Saturday Matinee: Real Dictators

Summary

Podcast Summary: History Daily – Saturday Matinee: Real Dictators

Date: August 16, 2025
Featured Episode: Real Dictators – The Fidel Castro Story, Part 1
Host: Lindsay Graham
Production: Airship | Noiser | Wondery

---

Overview:

This “Saturday Matinee” episode is a special presentation of Real Dictators, focusing on the rise of Fidel Castro. Through interviews with historians, writers, and those who lived through the events, the episode traces Castro's journey from privileged but tempestuous childhood, through Cuba's political turmoil of the mid-20th century, to his failed 1953 assault on the Moncada Barracks – the spark that ignited the Cuban Revolution. The themes surface questions of leadership, national identity, myth-making, violence, and the persistent influence of foreign powers on Cuban history.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Framing the Theme: The Great Man and the “Evil Man” Theory

• Host's Reflection: Lindsay Graham introduces the episode by examining Thomas Carlyle’s “Great Man” theory, questioning who truly shapes history: famous figures or masses and social forces. Here, the show turns to the idea of the “Evil Man” – influential leaders whose power is used for oppression.
  • (00:13): “These are persons who exhibit the same superior intellect … but use these talents for twisted purposes. For my money, they move history just as much.” – Lindsay Graham

2. Fidel Castro’s Last Public Days

• Setup: Describes Fidel’s final public appearance in 2006, marking the anniversary of the Moncada attack, his declining health, and the shock when news breaks that he is stepping down due to illness.

  • (07:27): “We thought Fidel was going to die. Fidel was kind of immortal. It was not conceivable.” – Orlando Luis Parlo Lasso

• Atmosphere: A palpable sense of collective fear and uncertainty overtakes Cuba.

3. The Making of a Dictator: Castro’s Childhood & Family

• Family Origins:

  • Angel Castro, Fidel’s father, is depicted as a self-made man who returned to Cuba post-Spanish colonial rule, building wealth in the sugar industry.
  • Fidel, the third child with Lina Ruz, survives severe illness and dangerous incidents – narratives that later become part of his legend.

• Early Influences:

  • Raised on a plantation, Fidel befriends children across class and race lines, though not initially raised as an idealist.
  • Key Quote: (20:33): “He was ecumenical in his friendships. … Castro just didn’t see color or class as a boundary.” – Historian Jonathan Hansen

• Education:

  • Attended Jesuit schools, where discipline and rigor shaped his outlook.
    (26:48): “One of the real keys to understanding Fidel is that he was deeply Jesuit at some level... those Jesuit principles of simplicity, self denial, and very strong dedication to his beliefs...” – Alex von Tunzelmann

4. Cuban History in Context: Colonialism, Intervention, & Corruption

• Colonial Trauma:

  • Spanish brutality exterminates much of the indigenous population; independence movements idolize figures like Jose Martí.
  • The U.S. replaces Spain as Cuba’s main meddler, fostering resentment and a context ripe for nationalist movements. (17:06): “The United States ... had a kind of standing, self-authorized right to intervene whenever U.S. investments were jeopardized.” – Historian

• Batista’s Rise and Havana’s Decay:

  • By the 1940s, Fulgencio Batista – with U.S. backing – runs a corrupt regime.
  • Havana becomes synonymous with American mafia, casinos, and open crime.

5. Castro’s Law School Years & Taste for Violence

• Gangs, Guns, and Ambition:

  • University politics are lethal, with student gangs exerting brutal control.
    (29:07): “Politics was really the game at Havana University. And anybody who was anybody in Cuba had come through Havana University and played the political game. And it was a rough and tumble game, it was a lethal game.”
  • Castro involves himself in armed student conflicts, including (notorious) shooting of Lionel Gomez.
    (33:37): “Nobody ever investigated that shooting.”

• Dual Identity:

  • While publicly railing against corruption and violence, Fidel is accused repeatedly of violent acts – violence becomes intrinsic to his public persona.

6. The Myth of the Revolutionary: Adventure and Self-Legend

• Paramilitary Fiascos:

  • Eager to take up armed causes, Castro joins the abortive 1947 campaign to overthrow Dominican dictator Trujillo. His mother’s intervention and the whole ill-fated affair add to the mythos.
  • (41:56): “Fidel had great physical prowess and also kind of this machismo to an almost ludicrous extent. … He was someone who was not at all afraid to put himself in situations of grave danger.”

• Further Myth-making:

  • Present at Colombia’s “Bogotazo” riots, he claims to have taken up arms – an assertion that later gets wildly exaggerated.
  • (43:25): “There’s a pretty huge amount of myth making around the Bogotazo generally ... what did seem to happen very consistently was that wherever trouble was, there was Fidel in it somehow.”

7. Populist Politics & Tragedy of Eddy Chibás

• Media Savvy & Political Apprenticeship:

  • Aligns with Eddie Chibás, fiery anti-corruption radio host, mimicking his mentor’s oratory.
  • (44:34): “Castro becomes a kind of acolyte of Chivas... as Fidal was kind of a carbon copy of Eddie Chivas, literally.”

• Turning Point:

  • Chibás’s suicide – a misguided radio stunt that leads to his death – leaves a void for a passionate nationalist leader; Fidel, as his protégé, is poised to step in.

8. Personal Life: Marriage, Respectability, and Ambition

• Marriage to Mirtha Díaz Balart:

  • Marries into a well-connected conservative family; touches of bourgeois respectability; even Batista sends a wedding gift.
  • (50:37): “Batista sends them a wedding gift ... but [Fidel] smashed one of the Batista vases on the floor.”

• Restlessness and Determination:

  • Castro’s revolutionary ambitions strain the marriage and his personal life.

9. The Batista Coup & The Turn to Revolution

• Batista’s 1952 Coup:

  • Cancels elections, rules by force, arrests and exiles opponents.
    (52:23): “There are a thousand officers who are arrested. Thousands of opponents flee into exile, and he rules through his own 183 person fake counsel.”

• Fidel’s Response:

  • Disgusted, he organizes a disparate group, “the Movement,” to execute revolutionary action, drawing on nationalist motifs rather than clear Marxist doctrine.

