Behind the Bastards

Behind the Bastards

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

Episodes

August 21, 2025 53 mins

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

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

(2 part series)

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August 16, 2025 165 mins

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

- Infrastructure as Control feat. Andrew

- Why Trump is Obsessed with the Autopen

- How Tucson Beat Amazon’s Data Center

- Tariffs and the Corruption State

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #29

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In Part 2 Frank Fay finds love and creates the most toxic Hollywood romance of all time. Then he breaks Nazi and holds a fascist rally in New York City less than a year after the end of WW2.

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Robert sits down with Andrew Ti to discuss the ground breaking performer who created modern stand up comedy and also palled around with the KKK.

 

(2 Part Series)

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August 9, 2025 204 mins

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

- Anti-War Movements feat. Andrew

- Aid as a Tool of War in Gaza feat. Dana El Kurd

- Mapping Border Deaths

- Dogwhistle Politics and Nazi Code Hunting

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #28

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August 2, 2025 208 mins

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

- The Fight for Trans Youth Healthcare at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

- Post Woke Cinema

- AI Minstrel Shows feat. Bridget Todd

- Community Preparedness Basics with Live Like the World is Dying

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #27

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We conclude the story and life of "Dr. Death", which culminates in, predictably, a lot of dead people.

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Robert sits down with Steven Monacelli to tell the grisly tale of a Texas psychiatrist who invented an industry based on convincing juries to kill people.

(2 Part series)

sources:

TRAVELS WITH Dr. DEATH | Vanity Fair | May 1990

Death’s Conviction

James Grigson Testimony Linked to Miscarriages of Justice

Effect of "Dr. Death" and his testimony lingers

Flawed Trials Lead to Death Chamber | Death Penalty Information Center

Texas...

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July 26, 2025 198 mins

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

- How We Saved Trans Medicaid Healthcare Coverage

- Tracking ICE Removal Flights

- How LA Resisted ICE

- Why Is Trump So Afraid of Epstein?

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #26

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Robert and Miles discuss the second phase of Laetrile's history, where it becomes a culture war issue for the right wing John Birch Society.

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Robert sits down with Miles Gray to talk about Laetrile, a fraudulent cancer "cure" embraced by the John Birch society as a way to tie right wing politics to alternative medicine.

(2 Part Series)

Sources:

Sci-Hub | Laetrile: A Lesson in Cancer Quackery. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 31(2), 91–95 | 10.3322/canjclin.31.2.91

The Controversy Surrounding Chad Green

Nation: A Battle over Cancer Care - TIME

Dr. Ernesto Contre...

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July 19, 2025 193 mins

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

- Humanity, the Good feat. Andrew

- Humanity, the Bad feat. Andrew

- What Bombing Means for Freedom In Iran

- What Does the PKK's Disarmament Mean

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #25

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Antonio Salazar spends his post-war years helping the CIA learn how to torture people and starting a disastrous war with a large portion of Africa. Then he dies! Hooray!

Sources:
Antonio Salazar de Oliveira of Portugal and his Estado Novo

Antonio Salazar: A Quiet Autocrat Who Held Power in Portugal for 40 Years - The New York Times

Did Salazar have a love life? Part 2 – Portugal Resident

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/history/a...

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Robert sits down with with  Jeff May to talk about Antonio Salazar, the economics professor who became a brutal fascist dictator and was, sadly, really damn good at it.

(2 Part Series)

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July 12, 2025 183 mins

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

- Palestine’s Stolen Future

- The Genocide Budget (And How to Stop It)

- Protest, Immigration Enforcement, and the Unhoused Community

- The Minnesota Assassination & Evangelical Terrorism

- Executive Disorder: White House Weekly #24

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World War 2 is coming to an end, and Eichmann cooks up an escape scheme that allows him to flee justice- for a while. Robert and Joe talk about what comes next and conclude the Eichmann story.

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In Part 3, the Reich has invaded Russia and Eichmann is on a fact finding mission that will determine the course of the Holocaust.

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