The Medical Treatment Only Dracula Could Love
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
Release Date: 10/07/2024
The Ball Drops on the World's Biggest New Year's Scare
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Were They Thinking? Dire consequences are predicted for the new year: Airplanes will fall from the sky. Our defensive missiles will be un-launchable. Broadcast communication will cease. The financial system will collapse. All due to a terrifying cyber event. Millions of dollars and thousands of manhours are spent in preparation for what The Wall Street Journal later calls the “the hoax of the twentieth century.” What in the name of digital dunderheadedness happened? Listen and learn all about it in this episode. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode of "100...
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Drunken Hessians Shocked by George Washington's Christmastime Sneak Attack
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Were They Thinking? The Revolutionary War is on holiday break. On one side of the Delaware River, Hessian troops (in league with the British) are opening casks of rum and having a “Ho-ho-ho!” lot of fun celebrating Christmas Eve. On the other side, George Washington and his ragtag colonial troops sit quietly in the cold—eager to show the enemy who’s naughty or nice. What happens next comes as a shock to the Hessian troops -- and adds a feather to Washington's three-cornered hat. Listen and learn all about it in this episode. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next...
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What's in Your Teeth Could Have You Feeling Down in the Mouth
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Were They Thinking? Known to be more poisonous than arsenic, this substance would seem to be low on the list of elements you might want to pop into your mouth. Yet it's been a cornerstone of dentistry for over one hundred years. And it's likely in your teeth right now. Listen and learn all about it. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment. For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical...
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Henry Ford and the Uni-Hue Automobile
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Was He Thinking? Long before ecru, maize, or topaz, automobiles come in your color choice of black, black, or (if you ask nicely and place your order early) black. Why the lack of options? Well, according to Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, the auto industry’s resident ubergod, black paint dries more quickly—allowing more efficient operation of his revolutionary assembly line. The American car buyers response? Well, that's a horseless carriage of a different color. Listen and learn all about it in this episode. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode of "100...
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Octobomb: The Hissy, Clunky Rise and Fall of 8-Track Tape
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Were They Thinking? In the frantic quest for a handy, durable, high-fidelity tape format suitable for playing recorded music in automobiles, a consortium of top automotive and electronics manufacturers advance a revolutionary new music delivery system: the eight-track cassette. And while that sounds good on paper, eight-track tape, it turns out, sounds really bad in cars... and boats... and home stereos. Listen, laugh and learn all about it in this episode. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on...
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Iron Mike: The Heavyweight Chomping-On of the World
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Was He Thinking? Former boxing champion Mike Tyson wants to regain the heavyweight crown so badly he can taste it -- literally. On this night, agitated by what he perceives to be Holyfield’s continual, intentional head-butting, Tyson clinches with Holyfield center-ring—and proceeds to do something never before witnessed in professional boxing. Listen and learn all about it in this episode. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your...
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Rescheduling Thanksgiving: A Turkey of an Idea Gets Plucked
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Was He Thinking? As the Great Depression lingers on, President Franklin Roosevelt and his advisors have a shiny new concept for boosting the lackluster U.S. economy: move Thanksgiving from late November to seven days earlier in the month. That way, they reason, Christmas shoppers will have one more week to buy presents, thereby invigorating moribund retail sales. Instead, an irate populace immediately places Roosevelt’s bird-brained concept on the chopping block. Listen, laugh and learn all about it in this episode. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode of "100...
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A Doctor's Killer Idea for Saving Lives
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Was He Thinking? Disturbed by the internecine carnage of America’s deadliest conflict—the still-raging Civil War—an American physician sets out to create a gun that, by its very rapid-fire efficiency, will enable one soldier to do the work of an entire battalion. The need for large armies, he reasons, would be eliminated, thereby diminishing the aggregate death and destruction of this—or any—war. Problem: Altruistically conceived as a means to curb battle fatalities, his amazing weapon instead spawns burgeoning death tolls in dozens of conflicts worldwide. Listen and learn...
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The Presidential Assassin's Gunshot That Backfires Bigtime
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Was He Thinking? You might say that this hunky stage actor, critically acclaimed as “the handsomest man in America,” is the Brad Pitt of his day. Yet below his chiseled cheekbones, a dark rage lurks -- a post-war rage he focuses on the commander in chief of the United States. Yet while he succeeds by the barrel of a gun, he fails in his ultimate goal, instead becoming an American villian of historic proportions. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it...
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Monkey Business Sinks a Presidential Campaign
100 of the Worst Ideas in History
What Was He Thinking? The sure-fire frontrunner in the 1988 U.S. Presidential election campaign, this senator, declared a flake and a womanizer by his adversaries while fighting back rumors that he’s embarked on an extramarital affair, dares the press corps to follow him around -- claiming they'll learn that his life is "pretty boring." Well, two reporters from the Miami Herald take him up on that challenge and uncover some surreptitious aquatic interloping that's just about the opposite of boring. Learn all about it in this episode. More Blundering Brainstorms to Come The next episode...
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You say you feel tired, run down, achy and breaky? Well, fortunately your barber (yes, the same guy who trims your coif) has just the cure: He hangs you upside down while slicing open an artery to let your blood drain out.
And while there's very little evidence this kind of age-old medical remedy will make a sick person feel better, there's plenty of evidence that it can make a sick person feel dead. Listen, shake your head in disbelief and learn all about it in this episode.
More Blundering Brainstorms to Come
The next episode of "100 of the Worst Ideas in History, the Podcast" is in production and on its way to you. Watch for it wherever you get your podcasts. And remember to subscribe, like and comment.
For 99 other examples of historical, hysterical stinkin’ thinkin’ from the past, get your copy of popular book "100 of the Worst Ideas in History," available at Amazon.com and better retailers everywhere. Audiobook now available at Audible.com and other platforms.