10. Moncada Barracks Assault: The Fateful Spark

• Planning the Attack:

  • Launches attack with 150 men on July 26, 1953, leveraging romantic symbolism – on Marti’s centenary, during Carnival.
  • The plan is ill-conceived and badly executed: vehicles are lost, guards alert, and carnage ensues.
  • Notable Quote:
    (61:34): “He thought of Moncada as a way to wake the nation up. He planned what is really a harebrained scheme. But I think that he hoped it would send a message, show the world that Cubans were not passive...”

• Personal Heroics and Failure:

  • Despite disaster, Castro’s frame for the event transforms him further into a mythic figure for his followers.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------| | 00:13 | “These are persons who exhibit the same superior intellect…for twisted purposes. For my money, they move history just as much.” | Lindsay Graham (Host) | | 07:27 | “We thought Fidel was going to die. Fidel was kind of immortal. It was not conceivable.” | Orlando Luis Parlo Lasso | | 17:06 | “The United States … had a kind of standing, self-authorized right to intervene whenever U.S. investments were jeopardized.” | Historian | | 20:33 | “He was ecumenical in his friendships. … Castro just didn’t see color or class as a boundary.” | Jonathan Hansen (Historian) | | 26:48 | “One of the real keys to understanding Fidel is that he was deeply Jesuit at some level...those Jesuit principles...really help explain some of his psychology.” | Alex von Tunzelmann | | 41:56 | “You have to understand Fidel Castro within a Cuban culture that’s very much centered around machismo and masculinity. ... He was already beginning to build his legend as this kind of superman.” | Historian | | 50:37 | “Batista sends them a wedding gift ... but [Fidel] smashed one of the Batista vases on the floor.” | Historian | | 61:34 | “He thought of Moncada as a way to wake the nation up. He planned what is really a harebrained scheme.” | Historian |

---

Suggested Timestamps for Segment Highlights

• 00:00–01:50 – Host’s introduction; Great Man vs. Evil Man framing
• 03:15–08:51 – Castro’s last public appearance, failing health & national anxiety
• 12:07–18:50 – Castro’s family, early influences, Jesuit school years
• 23:45–27:21 – Early education, values, and discipline
• 29:07–33:37 – University life, violence, student politics, the Gomez shooting
• 37:01–41:56 – Paramilitary adventures, myth-making, machismo
• 44:06–47:45 – Eddie Chibás’s rise, radio influence, and death
• 52:23–54:35 – Batista’s coup, repression, Fidel’s revolutionary resolve
• 57:55–63:20 – Organizing the Moncada attack, execution and aftermath

---

Tone & Language

The episode uses immersive, novelistic storytelling combined with crisp narration, direct historian commentary, and first-person testimony. It alternates between dramatic recreations, reflective analysis, and myth-exposing skepticism, while maintaining momentum and vivid sense of Cuban culture and its historical crossroads.

---

Conclusion:

This inaugural part of the Fidel Castro story for Real Dictators traces the entwined roots of violence, idealism, myth, and ambition that culminate in the botched but seminal Moncada attack. The episode reveals how Castro’s mix of opportunism, machismo, intolerance for opposition, and mastery of media create both his legend and his infamy—contextualized amidst the broader tides of Cuban and world history. The stage is set for Part Two, promising a deeper dive into Castro’s ideological evolution, his partnership with Che Guevara, and the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

Transcript

[History Daily Host]

There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery app as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at intohistory.com in the mid 19th century, Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle stated, the history of the world is but the biography of great myths men. And it does seem to be true in a sense. How can we talk about the American Revolution without George Washington? Indian Independence without Mahatma Gandhi? The Protestant Reformation without Martin Luther? Now we modern students of history might recoil a bit upon hearing this Great man theory of history. Surely there are great women too, first of all. But what about all the others? Men and women making contributions in the background? Well, those are valid points. And there are adherence to theories of people's history or social history that have suspicion, if not contempt for this Great man theory. But today, instead, I'd like you to contemplate what the opposite side of the coin, which is the Great Man Theory might be. We might call him the Evil Man. These are persons who exhibit the same superior intellect, heroic courage, extraordinary leadership and inspired ambition as the Great man, but use these talents for twisted purposes. For my money, they move history just as much. And on today's Saturday matinee, we share an episode from the fantastic Noiser podcast, Real Dictators, an entire series that looks at some of the most evil men in history. I hope you enjoy. While you're listening, be sure to search for and follow Real Dictators. We put a link in the show notes to make it easy for you.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You know that person in your life.

Who just can't stand mayo.

Call them traumatized. Call them close minded. We get it. They're stuck in their ways.

But here's the thing.

They just haven't tried Hellman's Flavored Mayo. We're talking bold flavors that will flip even the biggest skeptics. Spicy mayo that adds the perfect kick to your burger. Garlic aioli that transforms ordinary fries into something extraordinary. Chipotle mayo that turns your basic wrap.

Into a smoky sensation.

So to all the mayo haters out there, yes, we're looking at you. It's time to eat your words. Because with mayo this flavorful, any hater.

Is just a mayo lover waiting to be convinced.

Hellman's Flavored Mayo. Get ready to eat your words. It's here, your long awaited pto.

You pack up, grab your sunscreen, walk out the door and stick the key under the mat.

[History Daily Host]

Just one, you're being safe ish.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

You know, safe ish.

[Historian/Expert]

It's those little tricks that don't actually keep us safe, like the key under.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The mat or the old leaving the lights on routine. For true peace of mind, sit back.

[History Daily Host]

And let ADT's technicians install a security.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

System customized for your home with features like 24. 7 monitoring and cameras you can check from your phone. So go ahead, break in those new flip flops.

And whatever you do, don't settle for Safe ish.

