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Behind the Bastards – Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous ideology, the founder of Blackwater’s insane quest to build his own Air Force, the bizarre lives of the sons and daughters of dictators and Saddam Hussein’s side career as a trashy romance novelist.

Copyright: 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia

Latest Episodes:

It Could Happen Here Weekly 198 Sep 06, 2025

Show notes

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.

- BlueAnon: Assassination False Flag and Liberal Election Denial

- BlueAnon: Alt National Park Service

- Chicago Prepares for Occupation

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #32

You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!

http://apple.co/coolerzone

Sources/Links:

BlueAnon: Assassination False Flag and Liberal Election Denial

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/nov/07/threads-posts/no-20-million-democratic-votes-didnt-disappear-and/

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/08/04/harris-nsa-audit-2024-election/

https://www.wired.com/story/election-denial-conspiracy-theories-x-left-blueanon/

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/americans-accept-election-results-even-if-some-are-unhappy-outcome

https://www.reddit.com/r/houstonwade/comments/1gnwsv0/they_cheated/

https://theplotagainstamerica.com/

https://www.cip.uw.edu/2024/11/18/conspiracy-theory-starlink-election-results/

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/nov/12/threads-posts/no-elon-musks-starlink-wasnt-used-to-rig-the-2024/

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/trump_assassination_attempt_online_conspiracy_theories_musk.php

https://pro.morningconsult.com/analysis/trump-assassination-attempt-polling

BlueAnon: Alt National Park Service

https://jjoycelynch.substack.com/

https://bsky.app/profile/altwatcher.bsky.social

Chicago Prepares for Occupation

https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com

https://unraveledpress.com/support-unraveled/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pritzker-deeply-concerned-ice-targeting-chicagos-mexican-independence-rcna228752

Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #32

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part Two: How Heinrich Himmler Went From Nerdy Boy To Master of the SS Sep 04, 2025

Show notes

Robert takes us up to Heinrich Himmler's adolescence and frustrating wait through the war years, which leads him into the world of far-right politics and eventually the welcoming arms of the Nazi party itself.

LIVE SHOW ALERT:

We are doing a new Behind the Bastards Live show! In the Alberta Rose Theatre, Portland, September 25th at 8pm! All performer proceeds go to support the Portland Defense Fund.

Tickets: https://albertarosetheatre.com/event/behind-the-bastards-live/alberta-rose-theatre/portland-oregon/

Sources:

Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) | American Experience | Official Site | PBS

THE CAREER OF HEINRICH HIMMLER_0001.pdf

Longerich, Peter. Heinrich Himmler: A Life (p. 13). OUP Oxford. Kindle

The Unsuccessful Adolescence of Heinrich Himmler on JSTOR

An Architect of Terror: Heinrich Himmler and the Holocaust | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

An Architect of Terror: Heinrich Himmler and the Holocaust | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

"In Memory of the Girl in the Red Coat:" Heinrich Himmler’s Annotated Volumes of Mein Kampf

https://ia803406.us.archive.org/29/items/docuv3/Books/The%20Third%20Reich/The%20Celebrations%20in%20the%20Life%20of%20the%20SS%20Family%20by%20Fritz%20Weitzel%20%281939%29.pdf

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/himmlers-bridal-bootcamp-school-nazi-brides.html

https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi-germany-1933-1945/himmler-s-secret-directive-to-all-members-of-the-ss-and-the-police-on-the-care-of-all-legitimate-and-illegitimate-children-of-good-blood-october-28-1939

https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Master-Dark-Arts-Yenne-ebook/dp/B004NNUY2Y

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/01/26/266698688/heinrich-himmlers-private-letters-published-in-german-newspaper

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-private-heinrich-himmler/id6505124720

https://www.amazon.com/Himmler-Evil-Genius-Third-Reich-ebook/dp/B01M2A6B3G/ref=sr_1_17?crid=E50LI9MCINFL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.z6x_l5l35NMXS2OQuWFaVyTyeQToCbFtWufYLO0Ky4L51lUaUoGgVfmp9dpb0YgMMGMBzk6Ds5M4KY8XSGQdvzs_UWlPu3KkmHJV0_w1Lis71gwuHqxL4QpDLUxg_RgLfXjB7BuAQbn7kAstKkyA7w_NZpcXTr-nDXe0RoewTewNaEu0ci8AQ1anNJXxG-Dy.nKYUB17tVmFaGgeBMu1awu8zpzoH45_FAeO3Um6YpBs&dib_tag=se&keywords=himmler+biography&qid=1756935132&sprefix=himmler+biography%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-17&xpid=KnVwOODWUvtST

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part One: How Heinrich Himmler Went From Nerdy Boy To Master of the SS Sep 02, 2025

Show notes

Robert sits down with Prop to discuss the early life of Heinrich Himmler, the man who built the SS into Hitler's engine of genocide.

