Best Gruff Podcasts (2025)

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S7E01): Return of KON & Superheroes 1:22:39

5d ago1:22:39

1:22:39

Welcome to the 7th season of the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, somewhat entertaining, and occasionally educational topics on a weekly basis. Your KONMen are back after a brief hiatus to discuss the potential return of the Superhero movie. Did the new Superman movie take off or w…

1
Why the Atomic Bombing of Japan is as Justified in 2025 as it was in 1945 52:29

10h ago52:29

52:29

It's been 80 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the question of whether or not those bombings were justified has never been more contentious. That wasn't the case in the immediate aftermath: 85% of the American public approved the decision to bomb the cities in 1945, but this has dropped to 56% in more recent years, particularl…

1
Surviving the Siege of Leningrad with Sawdust Bread and Iron Determination 46:54

6d ago46:54

46:54

The first year of the siege of Leningrad that began in September 1941 marked the opening stage of a 900-day-long struggle for survival that left over a million dead. The capture of the city came tantalizingly close late that year, but Hitler paused to avoid costly urban fighting. Determined to starve Leningrad into submission, what followed was a w…

1
New podcast! Talk ’90s To Me with Miranda Sawyer – special taster on Oasis 22:30

6d ago22:30

22:30

Just for old-school Bigmouth listeners, a taster of the brand new podcast that dives deep into all things ’90s. This time: Oasis brought chaos, electricity and working-class swagger to a music scene dominated by po-faced grunge and indie bands in the early 1990s. How did the Gallaghers go from humble beginnings in Manchester to taking over the worl…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E25): Season 6 Send Off! 15:01

12d ago15:01

15:01

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, somewhat entertaining, and occasionally educational topics on a weekly basis. In our season finale, we step outside the comfort zone to bring you a special episode recorded on location. Join us as we reflect on the journey through Sea…

1
Depression-Era Governor Huey Long Wanted to Confiscate Individual Fortunes Over $1 Million, Possibly Leading to His 1935 Assassination 1:05:41

7d ago1:05:41

1:05:41

The most radical piece of legislation in the 20th century was Louisiana Governor Huey Long’s “Share Our Wealth Plan,” a bold proposal to confiscate individual fortunes exceeding $1 million to fund healthcare, free college education, and a guaranteed minimum income for families struggling through the Great Depression—a plan so radical it sparked the…

1
Rope Equals Fire as Humanity’s Most Important Invention: It Allowed Hunting Mammoths and Building Pyramids 55:36

13d ago55:36

55:36

“‘Rope!’ muttered Sam[wise Gamgee]. ‘I knew I’d want it, if I hadn’t got it!’” Sam knew in the Lord of the Rings that the quest would fail without rope, but he was inadvertently commenting on how civilization owes its existence to this three-strand tool. Humans first made rope 50,000 years ago and one of its earliest contributions to the rise of ci…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E24): This Sounds Familiar - Disneyland 70th Birthday Part 2 47:42

19d ago47:42

47:42

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, somewhat entertaining, and occasionally educational topics on a weekly basis. This week’s small but mighty show quickly goes where no person wants to go…inside Tony’s social media feed. Where Brian, Oren and Wayne learn of a new mascu…

1
The Scopes Trial Was Entirely Orchestrated But Became an Unintended 1920s Culture War Touchpoint 56:43

18d ago56:43

56:43

July 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Trial – a trial that exposed profound divisions in America over religion, education, and public morality. This was a legal case in Dayton, Tennessee, where high school teacher John Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution, violating the state's Butler Act. The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee l…

1
The Panda Was First Discovered By Theodore Roosevelt’s Sons During a 9-Month Expedition in Himalayan China 42:05

20d ago42:05

42:05

In the late 1920s, Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and his younger brother Kermit, sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, wanted fame and glory apart from the family spotlight. They were seeking the “empty spots” on the maps, the areas that had yet to be explored and described by Westerners. From these remote places, they hoped to bring back exotic animals t…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E23): This Sounds Familiar - Disneyland 70th Birthday Part 1 59:41

26d ago59:41

59:41

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, somewhat entertaining, and occasionally educational topics on a weekly basis. In honor of Disneyland’s 70th birthday, your KONMen decided to pull out all the stops with a special edition of “This Sounds Familiar!” Before those festivi…

1
How Do We Really Know What Happened in the Past When Many Historians Were Propagandists and AI is Fabricating Everything Else? 48:46

25d ago48:46

48:46

“History is written by the winners.” This aphorism is catchy and it makes an important point that a lot of what we know about history was written with an agenda, not for the purposes of informing us. Unfortunately, it isn’t true. There are many times that the so-called “losers” wrote the histories remembered today. After the American Civil War, Sou…