Visit ADT.com to find out more. It's July 26, 2006 sunrise in the city of Bayamo, Cuba. In the Plaza de la Patria, something special is stirring. At this early hour, it would normally be all but empty. This morning it's full to bursting. 100,000 people fill every inch of the plaza and the surrounding streets. Many are dressed in patriotic red T shirts. Almost all are holding tiny Cuban flags. They're here to commemorate events that took place on this very day 53 years earlier, when a gang of rebels attacked the Moncada army barracks. To many in the country, this is a cherished event, the opening sally of the Cuban Revolution. It was also the first time that most Cubans had ever heard the name of the rebels leader. A name they would never forget. Fidel Castro. As the sun fills the plaza with daylight, an elderly man with a patchy grey beard dressed in military green shuffles onto a stage. It's the headline act, the one they're all here to see. It's Fidel himself. There's a roar from the crowd chanting of his name. Then Fidel begins his speech, a lightning quick one by his standards, just two and a half hours. It's very much a greatest hit set the evil of Yankee imperialism, the eternal truth of the revolution. Cuba as a beacon of hope in a world benighted by capitalism. There isn't a person in the crowd who's not heard all this before. But still they applaud and bellow as their leader reaches his denouement before he slopes off stage. And yet, things are not quite as they used to be. Nobody here dares say it, but Fidel is no longer fidelity. He's sallow, listless, ailing and suddenly very old. In the days following this public appearance, Fidel, the ubiquitous presence in Cuban life becomes conspicuous by his absence. Hushed rumors swirl. But in a country where nothing is official until Fidel says so, nobody knows what's truly going on. Then, on July 31, earth shattering news arrives. At 9pm A young writer and photographer Orlando Luis Parlo Lasso is at home in Havana, Cuba's bustling capital city. Orlando sits in his apartment with the TV on. Suddenly, a middle aged man in glasses, dressed in white shirt sleeves appears on screen, sat in front of a Cuban flag. Orlando leans forward, head down. In a flat monotone voice, the man on the TV begins to read from a piece of paper. Fidel is exhausted and seriously ill. Surgery is required. There will be a temporary transfer of power. Orlando can barely believe his ears.

I called many friends and many friends called me, like, how are you? How are you? Because we thought Fidel was going to die. Fidel was kind of immortal.

It was not conceivable.

And I noticed, probably for the first time of my life, a feeling of collective fear. I felt in my body that fear. Is the military going to raid the city? Are they going to be chasing people that are well known to be dissidents? What are they going to do?

After 50 years of revolution, war, bravado and brinkmanship, not to mention hundreds of assassination attempts, it is Fidel's own body that has brought him low. It's the beginning of the end. And what the people of Cuba are asking themselves is what comes after the end? Fidel Castro came to power with the Cuban Revolution of 1959, ousting the dictator Fulgencio Batista. In so doing, he constructed his own dictatorship, one quite unlike any other before or since. For the next 50 years, Castro was constant, immovable, omnipresent. He occupied every square inch of the island over which he ruled.

[Historian/Expert]

He saturates the public discourse with his own voice. And that's one means by which he becomes the revolution. A one face, one man kind of a revolution.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Through Fidel, his great foe, the United States dreamed up innumerable ways to eliminate him.

[Historian/Expert]

There were poisoned cigars, poisoned diving suit with fungal spores that would create a skin disorder and kill him. A poison aqualung that would squirt contaminants straight into his mouth.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

None of them succeeded. He was the ultimate political survivor. Debate still rages as to whether Castro's dictatorship was communist, nationalist or something else entirely.

[Historian/Expert]

I don't think that Fidel was a communist from day one. I do think he was an authoritarian from day one.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

To cling to power, he was ruthless and brutal, especially to those he deemed a threat to his own supremacy.

There was a lot of physical violence. No, you don't have the right to live a life without worshipping the Supreme Leader.

For decades, Castro commanded global attention.

He transformed a moderate sized Caribbean nation into A world player.

But in so many ways, Fidel Castro remains profoundly unknowable, both to those who admire him and those who curse his very name.

[Historian/Expert]

I was denounced by my own neighbors.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Fidel's word is gospel. The cruelty was psychological more than anything.

[Historian/Expert]

Fidel was a person that changed my life for me.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

He was a teacher. He taught us how to think.

I remember seeing poems that displayed a poster. Fidel esta estu casa Fidel, this is your house. They didn't know he was going to take that literally.

From the Noiser Podcast network this is part one of the Fidel Castro story. And this is real dictators. The island nation of Cuba sits in the Caribbean Sea, roughly 90 miles from Florida. Its natural beauty and all year round sunshine have shaped the culture of the island and its people. Cuban writer Orlando Luis Pardo Lasso Cuba.

Is a very like a solar nation. We like light, we like music, we like food, we like dancing, we like speaking very loud. So we are very open, extrovert. It's a stereotype, yes, but it constitutes part of our nature as a country.

Indeed, to many outsiders, Cuba has seemed like a paradise. When Christopher Columbus arrives here in 1492, he's dazzled. Glittering beaches, towering mountains, lush tropical plant life. He declares the island the most beautiful that eyes have seen and immediately claims it for the Spanish crown. Columbus is convinced that it's the gateway to Asia. It won't be the last time a great foreign power fails to understand Cuba. The Spanish transform the island. They introduce enslaved people from Africa, Christianity, sugar cane and disease. According to some estimates, violence, exploitation and illnesses such as measles and the flu kill off an extraordinary 90% of Cuba's native population in the first few decades of colonial settlement. Professor Carlos Eyre of Yale University grew up in 1950s Cuba. At school, he was taught the familiar tales of Spanish rule.

I was taught that Cuba could have been the Garden of Eden. And we were told the story of colonization that all North Americans were also taught Europeans had come and tamed these natives who were uncivilized and improved their lives. But at the very same time, we were taught about the cruelty of the European colonial takeover.

In 1511, a leader of the native Cuban population named Artway leads an uprising against the colonizers. As punishment, he's captured and burned at the stake. So the legend goes, Otway resists Spanish authority to the end.

And before the fire was lit, a priest was trying to get him to convert. Said, don't you want to go to heaven? If you don't convert, you can't go to heaven. He asked, do the Spanish go to heaven? And the priest said, of course they do. He says, well then I'd rather not go to heaven.

For four centuries, Cuba is under foreign rule. Then, in the late 19th century, a formidable independence movement emerges. The emblem of the struggle is the writer Jose Marti. Lilian Guerra is professor of Cuban and Caribbean history at the University of Florida and the author of the Myth of Jose Marti.

