Power Corrupts

When revolutions happen, everything changes. In this episode, we'll look at why one revolution was launched when a rebel leader in southeast Asia started climbing trees; how Teddy Roosevelt's son led a CIA-backed coup in 1953 that contributed to the Iranian revolution; and why one East German guard had a bad day -- and forever changed history as a result.   ----   Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is .  

Pandemics are as old as human civilisation, from the Plague of Athens to mysterious diseases that ravaged armies throughout history. But there's a lot you probably don't know about them. Why did "dancing plagues" erupt repeatedly in Medieval Europe as a result of "hot blood"? Why is calling it the "Spanish Flu" an egregious historical injustice? How do mathematical modellers incorporate Italian vs. American culture into their forecasting and predictions? And what did Isaac Newton manage to do while he was "working from home" during the plague pandemic of 1665?   ----   Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is .

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 starve to death? History and politics are defined by catastrophic miscalculations -- those "oops" moments in which leaders cause immense damage because they just didn't think things through. Whether it's Mao's campaign to murder sparrows leading to a deadly famine; Burma's dictator crashing an economy by following astrology and his lucky number rather than expert advice; or an emperor who really, really should have bought a cannon, such mistakes define our past, present, and future. Don't make the mistake of not listening.   ----   Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is .

Corruption is usually hidden. But sometimes, it’s out in the open — either by design, or by incompetence. In this episode, we explore some unexpected hotspots of corruption and kleptocracy. How does a fugitive Malaysian playboy who allegedly stole billions still legally own a mansion in London? Why did a small town Massachusetts mayor try to accept big wads of dirty cash in a shed behind his house? And how did a money laundering expert get caught...laundering money?   ----   Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is .

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 unknowingly read a fake news article that he's written, cooked up on his computer in rural Maine. So we traveled to Maine to meet him, to understand how one man makes a living by deceiving gullible people on Facebook — and the effect that his trolling has on democracy.   ----   Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is .