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Real Dictators is the award-winning podcast hosted by Paul McGann that explores the hidden lives of history’s tyrants.
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The Führer’s deputy embarks on an astonishing secret mission. After baling out Mussolini in the Balkans, German troops finally march into the Soviet Union. Undeterred by the bloodshed, Hitler will sign off 1941 by declaring war on the United States…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll down the Real Dictators feed for episodes on Hitler’s early years and rise to power.
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Installed in Downing Street, Churchill arrives with a bang. The Battle of Britain rages in the skies, while the Nazis plot a seaborne invasion across the English Channel. And Hitler extends his network of allies, seeking to bring the Spanish and Japanese strongmen to the table…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll down the Real Dictators feed for episodes on Hitler’s early years and rise to power.
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World War Two begins. After the invasion of Poland, Hitler sets his sights on Scandinavia. A devastating lightning war rolls over Western Europe, as the German panzers arrive in Paris. Meanwhile, the Führer’s British lover makes an attempt on her own life. And a lone clockmaker decides to bump off Hitler once and for all…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll down the Real Dictators feed for episodes on Hitler’s early years and rise to power.
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Hitler continues his Godfather act, ignoring the Munich settlement and gobbling up the rest of Czechoslovakia. As he turns 50, the Führer is showered with extravagant birthday gifts. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the finishing touches are put to a shock pact with Stalin. But Britain and France draw a line. An invasion of Poland will mean war…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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Hitler expands the Third Reich, annexing Austria and the Sudetenland. Britain and France seek a diplomatic solution at the Munich Conference. But how long will appeasement keep war at bay? Meanwhile, the Nazis stir up an orgy of anti-Jewish violence, Kristallnacht...
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 16 of the Hitler Story. Scroll down the Real Dictators feed for episodes on Hitler’s early years and rise to power.
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This is Part 15 of the Hitler Story. You can start listening here. Or, scroll down the Real Dictators feed for episodes on Hitler’s early years and rise to power.
We pick up the tale in the mid-1930s. From struggling artist to veteran soldier of the trenches, now Hitler is transformed into Germany’s dictator. The new Third Reich is in the spotlight at the Berlin Olympics. Behind the scenes, the armed forces expand at an alarming rate. The infamous Nuremberg Laws are unveiled. And Hitler dispatches an old friend on a suicide mission...
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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At the age of 93, Mugabe’s days in office are numbered. But the succession crisis threatens to tear Zimbabwe apart. In South Africa, exiles hatch an extraordinary plan to oust him. And when the dictator’s own wife throws her hat into the ring, Mugabe’s house of cards will begin tumbling down…
A Noiser production, written by Duncan Barrett.
This is Part 4 of 4.
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After two decades in office, Mugabe has already shown himself to be a tyrant. At the dawn of the 21st century, the outside world sits up and takes notice. Mugabe seizes white-owned farms and drags his country into the greatest economic crisis since the Wall Street Crash. But the resistance is growing stronger…
A Noiser production, written by Duncan Barrett.
This is Part 3 of 4.
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Mugabe is now the leader of independent Zimbabwe. But behind the façade of democracy, he is already governing through fear. Emboldened, he unleashes a campaign of genocide on his opponents. For now, for the most part, the international community turns a blind eye. But the arrival of a new prime minister - not in Zimbabwe but in faraway Britain - will herald Mugabe’s first great crisis…
A Noiser production, written by Duncan Barrett.
This is Part 2 of 4.
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For almost four decades, Robert Mugabe held the reins of power in Zimbabwe with an iron grip. As a youthful idealist, he led a revolutionary movement that put his country back in African hands. But once in power, he presided over a regime of brutality and jaw-dropping corruption. So what events helped form Mugabe? And how did he manoeuvre himself from obscurity to power?
A Noiser production, written by Duncan Barrett.
This is Part 1 of 4.
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Beginning Wednesday November 9th. We’re in Zimbabwe for the extraordinary story of Robert Mugabe.
