This Guy Sucked
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
Episodes
Claire and Brooke Newman travel back to the 17th century and remind a king that he deserves all the hate he gets.
Guest
Our guest Brooke Newman is an Associate Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her book The Crown’s Silence: The Hidden History of the British Monarchy and Slavery in the Americas is available here. Follow her on Bluesky @brookenewman and Instagram @drbrookenewman, or visit her websit...
Claire and Maddy Pelling remind us that the life of the party is often also the worst person you know.
Guest
Our guest Dr. Madeleine Pelling is a cultural historian, author, and broadcaster. Her newest book Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment is available for pre-order here, and her podcast After Dark is available here. Follow her on Instagram @maddypelling, or visit her website.
Sensitive Themes & To...
Claire and Sophia Rosenfeld discuss what women want. And what they don’t want. And what they don’t want other women to want.
Guest
Our guest Sophia Rosenfeld is a Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. Her book The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life is available here.
Sensitive Themes & Topics
Misogyny
Credits
- Host & Executive Producer: Claire E Aubin. Find her on Twit...
Claire and Prof. Marlene Daut cover life in the French Caribbean, and fill in all the bits that weren’t covered in high school or our previous Napoleon episode. For example, the murdering.
Guest
Our guest Marlene Daut is a Professor of French and African Diaspora Studies at Yale. Her newest book, The First and Last King of Haiti is available here. Visit her website here.
Sensitive Themes & Topics
Racism and racial ...
Claire and Rhiannon Garth Jones take a trip to the Middle East. Or possibly the Near East. Or maybe somewhere else but it’s DEFINITELY not the West and how dare you imply otherwise.
Guest
Our guest Rhiannon Garth Jones is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Leeds. Her book All Roads Lead to Rome: Why We Think of the Roman Empire Daily, is available here. Follow her on Bluesky. @rhigarthjones
Sensitive Themes & ...
Introducing Past Lives, a brand-new history podcast from Patrick Wyman, creator of Tides of History and Fall of Rome. Discover the real, lived experiences of everyday people in the human past, not Great Men and their Doings.
Subscribe for free on your podcast app of choice, and be sure to check out the Past Lives Patreon with tons of bonus content to support this 100% independent production.
-Patreon: https://www.p...
Claire et David M. Perry de poeta mediaevali maledicunt.
Guest
Our guest David M. Perry is a journalist and historian. Pre-order his new book The Public Scholar: A Practical Handbook here, or buy copies of The Bright Ages or Oathbreakers here. Follow him on Bluesky @lollardfish or visit his website here.
Sponsors
- Uncommon Goods is a small-batch and small-business-centered online marketplace. Visit UncommonGoods.com/T...
Claire and John Callanan explain why Bernard Mandeville is the bee’s knees. That joke might not make sense yet, but it will once you’re done with the episode.
Guest
Our guest Dr. John Callanan is a Reader in Philosophy at King’s College London. His book Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, the Wickedest Man in Europe, is available here. Follow him on Twitter @johnjocallanan and on Bluesky @johnjocallanan.
...
Claire and Vanessa Williamson talk about death, taxes, and a man who literally believed they should go hand-in-hand.
Guest
Our guest Dr. Vanessa Williamson is a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Her book The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History is available here. Follow her on Bluesky @vanes...
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 EPISODE WAS RECORDED LIVE AT THE CHEERFUL EARFUL PODCAST FESTIVAL. A FULL VERSION IS AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS, OR FOR PURCHASE BY NON-SUBSCRIBERS AT PATREON.COM/THISGUYSUCKED**
Guest
Nicole Hemmer is a professor of History at Vanderbilt University and Director of the Car...
Claire and Dr. Jonathan Fine build a case against the vice president’s favorite philosopher in the court of public opinion.
**THIS REMASTERED EPISODE WAS PREVIOUSLY RELEASED EXCLUSIVELY ON PATREON**
Guest
Our guest Dr. Jonathan Fine is a Germanist specializing in Comparative Literature and Intellectual History. Follow him on Twitter @jonathanbfine and on Bluesky @jonathanbfine, or visit his website.
Sensitive Theme...
Claire and Cynthia Paces try to separate a man from a whole lot of mysteries.
Guest
Our guest Cynthia Paces is a Professor of History at the College of New Jersey. Her new book Prague: the Heart of Europe, is available here. Visit her website here.
Sensitive Themes & Topics
Dismemberment/disfigurement, sexual coercion
Credits
- Host & Executive Producer: Claire E Aubin. Find her on Twitter @ceaubin and Bluesk...
Claire and Eric Silver remind us that sometimes games we love are created by not-so-good people who openly wanted to do an immense amount of psychic damage to some of their players.
Guest
Our guest Eric Silver is a podcaster, writer, and the Game Master for TTRPG actual play podcast Join The Party. Follow him on Bluesky and Instagram, or visit his website.
Sensitive Themes & Topics
Misogyny, drug use, sexual violen...
Claire is joined by Amanda Silberling and Isabel Kim from Wow If True to discuss the collapse of the internet and why we can’t have nice things anymore.
**The full episode is available on the TGS Patreon now and will become available in full on the public Wow If True feed from 10/15.**
Collaborators
Amanda Silberling and Isabel Kim are the hosts and intrepid internet travelers behind Wow If True, the podcast of your w...
Claire and Prof. Dan Hicks bring (more) shame on the name Pitt-Rivers, and make an argument for unburying all of the archival bodies.
Guest
Our guest Dan Hicks is a Professor of Contemporary Archaeology at Oxford, as well as a curator at the Pitt Rivers Museum. His newest book, Every Monument Will Fall is available here. Follow him on Bluesky, Instagram and… LinkedIn?
Sponsors
Claire and Professor Louis Moore go a few rounds with America’s first heavyweight champion.
Guest
Our guest Professor Louis Moore is a Professor of History at Michigan State University and the co-host of the Black Athlete Podcast. His newest book, The Great Black Hope: Doug Williams, Vince Evans, and the Making of the Black Quarterback is available here, and I Fight For A Living: Boxing and the Battle for Black Manhood i...
Claire and Elise Wang dig into the men (and motivations) behind one of the world’s most damaging and long-standing conspiracy theories.
Guest
Our guest Dr. Elise Wang is a professor of medieval literature at CSU Fullerton, and a current Carnegie Fellow. Her book The Making of Felony Procedure in Middle English Literature is available here. Follow her on Bluesky and check out her website.
Partners
Claire and Dr. Shaily Patel unpack the many misdeeds of one of early Christianity’s most important men.
Guest
Our guest Dr. Shaily Patel is an Assistant Professor of early Christianity at Virginia Tech. Her book Magic and Heresy in Ancient Christian Literature is available here, and Smoke and Mirrors: Discourses of Magic in Early Petrine Traditions is available here. Follow her on Bluesky.
Sensitive Themes & T...
Our first ever live show is coming!
Where: Caveat, 21A Clinton St, New York City
When: Thursday, October 9, 2025 @ 7pm
Who: Claire + a couple of special guests!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Claire and Greg Jenner take center stage to prove Edmund Kean was less leading man, more dramatic cautionary tale.
Guest
Our guest Greg Jenner is a historian, author, podcaster, and ‘weaselly looking guy.’ You can follow him on Instagram and on Bluesky. His website is gregjenner.com and his book Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen is available here.
Partners
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