Stay ConnectedThe Lions Led By Donkeys podcast is a military history podcast for laughing at the worst military failures, inept commanders, and crazy stories from throughout the history of human conflict.
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SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys PREORDER JOE'S BOOK https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QWHSPAADI07D&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uLEY0I7D6t0IC9GWsF7SH1FKEgKqsqTLmV4PQ_lLi-wVUCYgTqIv0BWd9_-x3VzP.xn7v2CqU5MjngXmmSbYvVGsY_fxkvgsz-LA2tkhHHTs&dib_tag=se&keywords=joseph+kassabian&qid=1774247705&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C176&sr=1-1 SEE US LIVE MAY 29TH IN LONDON: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-tickets-1985443952308 CANT MAKE THE SHOW? WE'RE STREAMING IT! GET YOUR LIVESTREAM TICKETS HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-2026-tickets-1985444086710 GET SECOND HOME'S DEBUT ALBUM https://secondhomes.bandcamp.com/album/find-a-way-to-hate-it Once upon a time there was a supply convoy called PQ-17, loaded down with tons of supplies and heading to the Soviet Union. Over the course of several days the convoy was destroyed by a combination of terrible intelligence, fear of confrontation with the German Surface Fleet, and a commander with a brain tumor. SOURCES: Beesly, Patrick. Convoy PQ 17: A Study of Intelligence and Decision-Making Bunker, John. Liberty Ships: The Ugly Ducklings of WWII Hague, Arnold. The Allied Convoy System, 1939–1945: Its Organization, Defence and Operation. Milton, Keith. Convoy PQ 17: A Story of Unprecedented Arctic Disaster. Military Heritage. June 2001. Volume 2, no. 6 Lippman, David. 'Convoy is to Scatter.' : Arctic Convoy Disaster. WWII History. Winter 2012. Volume 11, No. 1
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SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys Check out TWOAPW: https://www.worstpossible.world/ PREORDER JOE'S BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QWHSPAADI07D&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uLEY0I7D6t0IC9GWsF7SH1FKEgKqsqTLmV4PQ_lLi-wVUCYgTqIv0BWd9_-x3VzP.xn7v2CqU5MjngXmmSbYvVGsY_fxkvgsz-LA2tkhHHTs&dib_tag=se&keywords=joseph+kassabian&qid=1774247705&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C176&sr=1-1 GET LIVE SHOW TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-tickets-1985443952308 GET LIVESTREAM TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-tickets-1985443952308 Joe is joined by AJ, Brian, and Josh from the Worst of All Possible Worlds to talk about the time a British trader got murdered by Samurai for being an asshole and sparked a war between the British and the Satsuma Domain. SOURCES: De Lange, William. The Namamugi Incident: The Murder that Sparked a War Totman, Conrad. The collapse of the Tokugawa Bakufu, 1862–1868 Satow, Ernest. A Diplomat in Japan Rennie, David Field. The British Arms in North China and Japan
This is a preview. for the whole episode subscribe to the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/lions-led-by-26-155085047
SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys?vanity=user PRE ORDER JOE'S BOOK https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O97YGHOXJRP4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.kBj_XRfH3_GHTnQkYjzECwIddNedvlE4-RCHBWgHXlUErgqNYWgOwY1KYsA7yZvLQTviQGOF346h8IITpO3cNvuwWz7a7NR6wkpDazqkiZ81Klbpu5C-MrbANkkKB0_S4RLO_WvFNKmY8dykmuSv38BFZOwVzb95iFq65uWaHolnpmmeCvadgtqgMwbO_-ixcUjAojfLba2sN_LO48EwZZkCCte9AbJivDEvvYwEeNw.7XuiOakliB9sCJdyw_OJA0I-Ul5yjB2E2RrFAUbPM_w&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+highlands+burn&qid=1775307842&sprefix=%2Caps%2C179&sr=8-1 PRE ORDER SECOND HOME'S DEBUT ALBUM: https://secondhomes.bandcamp.com/album/find-a-way-to-hate-it LIVE SHOW TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-tickets-1985443952308 LIVE STREAM TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-2026-tickets-1985444086710 A half-blind Irish immigrant to the US freelance develops the first modern submarine with funds from the Fenian Brotherhood. This leads to a lot of arguments and a late-night submarine jacking. SOURCES: Davies, R. Nautilus: The Story of Man Under the Sea Lyons, Chuck. The Holland Submarine. Military Heritage. August 2008. Vol 10, no. 1 Devoy Tells Story of First Submarine: Holland Warship Purchased for Clan-na-Gael, The Original Owners, by Harry Cunningham”, The Gaelic American, New York, 09 July 1927 https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1935/august/fenian-ram https://www.millrivertrail.com/learn/famous-stolen-submarine https://web.archive.org/web/20121021174106/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/holland2.htm
For the full episode go here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/154487546?pr=true