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With power finally in Bolshevik hands, state terror arrives in Russia. The Soviet Union is born. But, installed in Red Square, Lenin’s health is ailing. Will his creation live on beyond his death? And which of his lieutenants, jostling for position, will take up the baton?
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
This is Part 4 of 4.
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The Tsar is deposed as the people of the Russian Empire rise up. Marooned in Switzerland, Vladimir Lenin prepares for an extraordinary journey home, by land and sea. It will involve the closest of shaves, multiple disguises, and the covert help of Russia’s deadliest enemy…
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
This is Part 3 of 4.
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Vladimir Lenin meets Joseph Stalin. Turning to crime to pay their way, the revolutionaries struggle to stay ahead of the authorities. As the First World War upends Russia, the Bolsheviks wait for their moment. In the meantime, Lenin’s love life takes an unconventional turn...
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
This is Part 2 of 4.
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Vladimir Lenin changed the course of history like very few ever have. He turned Russia upside down and created the first communist state. As the founder of the Soviet Union, he ensured the world would never be the same again. But long before his time in power, his life is something straight out of a spy thriller. Young Vladimir enjoys a happy, comfortable childhood. That is, until a double tragedy puts him on a very different path...
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
This is Part 1 of 4.
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The story of Lenin - leader of the Russian Revolution, founder of the Soviet Union - begins Wednesday September 28th.
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With Napoleon deposed and in exile, it appears to be game over. But even now he is planning a comeback. After the mother of all prison breaks, Napoleon marches back up through France. Reinstating himself as emperor, he will rally his troops for one last battle...
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 6 of 6.
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Napoleon’s blockade of Britain begins. Amidst the fall-out, France launches an invasion of Spain. The Duke of Wellington arrives on the scene. After another dispute with Russia, Bonaparte assembles his biggest ever army. It will do the unthinkable and march on Moscow...
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 5 of 6.
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Bonaparte storms back into Italy, reconquering all that had been lost. Back home, in Notre-Dame Cathedral, thousands of dignitaries watch on as the untouchable general crowns himself emperor. Intent on destroying Britain, he plans a seaborne invasion. But Lord Nelson has other ideas…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 4 of 6.
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Napoleon sails for the Middle East. After the Battle of the Pyramids, a scientific mission makes remarkable findings, introducing the Western world to the mysteries of Ancient Egypt. But after a drubbing from Britain’s naval supremo, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon does a runner. His return to Paris is timed to perfection. Almost by accident, Bonaparte will seize power...
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 3 of 6.
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After a quickie wedding, Napoleon Bonaparte dashes south to take command of the French Army in Italy. Here he announces himself with a devastating display of battlefield brilliance. In Milan, he gets a taste for political rule and good living. Napoleon will return to Paris both as a military hero and a budding statesman...
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 2 of 6.
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You’ve heard the name Napoleon Bonaparte. But who was he, really? In 1769 a boy is born on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. He will go on to become an emperor - a virtual god in his adopted homeland, a nemesis to his international foes. So how does Napoleon become the most powerful man on Earth? And why doesn’t he stop, even once he has it all?
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 1 of 6.
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The story of Napoleon Bonaparte begins Wednesday August 3rd.
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Pol Pot constructs a secretive one-party state. Cambodia descends into hell as his twisted social experiment begins. Finally, the shifting sands of geopolitics will create challenges for the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot will be forced back into the jungle. But even then, the man with untold blood on his hands will somehow evade justice.
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith. Many thanks to Elizabeth Becker and University of Washington Libraries for archive audio.
This is Part 4 of 4.
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The Khmer Rouge launch their revolution against Sihanouk… until Sihanouk himself is stabbed in the back. America’s action in Vietnam escalates, spilling over the border with catastrophic consequences. The enigmatic Pol Pot will emerge from the bloodshed to become the most powerful man in the land. At the outset of ‘Year Zero’, the true horror will begin...
