Shows
The Runners Up ClubHoward K. Smith: An Anchorman Before His TimeThe post-war era found most Americans turning to the famously well-trusted "Uncle" Walter Cronkite on CBS for their eyes on the world, while the gloriously opinionated Howard K. Smith, his ratings rival, was Edward R. Murrow's truer heir, and progenitor of today's primetime news anchors.
2025-12-2516 minThe Runners Up ClubGreg Norman: Prophecies FulfilledThe likable Australian golfer's frequent appearances in the runner-up slot raises questions about the perils of catastrophic thinking and self fulfilling prophecies in sports. But also lessons in flipping the script in life.
2025-10-1217 minThe Runners Up ClubCatherine Littlefield Greene: The Heart of the GinA Rhode Island aristocrat who became a widowed plantation owner in the Reconstruction Era South may have been more instrumental to the invention of the cotton gin than Eli Whitney.
2025-08-3114 minThe Runners Up ClubBeech-Nut Baby Food: Bad Apples Spoil the BarrelA long-standing Mohawk Valley food company forfeited any chance to upend rival Gerber’s at the top of the baby food market in a case of spectacularly wrong-headed and unethical management.
2025-06-1514 minThe Runners Up ClubMinerva: The Handcuff QueenThis pioneering escapologist captivated audiences in her brief but brilliant time under the Vaudeville lights. She aroused Harry Houdini’s ire when she stole his signature trick. Did he retaliate by trying to blind her?
2025-04-0511 minThe Runners Up ClubAntoine Bechamp: The First Anti-Vaxxer?Louis Pasteur’s bitter rival staked everything on a discredited theory of the role that germs play in the body. If his theories regain a measure of respectability, as many believe they already have, will statues of Antoine Bechamp appear beside those of Pasteur?
2025-03-2214 minThe Runners Up ClubGeorge "Bugs" Moran: Capone's Nemesis and Near MissIn Gangland Chicago, Al Capone emerged as Public Enemy Number 1. Despite being massively outgunned, particularly on one particular Valentine's Day, his rival Adelard Cunin, known to history as Bugs Moran, gave him a hard run for his dirty money.
2024-12-2814 minThe Runners Up ClubMothra: Queen of the KaijuDid a lepidopteran girl-monster like Mothra ever have a chance against a reptilian guy-monster like Godzilla? In the skies over Tokyo, absolutely. In the teenage brains of testosterone-addled mid-century monster movie fans. Not so much.
2024-11-2713 minThe Runners Up ClubHydrox: Oreo's Inspiration and VictimIn a cautionary tale for all of today’s artisanal food-makers, a small bakery sees its innovative new cookie concept copied by a much larger rival. Losing market share is bad enough but being transformed in the public imagination from original to knockoff may sting even more.
2024-10-2617 minThe Runners Up ClubHarold Lloyd: Tramps Over GlassesIn the 1920’s, Harold Lloyd’s silent film stardom outshone Charlie Chaplin's. Today, we remember The Little Tramp while The Glasses Character is a cinephile’s trivia question answer.
2024-09-3015 minThe Runners Up ClubTally Ho: A Playing Card Innovator Is Outpaced by The BikeIn the world of playing card design, there’s the classic Bicycle deck and then there’s everything else. Is it any wonder a fox-hunting dandy didn’t emerge as the nation’s most popular? Probably not.
2024-09-3016 minThe Runners Up ClubIIiodor: The Madder Monk of RussiaPre-Revolutionary Russia was the sort of place where more than one “holy man” had a legitimate claim to the title The Mad Monk. Rasputin won.
2024-09-2912 minThe Runners Up ClubBroad Gauge Rail: An Engineering Genius’s Lost CauseIn an early standards war played out across the fields of Industrial England, an engineering genius loses out to a more widely adopted, though possibly inferior, system.
2024-09-2914 minThe Runners Up ClubGabriel Metsu: The Forgotten Dutch MasterFew artists create a style so distinct that it is recognizable to an untrained eye. Johannes Vermeer is one. Meet the now-obscure artist who Vermeer displaced from the pantheon of Dutch Masters.
2024-09-2911 minThe Runners Up ClubEulace Peacock: Hamstrung ChampionJesse Owens’ greatest rival might have claimed a share of the sprinter’s four gold medals and a place beside him in history exposing the idiocy of Hitler’s Aryan racism… but for a common muscle pull.
2024-09-2912 minThe Runners Up ClubIntroduction to The Runners Up ClubA short intro to The Runners Up Club podcast, a series about second- and third-bests, from near misses to no chancers. It's an idiosyncratic series produced by, one hopes, people who are not idiots.
2024-09-2904 min
The Next LevelConditioning a Miracle Mindset and The Power of Forgiveness with JJ VirginFor the full show notes visit http://jeffa.co/092 We all have a particular journey in life, lessons to learn, and a path that leads us to those lessons. Before I came across personal development, and the art and science of maintaining your mindset, food was my medicine. It still is the foundation of my lifestyle, and being nimble in thought, feeling, and action is the #1 skill I continue to zero in on and develop in my every day life, and especially when life presents it's unique challenges. My guest today has a long track...
2017-09-1142 min
The Next Level049: Unpacking Addiction and The Ultramarathon Mindset with Charlie EngleWhen I learned more about today's guest through his book Running Man, I was utterly amazed Charlie Engle is an author, ultramarathon runner, and just an all around inspiration. In his early years, Charlie fell into a crack and alcohol addiction that nearly destroyed his life. Now 24 years sober, Charlie is a runner who has accomplished some seriously impressive physical feats. He was one of three team members in the film Running the Sahara which was narrated by Matt Damon. In the film Charlie, along with Ray Zahab and Kevin Lin ran 50 miles a day for 111 days straight! Just...
2016-11-1441 min