Real Dictators
Real Dictators is the award-winning podcast that explores the hidden lives of history's tyrants. Hosted by Paul McGann, with contributions from eyewitnesses and expert historians.
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New episodes available a week early for Noiser+ subscribers. You'll also get ad-free listening, early access and exclusive content on shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started or head to noiser.com/subscriptions
For advertising enquiries, email info@adelicious.fm
Episodes (148)
Fidel Castro Part 10: Emergency on an Airplane
The end arrives. Embarrassed at a baseball game, the Maximum Leader responds with arrests and intimidation. We hear first-hand testimony from a Cuban on the receiving end of the violence. A nasty...
Fidel Castro Part 9: Down With Fidel!
After a tragedy in the Florida Straits, a dramatic tug of war takes place between Castro and America - all centred on a five-year-old boy. A new leader in the Soviet Union comes to power with fresh...
Fidel Castro Part 8: Miami Vice
When a bomb goes off on a south Florida street, it bears all the hallmarks of a Cuban expert. Castroland is going international. As exiles flock to Miami, Fidel sets off on a globe-trotting mission -...
Fidel Castro Part 7: Che Guevara in the Jungle
Castro sets out to create a breed of “new people” - turning Cuba into an island of mini-Fidels. A particular dairy cow becomes a national treasure and hot dog vendors are declared...
Fidel Castro Part 6: The Cuban Missile Crisis
The first man in space arrives in Cuba for a special visit. A passenger liner from the Soviet Union docks in Havana. But it’s not carrying tourists. Out in the countryside a massive yet mysterious...
Fidel Castro Part 5: The Bay of Pigs
A man who was right there tells us the tale of one of history’s most notorious military failures. Castro’s former lover is given a handful of poison capsules and dispatched to Fidel’s hotel. A Havana...
Fidel Castro Part 4: Havana’s TV Star
Castro goes on a victory parade, eventually arriving in Havana on top of a tank. Vengeance is wrought on the old dictator’s supporters, as the new leader moves into the Hilton hotel. Fidel takes a...
Fidel Castro Part 3: The Mountain Guerrillas
While Batista tries to convince the world that Castro is dead, Fidel regroups in the mountains. The world’s press descends on Cuba, hoping to meet this elusive rebel, and Fidel is only too happy to...
Fidel Castro Part 2: Shipwrecked in the Swamps
Castro wrestles with Marxism and begins another affair. Attempting to reignite the revolution, he swims naked across the US border. At a get-together in Mexico City, he strikes up a rapport with a...
Fidel Castro Part 1: Rise of ‘The Crazy One’
Fidel Castro - a revolutionary turned strongman dictator, beloved by his supporters and loathed by his enemies. The bête noire of the United States who pushed the world to the brink of annihilation....
Introducing: Titanic: Ship of Dreams - Episode 1
This is a taster episode of a brand-new podcast from the Noiser podcast network. Join host Paul McGann as he explores life and death on the most famous ship in history.
You’ll be right there on board...
You’ll be right there on board...
Benito Mussolini Part 7: Break for the Border…
As Italy switches sides, Hitler hatches a plan to rescue his pal. But with the Axis collapsing on all fronts, Mussolini makes for Switzerland - stowed away and in disguise. For Il Duce’s enemies, the...
Benito Mussolini Part 6: The Road to Perdition
It all starts to go horribly wrong… After the disastrous invasion of Greece, Mussolini sends troops to Russia. Benito’s Blitz prompts bemusement in Britain. An Italian assassin somehow survives the...
Benito Mussolini Part 5: The Pact of Steel
At the Munich Conference, Mussolini postures as a peacemaker. With Hitler in the ascendancy, the Rome-Berlin Axis is upgraded to a military alliance. High on fascist adrenaline, Il Duce invades...
Benito Mussolini Part 4: A Fine Bromance
Il Duce uses propaganda to become a folk hero - part saint, part Father Christmas. He bans journalists from mentioning his birthday or the fact he’s a grandfather - to promote an image of eternal...
Benito Mussolini Part 3: Murder in Broad Daylight
World leaders line up to hail the new Italian strongman. But the fascists are already silencing dissenting voices. An epochal discovery in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings unleashes a curse, or so...
