Get in loser, we’re making history

About this episode

This episode explores how losers in history have shaped our understanding of success and failure.

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 miniseries 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…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dan Jones, Elizabeth Day

Topics covered

• history
• failure
• losers
• historical figures
• cultural impact
• lessons from failure

Keywords

• history
• failure
• losers
• Hatshepsut
• Richard III
• Vincent Van Gough
• cultural impact

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sony Music Entertainment

Books & works: This Is History — A Dynasty to Die For, How To Fail

More episodes of This is History: History’s Greatest Fails

• You may also like: Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford · June 11, 2026 · 45 min
• S10 E3 | LOVEBOMBING · June 9, 2026 · 30 min
• S10 E2 | Rise of the Woodvilles · June 2, 2026 · 33 min
• S10 E1 | A New Hope · May 26, 2026 · 36 min
• You may also like: Hidden History with Dr Harini Bhat · May 21, 2026 · 9 min
• Introducing… Season Ten of a Dynasty to Die For · May 19, 2026 · 2 min