About the Author
Books
Valkyria: Shieldmaidens of Asgard. TBD. (in process).
Putin and Zelensky. New York: Macmillan, 2024. (in process)
The Lost Crown of the Lich King. Seattle: 99 Cent Adventures, 2024. (in process)
Epic Fails: Totally Getting Lost. New York: Macmillan, 2019.
Epic Fails: Not-So Great Presidents. New York: Macmillan, 2019.
Epic Fails: Countdown to Liftoff. New York: Macmillan, 2018.
Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers. New York: Macmillan, 2018.
Guts & Glory: The American Revolution. New York: Little, Brown, 2017.
Guts & Glory: World War II. New York: Little, Brown, 2016.
Guts & Glory: The Vikings. New York: Little, Brown, 2015.
Guts & Glory: The American Civil War. New York: Little, Brown, 2014.
“The Beginners’ Guide to Diabolical Evil.” Chapter in Now Write! Speculative Fiction. Ed. Sherry Ellis. New York: Tarcher, 2014.
สุดยอดการต่อสู้ในประวัติศาสตร์: Badass (Ultimate Deathmatch). Trans. Sopaphan Rattananai. Bangkok: Gypsy, 2014.
Badass: Ultimate Deathmatch: Unstoppable Tales of the Most Hardcore Duels, Showdowns, Fistfights, Last Stands, Suicide Charges and Military Engagements of All Time. New York: William Morrow, 2013.
Badass: Birth of a Legend: Spine-Crushing Tales of the Most Merciless Gods, Heroes, Villains, and Mythical Creatures Ever Envisioned. New York: HarperCollins, 2011.
Los Mas Duros de la Historia: Aplastaron Ejercitos, Construyeron Imperios, Saquearon Civilizaciones y Nunca Se Rindieron. (Spanish translation of BADASS featuring four chapters of new original content.) Madrid: Temas De Hoy, 2010.
Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live. New York: HarperCollins, 2009.
Television, Film, and Audio
Conquest. Consultant/Story, Davis Entertainment (in production).
Badass of the Week. Podcast host and executive producer. High Five Content and iHeartRadio, April 2023 — present.
Podcasters Assemble, Season 007. Podcast presenter. We Can Make This Work (Probably), May 2020.
Jealousy. Actor in the webseries Birds of Prey. Pulled Prok Productions, January 2020.
Escort Service. Actor in the webseries Birds of Prey. Pulled Prok Productions, January 2020.
The Recursive Haunting of Able Street. Short film co-written for the Seattle 48-Hour Horror Movie Festival. Pulled Prok Productions, October 2019.
Cleaning Crew. Audio drama written for award-winning podcast Liberty: Tales from the Tower. March 19, 2019.
“Dungeon Mastery.” Youtube.com/dungeonmastery. Started March 2019.
Stagecoach Mary Fields. Narrator/Presentor for episode of True First: Legends of African Descent. Nimble Sage Productions, November 2018.
Uninvited. Short film co-written for the Seattle 48-Hour Horror Movie Festival. Pulled Prok Productions, October 2018.
Epic Fails of Washington State. Television appearance for Seattle’s Evening Magazine. Aired 6 August 2018.
Therapy. Short film co-written for the Austin Film Festival. May 2018.
Lily’s Day Out. Short film co-written for the Seattle 48-Hour Horror Movie Festival. Pulled Prok Productions, October 2017.
Pearl Harbor: The Heroes Who Fought Back. Narrator/Presenter. 360 Productions, December 2016.
Genetic Markers. Audio drama written for Liberty: Tales from the Tower podcast. May 17, 2016.
Foreward: By Ben Thompson. Lyrics/story written for the album Legend of the Boar Knight by Careless Juja. ShinRa Electric Records, March 2015.
Hardcore Heroes. Narrator/Presenter, 6 episodes. DLL Productions, 2014.
Washington’s Top 5 Bad@%’s.” Television segment for Channel 5’s Evening Magazine. Aired May 21, 2013.
Badass: Birth of a Legend. Trailer for Badass: Birth of a Legend. Brady Hall Productions, 31 Jan 2011.
