CORRECTION: In this episode we reference Audie Murphy as the "most decorated American soldier in WWII." His kill count was 240, not 33 -- we misspoke, he had 33 awards.

In this episode, we get into what to say when a man starts mansplaining WWII… and the stories he’s probably leaving out. We talk about Lyudmila Pavlichenko, known as Lady Death, and how she became one of the deadliest snipers of the war, the Soviet Night Witches who flew nighttime bombing missions in near-silent planes, double agent Juan Pujol García (Garbo) who helped mislead the Nazis, and Wojtek the bear, a literal bear enlisted by Polish troops who carried ammunition during battle.

If you’re into World War II history, this episode has a mix of overlooked figures, spy chaos, and stories that sound fake but are very real. It’s part history lesson, part unhinged commentary, and fully the kind of context you’ll wish you had the next time this topic comes up.

Sources:

• National WWII Museum. “Night Witches: The Soviet Women Pilots Who Terrified Nazi Soldiers.” October 2025. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/night-witches-soviet-women-pilots-who-terrified-nazi-soldiers
• National WWII Museum. “Lady Death of the Red Army: Lyudmila Pavlichenko.” March 2021. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/lady-death-red-army-lyudmila-pavlichenko
• MI5. “Agent GARBO.” mi5.gov.uk. https://www.mi5.gov.uk/history/world-war-ii/agent-garbo
• BBC News. “Wojtek the Bear.” https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4nd3n33yeo
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Introduction to the Holocaust.” https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/introduction-to-the-holocaust
• National WWII Museum. “WWII by the Numbers.” https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-worldwide-deaths-world-war
• History.com Editors. “World War II.” https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/world-war-ii-history

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