Big Time Whoopsies

Liam returns to Big Time Whoopsies to hear Eric tell about the time an auto maker offered a car to whoever won the AL Batting Title and everyone lost their minds. Special thanks to Joe Posnanski and his Baseball 100 project, the primary source for this story.

Special guest Katie Wright of the Major Casts Network’s own Bret Easton Hell Yes joins Eric McAdams to hear the first BTW told in many a moon: the story of the most expensive war simulation the United States military ever did. Click here to see the Twitter thread Eric mentions, and click here for an […]

Chris Compendio of AP Marvel returns to Big Time Whoopsies to hear Eric tell the tale of Woodstock. “But Woodstock was a success, wasn’t it?” You ask in a trembling, infantile voice. Well, my dear, stupid child, the first one may have been, but do you know about the second or third? How about the […]

Anna Mei returns to Big Time Whoopsies to face her fears of dying alone in a blizzard, by hearing about a whole mess of people who died alone in blizzards. Mount Everest has so many corpses to talk about, and Eric only has so much time in the podcast!

We have a very special episode of Big Time Whoopsies today: a reverse! Ben returns to BTW to tell Eric a story about Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to the United States, and its surprisingly devastating consequences. Here’s a link to the picture Ben talks about. It’s adorable.

Here’s something you may not know about Eric, Tom, and Liam, the co-founders of the Major Casts Network: they’re all from Washington, DC, and therefore they all have stories of times when the DC Metro didn’t work. Come listen to Eric tell the story of the DC Metro, and also mispronounce “WMATA” a lot. Here’s […]

Lily returns to learn all about the Year of the Four Emperors, a very important year in Roman history! And it turns out there’s a twist, as Eric tells her more about Roman emperors than she ever bargained for! Content warning: as with most stories from ancient Roman history, there’s a lot of mention of […]

Andrew returns, this time with his friend Jack! They go with Eric on a trip to WWII-era Holland, where the Dutch government has just found out one of their national treasures was sold to a Nazi by a man named Han van Meegeren. But not all is as it seems–it’s twist after turn in this […]

We continue our journey through 19th century China with a look at the God Worshipping Society, a group of Christians with some wild beliefs who had a way bigger impact on the country than you might expect. Liliane returns to hear Eric tell the tale of Hong Xiuquan and his many, many followers. I would […]

Ah, the joys of test-taking. Who doesn’t like writing an essay under immense pressure? This week on Big Time Whoopsies, Major Casts co-founder Liam Senior joins Eric to discover the highs and the lows of the Chinese civil service exams. Edit: I kind of garbled the list of works students were expected to know by […]

Carson returns to Big Time Whoopsies for a fun-filled episode about how basically the entire nation of France freaked out for several years over the fact that poison exists. An apology: the audio in this episode was super glitchy! I tried to save as much as I could, but some good bits were basically unintelligible, […]

Hey, wanna hear Tom Loughney get real friggin’ mad? Well, you’re in luck. On this episode of Big Time Whoopsies, host Eric McAdams takes his friend Tom to see the sights and smell the smells of Versailles, the picturesque palace and gardens that housed a whole bunch of rich weirdos. (Special thanks to past BTW […]

Hey, so it turns out that while the United States military has a whole bunch of nuclear weapons, it isn’t very good at keeping them safe! Who would have guessed? Well, to get to the heart of this head-scratcher, Eric takes his pal Josh on a ride through the military’s many, many nuclear mistakes. For […]

Maggie returns! For her third guest appearance, Eric tells her all about the extremely specific way French people escape from prison. This is a light, breezy episode, absolutely defying the BTW brand. Scandalous, really. Here’s a link to what Maggie was looking at during the Pickle.

Two episodes with new guests in a row? It must be either the apocalypse or episode 28 of Big Time Whoopsies! Eric brings his friend Chris Compendio into the fold to tell him all about the Korean Air nut rage incident, a story about a lady getting mad on an airplane that somehow had far-reaching […]

Special guests Courtney and Alison of The XX Files join Eric this week for a romp through 1990s London, as he tells them the story of Alan Conway, the man who impersonated Stanley Kubrick. The misadventures involve sexual favors, lounge singers, New York Times reporters, and a major motion picture, so listen up and don’t […]

Hey, remember how back in 2000 computers rose up against us and caused the end of the world as we know it? No? Huh. This week on Big Time Whoopsies, Eric brings back his gremlin of a sister Lily to talk about Y2K! And this time, she has her friend Kyra to weigh in on […]

Do you know what the biggest health craze in America was back in the middle of the 19th century? Well, Eric does, and he’s here with guests Anna Mei and Lisa to go on a quest to find the most flavorless food imaginable, thanks to men like Sylvester Graham and John Harvey Kellogg. It’s the […]

Look, I’m sorry. Sometimes, instead of talking about some wacky hijinx from history where some person or other did an uh-oh, we have to talk about real systemic horror on Big Time Whoopsies. This week, Eric takes Major Casts co-founder Liam Senior to South America during the time of the conquistadors and encomenderos. It was […]

Andrew returns to Big Time Whoopsies for the the third time, and Eric shows him the wacky world of Fenners – people who desperately try to uncover Forrest Fenn’s hidden treasure. Along the way, they discuss Harry Potter, Ready Player One, and $1-3 million in gold and jewels. Follow the clues, and you too could […]

Liliane returns to Big Time Whoopsies to learn all about the sinister, menacing, ludicrously dumb world of water slides. Host Eric McAdams takes her on a journey to Kansas City, Kansas, where they encounter a man named Jeff, a very tall water slide, and not an engineer in sight. For further reading, check out this […]

