Epik Fails of History

“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” – Karl Marx A War Between Brothers (Part One) In the latest episode, its brother versus brother as Chris and Brad Carroll go head to head in an intense game of "drunk trivia" over their knowledge of the American Civil War! General Lee vs Grant, Albert Sidney Johnston, Pickett's Charge, Rutherford B. Hayes, and the Clash of...

ANNOUNCEMENTS: As a follow-up to the last episode, Erik Slader and Ben Thompson are officially rescheduled with the Smithsonian! ( Saturday, May 4th - at the Air and Space Museum and the American History Museum) "EPIC FAILS: Not-So-Great Presidents" by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson - available wherever books are sold! EPIC FAILS Book #4: "The Age of Exploration: Totally Getting Lost" debuts on Tues...

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho *It's our (belated) "On Brand" President's Day special!* Erik Slader and Ben Thompson are invited out to do a book signing at the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC! - before being thwarted by the longest government shutdown in American history... because of course. (Erik doc...

Devin Clark (host of the 'Pretend Radio' podcast and bassist for the punk band, 'The Wastedist') joins the show to discuss a random assortment of historical fails: The Curse of the 'Willy Dee' (the USS William D. Porter), the Corned-Beef Sandwich Incident, a Ramen Noodle Heist, and... the Great Emu War of 1932?! LINKS AND REFERENCES: Music Clips: "Ride of the Valkyries...

History authors unite! Erik Slader and Ben Thompson (Badass, Guts and Glory) join forces in this epic cross-over! Ben and Erik talk about the fails that happened along the way to co-writing their (somewhat acclaimed?) "EPIC FAILS" book series - as they recount their first book tour together, from Florida to Vegas to Seattle! LINKS AND REFERENCES: ErikSlader.com BadassOfTheWeek.com Music Clip: "Don...

In this (insanely overdue) episode, Erik and Chris talk to local historian, and fellow Floridian, Jasmine Turner - about some of the crazier stories from their state's history! Everything from Ponce de Leon and "the Fountain of Youth" to 'the original Florida man', Mayor William Cottrell. Also on this episode: Henry Flagler, Walt Disney, Fort Mose, the Great Jacksonville fire, floating nuclear pow...

"Success is going from failure to failure, without the loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill In this episode, Erik and Chris are joined by graphic designer extraordinaire, Justin Ache, as they discuss the insane, comically ridiculous and convoluted events (and propaganda) surrounding World War One... and how "The War to End All Wars" actually caused every other war since! LI...

“An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.” - Orlando Aloysius Battista Erik and Chris try and figure out why the Titanic sank, how the Hindenburg blew up, and what the hell happened at Chernobyl... LINKS AND REFERENCES: Music clips: "Godzilla" theme (1954), "The People's Court" theme (1981), Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (199...

“Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”  - Robert A. Heinlein In the first (official) episode of "Epik Fails of History" , Erik Slader and Chris Carroll dive into the Great London Beer Flood of 1814, wade through the Late Victorian Manure Crisis, and get lost trying to find Australia with Abel Tasman... (Check out EpikFails.com for more!) Topics Covered: 17th Century Explorer Abel Tasm...

"My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure." - Abraham Lincoln A prelude to a podcast - in this mini-solo episode, Erik Slader gives a quick 101 on the history of "Epik Fails of History" - the podcast (and blog) about the most epic fails... of history... Check out EpikFails.com for more! *Note: Updated in 2023!* Follow / Mess...