We Effed Up

On our one year anniversary special episode, we look back at the effer-uppers from the past year and crown one as the Effer-Upper of the Year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the 27th episode of We Effed Up, where we examine one of the more macabre eff-ups in history with special guest Bry from Pontifacts ( PONTIFACTS | Pontifacts ). Sources Cummins, Joseph. History’s Great Untold Stories: Obscure Events of Lasting Importance . Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, Australia, 2011. Mann, Horace K. The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages . Kegan Paul, Trench...

Welcome to the 26th episode of We Effed Up, where we take a look at how one of the most infamous days in American history could have been avoided if one careless lieutenant had shown a bit more concern. Sources Barnart, Michael. Japan Prepares for Total War: The Search for Economic Security, 1919-1941 . Cornell U. Press, Ithaca, NY, 1987. Gilbert, Martin. The Second World War . Henry Holt & Co...

Welcome to the 25th episode of We Effed Up , where we look at how a simple mistake led to the creation of an entire musical genre. Sources Bush, John. “Dub Revolution: The Story of Jamaican Dub Reggae and Its Legacy.” ND. <https://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/bush.html>. Degiorgio, Kirk. “The Roots of Dub.” 24 Aug 2018. < https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2018/08/the-roots-of-dub >....

Welcome to the 24th episode of “We Effed Up,” where we talk about another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it eff-up that managed to derail the restoration of an empire. Sources Hekster, Olivia. Rome and Its Empire, AD 193-284 . Edinburgh U. Press, Edinburgh, 2008. Hijmans, Steven. Sol: The Sun in the Art and Religions of Rome . U. of Groningen Press, Groningen, 2009. Snyder, Graydon. Ante Pacem: Archaeologi...

Welcome to the 23rd episode of “We Effed Up,” where we continue the never-ending saga of English screwing with Ireland, featuring a familiar villain from the American Revolution. Sources Bew, John. Castlereagh: A Life . Oxford U. Press, Oxford, 2011. Elliot, Marianne. Partners in Revolution: The United Irishmen and France . Yale U. Press, New Haven, 1982. Geoghan, Patrick. The Irish Act of Union,...

Welcome to the 22nd episode of We Effed Up, where we examine how one man’s distraction brought down a president. Sources Brown, DeNeen. “’The Post’ and the Forgotten Security Guard Who Discovered the Watergate Break-in.” The Washington Post . 22 Dec 2017. Dean, John. The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It . Viking, New York, 2014. Nelson, Jack. “Excerpts from Interview with Man Who Sa...

Welcome to the twenty-first episode of “We Effed Up,” where we discuss Scotland, England, and why you just can’t rush romance. Sources Brown, Michael. The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371 . Edinburgh U. Press, Edinburgh, 2004. Campbell, Marion. Alexander III, King of Scots . House of Lochar, Edinburgh, 1999. Lynch, Michael. Scotland: A New History . Edinburgh U. Press, Edinburgh, 1991. Maxwell, Herbert...

Welcome to the twentieth episode of “We Effed Up,” where we discuss the dire consequences of impatience. Sources Burns, Thomas. Barbarians Within the Gates of Rome: A Study of Roman Military Policy and the Barbarians, Ca. 375-425 A.D. Bloomington, Indiana U. Press, 1994. Heather, Peter. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians . Oxford, Oxford U. Press, 2007. Lee, A....

Welcome to the 19th episode of “We Effed Up,” where we begin our journey into the repeated offences against Ireland with the king-not-king of England, Oliver Cromwell. Sources Bennett, Martyn. Oliver Cromwell . Routledge, London, 2006. Bennett, Martyn. The Civil Wars Experienced: Britain and Ireland 1638-1661 . Routledge, London, 2000. Gentles, Ian. The New Model Army: Agent of Revolution . Yale U...

Welcome to the eighteenth episode of “We Effed Up,” where we talk about one of the strangest nights in the history of baseball. Sources Dahl, Steve & Hoekstra, Dave. Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died . Curbside Splendor, Chicago, 2016. Dickson, Paul. Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick . Walker, New York, 2012. Frank, Gillian. “Discophobia: Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash aga...

Welcome to the seventeenth episode of “We Effed Up,” where we learn why professional qualifications are essential. Sources Coleman, Neil M., Wojno, Stephanie, and Kaktins, Uldis. (2016). Dam-breach hydrology of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 – Challenging the findings of the 1891 investigation report. Paper No. 178-5. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7. https://gsa....

Welcome to episode sixteen of “We Effed Up,” where we discuss why it’s a good idea to know where you’re going. Sources Belfield, Richard. The Assassination Business: A History of State-Sponsored Murder . Carroll & Craft, New York, 2005. Clark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 . Penguin, London, 2012. King, Greg & Woolmans, Sue. The Assassination of the Archduke...