(6 part series)

LIVE SHOW ALERT:

We are doing a new Behind the Bastards Live show! In the Alberta Rose Theatre, Portland, September 25th at 8pm! All performer proceeds go to support the Portland Defense Fund.

Tickets: https://albertarosetheatre.com/event/behind-the-bastards-live/alberta-rose-theatre/portland-oregon/

Sources:

Heinrich Himmler (1900-1945) | American Experience | Official Site | PBS

THE CAREER OF HEINRICH HIMMLER_0001.pdf

Longerich, Peter. Heinrich Himmler: A Life (p. 13). OUP Oxford. Kindle

The Unsuccessful Adolescence of Heinrich Himmler on JSTOR

An Architect of Terror: Heinrich Himmler and the Holocaust | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

An Architect of Terror: Heinrich Himmler and the Holocaust | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

"In Memory of the Girl in the Red Coat:" Heinrich Himmler’s Annotated Volumes of Mein Kampf

https://ia803406.us.archive.org/29/items/docuv3/Books/The%20Third%20Reich/The%20Celebrations%20in%20the%20Life%20of%20the%20SS%20Family%20by%20Fritz%20Weitzel%20%281939%29.pdf

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/himmlers-bridal-bootcamp-school-nazi-brides.html

https://germanhistorydocs.org/en/nazi-germany-1933-1945/himmler-s-secret-directive-to-all-members-of-the-ss-and-the-police-on-the-care-of-all-legitimate-and-illegitimate-children-of-good-blood-october-28-1939

https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Master-Dark-Arts-Yenne-ebook/dp/B004NNUY2Y

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/01/26/266698688/heinrich-himmlers-private-letters-published-in-german-newspaper

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-private-heinrich-himmler/id6505124720

https://www.amazon.com/Himmler-Evil-Genius-Third-Reich-ebook/dp/B01M2A6B3G/ref=sr_1_17?crid=E50LI9MCINFL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.z6x_l5l35NMXS2OQuWFaVyTyeQToCbFtWufYLO0Ky4L51lUaUoGgVfmp9dpb0YgMMGMBzk6Ds5M4KY8XSGQdvzs_UWlPu3KkmHJV0_w1Lis71gwuHqxL4QpDLUxg_RgLfXjB7BuAQbn7kAstKkyA7w_NZpcXTr-nDXe0RoewTewNaEu0ci8AQ1anNJXxG-Dy.nKYUB17tVmFaGgeBMu1awu8zpzoH45_FAeO3Um6YpBs&dib_tag=se&keywords=himmler+biography&qid=1756935132&sprefix=himmler+biography%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-17&xpid=KnVwOODWUvtST

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It Could Happen Here Weekly 197 Aug 30, 2025

Show notes

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.

- Newsom’s Posting Through It

- Palestine and the American University feat. Dana El Kurd

- How Democrats Passed North Carolina's New Anti-trans Laws, Part One

- How Democrats Passed North Carolina's New Anti-trans Laws, Part Two

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #31

You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!

http://apple.co/coolerzone

Sources/Links:

Newsom’s Posting Through It

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/us/newsom-trump-social-media.html

https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2025/06/california-police-sharing-license-plate-reader-data/

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/03/gavin-newsom-podcast-judgment-problem/

https://x.com/GovPressOffice

https://bsky.app/profile/grahamformaine.bsky.social/post/3lwqwj3rdgk27

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNl79l0SdMb/?igsh=bXphd3E2N3Y2N20w

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2qJw7xQfqh0

https://www.kpbs.org/news/racial-justice-social-equity/2025/03/11/san-diego-sheriff-says-disputed-ice-transfer-was-legal

Palestine and the American University feat. Dana El Kurd

Clifford Ando – The Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump - https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-crisis-of-the-university-started-long-before-trump/

Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism - https://jerusalemdeclaration.org/

Ken Stern on IHRA definition - https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5326047/kenneth-stern-antimsietim-executive-order-free-speech

2023 Pew Research Center Poll on Black Lives Matter - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/06/14/views-on-the-black-lives-matter-movement/

Marc Bousquet – How the University Works - https://nyupress.org/9780814799758/how-the-university-works/