Benito Mussolini Part 2: The March on Rome
Wounded at the Front, Mussolini’s war ends early. A playboy aristocrat forms his own private army, offering inspiration to Il Duce. As Italian workers go on strike, Mussolini’s goons crack skulls on...
Introducing: Sherlock Holmes Short Stories
A brand-new release from the Noiser Network. Join Hugh Bonneville on a thrilling journey through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Holmes mysteries - read in their original, masterful form.
If...
If...
Benito Mussolini Part 1: Italy’s Fascist Godfather
We begin at the end… in 1945, with a pile of bodies dumped in Milan then strung up for all to see. Among them, the most powerful man in Italy. One of the most significant figures in modern history....
General Videla Part 4: Dictator in the Courtroom
The Falklands War casts a long shadow over Argentina as the junta teeters on the verge of collapse. The country slowly returns to democracy. But that isn’t the end of Videla’s time in the spotlight....
General Videla Part 3: God, Football, the Falklands
The 1978 FIFA World Cup rolls into Argentina. A surreal fortnight ensues. Fans flock to revamped stadia, while just metres away prisoners cower - hidden in secret torture facilities. As foreign...
General Videla Part 2: Mr Clean’s Dirty War
Videla’s dirty war begins. ‘Subversives’ are rooted out, with torture centres established across the land - including one known as the ‘Argentine Auschwitz’. Education, music, children’s books and...
General Videla Part 1: The Skinny One and the Witch
Argentina. The story of a gaunt, hawkish man who earned the nickname “the Hitler of the Pampa”. A man whose awkward bearing belied his capacity for cruelty. A dictator who literally stole the children...
BONUS: Dictators’ Books
Almost every dictator, at one time or another, has put pen to paper. Some have wrestled with ideas, with philosophy. Many have merely vented - spewing their diatribes onto the page. Others have made...
Pinochet Part 3: Searching for the Disappeared
Pinochet consolidates control, creating a terrifying new secret police force. The dictator’s war on communism extends abroad, as Chile joins Operation Condor. But how long can Pinochet’s global allies...
Pinochet Part 2: The Caravan of Death
September 11th, 1973. The touchpaper is lit. President Allende realises he’s been double-crossed. Pinochet keeps his cards close to his chest. A loyal naval admiral finds his cars sabotaged and his...
Pinochet Part 1: An Arrest in London
We travel to South America. In September 1973, Augusto Pinochet seizes power in Chile following a coup d’état. The aim is to topple the country’s socialist president. And it succeeds. But how does...
Introducing: D-Day: The Tide Turns - Episode 1
This is a taster episode of a brand-new podcast from the Noiser network. Host Paul McGann follows the real people involved in the D-Day landings.
It’s 1944 and Europe is in the grip of the Nazi war...
It’s 1944 and Europe is in the grip of the Nazi war...
Oliver Cromwell Part 4: The Conquest of Ireland
In the final part of the Cromwell story, outrage at the King’s execution leads Ironsides to wage war on Scotland and, notoriously, Ireland. Insurgencies over, he’ll become Lord Protector - king in all...
Oliver Cromwell Part 3: To Kill a King…
With the King in captivity, both sides seek a settlement. But when Charles escapes, all trust is broken. For Cromwell there is only one course of action - a solution that will plunge the British Isles...
Oliver Cromwell Part 2: Civil War Across the Realms
England is plunged into conflict. Oliver Cromwell, an obscure politician, soon proves himself an outstanding military commander. King Charles, meanwhile, unveils his own star signing - a dashing young...
Oliver Cromwell Part 1: The Rise of Ironsides
Say “Oliver Cromwell” today and certain things come to mind. He won the English Civil War and prompted the execution of Charles I. He purged the realm with such zeal that he even cancelled Christmas....
Introducing: The Curious History of Your Home - Baths
A brand-new podcast from the Noiser network. Join domestic historian Ruth Goodman as she explores the remarkable, often epic, tales behind everyday objects.
This taster episode is all about the...
This taster episode is all about the...
