14b0a47f-1b05-5f0f-b5f5-1cb4c9bff6caMon, 30 Mar 2026 16:18:33 +0000Captivate.fmRay Agostinellihttps://artwork.captivate.fm/0a22eabc-6555-40e6-9c7c-317a230cd466/YgleUJohFzsOdGLHY5E259sE.pngRay AgostinelliRay AgostinelliShort-form episodes about history's "losers", air quotes essential, by Ray Agostinelli. Wild and fun stories about people & products, brands & businesses, ideas & inventions that failed to ascend to the dominant position in their fields - business, science, politics, the arts - sometimes deservedly so, many times not. What Hydrox is to the Oreo, Gabriel Metsu to Vermeer, Eulace Peacock to Jesse Owens, Iliodor to Rasputin; and very many more besides - diminished, obscured, forgotten. Stories that are by turns instructive, humorous, enraging, illuminating, cautionary, and addictive. http://www.runnersupclub.comfalseepisodicnopodcastIntroduction 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.

]]>A 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.

]]>1a025602-d94e-4ab8-bd5b-276ba4d5a813Sun, 29 Sep 2024 09:00:00 -060004:08falsefull1111Eulace 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.

]]>Jesse 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.

]]>565eabcd-c65d-405d-bdfa-30c2a3e6de35Sun, 29 Sep 2024 14:00:00 -060012:28falsefull1221Gabriel 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.

]]>Few 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.

]]>acb3fb18-d21b-48f0-9427-e6906b1009dfSun, 29 Sep 2024 14:15:00 -060011:14falsefull1331Broad 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.

]]>In 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.

]]>453c631b-d99c-4143-8813-5be33cdba6a2Sun, 29 Sep 2024 14:30:00 -060014:41falsefull1441IIiodor: 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.

]]>Pre-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.

]]>d3165d53-5005-41c1-b4ab-773de69fb4e4Sun, 29 Sep 2024 14:45:00 -060012:46falsefull1551Tally 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.

]]>In 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.

]]>d351e39c-011b-4b3c-b22b-5144efae7006Sun, 29 Sep 2024 15:00:00 -060016:43falsefull1661Harold 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.

]]>In 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.

]]>a5638c81-11a8-4f50-bee7-d7540f542ec2Sun, 29 Sep 2024 15:15:00 -060015:41falsefull1771Hydrox: 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.

]]>In 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.

]]>459ba8a9-4ca9-4967-b447-c61f8e64e8a8Sat, 26 Oct 2024 09:00:00 -060017:36falsefull1881Mothra: 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.

]]>Did 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.

]]>23371dd1-3adb-47ee-97a7-e0788020e457Wed, 27 Nov 2024 09:00:00 -060013:04falsefull1991George "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.

]]>In 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.

]]>f3ce7317-a8e9-4dbc-b585-daf40e883892Sat, 28 Dec 2024 09:00:00 -060014:29falsefull110101Antoine 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?

]]>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?

]]>f17c0f4e-dd6e-48f5-a1cf-b93793f493b2Sat, 22 Mar 2025 09:00:00 -060014:34falsefull111111Minerva: 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?

]]>This 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?

]]>273dbe4b-a962-483a-8e12-a23d0121c77aSat, 05 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -060011:41falsefull112121Beech-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.

]]>A 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.

]]>b0e10dd2-074e-427f-b8c9-a4fd37ca9a4aSun, 15 Jun 2025 09:00:00 -060014:24falsefull113131Catherine 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.

]]>A 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.

]]>51846192-84b1-4b32-9b6d-e0cd224d5fd8Sun, 31 Aug 2025 09:00:00 -060014:03falsefull114141Greg 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.

]]>The 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.

]]>895b95bf-bd6d-4da3-92bc-86be4b090bfdSun, 12 Oct 2025 09:00:00 -060017:02falsefull115151Howard K. Smith: An Anchorman For Our 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.

]]>The 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.

]]>9d45f5e5-8b3c-4a43-93c9-8e893ee37f78Thu, 25 Dec 2025 09:00:00 -060016:27falsefull116161Alfred Russel Wallace: The Spiritual EvolutionistThe naturalist whose contemporaneous insights into “the transmutation of species” may have shared top billing with Darwin had he not gone off - script, refusing to boot god entirely from his theory of evolution.

]]>The naturalist whose contemporaneous insights into “the transmutation of species” may have shared top billing with Darwin had he not gone off - script, refusing to boot god entirely from his theory of evolution.

]]>4b1b366a-a6d6-43a0-ba67-fbdbbdcea0fcSat, 28 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -060018:33falsefull117171