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
This is Part 3 of 4.
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Saloth Sar, the young man who will become Pol Pot, arrives in France in 1949. In just a few short months, he will be transformed into a die-hard communist rebel. Meanwhile, in Cambodia, things are coming to the boil. Returning from Europe, Sar goes to ground with the Vietnamese communists. He begins to prepare his very own revolution…
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
This is Part 2 of 4.
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Cambodia today is many people’s idea of heaven on earth. But in the 1970s it was a netherworld of death and despair. Under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, in just four years around a quarter of the population perished. Pol Pot was a uniquely anonymous dictator - a man who preferred to operate in the shadows. So who was he? And how did he come to lead such a staggeringly bloody regime?
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
This is Part 1 of 4.
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The story of the Cambodian dictator, Pol Pot, begins Wednesday June 22nd.
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From Noiser, Real Outlaws is the new podcast that travels back in time to when rogues and bandits followed a code all of their own. In this taster episode, we’re on the trail of Billy the Kid - perhaps the best-known outlaw in American history. Hero or villain? You decide.
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Caesar departs Egypt with his lover, Cleopatra, secure on the throne. After crushing Pompey’s allies, he returns to Rome. His rule proves popular with the masses. But senators grow concerned by his increasing megalomania. With the Ides of March approaching, conspirators hatch an historic assassination plot…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 3 of 3.
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Caesar’s campaign in Gaul begins. An invasion on an epic scale, it will also include two missions to the rain-lashed island of Britain. Back home, however, the collapse of the Triumvirate pushes Rome towards civil war. The conflict will spill across the Mediterranean, driving Julius Caesar into the arms of a certain Queen Cleopatra…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 2 of 3.
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Politician, writer, warrior, lover... Julius Caesar was the dictator-for-life who became the absolute ruler of Rome and its domains. His life was a series of extraordinary and gruesome adventures. The young student kidnapped by pirates. The general who butchered the people of Gaul and led the Roman legions into Britain. The lothario famously entranced by Cleopatra. But how much truth do the legends contain?
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 1 of 3.
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Join us on a trip to Ancient Rome. The first of three episodes on the legendary Roman general drops Wednesday May 4th.
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The leader brings reforms to his newly unified Mongol nation. The man formerly known as Temüjin will now conquer an empire bigger than any before in recorded history. But what are the innovations that underpin his supremacy? And how will history judge him - as a cruel tyrant, or a great leader?
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
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We're in the Mongol lands of Central Asia in the late 1100s. This is a place of nomadic warriors, a region divided between tribes. But one man will emerge to unite them. Armed with the greatest military mind of his age, he will lead the Mongol peoples far beyond their own borders. A terror to his enemies, he will build a reputation unmatched for cruelty and barbarism. So how does a boy from humble origins come to rule an empire twice the size of Ancient Rome's?
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith.
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To ward off the Western Allies, Hitler takes a trip to Venice to visit Mussolini. At home, meanwhile, Hitler’s paramilitaries, the SA, are growing restless. In a final savage act, the mother of all purges, Hitler will liquidate anyone who has ever wronged him. Under the unassailable German Führer, the Third Reich will begin…
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll to Season 2 for episodes on Hitler’s early years.
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Installed as Chancellor, Hitler briefs his army chiefs to prepare for war. But first, he must deal with enemies at home… After the German parliament building is set ablaze, Hitler seizes the opportunity to eliminate all political opposition. His opponents will be dragged away to the first of the infamous camps.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll to Season 2 for episodes on Hitler’s early years.
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As Hitler-mania sweeps the land, the Nazis win an election landslide. But Hitler finds himself shut out by the Prussian elite, at least until he can grind them into submission. Finally, the unthinkable happens. Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll to Season 2 for episodes on Hitler’s early years.
