Power Corrupts
Brian Klaas
Power Corrupts
Brian Klaas
Thursday 09 April 2020 : Pandemics are horrifying. But what if one could be unleashed deliberately — by terrorists or a disgruntled scientist? How did ancient...
Thursday 02 April 2020 : When revolutions happen, everything changes. In this episode, we'll look at why one revolution was launched when a rebel leader in southeast...
Thursday 26 March 2020 : Pandemics are as old as human civilisation, from the Plague of Athens to mysterious diseases that ravaged armies throughout history. But...
Thursday 19 March 2020 : Have you ever made a catastrophic mistake? What if your mistakes could cause an empire to fall, a war to start, or thirty million people to...
Thursday 12 March 2020 : Corruption is usually hidden. But sometimes, it’s out in the open — either by design, or by incompetence. In this episode, we explore...
Thursday 05 March 2020 : Christopher Blair has been called the Godfather of Fake News. He's an American troll. And whether you realized it or not, you've probably...
Thursday 27 February 2020 : When a brutal dictatorship collapses, there's a big problem: everyone who knows how to run the government is someone who worked for the...
Thursday 20 February 2020 : If you're trying to consolidate power as a dictator, what's the best way to go about it? Is it better to be feared or loved? How do you...
Thursday 13 February 2020 : Mercenaries are sometimes described as "the world's second oldest profession." But how do they operate today? Can mercenary armies topple...
Thursday 06 February 2020 : Propaganda has been around for thousands of years. But what separates the pros from the amateur propagandists? Why are North Korean radios...
Thursday 23 January 2020 : Come explore the dark side of power as we travel across the globe meeting the often unsavory characters who inhabit the hidden world of...
Thursday 22 August 2019 : To end our first season we look at Nepotism. What’s it like to be the son or daughter of a dictator? Why did one dictator’s son go from...
Thursday 15 August 2019 : What makes ordinary people commit extraordinarily violent acts? Is it their brain chemistry? Social pressure? Or a charismatic leader...
Thursday 08 August 2019 : When you think of heists, you probably think of masked men, bank robbers, and priceless art. But governments carry out heists, too. In this...
Thursday 01 August 2019 : Why do dictators and despots create outlandish myths about themselves? Why spread lies claiming that you've written 18,000 books or that you...
Thursday 25 July 2019 : The UK has a new prime minister. On his first day, Boris Johnson will handwrite four identical letters to the captains of Britain's nuclear...
Thursday 18 July 2019 : How did 2 guys you've never heard of save the world from nuclear apocalypse? Can nuclear weapons be hacked? What's the most consequential...
Thursday 11 July 2019 : You’ve probably heard of money laundering, but how does it actually work? How did billions of dollars of dirty gold from South America...
Thursday 04 July 2019 : Why are countries that are rich in natural resources so often poor and war-torn? You’ve probably heard of blood diamonds, but what about...
Thursday 27 June 2019 : Nick Yarris spent 22 years on death row. At one point, he even escaped. But then, right before he was slated to be executed, DNA evidence...
Thursday 20 June 2019 : What's something that you do every 2 weeks? For Michelle Lyons, over a span of 12 years, she watched someone get executed every two weeks in...
Thursday 13 June 2019 : Why did the CIA try to kill an African political leader with poisoned toothpaste? How did a sturdy couch save a leader from being killed...
Thursday 06 June 2019 : Why did the war in Afghanistan hinge on the ability of a teenager to help buy 100 million bullets for the US military? Where do you even go...
Thursday 30 May 2019 : What's the best way to smuggle a crocodile onto an airplane? What is the journey actually like for migrants getting smuggled from...
Thursday 23 May 2019 : What's it like to be held by Somali pirates for 977 days? Or to meet your Dad for the first time after he's been held in a basement in...
Power Corrupts
Brian Klaas
Biological Weapons
Pandemics are horrifying. But what if one could be unleashed deliberately — by terrorists or a disgruntled scientist? How did ancient...
Revolutions
When revolutions happen, everything changes. In this episode, we'll look at why one revolution was launched when a rebel leader in southeast...
Pandemics
Pandemics are as old as human civilisation, from the Plague of Athens to mysterious diseases that ravaged armies throughout history. But...
Catastrophic Miscalculation
Have you ever made a catastrophic mistake? What if your mistakes could cause an empire to fall, a war to start, or thirty million people to...
Corruption in Plain Sight
Corruption is usually hidden. But sometimes, it’s out in the open — either by design, or by incompetence. In this episode, we explore...
The Godfather of Fake News
Christopher Blair has been called the Godfather of Fake News. He's an American troll. And whether you realized it or not, you've probably...
The Unthinkable Olive Branch
When a brutal dictatorship collapses, there's a big problem: everyone who knows how to run the government is someone who worked for the...
How to be a Dictator
If you're trying to consolidate power as a dictator, what's the best way to go about it? Is it better to be feared or loved? How do you...
Guns for Hire
Mercenaries are sometimes described as "the world's second oldest profession." But how do they operate today? Can mercenary armies topple...
The Dark Art of Propaganda
Propaganda has been around for thousands of years. But what separates the pros from the amateur propagandists? Why are North Korean radios...
Power Corrupts Season 2: Coming February 6th 2020
Come explore the dark side of power as we travel across the globe meeting the often unsavory characters who inhabit the hidden world of...
Children of Monsters
To end our first season we look at Nepotism. What’s it like to be the son or daughter of a dictator? Why did one dictator’s son go from...
The Anatomy of Evil
What makes ordinary people commit extraordinarily violent acts? Is it their brain chemistry? Social pressure? Or a charismatic leader...
The Greatest Heists You’ve Never Heard Of
When you think of heists, you probably think of masked men, bank robbers, and priceless art. But governments carry out heists, too. In this...
From Dictator to Demigod
Why do dictators and despots create outlandish myths about themselves? Why spread lies claiming that you've written 18,000 books or that you...
Letters of Last Resort
The UK has a new prime minister. On his first day, Boris Johnson will handwrite four identical letters to the captains of Britain's nuclear...
Nukes
How did 2 guys you've never heard of save the world from nuclear apocalypse? Can nuclear weapons be hacked? What's the most consequential...
Dirty Cash In / Clean Cash Out
You’ve probably heard of money laundering, but how does it actually work? How did billions of dollars of dirty gold from South America...
Blood Diamond / Blood Chocolate
Why are countries that are rich in natural resources so often poor and war-torn? You’ve probably heard of blood diamonds, but what about...
An Eye for an Eye?
Nick Yarris spent 22 years on death row. At one point, he even escaped. But then, right before he was slated to be executed, DNA evidence...
Witnessing 283 Executions
What's something that you do every 2 weeks? For Michelle Lyons, over a span of 12 years, she watched someone get executed every two weeks in...
Assassinations
Why did the CIA try to kill an African political leader with poisoned toothpaste? How did a sturdy couch save a leader from being killed...
International Arms Trade
Why did the war in Afghanistan hinge on the ability of a teenager to help buy 100 million bullets for the US military? Where do you even go...
Smuggling
What's the best way to smuggle a crocodile onto an airplane? What is the journey actually like for migrants getting smuggled from...
Ransom
What's it like to be held by Somali pirates for 977 days? Or to meet your Dad for the first time after he's been held in a basement in...