Enver Hoxha Part 2: Stalin’s Shadow, Europe’s North Korea
As a new premier takes charge in Moscow, Hoxha makes a new friend in China. The Albanian dictator tasks an entire media industry with maintaining his image. But as his country sinks into an economic...
Enver Hoxha Part 1: The Albanian School Teacher
From 1944 to 1985, Enver Hoxha ran Albania as an extraordinarily repressive Stalinist dictatorship. But how did a middle class teacher from the provinces become the most powerful man in the country...
Herod the Great Part 2: Murders in the Family
Herod leaves Rome to wrest Judea from the Parthians. He will marry a princess, commission extraordinary building works, and even murder his in-laws as he tries to win over his people. But how will...
Herod the Great Part 1: Ruler of Galilee
Herod - you may well know the name from the Nativity story. The cruel king who learns of a prophecy proclaiming a Messiah and orders the slaughter of innocent children in response. He’s become...
Saddam Hussein Part 5: The War on Terror
In the aftermath of 9/11, President Bush and Prime Minister Blair send troops back into Iraq. In a highly symbolic moment, beamed around the world, a giant statue of Saddam comes crashing down. But as...
Saddam Hussein Part 4: The First Gulf War
After Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, US forces are deployed to the region. For some Iraqis, it seems like the perfect time to rise up against their dictator. As economic sanctions bite, Saddam treats...
Saddam Hussein Part 3: Oil and the Ayatollah
Saddam nationalises the Iraq Petroleum Company and clashes with the new leader of Iran. A man called ‘Chemical Ali’ commits one of the most heinous atrocities of modern times. Meanwhile, sculptures of...
Saddam Hussein Part 2: Enforcer, Frontman, Mafia Godfather
Saddam consolidates his own power base, appointing friends and relatives to key positions. We hear a remarkable account from a woman whose own family was targeted by his secret police. Soon, the...
Saddam Hussein Part 1: Son of the Alleyways
In the spring of 1937, a child dies and his brother is born. Translated from Arabic, the newborn’s name - Saddam - means ‘one who confronts’. As his life will demonstrate, it couldn’t be more...
Macías Nguema Part 2: Hiding in the Jungle with all the Money
With President Macías in power, educated Equatoguineans come under attack, as a bizarre vendetta is pursued against teachers, lawyers and doctors. Things take a turn for the metaphysical, as Macías...
Macías Nguema Part 1: The Dachau of Africa
This is the extraordinary, blood-curdling story of a dictator you may never have heard of. From 1968-1979, the African nation of Equatorial Guinea was helmed by its first, and to date only, freely...
Hitler: The Bunker and the End (Part 25)
We reach the dramatic conclusion of Hitler’s downfall. With the Battle of Berlin raging, the Führer makes his last stand. Underground, in a bunker beneath the Chancellery, he will conduct the final...
Hitler: Operation Valkyrie, Blowing up the Führer (Part 24)
A delusional Hitler downplays the Normandy Landings. A group of generals, meanwhile, attempts an audacious military coup. And with Allied bombers pounding the Fatherland, Germany’s dictator plays his...
Hitler: Mussolini’s Prison Break (Part 23)
In Italy, Il Duce is overthrown. So Hitler stages a daring mission to rescue his fascist partner. With the Red Army rampant, another epochal battle sends the Wehrmacht on the retreat. Soon, more bad...
Hitler: The Battle of Stalingrad (Part 22)
The myth of the Nazi war machine is blown apart in one of the pivotal battles of World War 2. Serious questions arise as to Hitler’s leadership, encouraging a growing German resistance. As Allied...
Adolf Hitler: The Final Solution (Part 21)
This is Part 21 of the Hitler Story. You can start listening here. Or, scroll down the Real Dictators feed for earlier episodes.
We pick up the story in 1942. World War 2 is well underway and the...
We pick up the story in 1942. World War 2 is well underway and the...
Introducing: Real Survival Stories - Glacier Escape
Noiser presents a brand-new podcast. Real Survival Stories brings you astonishing tales of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary survival situations.
In this taster episode, two friends embark on...
In this taster episode, two friends embark on...