Badass book trailer. Trailer for Badass. OliveTV Productions, 21 Oct 2009.
Magazine Articles
“Heavy Medal.” Penthouse. July/August 2015.
“Heavy Medal.” Penthouse. July/August 2014.
“Heavy Medal.” Penthouse. July/August 2013.
“Secret Agent Man.” Penthouse. March/April 2013.
“Heavy Medal.” Penthouse. July/August 2012.
“Master Class.” Penthouse. July/August 2012.
“Heavy Medal 2010-2011.” Penthouse. July/August 2011.
“Heavy Medal”. Penthouse, July/August 2010.
“Safe at Home“. Penthouse, July/August 2010.
“Badasses of Horror”. Fangoria, November 2009.
Copywriting
Badass: Spades and Grenades Kickstarter website copy. Successfully funded at over 400% requested funding amount on August 2013.
BattleREADY Clothing website copy. October 2012.
CamelBak Catalog 2011: Hydrate or Die Catalog. CamelBak, Inc., October 2010.
Awards
Gold Medal from the Junior Library Guild, for Epic Fails: Age of Exploration, Fall 2019.
Gold Medal from the Junior Library Guild, for Epic Fails: The Race to Space, Fall 2018.
Gold Medal from the Junior Library Guild, for Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers, Fall 2018.
Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List 2019, for Epic Fails: The Race to Space, 2018.
2019 NSTA Best STEM Books List from the American Society for Engineering Education, the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association, the National Science Teachers Association, the Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees, and the Children’s Book Council, December 2018.
Featured Author on Bookroo.com, December 12, 2018.
Second Round at the Austin Film Festival for “Therapy”, 2018.
Silver Award for Best Audiobook by Parent’s Choice, for Guts & Glory: The American Revolution, 2018.
Silver Award for Best Audiobook by the National Parenting Publications Awards, for Guts & Glory: The American Civil War, 2015.
“Teacher’s Choice” by the International Literacy Association, for Guts & Glory: The American Civil War, 2015.
Nominated for “Best History Writing on the Web” by HistoryRoll.com, 2010
Selected “Seattle’s Sexiest Dungeon Master” by the Seattle Stranger newspaper, 2010.
Web Content
“Get Back Up.” The Nerdy Book Club. 6 September 2018.
“Fake News, George Washington, and the Plight of the Overworked History Educator.” The Nerdy Book Club. 27 June 2017.
“History Is Awesome.” The Nerdy Book Club. 11 November 2014.
“Joe Medicine Crow.” Military.com. 9 October 2013.
“Mary Edwards Walker.” Military.com. 12 August 2013.
“The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.” Historyroll.com. 14 February 2013.
“Robin Olds.” Soldier of Fortune. 7 January 2013.
“Daniel Inouye.” Soldier of Fortune. 20 December 2012.
“Shen Jianzhong.” Soldier of Fortune. 13 December 2012.
“Max Hardberger.” Soldier of Fortune. 28 November 2012.
BattleREADY.me. Site copy and promotional materials. October 2012.
“Badass Con Carne.” BadassConCarne.com, weekly web comic, 2012-14.
“The Deepening Hole.” Album review for NefariousIndustries.com. 3 December, 2011.
“Doctor Doom.” Boomtron.com. 14 October, 2011
“Batman.” Boomtron.com. 22 July 2011.
“8 Badass Books that Were Rejected by Publishers.” GuidetoLiteraryAgents.com. 26 May 2011.
“Writing History: The Badass Manifesto.” HistoryRoll.com. 1 April 2011.
“Deadpool.” BSCReview.com. 4 March 2011.
“Thanos.” Gesaltmash.com. 23 July 2010.
“Badass of the Week.” YouTube channel, started 2009.
“7 Badass Vikings.” Ty.rannosaur.us. 16 November 2009.
“The 7 Most Badass Last Stands in History.” Cracked.com. 7 November 2009.
“George Orwell.” Powells.com, 6 November 2009.
“Alexander Solzhenitsyn.” Powells.com, 5 November 2009.
“The Best Badasses in History.” Mademan.com. 5 November 2009.
“Sir Richard Francis Burton.” Powells.com, 4 November 2009.