Carson returns to Big Time Whoopsies, and she came with a task for Eric: the story he told her had to be about murder. So this week for our dose of historical incompetence, we journey to 6th century Europe for a tale of war, revenge, and skulls. We also get sidetracked and talk about why […]

You know how popes are supposed to be all infallible and whatnot? Well, this week on Big Time Whoopsies, Eric poses the bold question: What if they super duper weren’t? Join Eric and fellow Major Casts co-founder Tom Loughney as they take a trip to 9th century Rome, where they will encounter politics, Catholicism, and […]

What’s better than this? Guys bein’ dudes. Eric takes fellow dude (and Major Casts co-founder Liam Senior) on a journey through American football–a journey that involves Florida, a dead bird, and the longest losing streak in NFL history. Strap in, folks, it’s the story of the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Long time listener/first time caller Ben makes his debut on Big Time Whoopsies! He tries his best to gamely go along for the ride as host Eric McAdams takes him on a whirlwind journey through South America–a journey that sees three nations fight a bloody, drawn-out conflict over fertilizer.

Lily makes a grand return to Big Time Whoopsies as host Eric McAdams takes her on a journey through the world of sovereign citizens. Listen along as they discuss the conspiracy theories, racism, bizarre legal theories, and bogus financial advice these delightful people really, actually believe!

Eric McAdams may not know much about architecture, but he knows a waste of time and effort when he see one. This week on Big Time Whoopsies, Eric takes architecture student (and returning guest) Maggie on a journey to France to see an architectural marvel… and a gigantic waste of the French military’s resources.

Big Time Whoopsies is back and this week Eric is bringing magic, intrigue, and crime to his friend Anna Mei. It’s the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, a chapter of French history that sounds like it’s full of scintillating, sophisticated drama but is really just a story about a rich guy being stupid, which is […]

Sometimes, you just gotta talk about pirates with your good friend for an hour. This week on Big Time Whoopsies, join Eric and returning guest Andrew as the two sleepy boys explore the Golden Age of Piracy. Along the way, we tell you about the greatest pirate of all time, perhaps the dumbest naval battle […]

In the second installment of Big Time Whoopsie’s spooky stories, Eric takes on the Comics Code Authority, the voluntary censorship the comics industry undertook in the 50s that led to a lot of weird, bland comics. Eric brings returning guest Lily and her boyfriend Mac along for the ride, and they discuss Mac’s nickname, coffee, […]

In this spookiest of months, Big Time Whoopsies is pleased to bring you tales of murder and fright. Well, and stupidity. Can’t stray too far from the brand. This week, join Eric McAdams and special guest Liliane as they take a look at serial killers who got off easy! TW: Murder/assault/rape, people getting away with […]

Finally, Eric McAdams is selling out. Finally he’s taking Big Time Whoopsies to, well, the big time, and giving the people what they want. The people want discussions of long-dead European rulers and their policy decisions, right? That’s what the kids are into? Join Eric and his special guest Carson (@dollbunyan on Twitter) as they […]

Nazis. Can’t live with ’em, can’t punch ’em, according to centrist pundits. What’s a podcast network to do? Well, this week on Big Time Whoopsies, Eric decided to do a takedown of the dumbest, weirdest philosophies of the Third Reich, and he brings Major Casts co-founder Tom Loughney along for the ride! Prepare for rewritten […]

You know how sometimes when you’re making art, you get so overburdened with the joy of creation that you actively try to incite riots and war? No? Well then you, my friend, are not an Italian Futurist, one of the dumbest, most self-important art movements of the 20th century. Join Eric as he brings the […]

You know how people make jokes all the time about European nobles being inbred? Have you ever wondered just how inbred could they be? Well, special guest Steph joins Eric on Big Time Whoopsies this week to find out. (Spoilers: the answer is a whole friggin’ bunch.)

You know what they say about World War II: you can never stop at just one story about the people in it being gigantic morons. On this week’s Big Time Whoopsies, Eric tells his pal Jenna all about some real dumb Japanese officers and the people they shot.

This week on Big Time Whoopsies, Eric McAdams takes guest Andrew on a journey through a little-known, esoteric conflict known as World War II. They discuss the Phoney War – a part of the war that England and France would really rather forget. And at the end of the episode, Eric ruins one of Andrew’s […]

Let me tell you a tale, child – a fable of greed, manipulation, and vast amounts of stupidity. Let me tell you the story… of a man named Billy McFarland. This week on Big Time Whoopsies, Eric McAdams talks about Fyre Festival with his wonderful guest Maggie, who has somehow never even heard of it […]

Hey you! Wanna hear a story about garbage? What if I told you it was… Italian garbage? This week on Big Time Whoopsies, join host Eric McAdams and special guest Josh Brosnan as they discuss beautiful Campania – a region in Italy that has a not-so-beautiful problem with trash.

In this week’s Big Time Whoopsies, join Eric as he tells his sister Lily the life story of Rodney Alcala: photographer, typesetter, dating show contestant, and murderer. CW: Rape, pedophilia, murder. (Skip to 36:55 to avoid)

This week on Big Time Whoopsies, join Eric McAdams and special guest Tom Loughney as they delve into the legend of El Dorado and the very dumb Spaniards who searched for it.

Welcome to Big Time Whoopsies, a podcast about incompetence on a grand scale. Join host Eric McAdams as he takes you on a tour of some of history’s greatest blunders. In the inaugural episode, Eric takes his friend and Major Casts co-founder Liam on a journey to Mexico in the 19th century, a time of […]