Lions Led By Donkeys Podcast
Lions Led By Donkeys
The 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.
Our podcast will always be free, but if you think what we do is worth a buck you can throw us one here:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys
Our podcast will always be free, but if you think what we do is worth a buck you can throw us one here:
https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 29, 2025 • 1h 24min
Episode 394 - Lord Byron: Part 2
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The conclusion to our series on Lord Byron.

Dec 22, 2025 • 1h 33min
Episode 393 - Lord Byron: Part 1
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In this week's episode, we begin part one of a 2-part series describing the life and times of George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, the famous Romantic poet of the early 19th century who went to Greece in hopes of fighting for independence against the Ottomans, and immediately died. But, who was this man? And is describing something as "Byronic" a good thing? Spoiler: uh-oh.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bostridge, Mark. “On the Trail of the Real Lord Byron.” The Independent, November 4, 2002. https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/books/features/on-the-trail-of-the-real-lord-byron-126324.html.
Brand, Emily. The Fall of the House of Byron: Scandal and Seduction in Georgian England. Paperback edition. John Murray, 2021.
Brewer, David. The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 2001. http://archive.org/details/greekwarofindepe0000brew.
Burton, Danielle. “Lord Byron and His Pet Bear.” Derbyshire Record Office, October 22, 2024. https://recordoffice.wordpress.com/2024/10/22/lord-byron-and-his-pet-bear/.
Byron, George Gordon, Ernest Hartley Coleridge, and Rowland Edmund Prothero Ernle. The Words of Lord Byron. London : J. Murray; New York, C. Scribner’s sons, 1898. http://archive.org/details/worksoflordbyron11byro.
Byron, William Byron. The trial of William Lord Byron, Baron Byron of Rochdale, for the murder of William Chaworth, Esq; before the Right Honourable the House of Peers, ... On Tuesday the 16th, and Wednesday the 17th of April, 1765: on the last of which days the said William Lord Byron was acquitted of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter. ... 1765. 1765. http://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-trial-of-william-lor_byron-william-byron-ba_1765.
“Edward Blaquiere, British Officer, Founding Member of the Philhellenic Committee of London.” Εταιρεία Για Τον Ελληνισμό Και Τον Φιλελληνισμό, October 27, 2020. https://www.eefshp.org/en/edward-blaquiere-british-officer-founding-member-of-the-philhellenic-committee-of-london/.
Jones, Thomas. “On Top of Everything.” Review of Byron: Child of Passion, Fool of Fame, by Benita Eisler. London Review of Books, September 16, 1999. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v21/n18/thomas-jones/on-top-of-everything.
Kunst Museum Winterthur. “Bildtext: Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer.” Accessed December 9, 2025. https://www.kmw.ch/ausstellungen/friedrich/digital/wanderer/.
Marchand, Leslie A. Byron: A Portrait. The University of Chicago Press, 1979.
MacCarthy, Fiona. Byron: Life and Legend. London: John Murray, 2014.
Patanè, Vincenzo, James Schwarten, and John Francis Phillimore. The Sour Fruit: Lord Byron, Love & Sex. John Cabot university press Copublished by the Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
Rizzoli, G. B. “Byron’s Unacknowledged Armenian Grammar and a New Poem.” Keats-Shelley Journal 64 (2015): 43–71.

Dec 17, 2025 • 12min
*PREVIEW* The Battle of Checkpoint Pasta
The Italian military suffers its first combat casualties since WWII while engaged in a stupid, quixotic, and self-sabotaging "peacekeeping mission" in Somalia c. 1993. And the battle took place in an abandoned Barilla pasta factory. Yes.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Biddle, Stephen "The Somali National Alliance in Somalia, 1992–94". Nonstate Warfare: The Military Methods of Guerillas, Warlords, and Militia
Tripodi, Paolo (2 August 1999). The Colonial Legacy in Somalia: Rome and Mogadishu: from Colonial Administration to Operation Restore Hope.
https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2013/07/05/news/somalia_anniversario_battaglia_check-point_pasta-62413996/
https://brigatafolgore.net/en/2-july-1993-the-battle-of-the-check-point-pasta/
https://www.ilfaroonline.it/2018/07/02/2-luglio-1993-attacco-mogadiscio-ceckpoint-pasta/228435/
https://www.military.com/history/battle-of-checkpoint-pasta-italys-black-hawk-down-moment-somalia.html