1
Eugénie de Montijo: The Spanish Empress Who Built Modern Paris and is Blamed For Imperial France’s Downfall 45:45

28d ago45:45

45:45

Thirty-three years after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Empire, his nephew (known as Napoleon III) became the first president of France before becoming emperor himself. Although he was a capable ruler and reformer, Napoleon III’s failed military campaigns, especially France’s loss to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, led to his defeat, capture,…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E22): Nacho Daddy Food Fight! 1:34:36

1M ago1:34:36

1:34:36

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, somewhat entertaining, and occasionally educational topics on a weekly basis. This week’s show features the 5th Annual KON Food Fight between Tony and Brian, but this time the theme is “nachos” and there’s quite a few surprises once t…

1
John Adams: The Most Influential Yet Overlooked Founding Father? 38:38

1M ago38:38

38:38

John Adams is arguably America’s most underrated Founding Father. He has no currency that bears his image. No national holidays celebrate his birth. He’s nearly never named as anyone’s favorite president. And he has no dedicated memorial in Washington, D.C. Despite this, he was perhaps the most influential early American, rivaling Washington, Jeffe…

1
Why Thomas More -- Henry VIII’s Hatchet Man and Heretic Hunter -- Was Himself Executed For Heresy After the English Reformation 49:11

1M ago49:11

49:11

Thomas More was one of the most famous—and notorious—figures in English history. Born into the era of the Wars of the Roses, educated during the European Renaissance, rising to become Chancellor of England, and ultimately destroyed by Henry VIII, he hunted Protestants for heresy and had them burnt at the stake in the final years of Catholic England…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E21): Not Icy or Hot but a Cozy Knowledge Drop 38:31

1M ago38:31

38:31

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. This Knowledge Drop (KD) features one less KONMan due to another “HR” suspension but it's not what you’d expect. The remaining KONMen dutifully carry on t…

1
Don’t Look to 1903s Germany to Understand American Populism. Look to 1830s New York Revivals Instead. 1:03:45

1M ago1:03:45

1:03:45

Something strange happened in Upstate New York during the 1830s. This area was called the "Burned-Over District" because so many fiery religious revivals swept through that it was metaphorically burned over. This region became a key source of the Second Great Awakening, a Protestant revival movement marked by emotional preaching and mass conversion…

1
Operation Barbarossa Saw Millions of POW Executions, Civilian Murders, and Starvation Deaths 52:35

1M ago52:35

52:35

Operation Barbarossa, launched by Nazi Germany on June 22, 1941, aimed to swiftly conquer the Soviet Union, targeting key cities like Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv. Hitler reportedly said a meeting with his generals before the campaign began "We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down," With German forces …

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E20): This Sounds Familiar - Video Games 1:17:52

2M ago1:17:52

1:17:52

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. This episode debuts a new-ish main segment but beforehand the guys cover a lot of random things. Tony lives up to the podcast’s name when it comes to ship…

1
Pistol Duels Existed Across the 19th-Century World, But Only the Chaos of the American West Produced Gunfighters 51:30

2M ago51:30

51:30

To understand American history and its deep-seated relationship with violence, we must look to the last three decades of the 1800s in the American West, which had the highest murder rate per capita in American history. And it all boils down to one place: Texas. Texas was born in violence, on two fronts, with Mexico to the south and the Comanche to …

1
Rome Definitively Eclipsed Greece in 197 BC By Making the Alexandrian Phalanx/Cavalry Obsolete 46:35

2M ago46:35

46:35

The battle of Cynoscephalae represents a key moment in the history of the Greco-Roman world. In this one battle the Macedonian hold over mainland Greece was broken, with the Roman Republic rising in its place as the pre-eminent power in the Greek East. At Cynoscephalae, the proud Macedonian kingdom of Antigonid monarch Philip V was humbled, its arm…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E19): Keep or Kill Movie Dads 1:37:55

2M ago1:37:55

1:37:55

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. This week’s episode immediately goes off the rails with an inaccurate celebrity death, the guys comparing the size of their “weapon”, and being called som…

1
Exploring the Wreckage of the Britannic (the Titanic’s Sister Ship) and Discovering Why It Sunk in 50 Minutes 48:25

2M ago48:25

48:25

The RMS Titanic is history’s most famous shipwreck, but it wasn’t the only ship of its kind. The White Star Line built two other nearly identical vessels: The RMS Olympic and Britannic. The Olympic carried passengers until 1935 and can be visited today. The Brittanic sank only four years after her sister ship the Titanic off the Greek island of Kea…

