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

He was a ruthless sycophant who carried out Hitler’s orders with utter savagery. Once a far-right university radical, Heinrich Himmler rose to become a leading member of the Nazi party and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caesar’s assassination throws Rome into political turmoil, jeopardizing Cleopatra’s right to rule Egypt. She begins a legendary love affair with Mark Antony that secures her survival for the time being. But an enemy is rising that will take everything from her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A keen witness to political theater from a young age, Cleopatra became the teenage queen of Egypt after her father suddenly died. In the face of deadly conflicts and exile, she found an unlikely ally in Julius Caesar and rose to become one of the most powerful — and most famous — figures of ancient Egypt. Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The pharaoh prepared his armies for battle against the Hittites in modern-day Syria. In epic poems and pictorial reliefs, Ramesses would honor himself as the savior of Egypt’s forces — despite the true outcome of the clash. It was one more example of the power of his self-mythologizing. A tactic that would secure his legacy for ages to come. Countdown to the CULTS book release! Parcast’s first book hits shelves July 12th. It’s an unflinching exploration of shame, secrecy, power, exploitation, and destruction. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He set out to be a living god whose name could never be forgotten. Ramesses II built monuments and a lavish new capital city. He tore down Akhenaten’s metropolis, using its stones for his own tomb. He mined gold in the desert. And in his long reign, he became a legend. Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The completion of his glorious capital city was one step in Akhenaten’s plan to diminish the power of the Amun priesthood and reorient all of Egyptian religious life around the Aten. He had learned from his father how powerful a cult of personality could be. And he’d go to extraordinary — and violent — lengths to preserve his. Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, a teenage pharaoh ushered in a revolutionary new theology, elevating a single solar deity above all other gods. He honored the Aten in magnificent fashion, and introduced changes to the iconography and architecture of the day. The next seismic wave in his plans: a new capital city. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The death of the Director in 1972 put an end to a reign that spanned 48 years, and left America to live in his outsized shadow. What happened to Hoover’s secret files? How is the modern FBI still shaped by his legacy? And what have we discovered about the true nature of his surveillance projects? This is the final episode in our six-part series from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While antiwar and Civil Rights movements charged forward, Hoover unleashed the FBI upon his enemies and adversaries. By the end of the 1960s, he was proclaiming that America’s greatest domestic threat was the Black Panther Party — and he was determined to smear, discredit, even destroy anyone even remotely associated with them. This is the fifth episode of our six-part series from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1960s, the Director’s adversaries included the Kennedy brothers and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, which he believed to be part of a larger communist conspiracy. He would do everything in his power to undermine them all. When JFK was assassinated — two weeks after Lee Harvey Oswald emerged onto the FBI’s radar — Hoover strangled the investigation to protect the Bureau’s reputation. This is episode four in our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new president in the White House meant a new opportunity for a power play. Unfortunately for Hoover, Truman already thought the Bureau was becoming a secret police force. So he checked their power, and created a separate foreign intelligence agency — what will become the CIA. Meanwhile, Hoover was still bent on rooting out communist infiltrators and Soviet spies. Soon enough, he began handing intel over to Congressional committees like HUAC... and to his new friend and ally: a rising senator named Joseph McCarthy. This is the third episode in our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the 1930s, Hoover was America's top cop. He went after bank robbers and bandits in his War on Crime, never losing sight of his real nemesis: communism. Every maneuver went toward Hoover’s carefully crafted narrative of the FBI. As their prestige grew, so did their power. But while Hoover had FDR’s ear, he also faced the ire of embittered political rivals. This is episode two of our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

