A show that proves no matter how long you've been dead, it's never too late to have haters. Join historian Dr. Claire Aubin and a new expert every week to pull back the scholarly curtain on the world’s worst guys and gals. From the widely beloved to the relatively unknown, no historical figure is safe, and every episode reminds listeners that the best part of understanding the past is criticizing it.
New episodes every Thursday — free episodes bi-weekly, and access to all episodes (ad-free!) at patreon.com/thisguysucked
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Lord Byron with Kate Lister
Claire and Kate Lister remind you that no man is worth putting up with this type of tomfoolery.
Guest
Our guest Dr. Kate Lister is a literary scholar and historian of s
Sep 17 1 h 22 min
Introducing What Could Go Right?
Claire introduces the podcast What Could Go Right, by the Progress Network. It’s a current affairs show that tries to find a more balanced way of looking at what’s happen
Sep 17 1 min
Martin Frobisher with Lauren Working (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Prof. Lauren Working talk adventure kidnapping, and why you can never trust an alchemist.
Guest
Our guest Lauren Working is a Senior Lecturer in Early Modern
Sep 10 16 min
George McClellan with Jamelle Bouie
Claire and Jamelle Bouie prove that fear is the mindkiller. Especially in the Civil War.
Guest
Our guest Jamelle Bouie is a political commentator and columnist for the
Sep 3 1 h 06 min
Jehanne with Sara McDougall (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Sara McDougall go on a mission to prove everything you thought you knew about medieval women wrong in one of our special This Gal Rocked episodes.
Guest
Our
Aug 27 17 min
Dionysius of Syracuse with Roel Konijnendijk
Claire and Dr. Roel Konijnendijk return with another chat about an extremely untrustworthy ancient mediterranean man. Shocker.
Guest
Our guest Roel Konijnendik is a Dar
Aug 20 1 h 16 min
Ibn Jamahir with Craig Perry (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Prof. Craig Perry remind you that the medieval period didn’t only happen in Europe, and Christians did not have the monopoly on doing bad stuff.
Guest
Our gu
Aug 13 16 min
Thomas Jefferson with Christa Dierksheide & Nicholas Guyatt
Claire, Christa Dierksheide, and Nicholas Guyatt teach you something new (we promise) about one of the Founding-est Fathers.
Guest
Christa Dierksheide is a Professor of
Aug 6 1 h 03 min
Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore with Brendan Greeley (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Brendan Greeley talk trash about the Andrew Tate of the 18th century, and explain the economy a little bit too.
Guest
Our guest Brendan Greeley is a writer a
Jul 30 18 min
Vedius Pollio with Emma Southon
Claire and Emma Southon get really mad at the Romans. What else is new?
Guest
Our guest Dr. Emma Southon is an author and historian of Ancient Rome. Her new book Not Bu
Jul 23 1 h 05 min
Preston Brooks with Paul Quigley (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Paul Quigley talk duels, masculinity, and what really happened to Charles Sumner.
Guest
Our guest Paul Quigley is an Associate Professor of Civil War Studies
Jul 16 18 min
Introducing What Could Go Right?
Claire introduces the podcast What Could Go Right, by the Progress Network. It’s a current affairs show that tries to find a more balanced way of looking at what’s happen
Jul 16 1 min
The Worst Wing with Nicole Hemmer and Kevin Schultz (UNLOCKED LIVE SHOW)
Claire, Nicole Hemmer, and Kevin Schultz play some games and answer the easiest question in the world: are all of the American presidents bad?
**THIS UNLOCKED EPISODE WA
Jul 9 1 h 17 min
James Buchanan with Gautham Rao (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Gautham Rao get into why, exactly, this guy is often ranked the worst president of a country with a lot of truly awful presidents.
Guest
Our guest Gautham Ra
Jul 2 20 min
Renaissance Arms Dealers with Catherine Fletcher
Claire and Prof. Catherine Fletcher take a (metaphorical) trip to the gun range, except it’s in Italy and the people are wearing funny pants.
Guest
Our guest Catherine
Jun 25 1 h 14 min
Louis Bieral with Andrew Wender Cohen (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Prof. Andrew Wender Cohen confirm that you really, really, really did not want to be alive in the 19th century.
Guest
Our guest Andrew Wender Cohen is a Prof
Jun 18 17 min
Ivan the Terrible with Eli Yudin
Claire and Eli Yudin ponder the long-term negative effects of poisoning everybody you’ve ever met.
Guest
Our guest Eli Yudin is a comedian, writer, and host of What A T
Jun 11 1 h 14 min
Henry Hudson with Peter Mancall (Subscriber Preview)
Claire and Prof. Peter Mancall remind listeners that all those places were named after a real guy, who might still be alive since we don’t technically know what happened
Jun 4 22 min
Alonzo Slayback with Devin Thomas O'Shea
Claire and Devin Thomas O’Shea come up with a series of incredible drag names and talk about a Confederate soldier/secret society founder a little bit.
Guest
Our guest
May 28 1 h 21 min
He Despised Himself with Matt Seybold and Erin Bartram (Subscriber Preview)
Claire sits down with two Mark Twain experts for a live discussion of his memory and misdeeds. In his own home.
Guests
Matt Seybold is an Associate Professor of America
May 21 17 min
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Position in the History chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#100#199JulAugSep
#2
all-time peak
5
days in the top 3 since Mar 2025
Chart positions
Where This Guy Sucked ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 22, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
This is a relevant podcast in today's society and its culture clashing. I admittedly have only listened to the Henry Ford episode, which included a lot of information I surprisingly didn't know: his education and early career and how it led him to manufacturing the car em masse, Fordlandia, and of course his extremist Anti-Semitic and racist views and their impacts. I read the other reviews though as well, and after reflecting, I agree with their sentiments in part. The informal and conversational style of the host and guest makes the content approachable but the filler words and continued use of millennial phrases ("literally", "like", etc.) needs to be reduced to ensure the content is taken seriously and remains credible. Obviously the premise of the show is why these historical figures sucked, but going into more of the impacts of the acts themselves on marginalities and vulnerable people in that moment (using numbers and data) to today will help keep those claiming misandry at bay. Obviously there will always be critics of those criticizing so-called "revolutionaries" and "geniuses", but it's worth considering that sometimes leaning too much into the polarizing can be, well, polarizing and defeat the purpose of this podcast, being to shed a light on the acts and people who harmed others and continue to harm in today's world. To further clarify, it's amazing to lean into these facts and to share them at all which is polarizing, so I guess what I mean by this is word choice matters and being less millennial in how the information is presented will help. I'm a millennial woman myself so I get it! On the other hand, it's your podcast and I commend the creativity and guts to do it!
kla1009 · Jun 2025
Always fun to listen to and I always learn a lot from the guest! I’ve really enjoyed listening to this podcast and them being unafraid to broadcast the dirty laundry of terrible people. It’s perfectly fine to speak ill of the dead, y’all.
Zilly999 · May 2025
There’s such a glut of mediocre cashgrab pop history podcasts that I forgot how good a history podcast could be when it has, instead of glorified wikipedia readers, not only a personable host but actual academic experts
DannoOno · Mar 2025
new must-listen podcast for people who enjoy learning about stuff they learned wrong the first time just dropped! Don’t blame yourself too much, the american education system and media landscape have likely steered you (and me!) wrong at almost every opportunity
TheLastSwearbender · Mar 2025
We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.
Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of This Guy Sucked, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
