The Unsung Podcast

When an army of Greek mercenaries unwittingly join Cyrus the Younger’s attempt to usurp his brother Artaxerxes as the Great King of Persia, they find themselves in a situation they never bargained for.Show email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Get the Medicine Woman audiobook here.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Get Frank Kidd’s pulp western adventure novel Medicine Woman now in audiobook form, narrated and produced by me, on your platform of choice:* Audible* Amazon* iTunesFrank Kidd and his publications Pulp West and The Frank and Brady Show. Also check him out at frankkiddauthor.com.Show email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This is a recording of a Substack Live session from January 24, 2026 at 7:30pm central time, which was a live audience Q&A for the American Guerrillas series. Wolliver was gracious enough to come on and co-host. We experienced some technical issues with the original plan and had to switch to StreamYard on the fly, which is why the original link from the show notes of Part 11 wouldn’t have worked if you tried to use it to join. Lessons learned for next time.Wolliver on Substack and his publication, Writings by WolliverAmerican Guerrillas: The Complete SeriesBorder War timelineShow email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Men raised in the fires of the guerrilla war try to make their way in its chaotic aftermath. New heroes of the Missouri secessionists arise out of Reconstruction politics. Legends born out of the war transcend their origins.Frank Kidd and his publication Pulp WestThe Frank and Brady Show and my appearance on it, Episode 10 (w/ guest Jason McGinty): Forrest Carter's Heavy Metal Westerns, Gone to Texas and The Vengeance Trail of Josey WalesQ&A LivestreamAmerican Guerrillas Bibliography and AcknowledgementsSam Colt, the Man Who Won the West (referenced at 40:20)Border War timelineShow email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Bloody Bill Anderson & Co. carve a path of destruction across central Missouri. General Sterling Price rejoins the story and makes one last desperate bid to bring his home state to the Confederacy. And four years of brutal civil war finally come to an end—mostly.My Visit to the Site of the Centralia Massacre (referenced at 2:26:23)Photo of Bill Anderson in death, taken by Dr. Robert B. Kice (referenced at 3:38:15)Border War timelineShow email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content, including the recently released bonus episode of the podcast.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Quantrill’s raid shocks the entire nation as the seeds planted by the Emigrant Aid Society all the way back in 1854 bear their fruit. Ewing enacts brutal measures against the bushwhackers’ civilian support networks in western Missouri. Hordes of former Missouri farm boys complete their degeneration into savages.Black Ibis Social ClubMy appearance on BISCVeterans recreating the rebel yell (16:21)Reenactors recreating the rebel yell (16:59)General Order No. 11 by George Caleb Bingham (referenced at 2:11:53)Border War timelineShow email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content, including the recently released bonus episode of the podcast.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Regular Confederate generals make plays to win back control of Missouri, while Quantrill’s guerrillas wage a more personal and private war of their own. Atrocities mount on both sides as Missouri society descends into chaos. Civilians try their best to survive.Pea Ridge maps (referenced at 1:20:25):* Day 1 (March 7)* Day 2 (March 8)Border War timelineShow email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content, including the recently released bonus episode of the podcast.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

In an extended tangent, we trace the history of a little-known part of the Transmississippi war from its roots in the deep history of the southeastern Indian tribes.Skip to 11:10 to skip the long intro.Border War timelineBecome a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content, including the recently released bonus episode of the podcast.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates.Thanks to my brother Zach for arranging and recording the intro music. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

After his victory at Wilson’s Creek, Sterling Price campaigns to win Missouri for the Confederacy. Jim Lane returns to Kansas and raises a brigade of Jayhawkers. John C. Frémont scrambles to recover after the death of Nathaniel Lyon.Border War timelineBecome a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content, including the recently released bonus episode of the podcast.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates.Thanks to my brother Zach for arranging and recording the intro music. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

John Brown’s trial and execution, and the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, solidify the sectional split and spark civil war. Unionists and secessionists in Missouri scramble for dominance. The first two great battles of the war give the nation an ugly wake-up call.Why the Soviets Invaded Afghanistan and Why it Still Matters Today by Burn These Books (referenced at 2:04:35)Become a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content, including the recently released bonus episode of the podcast.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates.Thanks to my brother Zach for arranging and recording the intro music. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

The free state party, led by Jim Lane and the Danites, goes over tfo the offensive and exacts retribution against the proslavery side for the violence in the summer of 1856. Two mystic figures from very different times and backgrounds forge similar paths toward destruction in Virginia. All driving the nation closer to the brink of civil war.To skip the gory stuff, jump to 2:10:15 when indicated.Show email: [email protected] a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates.Thanks to my brother Zach for arranging and recording the intro music. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

The backlash from the Pottawatomie Massacre hits Kansas Territory. Jim Lane returns to liberate the territory from the iron fist of the Missourians. While caught in the middle, settlers with sympathies to both sides, or neither, try to get on with their already-tough lives under constant threat of burning, pillaging, and cold-blooded murder.Become a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates.Thanks to my brother Zach for arranging and recording the intro music. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

During the standoff on the Wakarusa, a man of destiny shows up in Lawrence. Kansans and Missourians alike learn just how ugly guerrilla war can get. It’s just a small taste of things to come.Tragic Prelude (referenced at 7:30)Become a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates.Thanks to my brother Zach for arranging and recording the intro music. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Guerrilla warfare is ugly. It’s uglier when it’s between fellow countrymen. In this prologue of sorts, reckless pride and unintended consequences throw a nation into an unrecoverable tailspin.Map (referenced at 28:26)Christian history resource (referenced at 2:17:12)Become a paid subscriber at The Unsung Substack for $5/month or $50/year and get access to paid-only content.One-time donations at PayPal or Venmo.Follow @the_unsung_podcast on Instagram for updates.Thanks to my brother Zach for arranging and recording the intro music. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theunsungpodcast.substack.com/subscribe