Badass of the Week

Henry Johnson and The Harlem Hellfighters

Today Ben and Pat tell the story of the 396th Infantry Regiment - an all African American unit that spent 191 days in combat in WWI, more than any other unit, they fought so ferociously, the Germans called them the "Hollenkampfer" aka Hellfighters. Tune in to find to hear more...
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Marie Curie: Radioactive and totally rad.

This week Ben and Pat dive into the story behind the scientist - Marie Curie - the first woman to win the Nobel prize. From the battlefield to the laboratory, she put herself in harm's way (dodging bullets and not really dodging gamma rays) to make the world a better place. Her work led to chemotherapy and also nuclear weapons. Listen now!And if you're enjoying the show, rate us, leave a comment, and grab your neighbor's phone to make them subscribe! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Toussaint L’Ouverture: The Haitian Hero

In today's ep, Ben and Pat discuss Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian Hero. Born a slave, L'Ouverture eventually turned into rebel and later a leader, in the Haitian Revolution before eventually becoming the Govenor-General of the whole island. He beat the French, the Spanish and even British, while liberating his people. Not too shabby. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SKULD: Viking Zombies vs Bear Berserkers

In today's episode Ben and Pat pull from the world of Norse legend a vengeful, pitiless necromancer sorceress. We're talking bear massacres, viking zombies (hell yeah!) and general epic bloody battles. Even her name is awesome: Skuld!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

King Naresuan and the Elephant Duel

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.

Killer Chick: Kim Campbell and the A-10 Warthog

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.

Bonus Episode: Spain and Gain

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.

Klondike Joe Boyle: The Kick-ass Canadian

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.

Alcibiades: The Biggest Jerk of the Classical Age

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.

The Smuggler Librarians of Timbuktu

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.