The Challenge Historian

David is an absolute gift to Challenge fans everywhere, Emily is going to be dominant, Conor has some impressive composure in multiple situations, Johnny acts like all Johnny's before him on The Challenge have acted, and we get interesting twists on games we've seen recently. It's the Challenge Australia episode 2 recap, topics include: Intro and Programming Reminders (00:10) Main storyline breakd...

What an incredible episode! Ride or Dies has delivered on it's potential and then some, as this episode was one of the best in a very long time for the Flagship franchise. Nelson and Nurys seize control, make the exact perfect move... then blow it all up. Devin is being brilliant but also let's his ego get in the way. The super vets are in the hot seat but then barely have to do anything to get ou...

We get to watch it! The Challenge Australia began a week ago and thanks to some wonderful friends on the internet both I and you can watch it even if you live nowhere near Australia! Where to go is explained at the top of the podcast and fingers crossed we get to watch all season long because one episode in and it is SO GOOD! Lot of fun in the first episode and a lot of feelings to break down rega...

Jay and Michele have done it again! Back to back weeks of winning and then totally making more enemies than necessary, but I’m here for it! Plus: Laurel moves out on Horacio and then lets Faysal move on in, Bananas isn’t taking the game all that serious much to Nany’s annoyance, Jordan is watching other people play checkers and calling out how checkers like their games are, and we lose our confess...

Rewatch Recap Mini-Series continues as we celebrate the first 20 seasons of The Challenge. In this episode it's all elimination talk as I break down the 20 best eliminations of the first 20 seasons plus some honorable mentions and high-level eliminations stats. Intro and Programming Notes (00:15) Honorable Mentions (02:32) Top 20 (15:42) Top 15 (21:50) Top 10 (30:20) Top 5 (37:47) Follow or subscr...

Jakk and Jay write an emo banger and then have a falling out worthy of an emo banger! Plus: Bananas and Nany just skating, Laurel retains her best stonewall I don’t give a fuck face championship belt, Michele and Jay have no idea what they are doing, there is some romance at a pool party, Veronica and Darrell find themselves without friends, we say goodbye to two wonderfully likeable rookies, and...

Rewatch Recap Mini-Series continues on as we celebrate the best of the best from the first 20 seasons of The Challenge. This episode is all things Daily Challenges. In the first 20 seasons of the show there were 229 daily challenges, but which were the absolute best? Join me as I break down the top 20, plus a few honorable mentions! Intro and Programming Notes (00:08) Honorable Mentions (05:28) Nu...

Part two of our Rewatch Recap Mini Series brings us the first 20 seasons of The Challenge, ranked in definitive order from worst to first. What's changed with which seasons since I did my initial grades of them all? Which season (and theme) remains the worst of all? Why is The Ruins the season whose placement makes the most sense and which season's placement did I struggle with the most? All that...

THE STREAK IS OVER!! After 54 attempts Nelson has finally got himself back in the daily challenge winner circle and has himself a ball with all the power that comes with it. Plus we've got romance everywhere, OGs entering the game, TJ dropping stats, a disheartening and hard to watch elimination, Olivia being the season MVP thus far, and did we mention NELLY T WON AND IS IN LOVE AND IS A TREASURE?...

The Rewatch Series has hit the mid-way point with the first 20 seasons of The Challenge having been covered in deep detail over the last few months. Being at this big round number that also serves as a transitional moment in the shows history I thought it was time for a break from new seasons to spend a little more time celebrating these first 20 OG seasons and all the greatness that came with the...

Ride or Dies episode 3 was a great one if you in the Fessy Fanclub... and if you're not there is still plenty of room to join! Between Faysal's many moments, Tommy and Analyse's big blunder, love triangles ruining teams, a double decker hall brawl and freaking ex-fiances entering the game we've got a lot to talk about! I break it all down using the following topics: Cold Open (00:00) Intro and Pro...

Team Banany is here and they have an immediate impact! Episode 2 of season 38, Ride or Dies, is in the books and there is a lot to digest. An action packed episode, I cover it all using the following topics: Cold Open (00:00) Intro & Programming Notes (00:51) Cliffnotes Recap of Episode 2 (04:07) Team Banany is here and they are making an immediate impact (07:48) Turbo is being Turbo which isn...

