Podcast Summary: This Guy Sucked

Episode: Barnabe Rich with Christina Wade (Subscriber Preview)
Podcast: This Guy Sucked
Host: Dr. Claire Aubin
Guest: Dr. Christina Wade (Beer Historian)
Date: January 29, 2026

Main Theme

This episode explores the life and legacy of Barnabe Rich, an English army officer and writer from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Dr. Claire Aubin and guest expert Dr. Christina Wade unpack Rich’s appalling views—especially his vitriolic misogyny toward women in brewing and his role in the English colonization of Ireland—using Rich not simply as a figure in his own right, but as a window into broader social, political, and colonial attitudes of his era.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Introductions & Beverages (00:44 – 03:14)

• Claire and Christina open with playful banter about drinks, including the rise of non-alcoholic (NA) beers and gin alternatives.
• Claire: “I’ve been hunting for an NA beer sponsor for months for the podcast and I’m convinced that we will have one eventually.” (02:38)
• Christina shares her enjoyment of both alcoholic and NA drinks, setting the tone for a humorous but historically grounded discussion.

2. Who Was Barnabe Rich? (04:22 – 05:34)

• Brief biography: Born c. 1540–1542, died 1617; army captain, prolific author, and participant in England’s colonization of Ireland.
• Claire and Christina stress how difficult Rich is to research outside of academic circles, which makes him more of a “type” than a singular, infamous villain.
• Claire jokes: “I think Barnabe Rich sounds like the name of, like, a cartoon landlord and not this guy.” (05:13)

3. Context: English Colonization and Rich’s Role (06:35 – 09:54)

• Christina provides context on the English ‘recolonization’ of Ireland in the 16th century and the forced displacement of Irish Catholic landowners in favor of Protestant settlers.
• Christina: “Particularly in Ulster, they had these Protestant, Scottish and English settlers… This was a huge, huge widespread campaign over a very long period of time.” (08:02)
• Rich is identified as representative of the colonial mindset rather than a unique architect of atrocities.

4. Rich’s “Odd Choice”: Settling in Dublin (09:55 – 11:18)

• Claire points out the irony in Rich’s decision to settle in Dublin and write viciously about the locals: “For someone who has… a level of antipathy for Ireland, an odd choice. Like, an odd decision.” (10:43)
• Christina: “He speaks with an authority on the people of Ireland that he simply does not possess.” (10:48)

5. Literary Output & Questionable Ethics (11:18 – 13:12)

• Rich’s career jumps between fiction, nonfiction, and polemic.
• Notably, he takes credit for stories that are borrowed or stolen, such as the plot for “Apollonius and Silla,” a source for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
• Claire: “He’s a little loosey goosey with the truth on these things. Surprise, surprise, I would say.” (12:25)

6. Central Critique: Misogyny toward Alewives (13:12 – 16:02)

• Christina’s “primary beef”: Rich’s obsessive, misogynist hatred of alewives (women brewers), as articulated in his 1610 pamphlet, A New Description of Ireland.
• Rich’s direct words (read aloud by Christina):

  “I will speak only of the riff raff, the most filthy queens that are known to be in the country (I mean those housewives… but do you selling of drink in Dublin or elsewhere) commonly called tavern keepers, but indeed filthy and beastly alehouse keepers… they earn all manner of their life and living to be detested and abhorred.” (13:52)

• Claire: “I just can’t imagine seeing a woman in a tavern and being like, we can’t have this.” (14:25)

7. Lambasting the Irish & Living among Them (16:02 – end)

• Claire notes the bizarre tone and unapologetic bigotry in Rich’s pamphlet, recounting how he labeled the Irish as rebellious, naturally cruel, and generally inferior:

  “Alas, poor Ireland, what safety may be hoped for thee that are still so addicted to disobedience, to contempt, to sedition, to rebellion, that thy wounds are no sooner closed up, but thou thyself goest about to open them again.” (16:55)

• Rich accuses women of dominating Dublin’s ale trade and cheating English newcomers, despite evidence and primary sources suggesting massive exaggeration.
• Christina: “He just says… he’s incredibly misogynistic. I’m just. Yeah, just horrible person, to be honest.” (15:48)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Christina on Rich’s attitude:
  “He has some serious, serious beef with them [alewives]… he tells us that basically the entire economy of Dublin is built on selling ale… there are all these women that are brewing all of this ale and they're terrible, they're, you know, they're beastly, they're filthy, they're dishonest.” (14:35–15:54)
• Claire, on Rich’s pamphlet:
  “It is fucking wild. This pamphlet is bananas to read… This man hates the Irish. Like he is choosing to live his life in Dublin and he hates everyone around him and the thing he’s doing. And again, does not have to be there.” (16:02)
• Christina, on Rich’s ego:
  “He’s certainly the kind of person that isn’t the one to let the facts get in the way of a good story, as it were.” (10:51)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:44] – Show introduction & guest welcome
• [02:04] – Discussion of non-alcoholic drinks
• [04:22] – Introduction of Barnabe Rich as topic
• [06:35] – Explanation of English colonization in Ireland and Rich’s presence in Ulster
• [09:55] – The oddity of Rich living in Dublin despite hating it
• [11:18] – Rich’s literary career and theft of others’ work
• [13:12] – Rich’s misogynist diatribe against female brewers (alewives)
• [16:02 & 16:55] – Highlights from A New Description of Ireland and Rich’s vile views on the Irish

Tone and Style

The tone is irreverent, critical, and sharply witty, maintaining a balance between historical rigor and candid, contemporary disdain for Rich’s bigotry. Both hosts openly mock Rich’s attitudes while grounding their critiques in historical context and primary sources.

For more, including the full takedown of Rich’s writings and their impact on women in brewing, listen to the full episode on Patreon.