SNAFU with Ed Helms

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Latest Episodes:

Snafu Season 2: Episode 2: Want to come to a party? Sep 23, 2026

Show notes

This week, we’ve got Episode 2 of our Second season of SNAFU: MEDBURG. It’s about the citizen activist burglary in Media Pennsylvania. Get it? MEDBURG is a little portmanteau. Love those things. On this episode, we hear about the team behind this courageous act. How did it all come together? And how did they stay anonymous for decades afterward? Listen to the full season wherever you get your podcasts. This is SNAFU Season 2, Episode 2: "Want to come to a party?"

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Snafu Season 2: Episode 1: The Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI Sep 16, 2026

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This week’s throwback release: SNAFU Season 2, Episode 1 – about a little known group of ragtag activists who, in 1971, decided to burglarize an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, revealing some incredibly shady wrongdoing at the highest levels J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Yes, a HEIST OF THE FBI! What could be more exciting? Listen to the full season wherever you get your podcasts. This is Episode 1 of SNAFU Season 2: "The Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI"

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Favorite Story Reveals & Twists Aug 19, 2026

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This week on SNAFU - it's the most exciting Story Reveals and narrative twists from Season 4 - Like the story of the Azores Glider with Adam Scott where we heard the tale of Robert Piche and the incredible tactics he used to save an entire plane of passengers as they ran out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean. Or Sophia Bush’s reaction to the revelation that Pablo Picasso might have been involved in an art heist of The Mona Lisa?? Or Jon Lovett’s hilarious Survivor-adjacent ruminations on the tragic tale of the Donner Party? It’s a massive episode filled to the brim with all my favorite “SNAFU Story Reveals and Twists”

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Comedians: Ed’s Funniest Friends Aug 12, 2026

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Ed's funniest guests shine in this week's compilation episode - whether it was Nick Kroll waxing poetic about his family puking tuna sandwiches on a deep sea fishing trip, or Jenny Slate telling us how susceptible she is to cults, or Jordan Klepper reflecting on Donald Trump’s desperate need for a hug. It's the best of the comedians of SNAFU, so listen, laugh and enjoy.

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Primo Podcasters: My Favorite Murder, Bowen Yang and More Aug 05, 2026

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Podcast lovers, this one's for you! We've compiled the best clips from our favorite podcasting celebs on Season 4 of SNAFU - Karen Gilgariff and Georgia Hardstark from My Favorite Murder really brought their true-crime sixth sense to our tale of the kidnapping of William Morgan. Robert Evans, the head honcho of the Behind the Bastards Podcast, illuminated the Iran-Contra debacle of the 1980s with such wit and gravitas. And on a slightly more tech-oriented episode, the co-hosts of Hard Fork, Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, provided first hand accounts and reactions to one of Facebook’s most epic blunders. So enjoy these hosts and several more on this week’s compilation episode from Ed's absolute favorite “Primo Podcasters!”

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RERELEASE: S1E2: Will the Real Evil Empire Please Stand Up? Jul 29, 2026

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Today, we have Episode 2 of our first season of SNAFU all about Able Archer 83, the NATO military exercise that almost started a real nuclear war. Last week, you met some of our main characters and heard about 1980’s America where tension with the Soviets was a fact of everyday life and we heard about a dauntless sleuth trying to unearth the SECRET CIA files that reveal the entire Able Archer story. Now, in episode 2, we meet the men keeping it all together – aka avoid a nuclear armageddon. This of course is Ronald Reagan and Yuri Andropov.
SIt back and enjoy SNAFU Season 1, Episode 2: "Will the Real Evil Empire Please Stand Up?"

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RERELEASE: S1E1: Not All Fun and WarGames Jul 27, 2026

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If you’re a new fan of SNAFU and you never listened to our beloved Season 1, then now is the time to tune in for a tale of nuclear dread, traitorous spies, and a war game gone wrong. It was the closest we ever came to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis – and it’s a story with echoes into the present, especially with rising international tension. We’ll be sharing the second episode later this week, along with all the episodes on YouTube for the first time ever. But you can also go back and listen to the audio on any podcast app. This is Episode 1: “Not All Fun and War Games.”

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Thought Leaders Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

It's another summer select episode of Ed's favorites! This week, hear from some of the podcasting industry's top minds. Folks like Scott Galloway, Kara Swisher, Jad Abumrad, Adam Grant, Kelly Corrigan, and more. Witness how their brains analyze and envision important cultural events, past and future, in ways both awe-inspiring and hilarious. Tune in for our montage episode of SNAFU's Best "Thought Leaders".

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Insights From Ed's Castmates & Collaborators Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

This summer, to tide you over until our new season arrives, catch special montage episodes brimming with collective nuggets of Snafu-laden wisdom. First up, the most insightful moments from guests who also happened to be Ed's wonderful collaborators on film and tv projects over the years. If you didn’t catch the behind-the-scenes banter before, now is a great time to devour these bite-sized morsels. Featured in this episode: Angela Kinsey, Jenna Fischer, Jake Johnson, Paul Scheer, Mike Schur, and Desi Lydic.

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Mars Orbiter and the Probe to Nowhere Jun 16, 2026

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A NASA space probe that lost roughly $25 million because of a… math era? Classic SNAFU! On this week’s special bonus, we revisit a favorite space-related chapters from my book, SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screw-ups. Just in time for Father’s day, this is your gentle reminder that SNAFU makes for a fantastic gift for the history buff, nonfiction reader, or SNAFU podcast super fan. Pick up your copy on any book retailer or at this link: https://www.snafu-book.com/

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