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PODCAST

Mistakes Were Made

History is full of terrible decisions, epic failures, and absurd moments. Mistakes Were Made is here to celebrate them. Comedians Robert Bacon, Mike Kauffman, Bobby Smithney, and Jenna O"Brien dive into the greatest blunders in history, from the Great Molasses Flood in Boston to the rise of eccentric dictators, bizarre wars, and even the oddities of human behavior.With sharp humor, detailed storytelling, and a healthy dose of sarcasm, they teach each other, and you, how humans have screwed up

history improv

All Episodes

58:46

The Great Dublin Whiskey Fire

Mistakes Were Made ·

2025/10/13

In 1875, Dublin was flooded with whiskey, literally. When a bonded warehouse in the Liberties district went up in flames, over 300,000 gallons of burning whiskey poured through the streets, turning one of Ireland’s poorest neighborhoods into a fiery river of booze. Firefighters quickly learned that water only made it worse, so they turned to an unlikely hero: horse manure.Comedians Robert Bacon and guest host Jenna O’Brien (filling in for Mike Kauffman) dive into this bizarre disaster where people

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82:28

Lawnchair Larry (2025 NEW EPISODE)

Mistakes Were Made ·

2025/05/24

We're back! After a 7-year break, Mistakes Were Made returns with a high-flying tale—literally. In this episode, Bacon tells Mike the bizarre history of people who tried to fly using helium balloons. From lawn chairs to church pews, it turns out some folks really took “lightheaded” to new heights.EPISODE 31 - Lawnchair LarryIn this episode of Mistakes Were Made, we dive into the strange history of helium balloon flight attempts, including the infamous Lawnchair Larry and other balloon-powered

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55:47

30 - Mao Zedong

Mistakes Were Made ·

2018/09/04

This week we learn about Mao Zedong and his weird obsession with mangos and murder.

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22:23

29 - The Winter War Sniper

Mistakes Were Made ·

2018/08/27

In 1939 Russia invaded Finland in what's called The Winter War. During the war a sniper from Finland, Simo Häyhä, was able to kill hundreds of Russians.More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4

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31:32

28 - Franz Ferdinand

Mistakes Were Made ·

2018/08/20

This week we learn about the legend of Franz Ferdinand and his cartoon bombs.

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37:40

27 - Alaska

Mistakes Were Made ·

2018/08/13

In 1867 America bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. Some opponents called it "Seward's Folly" after Secretary of State William H. Seward. Turns out it was a pretty great investment.

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39:12

26 - The Berlin Wall

Mistakes Were Made ·

2018/08/05

Building a wall dividing a city. Can't see how this will be a mistake.

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37:10

25 - The Halifax Disaster

Mistakes Were Made ·

2018/03/20

This week we learn about the Halifax Disaster and welcome on a new co-host with Bobby Smithney.*Sorry for the audio quality this week. We're still working stuff out.*

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2:05

Season 2 Announcement

Mistakes Were Made ·

2018/02/06

Hey guys, I’ve got some great news. We’re back for season 2 of Mistakes Were Made very soon.We’ve used this time to think about the podcast and how to make it better and Mike and I came up with a great idea. Neither of us are real history buffs and while that makes the podcast humorous sometimes we both thought that the podcast would be so much better with an actual history buff. Someone who has studied it and understands it more so we can have more to joke off of.We found that person with Bobby

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29:35

Episode 24 - The History of Mooning

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/08/09

In the year 66 things were pretty tense between the Romans and the Jews around the mediterranean. You see there was this guy named Caligula in charge of the Roman Empire at the time and he wasn’t the worst, but he also wasn’t the best. Caligula spent a lot of money on building projects. Practical ones like aqueducts and harbors, cultural ones like theaters and temples, but also weird ones like taking hundreds of Roman merchant ships and using them to build a 2 mile long floating bridge across the

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45:38

Episode 23 - Mobutu Sese Seko: The Leopard Hat Dictator

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/07/26

While he was dictator he did the standard dictator stuff. He killed those who spoke out against him and with all the money at the top many of his people starved. Mobutu was spending billions of dollars on himself and his family. He would overpay his generals or other people that might want to overthrow him and underpay his soldiers, many of whom were forced to steal from civilians just so they could have money to eat.Mobutu also was one of the men who was instrumental in bringing the Rumble in the

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31:36

Episode 22 - Saparmurat Niyazov: The Turkmenistan...

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/07/18

Saparmurat Niyazov (Super-murat Ne-yah-zov) was born on February 19th, 1940 in the former Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan. He didn’t have the best childhood. His father either died fighting Nazis in World War II or dodged fighting and was therefore sentenced by a military court (two different stories on this). When he was 8 his mother and both his siblings were killed in an earthquake that leveled the city they were living in when the building they were all in collapsed. Niyazov spent 8 days digging

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22:25

Episode 21 - German Sub Poop Party

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/07/12

U-boat is the anglicised version of the German word U-Boot, a shortening of Unterseeboot, literally "undersea boat". While the German term refers to any submarine, the English one refers specifically to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. During World War II, U-boat warfare was the major component of the Battle of the Atlantic, which lasted the duration of the war. Germany had the largest submarine fleet in World War II, since the Treaty of

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31:34

Episode 20 - Nicolae Ceausescu: The Romanian Dictator

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/06/27

Nicolae Ceausescu (Nick-o-lie Chi-Ches-Coo) was born on January 26th, 1918. He was one of the ten children of a poor peasant family. His father owned 7 and a half acres of agricultural land, a few sheep, and he also supplemented his large family's income through tailoring.At the age of 7 Nicolae started his education at the local village school, but after only 4 years of education he ran away from home to escape his extremely religious, abusive, and strict father. He initially lived with his sister

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28:10

Episode 19 - The Great Molasses Flood in Boston

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/06/13

In 1919 the molasses business was booming. So much so that molasses tanks had to be built in places like Boston and quickly. Some tanks were built too quickly though and mistakes were made.

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20:25

Episode 18 - Dancing Mania

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/06/06

Europe in the middle ages wasn't a very happy place to live. That's why it was so weird that randomly groups of people started dancing in masses. This was known as "Dancing Mania" and it would happen several times thoughout history.

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34:35

Episode 17 - Immortal Combat

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/05/30

Since the beginning of written history there have been tails of people trying to cheat death and live forever. It explores humanity's deep-seated fears and comprehension of its own mortality. Many people through history did not see this as fiction, but instead strived to make it a reality.

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29:22

Episode 16 - Horrible Compromise

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/05/23

The compromise that eventually lead to the American Civil War.

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33:03

Episode 15 - Prohibition

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/05/16

“The reign of tears is over. The slums will soon be a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs. Men will walk upright now, women will smile, and children will laugh. Hell will be forever for rent.” - Reverend Billy SundayReverend Billy Sunday was a proponent of the “Noble Experiment”, a anti-alcohol movement that gained steam throughout the nineteenth century and became a staple of the progressive movement at the start of the twentieth century. By

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26:38

Episode 14 - Vikings "Discover" America

Mistakes Were Made ·

2017/05/09

Check it out, we found a completely different continent! Let's murder people on it!

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33 results

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