Today, Mark Twain is widely thought of as one of America's greatest authors -- but he was also, get this, a terrible investor. Inspired by his father's unfailing (and unsuccessful) efforts to become a business tycoon, Twain spent loads of time and money backing inventions that either didn't work... or were outright scams. In part one of this special two-part series, Ben, Noel and Max explore how Twain's early life experiences set him on this path -- and how he originally had a different pen name. Also, this is our Connecticut series.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.