Loren O'Brien

Black Sheep and Bad Apples

History EN ↓ 92 episodes

Black Sheep and Bad Apples was created as a project by Loren O'Brien to find something he wasn't good at and to get better. That experiment has slowly evolved from casual meandering conversations into deep dives into a variety of topics. In it's current iteration, BS+BA is an exploration into conspiracies -- real and fake, as well as social issues and the news to examine the context within which we live today. Some guests come in to cold, knowing nothing, while others come in knowing slightly more. Either way, the host, Loren, tries to make it a fun, interesting journey into the unknown.

Author

Loren O'Brien

Category

History

Podcast website

podcasters.spotify.com

Latest episode

Jun 28, 2026

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Episodes

67 The War On Women PT. 2 12.11.2023

In this episode, Loren is joined by Kelly and Allie to continue their conversation about the War On Women. This episode features discussions about women being banned from preaching in the Southern Baptist Church, what the "proper" roles are for the genders, seduction laws, that time people lost their minds over women wearing pants, that time people lost their minds over women smoking in...

66 The War On Women PT.1 29.10.2023

In this episode, Loren sits down with his wife, Kelly, and their friend Allie to discuss the various battles that have made up the War On Women. They discuss marriage, virginity, women being kind-of-but-not-really property to first, their fathers and then, their husbands and how all of this was tied together with business, legality and fuck-contracts. Sources; [1] https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/13/us...

65 The Empire of PG&E: Making A Killing 16.10.2023

In the fourth and final installment of our series on PG&E, Loren, Sam and Kyle take a look at some of the repercussions that have fallen upon PG&E after their various crimes and see if, in 2023, they have began changing their ways.

64 The Empire of PG&E: Up In Smoke 01.10.2023

In our third installation on PG&E, Loren, Sam and Kyle take a look at the effects that deregulation has had on the energy industry in California and examine the many, many disasters that emerged from the negligence of PG&E. Source Notes; [1] https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/PG-E-Guilty-In-1994-Sierra-Blaze-739-counts-of-2821364.php [2] https://quickelectricity.com/ [3] https://www.ukiah...

63 The Empire of PG&E: Losing The Thread 17.09.2023

In this episode, Sam, Kyle and Loren discuss the first 80ish years of PG&E and their operations throughout the 1900's to see exactly how they've grown from a fledgling monopoly into a full-grown, power-wielding corporation who has set their sights on expansion - no matter the cost. Source Notes: [1] https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/events/1906calif/18april/ [2] https://earthquak...

62 The Empire of PG&E: Humble Beginnings 03.09.2023

In this episode Sam and Loren discuss the origins of PG&E with Kyle Moucha. Source Notes; [1] https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Donahue-495 [2] https://www.maritimeheritage.org/vips/Peter-Donahue.html [3] https://es-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/R%C3%ADmac_(vapor)?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp [4] “The Gold Rush and the Beginnings of California Industry “ htt...

61 Why We Work 20.08.2023

Sam and Loren get together to discuss the subject of work. They discuss simple, yet frequently overlooked questions like; What is work? Why do we have to do it? What are things that make hard work harder?

60 Scattershot; The News 06.08.2023

Loren and Sam are joined by Kyle Moucha to discuss the the Wagner Group, The Writer's Strike and the goings on with Elon Musk.

59 The Lavender Scare 25.06.2023

Loren is joined by his friend Terry to discuss the time the United States Government was afraid of homosexuality. Some sources, because I fucked-up the original source file; [1] https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare [2] https://reference.jrank.org/populism/McCarthy_Joseph_19081957.html [3] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/senator-mccarthys-nazi-problem-180975174/ [4] https://www....

58 Scattershot: Snake Oil, Bank Robberies and Parking Enforcement Justice 18.06.2023

In a lighthearted episode, Loren tells the stories of Clark Stanley, Lawrence John Ripple, and Carolyn Pecillo to his friends Sam and Dacey. All three didn't have enough information to put into one long-form episode, but, together, they made one great, hilarious episode; Scattershot. [1] https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/26/215761377/a-history-of-snake-oil-salesmen [2] https://ww...

57 The US Has Always Hated Wolves 04.06.2023

In this episode, Loren and Sam discuss the history of the wolf in the United States. "Wolves and people were not natural enemies. The humans' relationship with other animals established their rivalry with wolves." -Jon T. Coleman

56 Virginia Hall Pt. 2: Never Quite Enough 21.05.2023

In part 2, Loren and Swampy continue discussing Virginia Hall's spy career and the turning of the tide of WWII before D-Day even started. Virginia's efforts help lead the way to French Liberation, but, after liberation, Virginia is allowed to do the one thing she has yet to do; step out from behind the shadows.