“Anna Comnena.” Powells.com, 3 November 2009.
“Aeschylus.” Powells.com, 2 November 2009.
“Badass Moments in Sci-Fi History.” BSCReview.com. 28 October 2009.
“Badass of the Week.” BadassoftheWeek.com, weekly history content, started 9 April 2004.
“My Stupid Website.” AmazingBen.com, 2003-2007.
Talks and Public Speaking
“Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers.” Presentation at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. December 17, 2022.
“Guts & Glory: The American Revolution.” Presentation at McKelvey Elementary School in Maryland Heights, MO. March 15, 2022.
“Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers.” Presentation at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. December 21, 2021.
“World War I in the Air.” Presentation at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. June 6, 2021.
“Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers.” Presentation at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. December 22, 2020.
“Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers.” Presentation at Elementary School in New York, NY. December 22, 2020.
“Guts & Glory: The American Revolution.” Presentation at Elementary School in New York, NY. October 27, 2020.
“Guts & Glory: The Battle of Britain.” Presentation for the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. September 25, 2020.
“Guts & Glory: Washington State.” Presentation for the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma, WA. May 28, 2020.
“Guts & Glory: The Civil War.” Presentation and Q&A at PDS Middle School in Princeton, NY. May 15, 2020.
“Guts & Glory.” Presentation and Q&A at 30th Ave School in Queens, NY. April 14, 2020.
“A Badass History of the Space Race.” Presentation at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, WA. October 10, 2019.
“Guts & Glory: The Vikings.” Presentation at Skal Beer Hall in Seattle, WA. August 21, 2019.
“Apollo 11”. Presentation at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, WA. June 26, 2019.
“Epic Fails: The Age of Exploration”. Presentation at Third Place Books in Seattle, WA. May 15, 2019.
“Epic Fails: The Age of Exploration”. Book release event and presentation at Loyalty Books, Washington, D.C., May 4, 2019.
“Epic Fails: The Presidents”. Presentation at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., May 4, 2019.
“Epic Fails: Race to Space”. Presentation at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., May 4, 2019.
“Guts & Glory: The Vikings”. Presentation at the Nordic Museum in Seattle, WA. April 4, 2019.
“Story Structure in Science Fiction and Fantasy.” Presentation at Frank Love Elementary, Seattle, WA, 13 March 2019.
“Epic Fails: The History of the American Presidency.” Presentations at School within School and Solid State Books, Washington D.C., 19 January 2019.
“Epic Fails: The Amazing Ways We Can Benefit from Our Amazingly Stupid Ideas.” Presentation at the IEP Semana Academica de Enginharia conference in Curitiba, Brazil, 14 August 2018.
“Fiction Writing Workshop.” Class discussion and presentation at Eastside Academics in Bellevue, WA, 8 August 2018.
“Epic Fails.” Reading and discussion as part of a 3-city book tour to promote Epic Fails: The Wright Brothers and Epic Fails: The Space Race. Tour stops included Jacksonville, FL, Las Vegas, NV, and Seattle, WA. 10-14 July 2018.
“Non-Fiction Writing Workshop.” Class discussion and presentation at Eastside Academics in Bellevue, WA, 10 October 2017.
“Icons: Figures Who Have Inspired Children’s Books.” Panel discussion at the Texas Librarian Association Annual Convention, April 2017.
“The Civil War in Texas.” Reading and discussion to promote Guts & Glory: The American Revolution. Speaking engagements at Green Elementary and the Young Men’s Leadership Academy in San Antonio Texas, April 2017.
“The Civil War in Washington State.” Reading and discussion to promote Guts & Glory: The American Civil War. Speaking engagements at Gateway Middle School, Everett, WA, June 2016.
“The Civil War in Louisiana.” Reading and discussion to promote Guts & Glory: The American Civil War. Speaking engagements at Metairie Park Country Day School and Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies, New Orleans, LA, February 2016.
“Erik the Red.” Reading and discussion to promote Guts & Glory: The Vikings. Third Place Books, Lake Forest, WA and University Bookstore, Seattle, WA, June 11 and 15, 2015.