Attila the Hun Part 2: The Scourge of God
We track Attila’s progress as he rampages through Gaul. A family bust-up sparks an extraordinary alliance, as Attila gets engaged to the Roman Emperor’s sister. With the Huns storming deep into...
Attila the Hun Part 1: The Sword of Mars
We’re in south-eastern Europe in the 400s AD. The once mighty Roman Empire is riven in two. And on the Great Hungarian Plain a fearsome enemy is rising. The Huns’ king, Attila, will become a...
Manuel Noriega Part 3: Bush Invades Panama
The Americans go all-in, deploying stealth bombers, helicopters and tens of thousands of troops to Panama. Meanwhile, agents attempt to penetrate the dictator’s inner circle, as a US operative...
Manuel Noriega Part 2: A Tale of Two Spy Chiefs
Shielded by a puppet president, Noriega takes power. But the spymaster struggles in his new role as dictator. The war on drugs escalates in dramatic fashion. As the tide turns against Noriega, he will...
Manuel Noriega Part 1: The Narco Dictator
For two decades, Manuel Noriega stamped his authority on Panama - first as the country’s brutal intelligence chief, and later, from 1983-89, as its de facto military ruler. A gangster up to his neck...
BONUS: Dictators’ Chefs
For this special bonus episode, Noiser writer Duncan Barrett sat down for a chat with Witold Szabłowski, author of How to Feed a Dictator: Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro and Pol...
Introducing: Detectives Don’t Sleep - The Nazi Art Mystery (Part 1 of 3)
The makers of Real Dictators present a brand-new podcast: Detectives Don’t Sleep. Step beyond the police tape to shadow the real detectives who worked history’s most intriguing cases.
In this taster...
In this taster...
Hitler: Attack on Russia, War with America… (Part 20)
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...
Adolf Hitler vs Winston Churchill (Part 19)
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...
Hitler: A Brush With Death… (Part 18)
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...
Hitler’s Birthday, Poland’s Doom (Part 17)
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...
Hitler: The Gathering Storm... (Part 16)
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,...
Adolf Hitler: Unassailable Führer (Part 15)
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....
We pick up the tale in the mid-1930s....
Robert Mugabe Part 4: A Game of Thrones
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...
Robert Mugabe Part 3: Zimbabwe’s Tsunami
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...
Robert Mugabe Part 2: The Leopard’s True Spots…
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,...
Robert Mugabe Part 1: The Young Scholar
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...
Robert Mugabe: Coming Soon on Real Dictators…
Beginning Wednesday November 9th. We’re in Zimbabwe for the extraordinary story of Robert Mugabe.
Early access to new episodes for Noiser+ subscribers.
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Early access to new episodes for Noiser+ subscribers.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
Lenin Part 4: Ghost at the Kremlin
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...
Lenin Part 3: First Russia, Then the World…
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...
Lenin Part 2: Underground, On the Run
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...
Lenin Part 1: The Revolution is Born
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...
Vladimir Lenin: Coming Soon on Real Dictators…
The story of Lenin - leader of the Russian Revolution, founder of the Soviet Union - begins Wednesday September 28th.
Early access to new episodes for Noiser+ subscribers.
Learn more about your ad...
Early access to new episodes for Noiser+ subscribers.
Learn more about your ad...
Napoleon Part 6: Showdown at Waterloo
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...
Napoleon Part 5: Downfall in Russia
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...
Napoleon Part 4: The Emperor Strikes Back
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...
Napoleon Part 3: The Egyptian Adventure
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...
Napoleon Part 2: The Italian Job
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...
Napoleon Part 1: The Humble Corsican
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...
Napoleon: Coming Soon on Real Dictators…
The story of Napoleon Bonaparte begins Wednesday August 3rd.
Early access to new episodes for Noiser+ subscribers.
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Early access to new episodes for Noiser+ subscribers.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pol Pot Part 4: The Killing Fields
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...
Pol Pot Part 3: Vietnam War, Cambodian Revolution
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....
Pol Pot Part 2: Welcome to the Jungle
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...
Pol Pot Part 1: Tyrant in the Shadows
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...