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After the Wall Street Crash, the German economy nosedives. The Nazis find themselves within grasp of government. As Adolf Hitler makes headlines across Europe, secret relatives come out of the woodwork. With Hitler’s newfound fame comes the whiff of scandal, and a personal tragedy that could derail everything.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll to Season 2 for episodes on Hitler’s early years.
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Adolf Hitler, at large once again, finds himself barred from public life. Retreating to the mountains, he finds a new home and a female companion. It won’t be the last of Hitler’s relationships to end in an attempted suicide. Meanwhile, backed by Joseph Goebbels, the self-proclaimed führer plots his comeback as a respectable politician.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
Scroll to Season 2 for episodes on Hitler’s early years.
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From the creators of Real Dictators we present Short History Of... Hosted by Paul McGann, this show gives you a front-row seat as history’s most incredible moments play out right before you. Forged by the Great Depression, Bonnie and Clyde became icons of lawlessness, thrilling and shocking America with their crime sprees and doomed romance. But what drove them to lives of such violence? And with the full might of the police against them, how did it all end? This is a Short History of Bonnie and Clyde.
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Adolf Hitler, now a national celebrity, begins his jail term. Besieged by well-wishers, he has faith his time inside will be short. To keep the Nazi flame burning, he decides to write a new book. “Mein Kampf” will one day make Hitler a best-selling author and a multi-millionaire. But how will it be received right now, in the new thriving Germany?
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 9 of the Hitler Story. Scroll to Season 2 for episodes on Hitler’s early years.
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Munich, Germany. November 1923. The Nazis have just attempted to launch a revolution. But instead, Adolf Hitler now finds himself on the run from the law. Unless he makes it to the border, the firing squad beckons. But in fact, as unlikely as it seems, Hitler is about to take Germany by storm.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
This is Part 8 of the Hitler Story. You can start listening here. Or, scroll to Season 2 for episodes on Hitler’s early years.
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As the new Turkmen leader, Saparmurat Niyazov has absolute power. He uses it to construct one of history’s most surreal regimes. Rebuilding the capital city in white marble, he puts his own mother at the forefront of public life. A series of absurd policies begins. Even as the War on Terror lands on his doorstep, the tyrant seems unstoppable. But, somehow, opposition will emerge, culminating in a dramatic attempt on his life.
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith. Research by Derek Henry Flood.
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Turkmenistan in Central Asia. Somewhere unremarkable, you might assume. But you’d be wrong. Away from prying eyes, an extraordinary story unfolded here. In the early 1990s, a man called Saparmurat Niyazov creates a brand-new state from the rubble of the Soviet Union. His regime will be a case study in modern tyranny, filled with bizarre pronouncements and barely believable laws. As ‘Turkmenbashy’, or ‘Head of the Turkmen’, Niyazov rules into the 2000s, turning Turkmenistan into a North Korea 2.0. But how does he get away with it?
A Noiser production, written by Dan Smith. Research by Derek Henry Flood.
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Four Israeli jets descend on Uganda under cover of night. An audacious commando mission begins. It will spark the beginning of the end for Idi Amin. After a fatally ill-judged war with Tanzania, the tyrant will be ousted. Leaving a grim legacy behind him, he’ll begin a surreal retirement thousands of miles away.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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We delve into Amin’s private life, taking in his many marriages, mistresses and children. The President makes a triumphant return to the boxing ring, seemingly in his element. He participates in a barely believable film about his own life. But, away from the limelight, the Ugandan people have had enough.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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In a speech, Amin makes an extraordinary announcement – something he claims came to him in a dream. All Ugandans of Asian origin must leave the country within 90 days. Thousands of citizens scramble to respond. Meanwhile, out in the countryside, supporters of Obote are massacred in their hundreds. An army of exiles prepares to launch the first serious attempt on Big Daddy’s rule.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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Amin wages war on Buganda’s king. The administration strengthens its grip on power. But after Obote survives an assassination attempt by mere inches, rumours swirl as to the perpetrator’s identity. Brigadier Amin goes on an army recruitment drive. Soon, Obote must depart Uganda to do business abroad. And when he does, who knows what might happen in his absence...
