Badass of the Week

How do you go from carrying the king’s spear to running the biggest empire on Earth? A palace coup, a suspiciously well-timed horse, and some truly monumental self-promotion. Ben Thompson and Dr. Pat Larash follow Darius the Great’s bloody rise to power, the rebellions that threatened to tear Persia apart, and the roads, riches, and royal propaganda that held it together. From the wild stories of Herodotus to a royal résumé carved into a mountainside, this is the story of a ruler who understood that conquering the world was only half the job. The other half was making sure everyone knew who was in charge.
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A woman is kidnapped by terrorists. The official rescue effort stalls. And the person who knows the territory is a former Green Beret who thought his missions were behind him.

When Abu Sayyaf abducted Evelyn Chang during a deadly raid on an island resort, Gene Yu had a personal reason to act: Evelyn was a friend of his mother’s. The West Point graduate and former Special Forces officer put his own money on the line, called on trusted comrades, and headed back toward the jungles of the southern Philippines without orders or military backup.

Gene joins Badass of the Week to tell the story of the rescue, the decisions that could have gone disastrously wrong, and how the mission gave him a second shot at finding his place after the Army.
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Quanah Parker was born between worlds—and became a master of both.

As the last great war chief of the Quahadi Comanche, he led one of the final armed resistances on the Southern Plains, charging into the gunfire at Adobe Walls and fighting an industrial war machine with speed, terrain, and sheer nerve. When military victory became impossible, Quanah launched an equally audacious second act: statesman, cattle baron, political power broker, defender of religious freedom, and tireless advocate for his people.

Ben Thompson is joined by Pushcart Prize–winning writer and professor Daniel Peña, author of How to Look Away: On American Cruelty and the Refusal to Disappear, to explore Quanah’s extraordinary life, the tragedy of his mother Cynthia Ann Parker, and the complicated legacy of a warrior who refused to let his people disappear.
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Before the Green Berets or Navy SEALs, there were Rogers’ Rangers. During the French and Indian War, Major Robert Rogers forged an unconventional fighting force that could snowshoe through blizzards, operate deep behind enemy lines, and turn wilderness survival into a weapon.

Then bestselling author Scott Sigler joins the show to discuss Beasts Beyond the River, his historical-horror novel that throws hardened colonial Rangers into a supernatural nightmare of mud, blood, gunpowder, and monsters.
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At the Battle of Changban, Zhao Yun turned his horse around and rode back into the teeth of Cao Cao’s advancing army to rescue Liu Bei’s infant son. It was the defining act of a warrior celebrated not merely for his skill with a spear, but for his courage, loyalty, and unbreakable code of honor.

This week, longtime producer Ian Jacobs steps out from behind the soundboard to explore the history and legend of Zhao Yun—the White Dragon of the Three Kingdoms and perhaps the closest ancient China ever came to the perfect soldier.
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