The rewatch series continues and it's finally time to talk about the Bananas Backpack! Plus everything else that happens on season 20, Cutthroat. Which is to say, a lot! What a great season this is, the last of a transitional period for the show, and the dawn of the greatest run in show history. We've got Abram & Cara falling hard, Laurel dominating for the second season in a row, a Blue team...

Season 38 Ride or Dies is here! What an opening episode it was: Turbo being Turbo, Rookies revolting, TJ pulling twists, love triangles already forming, Moles lying, Fessy hot tubbing with blonde rookies, a covid DQ already (kind of), the double cross being back... so much happened! I cover it all using the following topics: Cold Open (00:00) Intro and Programming Notes (00:40) Cliffnotes recap of...

Ride or Dies officially kicked off with the Monday night Launch Special and I am here to recap it all! Now, it wasn't the full true episode 0 like we thought it may be (because that's what it was last time...) but it was still super fun and a little bit insightful to the season to come. Topics include: Cold Open (00:00) Introduction & Programming Reminders (00:44) What the Launch Special was a...

The rewatch series continues with Season 18, The Ruins! A season marred in controversy yet much more interesting and entertaining than one may remember... at least I felt that way upon rewatch. So much to discuss with this season and I get into it all using the following topics: Intro and programming notes (00:48). Basics of the Season: where the Challenge was, what past relationships mattered com...

The rewatch series goes back to chronological and hits Season 17, The Duel 2! I love this season, and was a bit shocked at this most recent rewatch where my feelings ended up landing. We cover it all in depth using the following topics: Intro and programming notes (00:35). Basics of the season, state of The Challenge at the time, and evolutions and history made this season (04:04). Major storyline...

The Challenge Untold History aired it's final two episodes which means I've got some final thoughts on the whole experience. I give out 15 one sentence thoughts on these two episodes, break down the five most impactful segments from these two episodes, and then give my final thoughts on how the documentary went as a whole. #TheChallenge #WeWantOGs #TheChallengeHistorian #TheChallengePodcast #TheCh...

The Challenge: Untold History aired it's 3rd and 4th episodes last week and I am here to give my thoughts and feelings on everything we saw in these two episodes focused on Underdogs and GOATS: Introduction and programming notes (00:00). Episode 3 recap (02:28). Episode 4 recap (14:20). #TheChallenge #WeWantOGs #TheChallengeHistorian #TheChallengePodcast #TheChallengeUntoldStory Hosted on Acast. S...

The Flagship Challenge series returns! Season 38 - Ride or Dies - is two weeks away from it's premiere and that means we've got a preview to do! We know the cast, we've seen a trailer, and we've done the IG deep dives on the newbies. Everything you need to get you ready for what looks to be an awesome season of The Challenge, including: 00:00 Intro and programming reminders 03:35 State of the Chal...

The Challenge Rewatch series continues on and this episode we are breaking down one of my all-time favorite seasons: Fresh Meat 2! With me to break down this classic is the great Mike Lewis of the Mike Lewis Podcast. During our (admittedly very long) breakdown we cover: 00:00 Introduction and why we've skipped ahead a few seasons 03:52 Welcoming Mike to the show, his Challenge fandom background, a...

The Challenge: Untold History debuted on Wednesday with two history-packed episodes and this Historian is here to break it all down. My feelings going into the documentary and hopes and fears for what it could be (03:29). Running through the many positive moments from episodes 1 and 2, the interesting, the heartwarming, the tear-jerking and more (11:25). Critiques I had including Cara not being th...

We are one week removed from The Challenge USA finale and that lighting rod of conversation that was TJ's final. Now that we've sat with our thoughts about both the finale and the entire season at large, it's time to put all the final thoughts out there and cover the whole season one last time. Biggest storylines, did this new branch of the franchise work, who do I want to see back in the future,...

The rewatch series is back! I am on to season 16, The Island. A memorable season to say the least, with lots of interesting angles to discuss as the show went a totally new direction while also going totally off the rails from a cast members acting horribly stand point. To break down this inflection point of a season I needed to bring on another expert, so I've got the Queen of Challenge TikTok an...

Today I'm talking with 2x Challenge Champ and OG Legend of the game, Dan Setzler! We cover it all, going over all the biggest moments from each of his three seasons (Challenge 2000, Battle of the Seasons, Battle of the Sexes 2), his life inside and outside of the show, thoughts on all the Challenge legends he crossed paths with, his current work in music, and so much more. It was an absolute pleas...