1
Did Tariffs Make America a Manufacturing Powerhouse Or Trigger Economic Misery and Stifle Global Trade? 44:55

2M ago44:55

44:55

At a time when debates over tariffs, regulation, and the scope of government are back at center stage. Is this time in American history unprecedented, or can we find parallels in the past? For example, has trade “hollowed out” U.S. manufacturing—or have fact tariffs like the Corn Laws in Britain hurt working-class families the most? Was the Great D…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E18): Mis-adventures in the Midwest, Bars, & Anomancy 1:24:20

2M ago1:24:20

1:24:20

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. This week’s show switches things up with one of the KONMen who made a trek to the midwest for some shenanigans and possibly some life changing alterations…

1
Alan Pinkerton: The Private Detective Who Saved Lincoln’s Life and Built America’s Contract Security State 50:07

2M ago50:07

50:07

Alan Pinkerton is perhaps the most over-achieving barrel-maker who ever lived. After practicing his trade in rural Illinois for a few years in the 1850s, the Scottish immigrant busted up a counterfeiting ring, which got the attention of Chicago’s police department, offering him a job as a detective. From here he worked as an intelligence agent in t…

1
MacArthur’s Plans to Drop 50 Nuclear Bombs During the Korean War 50:45

2M ago50:45

50:45

The Korean War came dangerously close to going nuclear, and if would have if Gen. Douglas MacArthur had gotten his way. He proposed using 30 to 50 nuclear primarily to targeting air bases, depots, and supply lines across the neck of Manchuria to create a radioactive barrier and halt Chinese and North Korean advances. This would have killed millions…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E17): A Special Guest & Open Audition 1:38:23

2M ago1:38:23

1:38:23

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. There’s been some fallout since the last show where one of your KONMen was reported to HR and has been placed on “paid leave” for a week. Fortunately, tha…

1
The Many Ways That Rome Never Fell and Lives On Today 37:16

2M ago37:16

37:16

Rome’s Western Empire may have fallen 1,600 years ago, but its cultural impact has a radioactive half-life that would make xenon jealous. Over a billion people speak Latin (or at least a Latin-derived language). Governments around the world self-consciously copy Roman buildings and create governments that copy the imperial senate. Every self-aggran…

1
Hooves of History: How Horses Created Ancient Warfare, Built the Silk Road, and Became the Dividing Line Between Nobleman and Peasant 44:28

2M ago44:28

44:28

In order to become rich, powerful, and prestigious in the pre-modern world, nothing mattered more than horses. They were the fundamental unit of warfare, enabling cavalry charges, and logistical support. They facilitated the creation of the Silk Road (which could arguably be called the “Horse Road”) since China largely built it to enable the purcha…

1
'Franklin the Frog' 5:06

2M ago5:06

5:06

Get ready to move and gallop in ‘Toroi Bandi,’ the latest episode of YourClassical Storytime featuring traditional Mongolian folk music and original illustration and animation by Joseph Midthun and Daniel Hoffstrom.By American Public Media

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E16): Keep it or Kill It - Blockbuster Movies 1:31:53

2M ago1:31:53

1:31:53

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. In this week’s episode, things go immediately TMI when Tony shares a “hair-raising” experience at his local gym. Then Tony and Brian decide on what this y…

1
Moonshining Survived (and Thrived) At Least Two Decades After Prohibition Ended 45:47

2M ago45:47

45:47

The Prohibition era (1920–1933), enacted by the 18th Amendment, birthed an overnight economy of moonshiners who distilled and distributed homemade liquor to meet America’s insatiable demand for alcohol, transforming rural farmers and opportunists into underground entrepreneurs who supplied speakeasies. But this new economy didn’t disappear after Pr…

1
How to Cross the Sahara as a Tenth-Century Cameleer 53:08

3M ago53:08

53:08

What comes to mind when we think about the Sahara? Rippling sand dunes, sun-blasted expanses, camel drivers and their caravans perhaps. Or famine, climate change, civil war, desperate migrants stuck in a hostile environment. The Sahara stretches across 3.2 million square miles, hosting several million inhabitants and a corresponding variety of lang…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E15): Smash or Pass Quickies 1:21:35

3M ago1:21:35

1:21:35

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. This week’s episode welcomes Wayne’s return from Japan along with a shorter edition of Smash or Pass, your KONMen’s hottake on recent entertainment news: …

1
How American Slaves Fled By Sea, Whether as Stowaways or Commandeering a Confederate Ship 46:06

3M ago46:06

46:06

As many as 100,000 enslaved people fled successfully from the horrors of bondage in the antebellum South, finding safe harbor along a network of passageways across North America via the Underground Railroad. Yet many escapes took place not by land but by sea. William Grimes escaped slavery in 1815 by stowing away in a cotton bale on a ship from Sav…