[Historian/Expert]

So Jose Marti is something of a unique figure, not just for Cubans, but for all of Latin America. He was from a very early age an opponent of Spanish rule of Cuba. He was this extremely energetic, extremely committed activist and he succeeded in fusing together what was by then a very large exile community of pro independence Cubans in the United States. With the military on the island, in.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

February 1895, Cuban rebels begin a war of independence. Marti joins the fight and is martyred in his first battle. But Cuba's thirst for independence cannot be killed. The war is attritional. With grim irony, it's now Spanish soldiers who are ravaged by disease. Among them is angel Castro, a 19 year old peasant from Galicia, northern Spain. Angel falls ill repeatedly. Typhus, malaria, rheumatism. Somehow the boy survives. Conflict grinds on until 1898, at which point the United States intervenes, tipping the balance in the rebels favor. After 400 years of colonial rule, Cuba is free at last. Well, sort of. After assisting Cuba in defeating Spain, the US is keen to assert itself as a regional power and to protect the financial interests of American landowners such as the United Fruit Company, who possess vast swathes of the island and its wealth. The US occupies Cuba for several years and meddles in Cuban affairs for decades afterwards.

[Historian/Expert]

The United States, it had a kind of standing, self authorized right to intervene whenever U.S. investments were jeopardized. Or as U.S. officials would have put it, would Cubans jeopardize their own democracy?

[Narrator/Interviewer]

For ordinary Cubans, this is naked imperialism and a source of enormous resentment. But the Spanish at least have been sent packing. Among them young soldier Angel Castro. Though it won't be long before he's back. Strangely for angel, the island that very nearly finished him off turns out to be the making of him. Jonathan Hansen is senior lecturer at Harvard University and the author of Young Castro the Making of a Revolutionary.

He was from a dirt war family. Things were so bad for his family in Spain that he took his chances and returned to Cuba, thinking that there would be a lot of opportunity to make a life for himself amid all the rebuilding that would have to be done after the war. First he worked as a contractor cutting down forests, carting sugar cane, working for the big planters in eastern Cuba. He made a business for himself. He bought an inn for himself and then eventually was able to buy a sugar plantation and then expand it so that eventually he commanded a sugar plantation of 42 square miles in some of Cuba's most valuable cane growing farmland. So it's an unusual story of literal rags to riches.

At 35, angel marries Maria Luisa Agoto Reyes. They have five children, two of whom die in infancy. Angel lives to work. As the years pass, he spends more and more time at the Castro farmstead. Maria Luisa doesn't care for country life. The marriage breaks down. Angel's eye now turns towards his 17 year old housemaid, Lina Rus Gonzalez. Estranged from his first wife, though still married to her, angel fathers seven children with Lina. Another child, Angel's 13th in total, is born from a liaison with a local woman. The third child he has with Lina, a son they call Fidel, is born on August 13, 1926. The boy's childhood is fraught with illness and incident. A bout of sepsis nearly kills him. At the age of four, he comes close to drowning. These are the first of the many near death experiences that will form a crucial part of the Castro legend of indestructibility. Privilege and luck is how Fidel himself characterized the circumstances of his upbringing. Privilege because of his father's wealth, luck because the wealth had been earned, not inherited. Being a rich man's grandson would have made him spoiled. So Fidel reckoned, unable to be a man of the people as he claimed to.

His early days were on his parents vast plantation and he hung out with the local kids who worked for his father in the sugar industry. He was ecumenical in his friendships. There were a lot of poor Latin peasants on his father's farm, as well as black Haitian laborers and their kids on his father's farm. And Castro just didn't see color or class as a boundary.

But any nascent sense of the future revolutionary isn't encouraged by Fidel's parents. The only thing that matters to his father is getting on in the world.

Fidel didn't grow up very ideological. His dad wasn't even much of a nationalist. Fidel became an ardent nationalist, but his dad didn't talk a lot about politics. This guy was strict, he wasn't fun, he didn't play with his children. The ideology was work hard, be disciplined, just get out of poverty.

Money provides the Castro children with things their parents never had, including expensive educations in Cuba's big cities. Fidel is dispatched to a Jesuit boarding school in Santiago. Here he excels academically and on the sports field. He is precocious and impudent. When Franklin D. Roosevelt WINS A historic third term as U.S. president in 1940, a 14 year old Fidel writes a letter to congratulate him and asks the President to send him a ten dollar bill. To his annoyance, the cash is not forthcoming. The boy cannot stay out of trouble. He's a risk taker, the class rebel, a magnet for conflict. There are stories of fist fights with other classmates and reckless displays of adolescent machismo. Michael Bustamante is associate professor and director of Cuban Studies at the University of Miami.

Castro was kind of an outsider. There's this sense of a guy with a chip on his shoulder. His father had done quite well for himself, but he wasn't from the city either. So I think because of that he always wanted to impress everybody around him.

Such is the time when Fidel claims he can fly.

He went up to the second floor and jumped to prove that he could fly and came crashing down. So that says something about kind of him being willing to one hand lie, but on the other hand sort of go to the mat to try to.

Prove a point, right?

Somebody who took sort of disputes personally.

At 16, Fidel enters the Collegio de Belen in Havana, the most prestigious school in the land. The building is stunning, a jewel of neoclassical architecture walking the marble corridors of the sons of oligarchs. Eduardo Sayas Passan was a first year pupil at Belen when Fidel was in his final year.

I suppose my family would be described.

As member of the old oligarchy in Cuba. I come from a family of politicians.

I have two grandparents that were senators.

And my father was the senator also.

Fidel is nine years older than I am. But I remember while playing on the.

Campus of Belen, seeing a lot of senior athletes practicing and what have you. And I know that Fidel Castro was one of them. A dear friend of mine remembers hunting.

With Fidel Castro with a shotgun full of salt and healing some of the Haitians that were working at his father plantation. I mean they were 12 years old, kids do that type of thing. But he had a wild streak all of his life.

His teachers tried to stamp out this wild streak. Order, discipline and mission. These are the Jesuit values. A sliver of Fidel Castro will forever bear the mark of his schooling.

