History’s Greatest Fails

History’s Greatest Fails

Hosted by Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day · Sony Music Entertainment

4.0from 4 ratings

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7
Episodes
4
Ratings
2026
First episode

About History’s Greatest Fails

We’re often taught that history’s written by the winners. But we’d like to argue that, in fact, it’s the losers who end up making history. In this brand new series from Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day, History’s Greatest Fails aims to answer the simple, but complex, question: Why do losers make history? From Richard III, to Vincent Van Gough, to the purposefully forgotten female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, this series is going to help you better understand how the idea of failure changes over time, and what lessons failure has for all of us. Dan and Elizabeth are old friends, fellow history graduates, and fellow authors and podcasters. Dan Jones is host of ⁠This Is History — A Dynasty to Die For⁠, a narrative podcast that charts the bloody and complex drama of England’s Plantagenet dynasty, now up to its 10th season. Elizabeth is host of ⁠How To Fail⁠, a podcast that has brought together hundreds of luminaries and thinkers including Kate Winslet, Yuval Noah Hariri, and Malala Yousafzai, to reflect on failure in the present. Over six episodes, History’s Greatest Fails will dissect failure of all kinds, from troubled historical rulers, to the failures of remembrance, to the failures that have created the happy accidents that last for generations. As always, Dan’s royal favourites can chime in anytime on the royal court on Patreon at ⁠patreon.com/thisishistory⁠. And for the bonus episodes of this series, Dan and Producer Al are hearing from the favourites directly — join us as they discuss the royal favourites’ special fail mentions. So, join us for the debut episode of History’s Greatest Fails. –– A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices – Presented by Dan Jones and Elizabeth Day Producer - Alan Weedon Senior Producer - Dominic Tyerman Executive Producer - Simon Poole Executive Producer - Dan Jones Executive Producer for Daylight Productions - Elizabeth Day Production Manager - Jen Mistri Production Coordinator - Eric Ryan Head of Content - Chris Skinner

Publisher
Sony Music Entertainment
Category
history · society & culture
Language
en
Explicit
Yes
First episode
31 Mar 2026
Latest episode
12 May 2026
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Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

  1. 12 May 2026

    War — History’s Ultimate Failure

  2. 5 May 2026

    Ear Today, Gone Tomorrow: Van Gogh’s Guide to Artistic Failure

  3. 28 Apr 2026

    Why isn’t Leonardo Da Vinci remembered as an engineer?

  4. 21 Apr 2026

    How, exactly, does a woman ‘slip’ out of history?

  5. 14 Apr 2026

    Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn are the Ross and Rachel of history

  6. 7 Apr 2026

    Was Richard III a Failure?

  7. 31 Mar 2026

    Get in loser, we’re making history

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4.0 / 5
4 ratings

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