See omnystudio.com/listene...
Aug 22, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 20
A Kingdom isn't cool. A Dyansty is cool. Or so said Roman Emperor Vespasian's Justin Timberlake look-alike friend over drinks at the club. And so that's what Vespasian built: a dynasty. In this episode, Ben and Pat talk about a man who saved the Roman Empire, built the Roman Coliseum and so much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 15, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Up until her death in 1914 at the age of 82, Old West badass "Stagecoach" Mary Fields had a standing bet at her local saloon: Five bucks and a glass of whiskey said she could knock out any cowboy in Cascade, Montana with a single punch. After the third or fourth fool tried to take her up on it, nobody ever had the guts to do it again. In this week's episode author Ben Thompson and professor of history Dr. Patricia Larash talk about Stagecoach Mary and Annie Oakley, two of the fastest guns in the...
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 18
When Roman Legions of Emperor Nero attacked her home, disrespected her people, and attacked her family, Celtic warrior queen Boudicca swore revenge -- and she left nothing but scorched earth in her wake as she rampaged across Briton, destroying all who stood in her way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 01, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 17
We've all seen Enter the Dragon and Fists of Fury, but how well do we know the man behind those films? In this episode author Ben Thompson and Professor of History Dr. Patricia Larash discuss Bruce Lee, a man who was more than just a real-life martial arts badass, he was also a groundbreaking pioneer, who paved the way for the next generation of actors and changed action cinema forever. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 25, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Before his name became synonymous with treason, Benedict Arnold may have been the most heroic and badass general of the American Revolution. In this episode author Ben Thompson and Professor of History Dr. Pat Larash discuss General Arnold's incredible military career, and the decisions that ultimately led him to become the most infamous soldier in American history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 18, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 15
On the 219th anniversary of the infamous duel, Author Ben Thompson and Professor of History Dr. Pat Larash discuss Aaron Burr, the American Vice President who was surprisingly quite a bit more badass than most people like to give him credit for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 11, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 14
In honor of the 4th of July, Badass of the Week author Ben Thompson and Professor Pat Larash talk about some of America's first Medal of Honor recipients -- Union soldier John Alfred Wilson, hero of the Great Locomotive Chase, and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman to ever receive the nation's highest award for battlefield bravery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 04, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 13