[History Daily Host]

History Daily is sponsored by Indeed We've all done it. Try to take in all the grocery bags in one trip. But what happens when you can't manage it? A bruised banana? Some squished bread? It's often at the worst moment when you find out you need an extra pair of hands. And if you're running a business, the stakes are higher than, well, dropping stakes on the ground. When it comes to hiring fast, Indeed is all you need Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites with Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page so you can reach the people you want faster and it makes a huge difference. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and History Daily, listeners will get a $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com onthe this day, just go to Indeed.com on this day. That's Indeed.com onthis day. Terms and conditions apply. If you're hiring, Indeed is all you need.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Claude is the Go to AI Assistant for millions of people and businesses around the world. Whether you're brainstorming a loan, drafting a business plan for your next big idea, preparing for a crucial negotiation, or building with a team of thousands, Claude is here to help. By using Claude as your personal or business AI Assistant, you'll be in great company organizations like Salesforce, Figma and Coinbase all use Claude in their products. Try Claude for free at claude.com that's.

C-U-E.com Alex von Tunselman is the author of Red Conspiracy, Murder and the Cold War in the Caribbean.

[Historian/Expert]

One of the real keys to understanding Fidel is that he was deeply Jesuit at some level. Now, of course, when he became a communist, he of course became an atheist, like all good communists would. But I think those Jesuit principles of simplicity, self denial, and very strong dedication to his beliefs, that was something that sort of really helps explain some of his psychology, this kind of deep commitment to his causes and so on. And much as his particular ideas could flex, I don't think he ever lost this incredible tenacity.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Fidel arrives at Berlin in 1942, halfway through the presidency of Fulgencio Batista. A sly, pugnacious army veteran, Batista has been a dominant force in Cuban politics for a decade, the muscle propping up a series of presidents, always with the approval of Washington, who see him as a man they can do business with. A check against Cuba's far left in 1940, the US backed Batista comes to power, the first man to win the presidency under a new liberal constitution. It's the promise of a new dawn. But any high hopes are soon dispelled. Corruption infests Batista's government. The Constitution forbids back to back presidential terms. So in 1944, Batista leaves office. For now, things aren't any better under the man who replaces him, Ramon Grau. Corruption continues to soar. Havana is becoming a playground for the rich and high rolling, especially Americans wanting to hide from either the law or morality. Frequently both. The capital's nightclubs, casinos and brothels do a roaring trade and give the US Mafia somewhere to launder their ill gotten gains. Organized crime stretches into every part of public life, as Fidel, a freshman law student in 1945 now discovers.

Arriving at Havana University, he was treated as a hick, even though he'd been to some pretty superior schools. He thought at first that his athleticism would sort of carry him into the important social circles. But he learned very quickly that in fact he wasn't a truly world class athlete and there were many in Cuba and so he would have to try his hand in politics. And politics was really the game at Havana University. And anybody who was anybody in Cuba had come through Havana University and played the political game. And it was a rough and tumble game, it was a lethal game.

Violent gangs dominate student politics and even infect university administration with links to police and government. Gangs can manipulate grades and influence recruitment. When university staff displease them, the gangs exact the ultimate punishment. In the 1940s, numerous university employees are murdered for simply doing their jobs. There are no safe spaces on this campus.

There were one group of students allied against other group of students, some of them conservatives, some of them liberal, some of them tied to the military, some tied to the government, all tied to power. And Castro was trying to figure out a way to sort of use this to propel himself. He was interested in power himself, figuring out how to propel himself into influence among these people who had parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles were all involved in the power politics of Cuba.

Ambitious, rambunctious Fidel takes to gang life like a Dr. Water. And he's not shy in showing his worth as a man of arms. As Fidel enters his second year, a new student begins to ruffle feathers. Lionel Gomez is a young man in a hurry. He boasts about his intention of seizing the top student jobs in Havana. Positions Fidel and his allies fancy for themselves. Verbal warnings are given. Gomez is told to keep humble don't start conflicts you cannot finish. The kid rolls his eyes. He has no intention of coming to heal. So Fidel decides to send him a message he can't ignore. It's December 10, 1946, the start of Cuba's dry season, when Havana is at its most beautiful. The strains of son Cubano music tumble from open windows. The streets buzz with young people enjoying the fresh, brilliant sunshine. Among them is Leonel Gomez, off to attend a football game on the outskirts of his campus. He doesn't know it, but he's being hunted. Laenal makes his way into the stadium to enjoy the match. Meanwhile, Fidel and his fellow gang members prowl the area armed with guns. About two hours later, the final whistle blows. The crowd begins to file out. And as Gomez leaves the stadium, Fidel pulls the trigger. He's an excellent shot. He's had years of practice hunting on the family estate. The bullet finds its target. Gomez is shot in the back, though his wounds are not fatal. Videl flees the scene. He rushes to the home of a friend and comes straight out with it. I just shot Lionel. It's a brazen act committed in broad daylight. But Friedel faces no repercussions from the law. The cancer of corruption and conspiracy sees to that.

Fidel was often accused of shooting this person or that person in this period of his life. But because of the power politics and the way that the student university gangs were connected to the government gangs and the government was connected to the police, nobody ever investigated that shooting.

It's been suggested by some that Fidel is intending a warning rather than an assassination attempt. But if he's just trying to put the frighteners on Gomez, it's a hell of a risky way to go about it. What makes the shooting of Lionel Gomez even more remarkable is that it occurs at the very point that Fidel is attempting to make a name for himself as an anti corruption activist. In speeches and manifestos he rails against the influence of gangs, government corruption and US imperialism. Like many young Cubans, Castro sees America's gigantic business interests on the island as the root of his country's ills. In making his arguments, he constantly invokes the lodestar of Cuban nationalism, the sainted Jose Marti.

[Historian/Expert]

Without Marti, we don't have a Fidel Castro and we don't really have any politician who would have been worth his weight in sugar because there was no other figure in the Cuban political landscape as important, even though he was dead. And Fidel steps very much into an imitation of Marti.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

To his delight, he begins to receive press coverage. Fidel Castro is suddenly a rising star. He is an impressive orator, stern, self righteous, yet passionate and charismatic. He's a striking figure too. Tall, handsome and powerfully built. But Fidel's burgeoning identity as a moral crusader turns old friends into enemies.

In order to then make a name for himself as a politician, he had to break away from some of the more corrupt, more violent, more self serving student leaders, slash gang leaders in Havana University. And not everybody liked the direction which he was headed. Often his very life was in peril, whether from the Cuban government or from the gangs themselves.