“Guts & Glory: The American Civil War”. Book signing and reading at the American Librarian Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV, June 2014.
“The Writing Process.” Talk at Greenwood Elementary, Seattle, WA, October 4, 2013.
“Who Dares Wins.” Reading and discussion as part of a 4-city book tour to promote BADASS: Ultimate Deathmatch. Tour stops included Seattle, Bellingham, Lake Forest, and Portland, 2013.
“I’m So Much Cooler Online.” Panel discussion at Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, WA, 2012.
“Why Nerds? Why Old-Timey? Why Now?” Panel discussion at Bumbershoot Music Festival, Seattle, WA, 2011.
“Thor and Nikola Tesla.” Reading and discussion at Google, Inc. as part of the Google Author Series, Kirkland, WA, 2011.
“Thor“. Reading and discussion as part of an 8-city national book tour to promote Badass: Birth of a Legend. Tour stops included Seattle, Portland, Boston, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Orlando, Miami, and San Francisco, 2011.
“Teaching the Middle Ages.” Panel discussion at Norwescon 33, Seattle, WA, 2010.
“Really Good Really Bad Guys.” Panel discussion at Norwescon 33, Seattle, WA, 2010.
“Crossing the Rainbow Bridge to Valhalla.” Panel discussion at Norwescon 33, Seattle, WA, 2010.
“Writing Workshop.” Talk at Cleveland High School, Seattle, WA, 2010.
“Wolf the Quarrelsome.” Reading and discussion as part of a 4-city West Coast book tour to promote Badass. Tour stops included Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and Honolulu, 2009.
“Nikola Tesla.” Reading and discussion at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2009.
Interviews and Media
“Steve Belledin and Ben Thompson of Badass“. The Yuki D and Jinx Show. 16 July 2019.
“STEM Tuesday — Epic Achievements and Fantastic Failures“. From the Mixed-Up Files. 7 May 2019.
“Totally Getting Lost (with Ben Thompson)“. Epic Fails Podcast. 27 April 2019.
“Selfie and a Shelfie: Erik Slader and Ben Thompson.” The Children’s Book Review. 16 April 2019.
“Middle Grade 2019 Growth Spurts.” Publishers’ Weekly. 12 April 2019.
“Lieutenant Adnan’s battle of Bukit Chandu rewritten as badass story by American writer.” Mothership.sg. 14 February 2019.
“Stories about failure show that it’s just a pit stop to success.” Washington Post article. 24 October 2018.
“Epic Fails“. Interview with First Coast Connect on WJCT. 24 September 2018.
“New Middle Grade Series Puts a Positive Spin on ‘Epic Fails’“. Publisher’s Weekly article. 17 July 2018.
“The Wright Brothers“. Kids’ Read review. 10 July 2018.
“Ben Thompson: Realne hry by nebyly zabavne.” Hrej.cz interview. 31 January 2018.
“All the King’s Mess: Ben Thompson and His Badass Fiasco.” Seattle Magazine article. 9 February 2015.
“Behind the Drafting Table: Ben Thompson“. Interview with Behind the Drafting Table. 24 August 2014.
“You’re the Thoreau to My Emerson” Appearance on the podcast Don’t Do It Yourself. January, 2014.
“How to Be a Man.” Interview with New York Pudding. 31 August 2011.
“Interview with Ben Thompson.” Interview with Guns & Tacos. 5 July 2011.
“How to Be a Badass.” Interview with Head Drama. 24 May 2011.
“‘Badass’ Guys Giving History a Kick.” NPR Interview on All Things Considered, 16 May 2011.
“Badass: Birth of a Legend.” Radio Interview with WICN, 29 April 2011.
“The Toughest of the Tough.” Miami Herald Interview, 3 April 2011.
“Writer Ben Thompson Champions Blood, Sweat, and Sass.” San Francisco Examiner Interview, 2 April 2011.
“Badass Author Ben Thompson Discusses Libya, Nate Dogg, and FSU-UM.” Miami New Times Interview, 1 April 2011.
“Might Makes Write“, Seattle Magazine Interview, 28 February 2011 (PDF)
“Badass Author Answers Some Questions.” Seattle Times Author Q&A, 4 December 2009.