PREORDER JOE'S NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QWHSPAADI07D&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uLEY0I7D6t0IC9GWsF7SH1FKEgKqsqTLmV4PQ_lLi-wVUCYgTqIv0BWd9_-x3VzP.xn7v2CqU5MjngXmmSbYvVGsY_fxkvgsz-LA2tkhHHTs&dib_tag=se&keywords=joseph+kassabian&qid=1774247705&s=digital-text&sprefix=%2Cdigital-text%2C176&sr=1-1 LIVE SHOW TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-tickets-1985443952308 LIVE STREAM TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-london-29th-may-2026-tickets-1985444086710 SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys The Battle of Ramree Island has gone down in history for being known for one thing: a massive crocodile attack that apparently destroyed the Japanese as they attempted to retreat. But, what if we told you that that popular story was completely made up by one guy who wasn't even there at the time? Sources: Allen, Louis. Burma: The Longest War McLynn, Frank. The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph, 1942–45 Wright, B. S. (1962). Wildlife Sketches: Near and Far. Wright, B. S. (1968). The Frogmen of Burma Platt, Steven. Man eating by Estuarine Crocodiles: the Ramree Island massacre revisited Lyons, Chuck. The Mystery at the Battle of Ramree Island. WWII History. Vol. 25. No. 1 Frazier, George. A Man's Worst Friend. The Boston Globe Archive. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/438950677/ https://the-avocado.org/2019/03/02/things-that-are-not-the-horrors-of-ramree-island/ https://www.thetimes.com/uk/history/article/crocodile-massacre-of-troops-debunked-as-wartime-myth-k6vxhdfsq
PREORDER JOE'S NEW BOOK https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GSG5CNXX?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks&qid=1773423127&sr=8-3 SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys CHECK OUT THE WORST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS: https://www.worstpossible.world/ Josh Boerman, of the Worst of All Possible Worlds and Ill Conceived, joins Joe in the studio to talk about the time that an absolute madman attempted to build the largest aircraft carrier in the world out of ice. sources: Perutz, M. F. "A Description of the Iceberg Aircraft Carrier and the Bearing of the Mechanical Properties of Frozen Wood Pulp upon Some Problems of Glacier Flow". The Journal of Glaciology. Lutz, Stephen. Project Habakkuk’s Iceberg Aircraft Carrier. WWII History. Vol 10, No. 8 Hemming, Henry. Churchill's Iceman: The True Story of Geoffrey Pyke: Genius, Fugitive, Spy. Gold, L W. The Canadian Habbakuk Project: a Project of the National Research Council of Canada. Cambridge, UK Cross, L D. Habbakuk: A Secret Ship Made of Ice.
FOR THE WHOLE EPISODE GO HERE: https://www.patreon.com/posts/153325099 Tom and Joe are joined by Lucy Valentine of the podcasts Boonta Vista and Savant Garde to talk about...whatever FLCL is. Is it about growing up? Puberty? Changing oneself for the better? Trauma? We have no idea but man is it fun.
PREORDER JOE'S NEW FANTASY NOVEL: https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Foundling-Brigade-Saga-ebook/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28PYNNVKMAELT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vJU8q9bT2skMPocB8TLK3SQaS00llqP5djabrgGlb6PbohI3eXCKx4PBd_estyu1sKcrRFhwYBND4TTpbK29TKTSRPPQXAMm0YtWlJsX-8frRQT5ljLnsOplutHcSx-MyYKJWlUWmYxAem3R0vVpZ8eSLhuzHTNiTAIai0QTTHfC-O75kLfjAbf_0Vq_CjuTDU0Oof4mWclUz3aM9Fx0vCHuzb_9WzwH8c2xEjgOUN8.W_JOGgoCzfIALrWzYBC1ie5Bg9oW9Axq6Ok6Wo3Pv28&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+highlands+burn&qid=1773646095&sprefix=%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-1 SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys In a time before US Naval dominance, the not-quite-yet imperial power decided to modernize its Navy to a level that might enable it to compete with its European counterparts. Instead, they created the USS Massachusetts and the Indiana Class. A battleship that was not a battleship, with guns so large they were more hazardous to the ship itself than any enemy, and so impossible to control the Navy kept crashing it into rocks. There are two battleships named the USS Massachusetts. This is the BB-2. The one that fought in WWII is the BB-59 Sources: Gardiner, Robert; Lambert, Andrew D. (1992). Steam, Steel & Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815–1905 https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2016/07/diving_the_worst_battleship_ev.html https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2020/june/race-uss-oregon https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/uss-massachusetts-why-worst-us-navy-battleship-ever-210474 https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/the-epic-journey-of-uss-oregon-during-the-spanish-american-war/ https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/03/26/117958746.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/08/24/105058393.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/12/16/120273752.pdf https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1911/12/02/104844371.pdf
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