Welcome to the fifteenth episode of “We Effed Up,” on which we discuss the Twilight Zone movie accident and the director in charge. Sources Farber, Stephen, and Marc Green. Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego, and the Twilight Zone Case . Arbor House, New York, 1988. Feldman, Paul. “John Landis Not Guilty…” Los Angeles Times , May 29, 1987. LaBrecque, Ron. Disaster at Twilight Zone: The Tragedy and the T...

Welcome to the fourteenth episode of “We Effed Up,” where we FINALLY get around to the American Revolution and the stuffy British aristocrat responsible for Saratoga. Sources Ferling, John. Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-81 . Bloomsbury, New York, 2021. Ketchum, Richard. Saratoga: Turning Point of America’s Revolution . Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1997....

Welcome to the thirteenth episode of “We Effed Up,” where we discuss a consequence of that age-old enemy of progress: corporate greed. Sources Lange, Brenda. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire . Infobase, New York, 2008. Marrin, Albert. Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy . Alfred Knopf, New York, 2011. Stein, Leon. The Triangle Fire . Cornell U. Press, Ithaca, 1963. Von D...

Welcome to the twelfth episode of “We Effed Up!” It’s finally time to talk about the Mongols, and why it’s a really bad idea to tick off Genghis Khan. Sources Hildinger, Erik. Warriors of the Steppe: A Military History of Central Asia, 500 BC to AD 1700 . Sarpedon, New York, 1997. Jackson, Peter. The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion . Yale U. Press, New Haven, 2017. Ratch...

Welcome to the eleventh episode of “We Effed Up!” Today, we dive back into eff ups with a death toll, as we look at how a member of the British royal family is responsible for the chaotic partition of India. Sources Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan . Yale U. Press, New Haven, 2007. Read, Anthony, and David Fisher. The Proudest Day: India’s Long Road to Independen...

Welcome to the tenth episode of “We Effed Up!” We take a more light-hearted tack in this episode, as we look at why sports games always preempt other TV programming. Sources Clary, Jack. Pro Football’s Greatest Moments . Bonanza, New York, 1981. Davis, Jeff. Rozelle: Czar of the NFL . McGraw-Hill, New York, 2008. Garlett, Kyle. What Were They Thinking?: Brainless Blunders That Changed Sports . Har...

Welcome to the ninth episode of “We Effed Up!” In this episode, we examine the disregard for safety that led to the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger and the deaths of her crew. Sources Houston, Rick, and Jerry Ross. Wheels Stop: The Tragedies and Triumphs of the Space Shuttle Program, 1986-2011 . University of Nebraska Press, Omaha, 2013. Jenkins, Dennis R. Space Shuttle: Developing an...

Welcome to the eighth episode of “We Effed Up!” On this installment, we talk about why William Paterson’s hare-brained Darien scheme led to the end of an independent Scotland. Sources McKendrick, John. Darien: A Journey in Search of Empire . Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2016. Orr, Julie. Scotland, Darien, and the Atlantic World, 1698-1700 . Edinburgh U. Press, Edinburgh, 2015. Watt, Douglas. The Price of S...

Welcome to the seventh episode of “We Effed Up!” On this episode, we discuss the collapse of the Carolingian Empire and how one man’s decision to follow tradition led to a millennium of conflict. Sources Davis, Jennifer R. Charlemagne’s Practice of Empire . Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge, 2015. Fried, Johannes (Lewis, Peter, Trans.). Holy Roman Empire . Harvard U. Press, Cambridge, 2016. McKitteric...

Welcome to the sixth episode of “We Effed Up!” On this episode, we try to untangle the mess that is King Leopold II’s pursuit of the Congo and why reading the fine print is so important. Sources Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Study of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa . Mariner Books, New York, 1998. Jeal, Tim. Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer . Yal...

Welcome to the fifth episode of We Effed Up! In this installment, we examine Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, and how a single eunuch brought down an ancient empire. Sources Fields, Nic. Warlords of Republican Rome: Caesar vs. Pompey . Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley, 2008. Freeman, Philip. Julius Caesar . Simon & Schuster, New York, 2008. Goldsworthy, Adrian. Caesar: Life of a Colossus . Yale U....

Welcome to the fourth episdoe of We Effed Up! In this episode, we talk about the racism of President Woodrow Wilson and the effect it had at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Sources Cooper, Jr., John Milton. Woodrow Wilson: A Biography . Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2009. Gordon, Andrew. A Modern History of Japan: From the Tokugawa Times to the Present . Oxford U. Press, Oxford, 2003. Lauren, Paul G...