Dictators

Get an inside look at far-right extremism and domestic terror groups. From Gimlet and VICE News, American Terror follows reporter Ben Makuch as he investigates the ideologies and inside workings of hate groups in America. Listen to the first episode right here, then follow American Terror to catch the rest of this eight-episode series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the ages, arsenic has had many lives — beauty fad, household product, medical prescription… and weapon of choice wielded by killers everywhere from Alabama to ancient Rome. Brine your turkey, knead your dough, and listen to our Thanksgiving Special on the regime-changing, assassination-aiding King of Poisons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1791, France adopted a new constitution, placing power in the hands of the people. Robespierre’s job was done... or so he thought. War was coming, and with it, the growing threat of enemies both internal and external. In his quest to squash the counter-revolution, Robespierre plunges the country into the merciless and bloody Reign of Terror. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He entered the Age of Enlightenment as a young, well-educated student who saw the French nobility and clergy as corrupt — and society as ripe for an overhaul. As France plunged into crisis after crisis, Robespierre transformed from idealistic lawyer… to agitator for revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since the 1920s, many archaeologists have examined the mummified remains of King Tut. But one Egyptologist believes that King Tut’s murder shouldn’t be solved by examining his body but by exploring what happened in Egypt after he died. This episode originally aired on Unsolved Murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before becoming the world’s most famous mummy, King Tut was a teenage pharoah coming out of his father’s shadow. When he suddenly died at age 19, it sent shockwaves through his empire. But it wasn’t until the 1920s that a new theory came into play: King Tut was murdered. This episode originally aired on Unsolved Murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Still harboring an unquenchable thirst for gold, Coronado takes his expedition north from Mexico on a wild goose chase through “Tierra Nueva.” They unleash their brutality on indigenous villages. But ultimately all Coronado will have to show for it is a single piece of copper, and the bitter resentment of his countrymen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1535, the second son of a wealthy Spanish family sailed to Mexico and married into a wealthy estate. But he wanted more. He wanted fame. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado raises himself out of obscurity to become one of the most powerful men in the region. Then sets out in pursuit of the rumored Seven Cities of Gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was one of the most ruthless conquistadors of the era, epitomizing the unbound cruelty of the most reckless Spanish invaders. Pedro de Alvarado served as Hernán Cortés’s right-hand man during their expedition into Tenochtitlan. His paranoia there led to the slaughter of thousands. He continued to spread the carnage in Guatemala in campaigns against the K’iche, the Tz’utujil, and the Pipil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emperor Moctezuma couldn’t stop Cortés from reaching his legendary city. But the conquistador’s plans for conquest and glory had more than a few hiccups. Still contending with an old rival, Cortés was forced to march out of Tenochtitlan — and when he returned, the city fought back. La Noche Triste, or the Night of Sorrows, cost thousands of Spanish and Tlaxcalan lives. And still, the ruthless Cortés pressed on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 16th century a spate of European explorers pursued gold and glory across the so-called New World. Among them was Hernán Cortés, a fame-seeking descendant of Spanish warriors who became a soldier on Diego Velazquez’s expedition to Cuba. His ambition ever rising, Cortés set his sights on a conquest he could call his own — the great capital city of the Aztec Empire, Tenochtitlan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After experiencing a brutal colonization in the late 19th century, and years of political corruption afterward, the Congolese people desperately needed a virtuous leader. In 1965, they got Mobutu Sese Seko. For the next thirty years Mobutu used his position to enhance his riches — and by doing so, tanked the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Somalia, after losing both of his parents to clan factionalism, Siad Barre joins the military and ascends its ranks over the decades. As his country finds independence from British and Italian colonizers, Barre finds power — so much, in fact, that he’s placed in charge after a coup. But whatever idealism he brings to the role is overshadowed by his turn to totalitarian policies and misguided, deadly conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was supposed to be the revolutionary spark that swept through Libya, inspiring the masses to rule themselves through direct democracy. Instead, his brutal authoritarianism transformed the country into a police state and international pariah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1950s in Libya saw the dawning of a new era, when foreign rule ended and the country became an independent kingdom. Muammar Gaddafi was just a boy then. But inspired by Egypt’s anti-imperialist president, he became a devoted pan-Arab nationalist dedicated to one cause: overthrowing Libya’s corrupt king. In time, Gaddafi himself would become one of the most reviled dictators of the 20th century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hitler’s favorite commando took every opportunity he could to lionize himself after the raid on Gran Sasso. His efforts paid off: As the German war effort stalled, Nazi leadership used him not only as a tool of propaganda, but as an instrument of terror and chaos during their final, desperate counteroffensives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Skorzeny was an Austrian fascist whose thirst for military glory led him to the Waffen-SS. In the summer of 1943, Hitler hand-selected him for a mission: rescue Benito Mussolini. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between his stranglehold on the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and his authority over the Nazis’ anti-Jewish policies, 38-year-old Reinhard Heydrich controlled the fates of millions. His fate, though, would be determined by the same resistance he tried to stamp out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reinhard Heydrich was a disgraced German naval officer who became a devout fascist under the tutelage of Heimlich Himmler. As the Nazis consolidated their power, he became one of the most ruthless officers in the entire regime, earning the nickname “Man with the Iron Heart” from Hitler. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With his power secured, Himmler began a wave of terror that started in Germany and spread throughout Europe. Today we’re covering how he convinced Hitler to sanction the Nuremberg Laws, supplied Hitler with the pretext to invade Poland, and developed the Final Solution in a devastating genocide that claimed millions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices