Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

Josh Boerman, podcaster and co-host of Worst of All Possible Worlds, joins to explore Project Habakkuk and the era’s wild wartime inventions. They recount Geoffrey Pyke’s ice-reinforced “pycrete” carrier concept, the Canadian prototype build, engineering nightmares like creep and melting, and why Churchill briefly backed the mad plan. Quick, curious, and full of historical oddities.

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

A comic retelling of the 1593–1606 Habsburg–Ottoman clash at Haçova. Troop estimates, a near-Austrian victory, and Mehmed III rallying his forces get dramatic treatment. Absurd tangents include Smurf jokes, a jacked Hamburger Helper mascot, and banter about gym culture. Short, lively history mixed with irreverent comedy.

After Sand Creek, Cheyenne political rifts and rising warrior societies set the stage for revenge. The story covers the mounted scouts, a deadly ambush on a sandbar, and improvised horse-carved defenses. It highlights Spencer repeating rifles, Roman Nose’s role and wounding, desperate survival on raw horse meat and frozen trenches, and the fraught relief and aftermath.

This is a preview! For the whole episode join the patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/152207289

A brutal 1864 assault on a Cheyenne camp and the broken treaties that led there. Political ambition and inflammatory orders fueled settler militias. Moral courage and whistleblowing exposed cover ups and triggered a congressional inquiry. The massacre reshaped Plains resistance, ruined reputations, and left lasting debates over memory and honors.

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys A Sierra Leonean rebel group modeled after American West Side Gangsters and ripped out of their minds on drugs, kidnaps a patrol of British soldiers, sparking a rescue mission. Sources: Fowler, William (2004). Operation Barras: The SAS Rescue Mission: Sierra Leone 2000 Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2009). Who Dares Wins: The SAS and the Iranian Embassy Siege 1980 Utas, Mats; Jörgel, Magnus (2008). "The West Side Boys: military navigation in the Sierra Leone civil war". Journal of Modern African Studies. Reno, William (February 2003), Political Networks in a Failing State The Roots and Future of Violent Conflict in Sierra Leone

A lively trip to the 13th century Northern Crusades that pits Alexander Nevsky against the Livonian/Teutonic forces on frozen Lake Peipus. They unpack medieval military composition, tactics of baiting and counterattack, and the chaotic pursuit across ice and bog. The hosts also probe contested myths like the lake breaking and the battle’s casualty claims.

A lively rundown of the 1453 sack of Constantinople and why it reshaped medieval power. They riff on Byzantine decline, the long fallout from the Fourth Crusade, and how crumbling walls met dwindling populations. Expect sharp historical banter, quirky absurdities like nominative determinism for fortresses, and playful takes on military misdirection.