Badass of the Week

When most people hear the name William Bligh, they think of a tyrant. Thanks to generations of books and movies, the captain of the HMS Bounty has gone down in history as the cruel, power-mad villain whose crew finally rose up and mutinied.

The real story is far more complicated—and far more impressive.

Long before the mutiny, Bligh had established himself as one of the finest navigators in the British Navy. And after being cast adrift by Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, he accomplished one of the greatest survival voyages in maritime history, guiding eighteen men more than 3,600 miles to safety in a tiny open boat.

This week, Ben is joined by Dr. Patricia Larash to separate fact from fiction and explore the remarkable life of William Bligh: explorer, naval officer, survivor, colonial governor, and perhaps the most unfairly maligned captain in history.

Because getting mutinied against once is memorable. Getting mutinied against twice is a lifestyle.
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Few athletes have ever transcended their sport the way Muhammad Ali did. This week, Ben Thompson is joined by Dr. Patricia Larash and Mike Primavera to dive into the life of the heavyweight champion who didn’t just dominate boxing—he changed history.

From winning Olympic gold and shocking the world by defeating Sonny Liston to refusing the draft at the height of the Vietnam War, Ali turned every fight into something bigger than sports. He was brilliant, controversial, hilarious, fearless, and impossible to ignore. Along the way, he battled legends, sacrificed years of his career for his principles, and became one of the most recognizable human beings on Earth.

This is the story of Muhammad Ali—the boxer who conquered the ring, challenged a nation, and earned the title of The Greatest.
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Most people know Canute the Great from the famous story of him ordering the tide to stop. The problem? That’s not what actually happened.

This week, Ben Thompson and Dr. Patricia Larash dive into the life of the Viking warrior who conquered England, forged a vast North Sea empire stretching from England to Denmark and Norway, and became one of the most powerful rulers in medieval Europe. Through battlefield victories, political maneuvering, and a surprising talent for statecraft, Canute transformed himself from a foreign invader into one of England’s most successful kings.

It’s a story of longships, conquest, diplomacy, and the Viking who proved that sometimes the most badass thing a conqueror can do is learn how to govern.
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Most repo men tow away Hondas in the middle of the night. Max Hardberger stole back multi-million dollar cargo ships from dictators, corrupt governments, and the Russian mafia. This week, Ben Thompson and producer Andrew Jacobs dive into the unbelievable true story of the maritime lawyer, poet, and sea captain who turned international ship repossession into an art form—using fake sinkings, voodoo priests, tropical storms, and sheer nerve to pull off some of the wildest heists in modern history. From Haiti to Vladivostok, this is the story of the world’s only cargo ship repo man… and the insane missions that made him a legend.
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This week, Ben Thompson and special guest Shana Steinberg dive into the unbelievable true story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team — the Japanese American soldiers who became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history while their own families sat behind barbed wire in internment camps back home.

From brutal mountain warfare in Italy to the legendary rescue of the “Lost Battalion” in France, these men charged machine gun nests, scaled cliffs in the dead of night, and fought with a level of courage that stunned even their fellow soldiers. They battled Nazis overseas while confronting racism and suspicion from the very country they were risking everything to defend.

It’s one of the most heroic, complicated, and emotionally devastating stories of World War II — and a reminder that patriotism is sometimes proven by the people a nation treats the worst.
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