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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The curtain falls on the British Empire in Africa. Uganda is free. Idi Amin becomes the right-hand man of the nation's new leader, Milton Obote. Committing unspeakable atrocities against civilians, Amin dodges the law and sets himself up as a rogue arms dealer. Obote had better watch his back.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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From 1971 to 1979, President Idi Amin Dada devastated Uganda. The military dictator sank the economy and deported an entire ethnic class. He slaughtered up to half a million of his fellow citizens. All with the persona of 'Big Daddy', the playful joker. His image as a buffoon, however, belied his extraordinary charisma and his mastery of communication. In a continent ravaged by empire, his bloody tale is part of a much larger story. Let's explore the life of Africa's most infamous son.
A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.
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On History Daily, we do history, daily. Every weekday beginning November 1st, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened on this day in history.
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From the creators of Real Dictators comes a brand-new weekly show. Short History Of... gives you a front-row seat as history's most incredible moments play out right before you. In this taster episode, we're in Cuba. It's October 1962. Three men – Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro – hold the fate of the planet in their hands. A dispute over missiles spirals out of control. All sides brace for war. How did it come to this? And just how close will the world come to nuclear Armageddon? This is a Short History of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Part 1. Search 'Short History Of...' in your podcast app and hit follow for weekly episodes.
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By early 2011, Libya is changing. The Arab Spring is underway. A young lawyer from Benghazi organises a protest. Before long, it will become a full-blown rebellion. Colonel Gaddafi, the man who has dominated Libya for four decades, will become a fugitive, soon to meet one of the grisliest ends of any dictator in history.
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On September 11th, 2001, life in the West is transformed in an instant. Amidst the fall-out, Gaddafi spots an opportunity. To the surprise of many, he makes it his mission to re-join the international fold. The Libyan dictator pitches his Bedouin tent on the front lawns of palaces and parliaments across the world. Muammar Gaddafi - the man of many masks - is transforming into the West’s most eccentric friend.
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In 1988, Gaddafi takes his terror to the skies, bringing down a passenger flight over Lockerbie, Scotland. Staffers at the Pentagon team up with Hollywood executives to shore up public opinion against the tyrant. Meanwhile, the Colonel himself looks south - across the Sahara - and prepares to be crowned 'King of Kings'.
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Gaddafi takes his terror onto the streets of London and Berlin. Libyan agents hunt down his opponents across the globe. The Reagan administration launches airstrikes, targeting the dictator and his inner circle. With the stakes higher than ever, Gaddafi's security network works overtime to stamp out dissent. Thousands of schoolchildren bear witness to a gruesome lesson in tyranny.
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In the summer of 1972, at the Munich Olympic Games, a festival of sport becomes a terrifying nightmare. The Libyan leader tightens his grip on power at home, while exporting terror abroad. Tension with America is reaching breaking point.
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Muammar Gaddafi can’t quite believe his luck. Still in his twenties, he finds himself leader of an oil-rich country. The Colonel wastes no time kicking out the Americans and the Brits. He instigates a 'Vengeance Day' to deal with Libya’s colonial oppressors. Living standards soar for ordinary Libyans. But the cracks are already appearing. Things are about to spin off in a very different direction...
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In the 1960s, Libya gets rich on oil. But, with the wealth squandered, many question the King’s authority. Among them is young Muammar Gaddafi. Sent to England as a military cadet, Gaddafi roams the streets of Swinging London in flowing Bedouin robes. With his training complete, he readies himself for an audacious seizure of power.
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‘Brother Leader’, ‘King of Kings’, ‘Falcon of Africa’… ‘The Most Dangerous Man in the World'. Colonel Gaddafi was the Libyan tyrant who abused his people on an industrial scale, until he was murdered by them as they rose up against him. A revolutionary who freed his country from empire, only to squander its riches. Terrorist sponsor one moment, Western ally the next. At the height of World War Two, a Bedouin child is born in Libya’s desert. From these humble origins, Muammar Gaddafi will go on to dominate global events for half a century.