J. Edgar Hoover was eager and ruthless. The young intelligence officer believed wholeheartedly in the communist conspiracy, and he’d do anything to protect his country. Raids, deportations, mass arrests. He targeted everyone from Russian anarchists to American labor unions in his frenzy to curb the communist threat. No matter what the law said. This is the first episode in our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After conquering England, Cnut learns of his brother’s sudden death — and becomes heir to the Danish throne. With two kingdoms under his hold, Cnut is on his way to creating his legendary North Sea Empire. But the battle for Scandinavia is just beginning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The second son of King Sweyn of Denmark was a ruthless warlord who invaded England in a fight for the throne in the eleventh century — and who became one of the most powerful kings in Scandinavian history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ruthless warriors. Ancient sagas. This season, we’re exploring the lives of the Vikings — starting with the legend of a leader named Ragnar and his equally famous sons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1812 invasion of Russia was the beginning of the end for Napoleon. Russia’s scorched earth campaign not only prevented a quick French victory, it emboldened other countries to once again take up arms. And this time, they were prepared to take on the world’s greatest general. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a coup puts Napoleon in power, he gets to work shoring up his authority and crafting his legacy. He overhauls the country’s legal system, and spends years fighting wars across Europe. With decisive victories, he positions France as a world superpower — and himself as emperor of France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a young Corsican boy, Napoleon dreamed of his island’s independence from France. But by the time he reached 30 years old, with a military career inspired by the likes of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, he was a hero of France — and one of the country's most powerful men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now that the Hunnic King posed a clear and escalating threat, a Roman cabal plotted to end the Age of Attila forever. They failed. Attila outmaneuvered their conspiracy, then turned his attention to the Western Roman Empire. And in 451 CE, the two armies met on the Catalaunian Plains. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before he became the most powerful ruler in the world in 434 CE, Atilla the Hun was a nomadic warrior terrorizing the Eastern Roman Empire. But to take the crown and gain control, Atilla would need to spill the blood of his own brother. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alexander turns his sights on defeating the Persian navy, laying siege to an island city before pursuing Persia’s King of Kings across the Achaemenid Empire. His military victories are stunning, but his conquest cannot hold under the weight of his early death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before he was Alexander the Great, conqueror of empires, he was Alexander III — son of Philip, student of Aristotle, and precocious prince who would become a king when he was barely past his teenage years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Gilded Age comes to a close, Henry Ford emerges to revolutionize American manufacturing and ignite a new class of consumers. He works overtime to burnish his image as a populist hero — an image that’s complicated by his vivid contradictions and inflammatory controversies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fourth and final Conspiracy Theories crossover. In November 2018, equipment from the largest utility provider in America sparked a fire that killed 86 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The devastation was unprecedented, but the Camp Fire is far from the only disaster caused by Pacific Gas & Electric. Are their political donations protecting them from stricter regulation? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In March 2011, the worst nuclear meltdown since Chernobyl took place in northern Japan. The incident was triggered by a natural disaster, but it was decisions made by the facility’s operators that led to such catastrophic damage. From Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An emergency plan to cut costs in Flint, Michigan, resulted in a contaminated water supply for the city’s residents. The water looked, tasted, and smelled foul – because it was tainted with toxic chemicals, harmful bacteria, and lead from old pipes. But government officials repeatedly dismissed the community’s concerns. What did they know about the burgeoning crisis? And how are they paying for their negligence now? From Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Love Canal was supposed to be a suburban idyll. Instead, it became a dumping ground for one company’s chemical waste. After the land changed hands in the 1950s, a school and 900 homes were built atop the toxic landfill. Decades later, residents are still battling deteriorating health and government negligence. From Conspiracy Theories, this four-part series covers four times corporations and officials knew their actions could cause harm, and forged ahead anyway. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born into a banking dynasty, John Pierpont Morgan became a Wall Street wunderkind in the 1860s. By his early 30s, he could afford an early retirement. But a life of leisure wasn’t in the cards for Morgan, who would go on to cut history-making deals, multiply his exorbitant wealth, and hold enough power to seal America’s financial fate several times over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Supreme Court decision in 1824 changed Cornelius Vanderbilt’s fate, opening the door for the enterprising steamboat captain to build a navigation empire — and from there, a railroad takeover. He outmaneuvered his rivals until he had the power to manipulate the entire U.S. economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices