Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast

A disastrous Confederate diplomatic mission unfolds as failed envoys bungle their way toward Europe. Explore Slidell’s troubled record, James Mason’s extremist politics and appalling manners, a catastrophic French loan, and a smuggling journey through Nassau and Havana. Then Captain Charles Wilkes enters the story, setting the stage for the explosive Trent Affair.

A Depression-era teacher becomes an unlikely wartime legend after transforming a tiny Piper Cub into a rocket-firing tank hunter. The story follows his reckless attacks on German armor, clashes with commanders, perilous missions over Normandy and Arracourt, and the eventual restoration of his iconic aircraft. Plus, bizarre childhood myths and a Toyota Prius with questionable armament.

A royal succession crisis, palace coups, and murderous dynastic rivalries leave Manipur vulnerable to Burmese invasion and British intervention. When a staged illness turns into open rebellion, poison darts, a besieged residency, and a disastrous military assault follow. Britain’s punitive conquest ends with executions, exile, and a child ruler installed as a puppet, followed by a detour into anime and video game cosplay.

Henri III returns to a France shattered by massacre, factional conflict, and a crisis of royal legitimacy. The discussion explores Huguenot resistance theories, republican ideas, Catholic absolutism, and competing visions for France’s future. It also examines the monarchy’s damaged reputation, Henri’s delayed return from Poland, and the religious conflict’s lasting influence on French politics.

A Civil War campaign spirals into chaos as Confederate and Union commanders stumble through Kentucky’s heat, thirst, divided loyalties, and broken logistics. The Battle of Perryville erupts over access to muddy water, with misread orders, friendly fire, a burning hospital, and a commander who barely realizes a battle is happening. The aftermath leaves both armies bloodied and the invasion in ruins.

A failed military rocket-belt project takes a wild detour through carnival shows, Olympic demonstrations, alleged drug smuggling, meth-fueled engineering, karate confrontations, and courtroom chaos. At the center is the elusive RB2000, a homemade jetpack tied to financial feuds, theft, kidnapping, and an unsolved murder. The discussion also explores bizarre homemade alcohol and military improvisation.

Live from Cork, the discussion explores Jack Teixeira’s racist online persona, firearms obsession, and fixation on race-war rhetoric. It follows his misuse of classified access, growing obsession with Ukraine, and increasingly reckless leaks involving North Korea and Taiwan. The story culminates with secret documents surfacing in a War Thunder community, exposing a remarkable chain of ignored warnings and security failures.

A disastrous D-Day parachute drop scatters American troops across Normandy, sending an improvised band of clerks, medics, pilots, and paratroopers to Graignes. With help from French villagers, they fortify the town and face a bicycle-borne SS division. Their desperate defense, brutal German assault, and tragic church massacre reveal how an unlikely garrison delayed a major German advance.

The Soviet invasion of Manchuria blindsides Japan’s hollowed-out Kwantung Army, as armor, artillery, deception, and relentless logistics shatter defenses thought nearly impossible to breach. The discussion follows the chaotic final weeks of World War II, Japan’s surrender, continued fighting, captivity, civilian catastrophe, and the dark legacy of Unit 731. It closes with a detour into terrible movies and music endured for love.

A grim journey into the French Wars of Religion, centered on the assassination of Coligny and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. The discussion explores fragile peace deals, disputed property restitution, political upheaval after Henri II’s death, and the escalating persecution of Protestants. Parisian brutality, religious vendettas, and a war-weary France teetering toward catastrophe round out this violent chapter.