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The horrors of the past are buried. After 20 years in power, Franco embraces capitalism and declares himself a moderniser. Spain becomes a leading holiday destination. Later, Franco plans his own succession. The ailing Generalissimo headhunts a dashing young heir. But it remains to be seen whether this successor will keep to Franco’s script.
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The ‘White Terror’ continues. Spain’s strongman assumes power in Madrid, herding his defeated enemies into concentration camps. Franco commissions a movie to tell his own life story. Up in the mountains, die-hard rebels continue to resist. After World War Two, Franco seeks to re-brand. ‘El Caudillo’ sets about seducing a brand-new ally: the United States.
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In July 1936, Spain erupts into civil war. But Francisco Franco is marooned far away in the Canary Islands. A devious rescue mission ensues. Back on Spanish soil, Franco begins the process of conquering his homeland, butchering his enemies as he goes. Mussolini and Hitler lend a hand. Closing in on Madrid, Franco lays the groundwork for a decades-long dictatorship.
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In 1917, Franco is posted to northern Spain. He courts a local schoolgirl named Carmen. But soon, a charismatic army superior convinces Franco to return to Africa. In Morocco, he brutalises the local population. Climbing the military ranks, Franco becomes something of a celebrity. Meanwhile, Spain itself spirals towards civil war.
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Today, Spain is Europe’s holiday capital. But under the sand lie sinister secrets. From 1939 to 1975, Francisco Franco ruled as the nation’s dictator. Despite his bloody reign, the General died peacefully in his bed at a ripe old age. How was he able to get away with such atrocities? The story begins in the 1890s. Francisco Franco is born and raised on Spain’s Atlantic coast. After joining the army, he’s posted to north Africa. Here, his hunger for recognition will nearly cost him his life...
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In the final part of Hitler’s Early Years, the Nazi leader launches his very own assault on power: the Munich Putsch. Under cover of darkness, the SA prepare to storm locations across Munich. Hitler himself prepares to kidnap a senior politician. Will the Nazis take over Germany? Or will they fail and fade back into obscurity?
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The Nazis kickstart their media operation. Desperate to be an icon, Hitler pens a secret autobiography, where he compares his own rise to Jesus’s resurrection. French and Belgian troops cross the German border, while the economy goes into meltdown. Amidst the turmoil, the Nazis plot their very own coup d’état.
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Hitler decides he needs an army of his own. The Nazis create a new paramilitary unit – the Sturmabteilung, or SA. These hooligans take National Socialism onto the streets. Hitler assembles an executive team of deputies. They include Ernst Röhm - an army insider with a stockpile of weapons. And a celebrity fighter pilot called Hermann Göring...
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Hitler is sent undercover, tasked with spying on a band of extremists. But he soon falls under their spell and breaks cover to join their ranks. They will soon become the Nazi Party, and this new recruit their leader. Under a new mentor, Adolf Hitler finds his voice. His march towards power is grinding into gear.
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The Great War ends. Hitler despairs. The Kaiser does a runner. Revolutions break out across Germany. Discharged from hospital, Hitler returns home to Munich, desperate to keep his army job. The Allies gather in Paris to settle the tab for the War. Hitler drinks in far-right conspiracy theories.
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June 1914, Sarajevo. An assassination on the street disrupts the entire balance of power in Europe. The First World War explodes into action. Adolf Hitler relocates to Munich. After dodging the draft, he later embraces life as a soldier. But then, serving in Flanders in 1918, a traumatic injury threatens to end his rise to power before it’s even started.