On numerous occasions in the coming years, he's hauled in by the police in connection with other crimes, including the murder of an officer. When Manolo Castro, a senior figure in a prominent gang, is gunned down upon leaving a cinema, his namesake Fidel is the prime suspect. Whatever the truth behind these allegations, the twin interests of idealism and violence are becoming the central pillars of the Castro brand. Roughly 150 miles southeast of Cuba lies the Dominican Republic, ruled by its president, Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo is seen by many Cubans as a Yankee made monster. He was originally trained by the Marines during an American occupation of the Dominican Republic in the 1920s. When he tortured and murdered his way to power in 1930, Washington chose to recognize his US friendly government. Ever since, he's been a lightning rod for anti American sentiment throughout Latin America.

[Historian/Expert]

Rafael Trujillo ran an incredibly repressive, violent, horrific regime. He was very good at manipulating American diplomats and presenting himself opportunistically as a great anti communist. At one point, he actually set up a fake Communist party, had it run against him in an election, and then executed and got rid of the people he had paid to run it. He was really seen as this completely horrendous figure who was working with the worst of American power and the most corrupt, violent, appalling dictator in the region. So young people like Fidel Castro in the 40s were violently against him.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In the summer of 1947, Fidel hears about a force being put together in Cuba, a brigade known as the Caribbean Legion. Its goal is to invade the Dominican Republic, overthrow Trujillo and strike a blow against US influence. The Legion is an eclectic bunch. Dominicans, Cubans, Venezuelans and Costa Ricans. Officially, this is a renegade operation behind the scenes. It's secretly funded by members of the Cuban government. The whole thing is a mishmash of righteous cause and naked self interest. The perfect fit for a young Fidel Castro. In July, Fidel makes his way to a training camp set up in the city of Holguin. 1500 men thrown together preparing for an invasion. In addition to boots on the ground, the brigade has a small fleet of military aircraft at its disposal, as well as naval vessels needed to carry the invaders. Before long, Fidel and his new campaneros set up on Callo Confites, a sandy, barren patch of land where they prepare for their attack. As clandestine operations go, it's a bit of a joke. By early August, it seems half of Latin America, including Rafael Trujillo, knows about the expedition. Back on the Castro family farm, even Fidel's parents get wind of it and that their thrill seeking boys joined up. Fidel's mother, Lina, is distraught when she hears the news. If those gangsters don't kill her son, then Trujillo surely will. Lina sets off for Cayoke and Fides. She'll drag the boy back by the ears if she has to. When she arrives, Fidel is astonished to see her, his dear old mother, in her day dress and smart shoes, rubbing shoulders with hardened revolutionaries. Lina lays it on thick. She appeals to his heart. Think of your family. And to his head. It's madness. It won't even work. But Fidel is unmoved. Only dead will I desist in my plan to go. Lina departs, almost certain that she will never see her son again. But as the weeks pass, pressure grows on the Cuban government to stop the expedition. The White House is concerned that if Trujillo is toppled, he might be replaced with a communist, a prospect Washington cannot countenance. In September, the Cuban government buckles. It's all too messy and risky. The invasion party is ordered to disband immediately. Fidel urges that they ignore this and press ahead. Yet it would be folly to continue, especially as the Cuban navy has been sent to intercept their ships. The game is up. Now Fidel senses danger. If the whole thing's off, he had best disappear. Making his escape, he has no choice but to swim ashore with a machine gun strapped to his back. Soon the story will be wildly embellished. That the swim was nine miles, sharks nibbling at his toes. Fidel the action man. The expedition is a washout. But a formative part of the Castro mythology is taking shape.

[Historian/Expert]

I think you have to understand Fidel Castro. Within a Cuban culture that's very much centered around machismo and masculinity. Fidel had great physical prowess and also kind of this machismo to an almost ludicrous extent. There's a story that he once rode a bicycle full face on into a wall just to prove he could. He was someone who was not at all afraid to put himself in situations of grave danger. What's extraordinary is that he survived all of these. He was already beginning to build his legend as this kind of superman.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

It's a similar story a few months later in the city of Bogota in April 1948. Fidel travels to the Colombian capital as part of a student delegation for the Pan American Conference. But the event is subsumed in violence and chaos. The liberal candidate in Colombia's upcoming presidential election is gunned down in the street. A crime that shocks the Nation and instigates 10 Days of Furious rioting. Fidel is keen to state his own role in the frenzy. I joined the people. I grabbed a rifle in a police station when it was rushed by the crowd. That experience led me to identify myself even more with the cause of the people. If this sounds like deliberate myth making, perhaps it is.

[Historian/Expert]

I think there's a pretty huge amount of myth making around the Bogotazo generally. There were stories later that he'd killed six priests during the bogotazo and all this. Well, no priests were killed during the bogotazo, so that didn't happen. But what did seem to happen very consistently was that wherever trouble was, there was Fidel in it somehow. Mixed up.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Back in Havana, Fidel finds a new vehicle for his populist zeal. He joins an emerging political party, the Autodoxus, founded and led by a charismatic Liberal Democrat by the name of Eddie Chibas.

[Historian/Expert]

Eddie Chibas was most famous for having a radio program on Sunday nights and everybody tuned in. He was an incredible speaker, always taking these morally righteous positions.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And Fidel is becoming something of a radio personality himself. Jennifer Lamb is associate professor of history at Brown University and the author of the Subject of Revolution Between Political and Popular Culture in Cuba.

[Historian/Expert]

As we head into the late 40s and 50s, there are some very famous radio politicians, including Eddie Chivas, who is kind of running on an anti corruption platform. Castro becomes a kind of acolyte of Chivas. And that combination of media savvy and lawyerly persuasion is very much characteristic of Castro's media personality as well as Fidal was kind of a carbon copy of Eddie Chivas, literally. His radio program followed Eddie Chivas program every Sunday night. And it's effectively censored. I mean, I tried to get copies, but it's very unlikely that the Cuban government would ever approve your ability to hear him from those years, because of course he was in favor of democracy elections and sounded very much like he was imitating his mentor Eddie chivas.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

In the 1948 presidential election, Chibas performs strongly, but the victor is Carlos Prio, the candidate of the Autenticos, the party of the departing president, Ramon Grau. For the next two years, corruption rolls on unabated, as does Chibas appeal to the masses and Fidel Castro's commitment to Chibas cause Fidel makes a first run as an orthodox delegate in his home province of Oriente. At party events, Fidel does what Fidel does. He's bombastic, self important, self righteous and captivating. In preaching the gospel according to Jose Marti, Chibas can't fail to take note. That is, until August 1951, when Eddie Chibas's career comes to a shocking end.

