Real Dictators
Real Dictators continues to be available for free wherever you get your shows. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Real Dictators is the award-winning podcast hosted by Paul McGann that explores the hidden lives of history's tyrants. Follow @Noiser_Podcasts on Twitter for updates on our shows.
Episodes
May 9, 2023 • 36 mins
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 Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks.
The role of personal chef to a dictator is a fascinating one. It’s an extremely intimate relationship. These cooks have literally nourished tyrants. They’ve satisfied their culinary cravings, altered...
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April 17, 2023 • 49 mins
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 episode, we’re hot on the heels of international art detective Arthur Brand. He is hunting down a pair of lost statues… Two giant bronze horses that were once beloved by none other than Adolf Hitler. But a case of missing artworks quick...
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March 15, 2023 • 58 mins
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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March 8, 2023 • 51 mins
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.
For ad-free listeni...
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March 1, 2023 • 55 mins
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...
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February 22, 2023 • 55 mins
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.
Scroll down the Real Dictators feed for episo...
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February 15, 2023 • 54 mins
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 ...
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February 8, 2023 • 56 mins
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 ra...
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November 30, 2022 • 58 mins
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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November 23, 2022 • 52 mins
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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November 16, 2022 • 53 mins
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...
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November 9, 2022 • 54 mins
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 ...
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October 25, 2022 • 1 min
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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October 18, 2022 • 54 mins
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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October 11, 2022 • 54 mins
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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October 4, 2022 • 42 mins
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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September 27, 2022 • 55 mins
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....
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September 13, 2022 • 1 min
The story of Lenin - leader of the Russian Revolution, founder of the Soviet Union - begins Wednesday September 28th.
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September 6, 2022 • 54 mins
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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August 30, 2022 • 55 mins
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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