Butch Cassidy: The West’s Smoothest Criminal
Outlaws don’t usually get remembered for being smart—but Butch Cassidy was something different. He robbed banks and trains with minimal bloodshed, outwitted the Pinkertons for years, and built a crimi...
14 Jan 1h 3min
Daniel Morgan: 499 Problems, the Crown Ain’t One
Powdered wigs didn’t win the American Revolution... scarred knuckles did. Host Ben Thompson is joined by David Schmidt, director of The American Revolution with Ken Burns, to tell the story of Daniel...
8 Jan 1h 8min
Petty Officer Robert J Thomas: The Last Bullet Is His.
During a brutal Vietnam firefight that spiraled into a forty-five-minute running battle, Robert J. Thomas was shot, shredded by shrapnel, and left barely able to stand. Instead of evacuating, he crawl...
31 Des 202551min
St. Moses the Black: From Outlaw to Saint
History doesn’t usually leave room for men like St. Moses the Black - a violent outlaw, gang leader, and feared killer who somehow became one of the most respected monks of the early Christian world. ...
23 Des 20251h 4min
The Trưng Sisters: When Sisters Ruled an Empire
History doesn’t usually begin with two sisters on war elephants — but this one does. In 40 AD, the Trưng Sisters ignited a violent break from Han Dynasty rule, led armies commanded by women, seized mo...
17 Des 202550min
The Taiping Rebellion: The Cult Leader Who Nearly Toppled an Empire
A failed civil-service exam. A month-long fever dream. And a man who woke up convinced he was Jesus Christ’s Chinese younger brother... This week, Ben teams up with historian and History on Fire host ...
11 Des 20251h 18min
Pearl Harbor: The Cook, the Drunks, and the Battleship That Wouldn’t Die
On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was hit with fire, chaos, and a surprise attack that should have shattered the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Instead, it produced some of the wildest, most unlikely heroes in A...
3 Des 202556min
Alan Shepard: The Original Space Cowboy
America’s first astronaut wasn’t just a spaceman — he was a fighter pilot, a rule-breaker, and a straight-up menace to anyone who underestimated him. This week, Ben is joined by space historian Brando...
26 Nov 202558min