Pol Pot: Coming Soon on Real Dictators…
The story of the Cambodian dictator, Pol Pot, begins Wednesday June 22nd.
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Introducing: Real Outlaws - Billy the Kid Part 1
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 -...
Julius Caesar Part 3: Murder in the Senate
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...
Julius Caesar Part 2: Rendezvous With Cleopatra
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...
Julius Caesar Part 1: The Roman Dictator
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...
Julius Caesar: Coming Soon on Real Dictators...
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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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Genghis Khan Part 2: Rise of the Mongols
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...
Genghis Khan Part 1: Underdog to Emperor
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...
Hitler: Night of the Long Knives (Part 14)
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...
Hitler: The Reichstag Fire (Part 13)
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...
Adolf Hitler Seizes Power (Part 12)
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...
Hitler's Secret Family (Part 11)
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...
Hitler's Women & Joseph Goebbels (Part 10)
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...
Introducing: Short History Of... Bonnie and Clyde
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...
Hitler in Prison & Mein Kampf (Part 9)
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....
Adolf Hitler's Day in Court (Part 8)
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...
Turkmenbashy Part 2: Putin, Taliban, Internet Shutdown
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...
Turkmenbashy Part 1: Soviet Stooge, Hermit Tyrant
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...
Idi Amin Part 6: The Entebbe Raid
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...
Idi Amin Part 5: Husband, Father, Movie Star
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...
Idi Amin Part 4: Expulsion of the Asians
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...
Idi Amin Part 3: ‘Big Daddy’ Seizes Power
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....
Idi Amin Part 2: Warlord In-Waiting...
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,...
Idi Amin Part 1: The Butcher of Uganda
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....
Introducing: History Daily
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...
Introducing: Short History Of...
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 8: The Arab Spring
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 7: 9/11 and a New Ally
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 6: The Lockerbie Bombing
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 5: Reagan vs Gaddafi
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 4: The Munich Olympic Massacre
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 3: Vengeance Day
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 2: Gaddafi in London
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...
Colonel Gaddafi Part 1: Son of the Desert
‘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...
Franco Part 5: Life After a Dictator
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...
Franco Part 4: The Cold War & the President
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...
Franco Part 3: The Spanish Civil War
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...
Franco Part 2: Murder in Africa
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...
Franco Part 1: Spain’s Buried Past
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...
Adolf Hitler Part 7: The Day of Treason
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...
Adolf Hitler Part 6: Hitler’s Secret Book
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...
Adolf Hitler Part 5: The Stormtroopers Arrive
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...
Adolf Hitler Part 4: The Spy Becomes the Nazi Leader
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...
Adolf Hitler Part 3: The 'Stab in the Back'
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...
Adolf Hitler Part 2: Hitler in the First World War
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,...
Adolf Hitler Part 1: Birth of a Führer
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....
Introducing: Real Narcos Season 2 - Félix Gallardo
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...
General Tojo Part 4: The Atom Bombs
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...
General Tojo Part 3: Attack on Pearl Harbor
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....
General Tojo Part 2: Terror in China
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...
General Tojo Part 1: The Young Samurai
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....
Papa Doc Part 3: Vampire of the Caribbean
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...
Papa Doc Part 2: Haiti’s Dictator vs JFK
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...
Papa Doc Part 1: The Voodoo Tyrant
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...
Mao Zedong Part 3: The Cultural Revolution
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...
Mao Zedong Part 2: The ‘Great Leap Forward’
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...
Mao Zedong Part 1: Peasant’s Son, Communist Rebel
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...
Joseph Stalin Part 3: Hitler Attacks
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...
Joseph Stalin Part 2: The Secretary Becomes Dictator
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...
Joseph Stalin Part 1: The Young Bank Robber
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...
Kim Jong-il Part 3: Nuclear Armed
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...
Kim Jong-il Part 2: Time to Make a Movie…
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...
Kim Jong-il Part 1: Birth of North Korea
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...
Trailer: Real Dictators
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)...
Real Dictators is the new podcast series hosted by Paul McGann (Dr Who, Luther, Withnail and I)...
About this Podcast
Language
en
Categories
History, Fiction, Drama