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You may know something of the Hitler story. But there’s a decent chance you don’t know the half of it. We begin a deep dive into the early years of a man who became the very embodiment of evil. Peeling away Hitler’s own myths about his childhood, we explore how he emerged from obscurity. The future German Führer isn’t born in Germany. Growing up in Austria, he clashes with his father but idolises his mother. Abandoning schoolwork, young Adolf dedicates himself to the artistic life, hoping to make it as a painter. But then tragedy strikes.
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From the creators of Real Dictators comes Real Narcos, the show that takes you to the front line of the war on drugs. For Season 2, we're in Mexico. In 1985, Kiki Camarena is a US DEA agent on the trail of Félix Gallardo - the man known as the Mexican Godfather. But Camarena's kidnapping at the hands of the cartel will send shockwaves around the world.
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The walls close in on Hideki Tojo. The General turned Prime Minister takes hands-on control of the military, with catastrophic consequences. Emperor Hirohito pulls the plug. With Tojo forced out of office and on the run from the Allies in Tokyo, the end of World War Two arrives. But its final chapter will change the world forever more.
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Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. The Pacific War is underway. In Tokyo, Prime Minister Tojo moves to take every significant government job for himself. Japanese troops sweep through the Malay Peninsula. Thousands of Allied soldiers are interned in prisoner of war camps, in conditions that beggar belief.
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Major General Hideki Tojo takes command of the secret police - the Kempeitai. The Imperial Japanese Army invades China and terrorises the civilian population. Kempeitai operatives set up a secret lab where they carry out horrific medical and weapons experiments. This is only the beginning. Before long, Prime Minister Tojo will ready the nation for war with the United States.
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General Hideki Tojo led Japan into World War Two and oversaw some of the most horrific war crimes in recorded history. Tojo did not hold absolute power, but he more than earns his place at this table. Ruling under a compliant Emperor, Tojo gathered power to himself. He was the minister who outgrew his master, the bureaucrat whose relentless work ethic took him to the apex of government. Hideki Tojo is born in 1884. Japan is an emerging world power. As a young military officer, the man they call “The Razor” begins his journey up the ladder of Japanese politics.
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François Duvalier puts the finishing touches to his terrifying cult of personality. The President for Life declares himself an immaterial being - a spirit that will hover over Haiti even after his body dies. Thoughts turn to succession. His son - "Baby Doc" - waits in the wings. Our contributors reflect on the legacy of Papa Doc - a name that will forever haunt the nightmares of Haitians.
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Haitian dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier crushes an attempted coup without mercy. Spooked by this near miss, Duvalier forms his own private militia called the Tonton Macoute. They take their name from a terrifying bogeyman of Haitian mythology. As the horrors of the regime become impossible to ignore, President Kennedy decides to lay down a marker.
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Just a few hundred miles south of Florida, across the Caribbean Sea, lies Haiti. From 1957 to 1971, this tropical island nation was ruled by a would-be demigod. François Duvalier - better known as “Papa Doc” - wielded the twin powers of state violence and voodoo. Real Dictators takes you behind the scenes of Papa Doc’s maniacal regime. His victims and adversaries tell the story of the medical doctor who became the butcher of his people.
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Mao’s ‘Cultural Revolution’ sets out to purge the minds of an entire population. Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader himself leads a life of debauchery and excess - as his former doctor remembers. The Chairman seems invincible. But as his health deteriorates, his legacy is anything but assured. Eyewitnesses to his brutality reflect on what Mao means to China today, more than 40 years after his death.
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Mao Zedong's Communists come down from the mountains to do battle with the Nationalists. After clinching victory, Mao is greeted by many as a hero. But life under the new Chairman is about to get a whole lot worse. Installed as Supreme Leader, Mao sets about revolutionising the way his people live, work, and even think. His ‘Great Leap Forward’ is intended to be an economic masterplan. Instead, it will drive people across China to the wildest extremes of human behaviour.