Dec 15, 2025 • 1h 18min
Episode 392 - L'Escalade
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In 1602, Savoy launched an invasion of Geneva, forcing the city-state's residents to rush to the walls and arm themselves with whatever they could get their hands on, including, in one infamous case, a pot of boiling soup.
sources:
Abplanalp, Andrej. “L’Escalade.” Blog: Schweizerisches National Museum. 11 Dec 2020. Online: https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/fr/2020/12/l-escalade-de-geneve/, consulté le 01.12.2025.
Aeschlimann, Jacques. “Tabazan, ou Le bourreau de Genève.” Geneva: La Sirène, 1961. pp. 97
Bonivard, François. Chroniques de Genève: Tome 2. Revilliod, Gustave, ed. Geneva, J.G. Fick: 1887. Online: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65402785/f154.item, consulté le 01.12.2025.
Dufour, Alfred. “Histoire de Genève.” Collection “Que sais-je ?” Paris, Presse Universitaires de France: 2001.
Fazy, Henri. “Genève, le parti huguenot, et le traité de Soleure (1574 à 1579).” Geneva, H. Georg: 1883.
Monnet, Vincent. “Ce fut en mille six cent et deux…” Campus, v.61. December 2002-January 2003. Geneva, Université de Genève, 2002. Online: https://www.unige.ch/presse/campus/pdf/c61/rtheologie.pdf, consulté le 01.12.2025.
Santschi, Catherine. “L’Escalade: Expositions des archives de l’état.” 2002. Online: https://archives-etat-ge.ch/page_de_base/lescalade, consulté le 02.12.2025.
- "Blondel, Philibert", in: Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), version du 13.11.2002. Online: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/025640/2002-11-13/, consulté le 02.12.2025.
Schaetti, Nicolas. “La nuit de l’Escalade.” Bibliothèque de Genève: Expositions. 2023. Online: https://expos.bge-geneve.ch/escalade/, consulté le 30.11.2025.
Schaff, Phillip. “History of the Christian Church. Volume 8: The Reformation in Switzerland. Chapter 8. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1890. Logos Research Systems, Inc digitized version. Online: https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc8/hcc8.i.html, accessed 1 Dec 2025.
“Quelle est la signification du texte en latin et allemand sur la gravure tirée du ‘Thésaurus philopoliticus’ de Daniel Meissner et visible au musée de la Réforme ?” Questions-Réponses. Bibliothèque de Genève. 2023. https://www.geneve.ch/themes/culture/bibliotheques/interroge/reponses/est-la-signification-du-texte-en-latin-et-allemand-sur-la-gravure-tiree-du-thesaurus-philopoliticus-de-daniel-meissner-et-visible-au-musee-de-la-reforme
“Est-il vrai qu'une mère maquerelle appelée ‘Regina bordelli’ était en fonction à Genève jusqu'à la Réforme ?” Questions-Réponses. Bibliothèque de Genève. 2023. Online: https://www.geneve.ch/themes/culture/bibliotheques/interroge/reponses/est-il-vrai-quune-mere-maquerelle-appelee-regina-bordelli-etait-en-fonction-geneve-jusqua-la-reforme
HLS DHS DSS: "Escalade", in: Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (DHS), version du 26.11.2009. Online: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/fr/articles/008905/2009-11-26/, consulté le 01.12.2025.

Dec 10, 2025 • 10min
*PREVIEW* Lions Led By Robots 22: On Fluids
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Dec 8, 2025 • 1h 23min
Episode 391 - The US Navy's Flying Aircraft Carriers ft. Dr. Patrick Wyman
In this discussion, Dr. Patrick Wyman, a historian and podcast host known for Past Lives and Tides of History, dives into the intriguing world of the US Navy's attempt to create flying aircraft carriers. He shares the story of the ill-fated Akron and Macon airships, highlighting the challenges of airborne operations and fantastical design concepts. Listeners will learn about helium hazards and tragic outcomes, along with the cultural phenomenon of airships in the 1930s. Ultimately, Wyman explains why these colossal airships became a cautionary tale in military history.

