Losers, Pretenders & Scoundrels

Latest Episodes:

King Zog I: The Chain-smoking Ruler of Albania Sep 25, 2024

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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

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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

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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

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The Congressman Who Shot a Guy at the White House Jul 09, 2024

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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

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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

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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 settle it once and for all!

Andrew Carnegie's Fake Bastard Daughter: Cassie Chadwick Jun 11, 2024

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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

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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

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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.