1
Did WW2 Heads of State Want to Preserve Their Empires As Much as Defend Their Homelands? 47:51

3M ago47:51

47:51

2025 marks the eightieth anniversary of Germany’s surrender and the fall of the Third Reich. Likewise, World War II is the single most studied conflict in human history. But most Western accounts offer a one-dimensional interpretation: the war was a noble crusade against fascism, creating a convenient parable about good and evil. But this depiction…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E14): K-Dropping the Thunderbolts* 39:36

3M ago39:36

39:36

In this episode, Brian and Tony are flying solo. The recently watched the latest MCU Film "Thunderbolts*". They discuss their unique insights. You're guaranteed to hear original takes heard nowhere else, or your money back. Did they hate it, like it or feel indifferent about the MCU's 36th film? Listen and find out! Remember, don't forget to like, …

1
How a British Governor of Virginia Raised an Ex-Slave Regiment in 1776 to Fight Patriots and Triggered the Revolutionary War 55:09

3M ago55:09

55:09

As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America, was led by Lord Dun…

1
How a Marine Embedded with Mao Zedong’s Guerrillas in the 30s Became WW2’s Most Celebrated Special Forces Leader 55:46

3M ago55:46

55:46

He was a gutsy old man.” “A corker,” said another. “You couldn’t find anyone better.” They talked about him in hushed tones. “This Major Carlson,” wrote one of the officers in a letter home, “is one of the finest men I have ever known.” These were the words of the young Marines training to be among the first U.S. troops to enter the Second World Wa…

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E13): Old Timey Swear Words 1:26:43

3M ago1:26:43

1:26:43

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. This week’s show is hitting on all cylinders! Tony’s recent bidet experience sparks an in depth discussion of Tony’s future career. Then we all learn how …

1
Microbes Were Discovered in the 1600s. Why It Take 200 Years For Doctors To Start Washing Their Hands? 54:16

3M ago54:16

54:16

Scientists and enthusiastic amateurs first confirmed the existence of living things invisible to the human eye in the late sixteenth century. So why did it take two centuries to connect microbes to disease? As late as the Civil War in the 1860s, most soldiers who perished died not on the battlefield but of infected wounds, typhoid, and other diseas…

1
From Einstein’s Chalkboard to Oppenheimer’s Nuclear Test: The 50-Year Path to the Atomic Bomb 48:14

3M ago48:14

48:14

The story of the atomic age began decades before Robert Oppenheimer watched a mushroom cloud form over the New Mexico desert at the Trinity nuclear test in mid 1945. It begins in 1895, with Henri Becquerel’s accidental discovery of radioactivity, setting in motion a series of remarkable and horrifying events. By the early 20th century, a brilliant …

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E12): Smash, Pass or Bidets? 1:35:29

3M ago1:35:29

1:35:29

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. In this week’s episode, Tony and Oren recap their misadventures at Wrestlemania in Las Vegas, including a “transcendent” bidet experience. Then the show’s…

1
Japan’s Desperate Air Battles Against the US in the Final Months of WW2 37:15

3M ago37:15

37:15

The B-29 Bomber led the Allied strategic bombing offensive against Japan, succeeding when US Bomber Command switched from high-level daytime precision bombing to low-level nighttime area bombing. The latter tactic required Superfortresses to attack their targets individually, without a formation or escorting fighters for protection. Despite this, J…

1
'Toroi Bandi' 6:14

3M ago6:14

6:14

Get ready to move and gallop in ‘Toroi Bandi,’ the latest episode of YourClassical Storytime featuring traditional Mongolian folk music and original illustration and animation by Joseph Midthun and Daniel Hoffstrom.By American Public Media

1
D-Day From the East: The Soviet Operation Bagration Crippled the Wehrmacht in Late 1944 42:08

3M ago42:08

42:08

Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a …

1
The Knowledge of Nothing Podcast (S6E11): A Wrestlemania Knowledge Drop 36:44

4M ago36:44

36:44

Welcome to the Knowledge of Nothing (KON) podcast! Where your hosts, Tony, Brian, Oren and Wayne discuss the inane, hopefully entertaining, and sometimes educational topics on a weekly-ish basis. In this week’s show, Tony and Oren ventured to Las Vegas, the land of smokey casinos, never ending buffets and Wrestlemania! These two KONMen shared their…

1
Pilgrimages Involved Penitent Marches, Visiting Holy Places, and Watching Drunken Emperors Go on Chariot Rides 44:53

4M ago44:53

44:53

Pilgrimages are a universal phenomenon, from China’s bustling Tai Shan to the ancient Jewish treks to Jerusalem. But why? What is it about a grueling penitent march to an isolated temple that has become a prerequisite for a civilization of any size, whether Chicen Itza in the Mayan Empire or the holy sites of Mecca? To explore this is today’s guest…

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