Ed Helms Exposes America’s Scariest Screw-Ups

2025-08-25

Download

On today's episode of Lever Time, comedian and writer Ed Helms (The Daily Show, The Office) takes David Sirota on a wild journey through some of history’s greatest screw-ups — from nuclear war near-misses to secret ice tunnels in Greenland to attempts to blow up the moon. Helms, who hosts the podcast SNAFU, explores the risks of putting our trust in leaders who could do things that put us on the brink of extinction. What do America’s biggest blunders teach us about our lack of control, our resilience, and what the future holds?Click here to learn more a...

On today's episode of Lever Time, comedian and writer Ed Helms (The Daily Show, The Office) takes David Sirota on a wild journey through some of history’s greatest screw-ups — from nuclear war near-misses to secret ice tunnels in Greenland to attempts to blow up the moon.

Helms, who hosts the podcast SNAFU, explores the risks of putting our trust in leaders who could do things that put us on the brink of extinction. What do America’s biggest blunders teach us about our lack of control, our resilience, and what the future holds?

Click here to learn more about Ed Helm's book, SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History's Greatest Screwups.

Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comments (3)