[Historian/Expert]

These radio appearances that he made often took the form of indictments. So he would come to present an accusation that someone in the government was guilty of corruption in some capacity. There's obviously a dramatic and a theatrical quality to all of this, but one day he presented such an accusation that it turned out he could not defend and ended up kind of theatrically shooting himself in the course of that broadcast, a wound from which he eventually died. I think most scholars today believe that he did not intend that to be the end point of that broadcast, that it was accidental, that this was designed to kind of bring a dramatic flourish. But obviously, of course, one that went tragically wrong.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Whether Chibas death is a wildly romantic political gesture or simply a terrible accident, its effect on the public is huge.

[Historian/Expert]

There was a massive, massive funeral procession. Fidelcaster was a pallbearer. My mother lived very close by and so she went to the funeral of Eddy Chibas and there were a million people there. The photographs are extraordinary.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

The death of Chivas is a disaster for his supporters, but for any ambitious up and comers, it also provides impetus. There is now a vacancy for an idealistic Cuban nationalist prepared to pick up the mantle of Marti and Chimas. Cometh the hour, Comma Fidele.

Summer entertaining becomes effortless with Boar's Head. Their premium meats, cheeses and tips elevate any gathering. From casual poolside hangouts to elegant picnics. The new basil pesto and sweet BBQ hummus flavors add a fresh twist to the lineup. While their expanded charcuterie selection, now featuring olives, brings a touch of sophistication to any spread. Whether it's a fantastic Fourth of July celebration or relaxed Labor Day get together, Boar's Head products transform ordinary occasions into memorable experiences for your next summer event. Visit your local deli counter and explore the difference that true craftsmanship makes. Boar's Head committed to craft since 1905. Is your AI built to work with your business's data? IBM helps you integrate and govern unstructured.

Data wherever it lives so your business.

Can have more accurate AI instead of.

Just more of it.

Get your Data ready for [e-mail] the AI built for business IBM A lot.

[Historian/Expert]

Of his power came largely from the historical context in which he lived, which he exploited to his advantage. Great expectations that had been building for decades for Cuba to be the kind of democracy that children had grown up thinking that it should have been. And so a lot of what got invested in Fidel Castro was Cubanidad, you know, Cuban identity and Cuban aspirations.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

Amid the chaos of the last few years, Castro has made some concessions to ordinary life. At long last he's got his degree and can start earning a crust as a practicing lawyer and wean himself off a very generous stipend from his parents. He's also got hitched. The lucky lady is Mirtha Diaz Balart, a beautiful, polished young woman from a prominent conservative family who also happens to have first rate political connections. On the surface, the young couple are a picture of Cuban bourgeois happiness. They even have a luxurious honeymoon in the United States in 1949. A son is born, Fidelito. Little Fidel. It's all a very long way from Castro, the gangster and gun toting revolutionary. In fact, even Fulgencio Batista, former president and symbol of government corruption, demonstrates his approval of Fidel's union.

Mirta's father was a kind of pro Batista guy, and Batista sends them a wedding gift. He gave them a beautiful set of alabaster vases, one of which Fidel smashed when he told Myrtha at one point that they were not going to go live in Paris, which was a promise, something that they must have talked about when they were, you know, in love and on the beach, but that in fact Castro was going to dedicate himself to becoming a politician, run for office and rise through Cuban politics to become a leader. And Myrta collapsed in tears. Oh, Fidel, you promised us we would go to Paris, infidel said, and smashed one of the Batista vases on the floor.

Since leaving office in 1944, Batista has largely been out of the picture, twiddling his thumbs in Daytona Beach, Florida, ruminating on his own dashed hopes. Elections are scheduled for June 1, 1952, with just weeks to go until polling day Batista's campaign for the presidency is floundering. Democracy isn't giving him what he craves, so he tosses it aside. Exploiting his army connections, Batista takes control of the military. He claims that the corruption and incompetence of the current president, Carlos Prio, is steering Cuba into a national emergency. Only he, Batista, can pull the country clear of disaster. And anyone who dares to disagree is met with violent repression.

[Historian/Expert]

In large part, I would argue that he was bored sitting in Daytona Beach. He was out of power. Then, boom, he's back with a military coup in 1952. There are a thousand officers who are arrested. Thousands of opponents flee into exile, and he rules through his own 183 person fake counsel.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

As Prio is forced out of office, Batista cancels the upcoming elections and suspends various constitutional guarantees. Democrats across the island report Conservatives, Liberals, Socialists, united in revulsion for Batista. A schoolteacher named Uber Matos is in the classroom and a colleague brings the news to him. Speaking many years later, Matos recalls his response. I went out into the streets of the young people of different schools. We felt we'd been slapped in the face. Nearly 6 million Cubans had been slapped in the face. We had to say no because it made no sense. With less than three months to the general elections, a candidate who the polls were predicting had no chance of winning uses military force to cancel the elections and pronounce himself as president by force. I said, cuba has sunk. Cuba is finished. I also thought that this fight would take over my life. For Fidel too, the Batista coup is the moment everything changes.

Castro ran around the city of Havana and elsewhere saying, who's going to stand up to this guy? At first he thought he was alone, but he wasn't alone. And so he began to conceive of the idea of a violent revolution. While others, many of his friends, were insisting that the nonviolence was the way to go. So that became a real divide in the groups of his peers who were all committed to change.

Fidel's resolve is only increased when the US recognizes Batista's government, proof in his mind that Cuba is a plaything of US imperialism. The men and women who sign up for Fidel's secret scheme are drawn from what is dubbed the Movement, a disparate group of young people angry, impatient and intent on toppling Batista. The rhetoric is unmistakably Cuban. Marty's dream of Cuba libre. Free Cuba, as yet unfulfilled. Fidel decides that the revolution will begin in the east of the island with an attack on the Moncada military barracks in Santiago. Soon, training gets underway, Though, as it is often the way with Fidel, revolutionary zeal outweighs thorough preparation. Clay pigeon shooting at a Havana firing range is about the limit for most of Castro's brothers in arms. Some don't even get that they're taught how to handle guns, but not actually shoot them. Information about the plans is strictly rationed. Beyond Fidel and his brother Raul, barely a soul knows any of the details. One of those chosen few is Natira Vuelta, a striking, sophisticated young woman from the top drawer of Havana society. If Fidel's wife, Mirtha, is staid and dependable, Natty is instinctual and adventurous. A rebel by nature, Natty is infatuated with Fidel. In time, she becomes his lover and his financier. Ill conceived as it is, the insurrection plan is not cheap. Fidel's father may have deep pockets, but there's no chance he'll pick up the tab for a harebrained suicide mission. Natty, however, is swept up in revolutionary fervor. She's only too pleased to bankroll Fidel's fantastical ambitions. By pawning pieces of her jewelry, she raises $6,000. Natie has put her money where her mouth is, and so Fidel entrusts her with a special mission. It will be her job to deliver Fidel's manifesto to reporters, diplomats and politicians, the key players in Havana whom Fidel expects to rally to his cause. The manifesto is light on practicalities, heavy on stirring nationalistic rhetoric. The revolution is born in the soul of the Cuban people, of young men seeking a new Cuba. There's nothing close to a mention of the likes of Marx or Lenin on that front. Fidel keeps his powder dry and his options open. The date for the Moncada attack is set. July 26, 1953. The timing is symbolic. The year is the 100th anniversary of Jose Marti's birth, plus the day before the attack. It's carnival in Santiago, the perfect cover for a load of young visitors to arrive in the city. Fidel also concludes that the soldiers at the barracks will either be on leave, partying or hungover and in no condition to repel an attack. In mid July, a small chicken farm is rented a few miles outside Santiago. In dry wells and outbuildings, Fidel's deputies hired a huge cache of weapons and army uniforms. With a few days to go, the rebels convene. Fidel himself leaves late on the 24th. Less than two days before the Action begins. It's a long drive from Havana, 550 miles. Halfway through, Fidel identifies a problem. He's left his glasses at home. In the town of Santa Clara, he finds an optician's and buys a new pair. Fingers crossed they're the right prescription. It's late in the evening of the 25th by the time he reaches the farm. The attack is scheduled for dawn. Most of the others are there waiting for him, on edge and still in the dark. Metaphorically and literally. To keep a low profile, the lights are switched off. By 4am everyone is present. Uniforms and weapons are handed out. But still Fidel doesn't divulge the plan. Suddenly, a shot rings out. Gun flash briefly illuminates the pitch black room. A nervous rebel has accidentally squeezed the trigger of his rifle. When Fidel at last reveals the plan, it's a classic Castro performance. If everything goes well, he says, they'll be in and out in 10 minutes. Those hungover soldiers won't know what's hit them. Fidel's chest beating self confidence is intoxicating, though not everyone is swayed. Two small groups of rebels are alarmed. To them, this sounds like a kamikaze mission. With trepidation, they voice their concerns. One of them reveals that he had no idea they would be asked to do anything illegal. Castro is appalled. Such negativity, such spinelessness. The men are placed under armed guard and taken to a back room. Once the others have departed, they'll be free to go. There'll be no retribution from fidelity. Presumably, a life spent mired in the shame of their cowardice is considered punishment enough for everyone else. It's full steam ahead to the Moncada barracks.

He thought of Moncada as a way to wake the nation up. He planned what is really a harebrained scheme. But I think that he hoped it would send a message, show the world that Cubans were not passive, that they were not sort of intellectually, morally dead.

Before sunrise, Fidel makes his final speech. He attempts to channel his childhood heroes, Caesar, Napoleon, Alexander the Great and of course, Jose Marti. If you win, the aspirations of Marti will be delivered, he vows. It is we who will give the first cry of liberty or death. Outside, the sky is still dark. A field of black dotted with shining stars. Fidel's 150 men clamber into 16 vehicles. Headlights switch on. Engines growl into life. A kinetic energy charges the morning air. For this happy few, destiny awaits. Very soon, however, problems arise. One car suffers a puncture. Two others take wrong turns. And get lost. This is more Wacky Races than the Normandy landings. At around 5.20am, the convoy reaches the barracks. The rebels inside the lead car jump out, disarm the guards and open the gate for the others to drive through. But the lead car is now sat blocking the entrance to the barracks. Two nearby soldiers see what's happening and reach for their machine guns. In the car behind, Fidel puts his foot down and plows into the curb. The engine stalls. All around, there is smoke, screaming, a deafening hailing of bullets. Fidel has got it all wrong. Rather than there being only a few men with sore heads, the barracks is teeming with alert, armed soldiers. It's carnage. Within moments, numerous rebels lie dead on the ground. Others are injured. With the insurrection in tatters, there's a scramble to the cars. Fidel makes it into the back of one. As it screeches away, other rebels positioned a sniper cover in a nearby hospital, run into the wards, pretending to be patients. The ruse doesn't keep them safe for long. Government soldiers turf them out of their beds. They're beaten, mercilessly, interrogated and eventually shot. Heart. It's hard to imagine that Fidel's master plan could have gone any worse. By the afternoon, Fidel himself is back on the chicken farm, exhausted but alive. He's joined by a few dozen others. He appeals to them to keep going. This is just a momentary setback, he assures. It doesn't wash. Shell shocked, many of the rebels decide to head back to Havana, hoping to evade detection or await whatever Batista decides to do with them. Suit yourselves, says fidelity. With 19 fellow survivors, he begins a trudge deep into the Oriente countryside that he knows so well. He has the mountains in his sights. For him, the fight has only just begun. In the next episode, the hunt for Fidel is on. Castro wrestles with Marxism and begins another affair attempting to reignite the revolution. He swims naked across the US border. And while in exile in Mexico, he'll strike up a rapport with a scruffy Argentine known as Church Che. That's next time, get every episode of Real Dictators a week early and ad free by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Hit the link in the episode description to find out more.

How hard is it to kill a planet? Maybe all it takes is a little drilling, some mining, and a whole lot of carbon pumped into the atmosphere. When you see what's left, it starts to look like a crime scene.

Are we really safe? