FAMOUS FEUDS: March 2026 podcast playlist

From tech billionaires and sneaker empires to Appalachian bloodlines and pop royalty, this playlist dives headfirst into some of history’s most notorious rivalries. These episodes unpack what really fuels a feud—ego, ambition, jealousy, family grudges, and sometimes escalating one-upmanship. You’ll get the messy reality behind headline-grabbing clashes, the origin stories that spiraled out of control, and the legends that refuse to die. Some of these conflicts reshaped industries and culture; others were inflated by rumor and retelling. All of them prove one thing: when powerful personalities collide, the fallout is unforgettable.

This playlist was curated by Maree, chapter leader of our Northern Virginia chapter.

Podcast Playlist on FAMOUS FEUDS

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

* Listen Notes allows you to quickly download all of the episodes using a variety of podcast apps. Here is a quick demo video.

High Steaks: “Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk: Battle of The Lizard Overlords” (March 2025, 24 min)
A sharp look at the tech world’s most headline-grabbing rivalry, unpacking ego, ambition, and billionaire brinkmanship between Zuckerberg and Musk.
Stuff You Should Know: “Selects: What Was the Deal With the Hatfields and McCoys?” (January 2021, 43 min)
It was America’s most famous family feud, but the history of the Hatfields vs the McCoys is fraught with bias and inaccuracies.
Ridiculous History: “CLASSIC: Adidas Versus Puma: A Tale of Two Brothers” (March 2025, 46 min)
Today Adidas and Puma are two of the industry’s most well-known tennis shoe makers, and people around the world prize the footwear for its unique design and reliable craftsmanship. Yet there’s a strange, bitter origin story behind these giants of the sneaker world.
Diss and Tell: “Prince and Michael Jackson | 31” (January 2024, 46 min)
Few fans are aware of the years-long rivalry brewing between Prince and Michael Jackson behind the scenes. As the Purple One’s fame escalated, so too did tensions between the two artists. They proceeded to engage in a series of increasingly bizarre one-upmanship battles, including an antagonistic concert showdown, a cutthroat ping pong grudge match, and the most outrageous quarrel claim of all time involving an alleged satanic-chant-filled shoebox left on a doorstep.
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast: “The Mozart-Saleri Feud: Did “Amadeus” Tell the Real Story?” (December 2023, 26 min)
The film “Amadeus” was a huge hit in the mid-1980s. It depicted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri as musical rivals in the Austrian court in the late 18th century, which ultimately ends with Mozart’s early death. But was anything in the film accurate? Did Salieri plot to kill Mozart? Was jealousy over musical genius really that serious?

Bonus podcast episodes:

• You’re Dead to Me: “Kellogg Brothers: a family feud and the creation of a cereal empire” (August 2025, 59 min)
  This episode tells the story of the battling Kellog brothers and their food and wellness business ventures, exploring everything from their sibling relationship and the competing stories they tell about the invention of their most famous cereal, to John’s Seventh Day Adventist beliefs and his pioneering wife with her meat-free meal replacements.
• Stuff You Should Know: “Selects: What Were the BONE WARS?” (August 2025, 53 min)
  A pair of old timey fossil hunters had a rootin’ tootin’ rivalry that spilled from academic journals into the American Wild West – where fossils were dynamited and employees turned double agent.
• History of Everything: “Feuds that ended in blood…” (February 2024, 1 hr 10 min)
  A hard look at rivalries that didn’t stop at insults or lawsuits—conflicts that escalated into violence, revenge, and deadly consequences.
• Ongoing History of New Music: “Modern Rock Feuds” (March 2022, 32 min)
  A fast-moving tour of modern rock’s messiest rivalries—ego clashes, diss tracks, public call-outs, and the grudges that shaped the sound of the scene.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. When does rivalry push people to greatness—and when does it just turn destructive?
2. Which feud on this list feels the most manufactured or exaggerated by media and myth?
3. How much of a famous feud is driven by ego versus real ideological or business conflict?
4. Do we romanticize artistic rivalries like Mozart and Salieri because they make genius more dramatic?
5. Can bitter competition between brands (like Adidas and Puma) actually benefit consumers?
6. Why are audiences so fascinated by celebrity one-upmanship, especially in music and tech?
7. Which feud do you think had the biggest long-term cultural impact—and which was mostly smoke?