The Dubious Book of Famous Deeds

Fantasy brought to you by late-stage capitalism. Starring Bobby Moynihan & Rhea Seehorn, with Jon Hamm, John Waters and more! Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Clare Blackwood joins me for the tale of Lord Admiral Nelson: commander of the Royal Navy, hero of the Napoleonic Wars, deadbeat husband. Listen to the story of a man who left everything on the field, including an arm, most of his teeth and an eyebrow. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Guests Rhys Waters and Jesse Harley ('Canadian Politics is Boring') come for the weaponry and stay for the pyromania as we explore the life of Samuel Colt, a gun inventor who had a singular appetite for destruction. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Comedian Brandon Hackett is here for the story of Walter Raleigh, namesake of Raleigh, North Carolina: a great explorer, so we're told, but really - did he get a single thing right? Or was he really famous because Queen Elizabeth I had the hots for him? Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

In a surprisingly horny episode, comedian Ashley Botting is here for the story of Sir Henry Holland: physician to the wealthy, confidante to the elite, and - to spread a rumour we can in no way substantiate - hot lover to them all? Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Alastair Forbes is here for stories about lighthouses! Specifically, stories about lighthouse disasters. We'll also hear a bit about John Smeaton, the first ever civil engineer... but mainly we're talking lighthouses failing. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Allana Reoch is here to learn all the uncomfortably public details about legendary poet John Milton. Will Allana come around on him? Does she have a soft spot for broken things?? Or is John Milton just *that* charming??? (He isn't.) Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

The Dubious Book returns with an extremely funny episode about Queen Victoria's favourite painter, Edwin Landseer. Tim Baltz and Marty Adams join the podcast to absolutely devastate this long dead artist whose main gig was painting pictures of dogs. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Hi friends! Been a long time. But I'm happy to tell you that more episodes are just around the corner. Season 2 arrives May 3rd with with more great guests, obscure names and fun stories. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

It's the season finale! Comedian Lisa Brooke is here for the rags to riches tale of Edward Baines, the newspaperman who had the distinction of being burned in effigy by his fellow citizens not once, but twice. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Just before slavery was abolished in the USA, tens of millions of Russian serfs also received their liberty. But was there a catch? Yes, of course there was! Actor/comedian Anand Rajaram is here for a tale about the high cost of freedom. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Paloma Nuñez joins me for the story of not one but four explorers: all famous, all psychos, as we dive into a very pro-colonial chapter. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Kris Siddiqi and Nigel Downer are here to learn about Sir Titus Salt who, for reasons unexplained, built a city in his own name! Was it a Christian utopia? A triumph of capitalism? A child-labour sweatshop? Can it be all three? Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Comedian Stacey McGunnigle is here to learn about Sir William Ferguson, Scottish surgeon, and stares aghast as we cut open and examine the world of surgery in 1800s London! Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

How many animals died to satisfy Thomas Edison's thirst for power? How did Nikola Tesla cause Mark Twain to soil himself? And how is former President & Game Show Host Donald Trump connected? Find out in this bonus content from Chapter 7 - Thomas Edison! Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

This contemporary account of Thomas Edison portrays the famed inventor as a brilliant wunderkind - but comedian Carson Pinch is here to tell you he was a cruel, manipulative fraud. Which is the truth? There can be no in-between! Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Jan Caruana (CBC's Because News) is here for the life and times of 19th Century Italy's second-greatest sculptor! From his sad childhood to the creepy courtship of his wife, learn what made this talented man who could simply NOT turn down a gig. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Paul is reunited with Nug Nahrgang and Lee Smart of the comedy podcast Illusionoid. Together they learn the tale of Adolph Nordenskiöld, a man whose family were weirdos, whose mouth got him in all sorts of trouble, and whose rich daddy got him out of it. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

England's first attempt at maritime exploration was a disaster! But the survivors didn't come home empty-handed. Actor Christy Bruce is here for the tale of how sailors developed a new relationship with - and a huge crush on - Ivan the Terrible himself. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Comedian Alastair Forbes could not be more disappointed to be on an episode about tunnels, but sticks around anyway for a whirlwind tour of 19th-century Switzerland - replete with St. Bernards, fashionable hats, serving wenches and many dead horses. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Meet the warrior whose life and times inspired Frank Herbert’s DUNE! Baroness Von Sketch Show's Aurora Browne is here for a tale of conquest and vengeance in the Caucasus. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

David Tomlinson (Star Trek: Discovery) came in with a low opinion of William Shakespeare - but leaves with a lower one as the Dubious Book tries in vain to blow endless sunshine up the Bard's behind. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Host Paul Bates dismantles the British Empire one deed at a time as he guides us through history, as told by a skewed and suspect book from 1889. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/