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In the centre of China’s capital city, Beijing, lies a corpse that no one dares remove. It’s been 44 years since Mao Zedong’s body was laid to rest in the grandiose Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. He may be gone but he is not forgotten. To some, he’s the father of modern China. To many others, he’s a sadistic thug - a man willing to sacrifice millions of lives in pursuit of power. Mao Zedong is born in Hunan Province in 1893. Growing up on his father’s farm, he consumes books and ideas. His rise to the top of the Communist Party will be littered with violent outbursts, setting the tone for the decades to come.
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Stalin’s regime hits the rocks when Adolf Hitler launches Operation Barbarossa and invades Russia. Nazi tanks plough towards Moscow in a devastating advance. Stalin’s legacy is forged in this fight to the death. In his final years, the strongman succumbs to cardiac problems. His tools for progress have been famine, slavery and execution. Yet to this day, some of his countrymen and women lionise him as the man who turned Russia into a superpower.
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With the First World War underway, Stalin’s journey to dictatorship grinds into gear. After the War, Russia is turned upside down. Stalin thrives in the chaos, masterminding a string of elaborate takedowns of his rivals. Rising to party leader, he visits a ruthless purge on his enemies. But Stalin’s brutality does not go unchallenged. The peasants revolt, while a showdown with his own wife at a dinner party has tragic consequences.
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Joseph Stalin - the “man of steel” - was the party secretary who plotted a route to absolute power, becoming head of the Eastern Bloc and chief nemesis of the United States. But how did a man from the Georgian frontier of the Russian Empire do it? In 1917, the 300-year-old Romanov Dynasty collapses. The communist Bolsheviks storm the Winter Palace and seize power. From this band of revolutionaries, a future bloody dictator - a man with an extraordinary backstory - begins to emerge...
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Installed as dictator, Kim Jong-il builds an all-powerful state that dominates the lives and minds of its people. North Korea is wracked by famine. The people adapt to survive - we hear from one man who flouted the rules and paid a horrific price. Lurid rumours emerge about how the ‘Dear Leader’ spends his leisure time. And Kim Jong-il begins work on an arsenal of nuclear weapons that will spook the world and pave the way for his own son’s ascent to power.
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Kim Jong-il has risen to become propaganda chief under the rule of his father. Now, he hatches an audacious plan to turn North Korea into a filmmaking powerhouse. South Korea’s finest actress and leading director are kidnapped and find themselves on boats bound for the North. Elsewhere, Kim launches a charm offensive at the armed forces, readying the ground for his coronation. And his father dies, leaving the path to power seemingly clear...
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Kim Jong-il built a rogue state with nuclear missiles trained on its enemies – all while living a life of the utmost luxury. In the first episode of Real Dictators, we piece together the early life of this tyrant and that of the country he came to rule. Kim Jong-il is born during World War Two. His father – Kim Il-sung – fights the Japanese and helps found the state of North Korea. After the War, son and nation grow up together, as Kim Jong-il begins his own rise to power. Historians trace Kim’s early years, while defectors from North Korea reflect on the propaganda they grew up with.
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How does a single human being convince thousands to kill for them and millions to turn a blind eye?
Real Dictators is the new podcast series hosted by Paul McGann (Dr Who, Luther, Withnail and I) that explores the hidden lives of history’s tyrants.
We encounter the American-trained doctor, “Papa Doc” Duvalier, who used modern medicine to convince the people of Haiti that he was a Voodoo god. There’s Kim Jong-il, who developed nuclear warheads alongside blockbuster movies. There’s Mao Zedong – the peasant’s son who transformed China, presiding over the catastrophic Great Chinese Famine and the bloody Cultural Revolution. And Joseph Stalin, the man who turned Russia into a superpower and set the stage for the Cold War, while upending and destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions of his own people.
Real Dictators fuses immersive, dramatic storytelling with interviews with world-renowned experts. The voices of historians sit alongside an array of regime insiders such as Jang Jin-sung – a former psychological warfare officer for Kim Jong-il – and François Benoit, a survivor of ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier’s reign of terror.
New episodes on Wednesdays from May 2020.
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