55 Virginia Hall Pt. 1: A Woman of Ungentlemanly Warfare 07.05.2023

In this episode, Loren is joined by his guest, Swampy to discuss the early life of Virginia Hall. This episode discusses how her fight with the Nazi's began because British Intelligence had no other option; they would have to hire a person without a penis to do the job.

54 The Story of Violet Jessop 23.04.2023

This episode, Loren sits down with Swampy to discuss the life and survival of Violet Jessop, the three-time shipwreck survivor.

53 Fountain Of Youth: The Facts and Falsehoods 15.06.2022

Originally published Jun 15, 2022. The boys get together to discuss the legend of the Fountain of Youth. They discuss it's origin and the rumors around it to discern fact from fiction? Did the Fountain of Youth actually exist? And why is it in Florida?

52 The Twelve Tribes: A Cult With Many Names 25.08.2021

In this episode, we get together to explore the Twelve Tribes cult, with our guest Eunice! The religious organization, which has had many name changes, patrols college campuses, cafes, and has, surprisingly, also toured with and in the parking lots at Grateful Dead shows. They got their start by owning and operating welcoming and warm coffee shops and staffing them with free labor. The organizatio...

51 Scattershot: A Little Bit O' (Old) News 06.08.2021

Originally published August 6th, 2021; News Episode Our guest Matthew Wallace joins us in the studio to discuss some news. We cover subjects like; Good things that happened this week, The Loch Ness Monster: is he just a dick? The arrest of hundreds of January 6th insurrectionists, Subway Tuna, A discussion about the easing of Covid-19 lock-downs, John McAfee and Jair Bolsonaro.

50 California's Racist Ban on Open Carry Weapons 04.06.2021

In this episode, Loren starts off by saying the wrong season and episode number. Shawn and their guest, Alex, delve into some history of California to try to examine exactly how California banned open carry weapons. We look at the inception of California starting with the small town of San Francisco, back when it had 500 souls living there and look at the weapons laws as it expanded throughout the...

49 The Banana Wars 29.04.2021

Tonight we discuss how the United States became possessive over the  Caribbean and Latin America during the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Those regions had a lot of shit, and corporations and bankers wanted it,  and wielded the United States military as their "Big Stick". Listen in  as we discuss the Banana Wars and how they may have almost helped try to  overthrow the US...

48 How Civilizations Fall 27.03.2021

Loren explores the world of "the end is near!!!" With special guest Kevin Porter from The Podcast That No One Listens To! Loren runs down what the end actually looks like. Historically speaking, there's some pretty strong indicators of failing or failed civilizations. So tonight we explore what the traits of failing civilizations are. We take a look at the question "are we, as the global community...

47 The Dyatlov Pass Incident 08.03.2021

Shawn and Sam listen as Loren discusses the 10 hikers that died under mysterious circumstances in the remote region of the Ural Mountains in  Russia. Named after the leader of the hike Igor Dyatlov, the hikers' bodies were found in various states of dress, with strange, unexplained blunt force injuries. Sam and Shawn wrack their brains to try to solve this mystery one piece at a time. With ne...

46 Maria Butina, Covert Russian Operations and The NRA 02.03.2021

Originally aired March 2nd, 2021: Without a Sam, Loren and Shawn are again joined by singer songwriter Matthew Wallace to discuss Russian Espionage and Maria Butina! They start the episode discussing Joe Biden and the stimulus checks, and meander back into discussing convicted Russian covert operative Maria Butina, a gun rights activist in Russia who used her platform to infiltrate the American Na...

45 Coup Years' Revolution Special: Happy Coup Year! 13.01.2021

What the fuck was that?! Loren, Sam and Shawn are joined by Matthew Wallace to discuss the news  that has happened since we were last on-mic. We discuss the Happy  Holidays and the bombing of Nashville on Christmas. We then take a look at the storming of the capitol and some of the players and characters  involved in it. We look at the security lapses, potential covert infiltration...

44 Got Apples? 24.12.2020

Originally aired December 24th, 2020: Loren, Shawn and Sam start off with Sam introducing his new title of  Doctor-Mister, and quickly delve into the topic of apples! They're a  fascinating tiny little fruits that come in a variety of shapes, flavors  and sizes, and they've been present during many historical events. We  get together to look at some of the varieties of apple, t...

43 A Brief History of Cuba and Guantanamo Bay 17.12.2020

Originally aired December 17th, 2020: The guys get together to sort-of continue from out last episode. Tonight we're covering a *very* brief history of Cuba and explore the indefinite ownership of Guantanamo Bay. Speaking of which, what happens there?

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