Losers, Pretenders & Scoundrels

Sep 25 2024 33 ep. 50 mins 896
Losers, Pretenders & Scoundrels Podcast artwork

Unlicensed historians Andrew Heaton and Andrew Young sort out characters from the Earth's history into categories of failures, fakes, and rascals. Funny but technically informative.

  History  Comedy
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King Zog I: The Chain-smoking Ruler of Albania

Sep 25 2024 56 mins  
Zog I of Albania was that country's youngest prime minister, and eventually its king. He chainsmoked a mind-boggling amount of cigarettes every day, and experienced a significant amount of assasination attempts.

The Craziest Governor of Oklahoma: Alfalfa Bill Murray

Aug 16 2024 61 mins  
Alfalfa Bill Murray declared martial law over thirty times, and wrote an autobiography so embarassing that his family would steal it out of libraries. After a political defeat, he tried to start a colony in Bolivia, and failed at that, too. And was SUPER racist.

Gregor MacGregor: Liar King of the Mosquito Coast - Part 2

Jul 29 2024 38 mins  
Gregor MacGregor was a Scotsman who joined revolutionary causes in South America, slowly morphed into a coward, THEN evolved into a fantabulist who tricked hundreds of destitute Scots to starve and die in a fake colony that never existed. And yet, he is buried with honors in Caracas Cathedral as a war hero.

Gregor MacGregor: Liar King of the Mosquito Coast - Part 1

Jul 24 2024 65 mins  
Gregor MacGregor was a Scotsman who joined revolutionary causes in South America, slowly morphed into a coward, THEN evolved into a fantabulist who tricked hundreds of destitute Scots to starve and die in a fake colony that never existed. And yet, he is buried with honors in Caracas Cathedral as a war hero.

The Congressman Who Shot a Guy at the White House

Jul 09 2024 48 mins  
Daniel Edgar Sickles was an American Civil War general, and later, a U.S. congressman. While serving in Congress he gunned down a man in broad daylight in front of the White House, and was acquitted on grounds of temporary insanity--the first in American history!

Triple Secret Agent Man: Michael Goleniewski

Jun 24 2024 69 mins  
Michael Goleniewski was a Polish intelligence agent but ALSO spying on the Poles on behalf of the Soviets BUT ALSO reporting on all of it to the Americans. A triple agent! Best secret agent ever? We'll explore on this episode.

The (Maybe?) Fake King of France: Karl Wilhelm Naurndorff

Jun 17 2024 70 mins  
Karl Wilhelm Naurndorff made a compelling case that he was the dauphin of France, spirited away by Talleyrand or some other insider after the death of his father, King Louis XVI. He was convincing enough that he kept getting stabbed, shot, and run out of countries, before winding up in the Netherlands as the head of pyrotechnics. But WAS he really the king? In this LPS episode, we

Andrew Carnegie's Fake Bastard Daughter: Cassie Chadwick

Jun 11 2024 56 mins  
Cassie Chadwick went from a Canadian nobody to a psychic to the opulent heiress presumed to be Andrew Carnegie's natural born daughter. At the very least, she is the Queen of Cons!

The Goat Testicle Transplant Doctor (Part Two)

Jun 07 2024 51 mins  
In this second installment on the life and times of John Romulus Brinkley, quack, we follow his incredible career trajectory as he becomes a radio tycoon, political force in the great state of Kansas, and eventually gets driven from America's border by the Mexican Army.

The Goat Testicle Transplant Doctor (Part One)

Jun 06 2024 52 mins  
John Romulus Brinkley became wealthy, famous, and powerful as one of America's most colorful, ludicrous quacks. He made his fortune by "curing" male impotence by sewing goat testicles into clients. As well as becoming a radio tycoon, politician, and more.