Dec 3, 2025 • 10min
*PREVIEW* The Great Comanche Raid of 1840
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15 snips
Nov 30, 2025 • 1h 34min
Episode 390 - The Auschwitz Sonderkommando Revolt
A group of Sonderkommando, trapped in one of history's darkest places, planned an uprising to resist their forced roles. The podcast dives into the brutal realities of Auschwitz, revealing the haunting details of life and death within the camp. Topics include the complex camp structure, the psychological toll of their duties, and the buried testimonies that documented the horrors. It explores their resolve to rebel, the smuggling of vital evidence, and the devastating aftermath of their revolt, offering a poignant look at survival and moral complexity.

Nov 26, 2025 • 10min
*PREVIEW* Charles Aznavour, French Resistance Hero
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Nov 24, 2025 • 1h 20min
Episode 389 - The Istanbul Snowball Fight
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In the early days of English ambassadorships to the Ottoman Empire, an increasingly petty collection of grievances among European envoys and Ottoman dignitaries set the conditions for a single errant snowball to incite an anti-English riot. Witness the story of the snowball that got a bunch of English guys' beaten with oblong objects.
Research: Dr Joel Butler
Reources:
Public Records Office, The National Archives, Kew, London: SP 97/3; SP 97/4.
‘Bu bir nefret cinayetidir: Gazeteci Nuh Köklü, 'kartopu oynarken' öldürüldü.’ Radikal (2 February 2015).
‘Gazeteci Nuh Köklü kar topu oynarken öldürüldü’, BBC News Türkçe (18 February 2015).
‘Journalist Nuh Köklü murdered for playing snowball’, Agos (18 February 2015).
‘Life in prison for man who stabbed Turkish journalist over snowball fight’, Hürriyet Daily News (5 June 2015).
Atran, S. ‘The Devoted Actor: Unconditional Commitment and Intractable Conflict across Cultures’, Current Anthropology, 57/S13 (2016), S192-S203.
Brotton, J. The Sultan and the Queen: The Untold Story of Elizabeth and Islam (New York, 2017)
Brown, H.F. Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 9, 1592-1603 (London, 1897).
Burian, O. The Report of Lello, Third English Ambassador to the Sublime Porte / Babıâli Nezdinde Üçüncü İngiliz Elçisi Lello’nun Muhtırası (Ankara, 1952).
Butler, J.D. ‘Between Company and State: Anglo-Ottoman Diplomacy and Ottoman Political Culture, 1565-1607’, unpubd. DPhil thesis, University of Oxford (2022).
_________. ‘Lello, Henry’, The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2023).
Coulter, L.J.F. ‘The involvement of the English crown and its embassy in Constantinople with pretenders to the throne of the principality of Moldavia between the years 1583 and 1620, with particular reference to the pretender Stefan Bogdan between 1590 and 1612’, unpubd. PhD thesis, University of London (1993).
Foster, W. (ed.) The Travels of John Sanderson in the Levant (1584-1602) (London, 1931).
Horniker, A.L. ‘Anglo-French Rivalry in the Levant from 1583 to 1612’, The Journal of Modern History, 18/4 (1946), 289-305.
Hutnyk, J. ‘Nuh Köklü. Statement from Yeldeğirmeni Dayanışması’ (20 February 2015) at: https://hutnyk.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/nuh-koklu-statement-from-yeldegirmeni-dayanismasi/ (accessed 8 March 2025).
Kowalczyk, T.D. ‘Edward Barton and Anglo-Ottoman Relations, 1588-98’, unpubd. PhD thesis, University of Sussex (2020).
MacLean, G. ‘Courting the Porte: Early Anglo-Ottoman Diplomacy’, University of Bucharest Review, 10/2 (2008), 80-88.
MacLean, G. & Matar, N. Britain & the Islamic World, 1558-1713 (Oxford, 2011).
Newson, M. ‘Football, fan violence, and identity fusion’, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 54/4 (2019), 431-444.
Newson, M., Buhrmester, M. & Whitehouse, H. ‘United in defeat: shared suffering and group bonding among football fans’, Managing Sport and Leisure, 28/2 (2023), 164-181.
Purchas, S. Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas His Pilgrimes, viii (Glasgow, 1905).
Sheikh, H., Gómez, Á. & Altran, S. ‘Empirical Evidence for the Devoted Actor Model’, Current Anthropology, 57/S13 (2016), S204-S209.
Unknown Artist. (c1604). The Somerset House Conference, 1604 (oil on canvas). London: National Portrait Gallery.