PBS Reporting on Harvard University negotiations with Trump administration - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/harvard-nearing-settlement-with-trump-to-pay-500-million-and-regain-federal-funding

The Intercept’s reporting on Columbia University settlement with the Trump administration - https://theintercept.com/2025/04/16/columbia-middle-eastern-studies-trump-attacks/

Middle East Studies Association statement on Columbia University settlement - https://mesana.org/advocacy/letters-from-the-board/2025/03/28/joint-statement-regarding-columbia-university-and-the-department-of-education

Results of the Middle East Scholar Barometer - https://criticalissues.umd.edu/sites/criticalissues.umd.edu/files/November%202023%20MESB%20Results.pdf

Human Rights Watch statement on the IHRA definition - https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/human-rights-and-other-civil-society-groups-urge-united-nations-respect-human

Axios reporting on The Nexus Project and Trump’s use of antisemitism investigations - https://www.axios.com/2025/03/31/college-campus-antisemitism-trump-nexus-project

American Association of University Professors – Academic Freedom - https://www.aaup.org/issues-higher-education/academic-freedom/faqs-academic-freedom

2024 Announcement of 40 new AAUP chapters - https://www.aaup.org/academe/issues/winter-2025/warm-welcome-new-or-reestablished-aaup-chapters

Executive Order on Combatting Antisemitism - https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-anti-semitism/

How Democrats Passed North Carolina's New Anti-trans Laws

https://transnews.network/p/nc-dems-anti-trans-betrayals

@davidforbes.bsky.social

@avlblade.bsky.social

Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #31

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/india-us-lose-trump-tariffs-russia-wins-2025-08-27/

https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_14986.htm

https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed.htm

https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/domestic-market-operations/monetary-policy-implementation/repo-reverse-repo-agreements

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RRPONTSYD

https://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/rrp_faq.html

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RPONTSYD

https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/01/how-the-feds-overnight-reverse-repo-facility-works/

https://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/goldvault.html

https://fortune.com/2025/08/09/trump-fed-pick-stephen-miran-existential-threat-central-bank-independence/

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-12-trillion-u-s-repo-market-evidence-from-a-novel-panel-of-intermediaries-20250711.html

https://www.stlouisfed.org/in-plain-english/who-owns-the-federal-reserve-banks

https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/epr/forthcoming/1202mart.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/us/politics/lisa-cook-fed-governor.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE8.oyr3.s4yYTqcf14ZD

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/prosecuting-burning-of-the-american-flag/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/measures-to-end-cashless-bail-and-enforce-the-law-in-the-district-of-columbia/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/taking-steps-to-end-cashless-bail-to-protect-americans/

https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/national-guard-mobilizing-19-states-immigration-crime-crackdown

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/additional-measures-to-address-the-crime-emergency-in-the-district-of-columbia/

https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/kennedy-announces-nih-study-into-psych-drugs-after-second-trans-school-shooter

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part Three: Lee Atwater: The Political Dirty Tricks Artist Who Gave us President(s) George Bush Aug 28, 2025

Show notes

Robert concludes the story of Lee Atwater by discussing his greatest success and then his sickness and fall from power and influence. We also talk about the Grammy nominated album he made with Isaac Hayes.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io9KMSSEZ0Y

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/lee-atwater

https://archive.is/STJGq

https://www.newberryobserver.com/news/10323/notable-newberry-alumnus

https://andrewjazprosehill.substack.com/p/the-death-bed-confession-of-a-boogie

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-papers-of-lee-atwater-who-invented-the-scurrilous-tactics-that-trump-normalized?_sp=a8ee96fb-f790-4047-ae41-50c5940d1092.1729971751539

https://www.csmonitor.com/1989/0626/elee.html

https://archive.is/yZ0Hf#selection-553.0-553.173

https://time.com/archive/6702136/saying-no-to-lee-atwater/

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/brady-bad.html

https://nul.org/news/ghost-lee-atwater-haunts-2022-midterm-elections

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/94931206

https://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2021/08/13/the-spirit-of-lee-atwater-lingers-among-us-how-critical-race-theory-became-the-gops-new-southern-strategy/

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/05/13/willie-horton-revisited

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/atwater/etc/synopsis.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/04/19/weighing-lee-atwaters-regrets/c78da503-8dc9-4c58-a8d6-d5524ffdfa8e/

https://archive.is/7CjqQ

https://brooklynrail.org/2012/02/express/letter-from-the-trail-atwaters-ghost/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part Two: Lee Atwater: The Political Dirty Tricks Artist Who Gave us President(s) George Bush Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

Lee Atwater graduates high school after a brief stint in an insane fraternity then becomes a college Republican leader and starts his career as a dirty tricks expert for political campaigns.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part One: Lee Atwater: The Political Dirty Tricks Artist Who Gave us President(s) George Bush Aug 26, 2025

Show notes

Robert sits down with Garrison Davis to discuss the life and times of Lee Atwater, the arch inventor of Republican dirty tricks politics.

(3 Part Series, releasing all this week)

Sources:

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/lee-atwater

https://archive.is/STJGq

https://www.newberryobserver.com/news/10323/notable-newberry-alumnus

https://andrewjazprosehill.substack.com/p/the-death-bed-confession-of-a-boogie

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-papers-of-lee-atwater-who-invented-the-scurrilous-tactics-that-trump-normalized?_sp=a8ee96fb-f790-4047-ae41-50c5940d1092.1729971751539

https://www.csmonitor.com/1989/0626/elee.html

https://archive.is/yZ0Hf#selection-553.0-553.173

https://time.com/archive/6702136/saying-no-to-lee-atwater/

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/b/brady-bad.html

https://nul.org/news/ghost-lee-atwater-haunts-2022-midterm-elections

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/94931206

https://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2021/08/13/the-spirit-of-lee-atwater-lingers-among-us-how-critical-race-theory-became-the-gops-new-southern-strategy/

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/05/13/willie-horton-revisited

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/atwater/etc/synopsis.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/04/19/weighing-lee-atwaters-regrets/c78da503-8dc9-4c58-a8d6-d5524ffdfa8e/

https://archive.is/7CjqQ

https://brooklynrail.org/2012/02/express/letter-from-the-trail-atwaters-ghost/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It Could Happen Here Weekly 196 Aug 23, 2025

Show notes

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.

- The Federalization of DC Police feat. Bridget Todd

- Elon Musk and the Rebirth of Company Towns feat. Steven Monacelli & Dr. Michael Phillips

- Alienation and AI feat. Andrew

- Objectivity in Journalism

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #30

You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!

http://apple.co/coolerzone

Sources/Links:

Elon Musk and the Rebirth of Company Towns feat. Steven Monacelli & Dr. Michael Phillips

Margaret Crawford, Building the Workingman's Paradise: The Design of American Company Towns

Alan Dawley, Struggles for Justice: Social Responsibility and the Liberal State

Hardy Green, The Company Town: The Industrial Edens and Satanic Mills That Shaped the American Economy

Chad Pearson, Capitalism’s Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen, and Employers in the Long Nineteenth Century

Objectivity in Journalism

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2021/a-widely-shared-video-shows-a-deputy-overdosing-on-fentanyl-experts-say-its-impossible/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/opinion/objectivity-black-journalists-coronavirus.html

Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #30

https://www.972mag.com/israel-gaza-journalists-hamas-hasbara/

https://x.com/IDF/status/1954652255199887516

https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/idf-press-releases-israel-at-war/august-24-pr/eliminated-ismail-al-ghoul-a-hamas-military-wing-operative-and-nukhba-terrorist/

https://cpj.org/2025/07/cpj-calls-for-anas-al-sharifs-protection-in-face-of-israeli-smears/

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16tQckcrui/

https://www.icrc.org/en/article/international-humanitarian-law-protect-journalists-armed-conflict

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20250819-DiscretionaryFactors.pdf

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1424&num=0&edition=prelim

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-alerts/08.15.2025-Restoring_a_Good_Moral_Character_Evaluation_Standard_for_Aliens_Applying_for_Naturalization-Policy_Memorandum_FINAL.pdf

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26054451-20-1/#document/p17/a2667744

https://www.wmtw.com/article/old-orchard-beach-maine-officer-voluntary-departure/65807962?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot

https://edsource.org/updates/immigration-agents-alleged-to-have-boasted-of-1500-for-l-a-student-arrest

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/us/politics/ice-bonuses-immigrants-deportations.html

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part Two: The Evilest Football Player of All Time Aug 21, 2025

Show notes

Robert explains how Alexandre Villaplane ruined his football career committing crimes, badly, and then started a new career as a mass murderer for the SS.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part One: The Evilest Football Player of All Time Aug 19, 2025

Show notes

Robert sits down with Dana Schwartz to tell the dark tale of Alexandre Villaplane, the French Football star and gangster who became a member of the SS.

(2 part series)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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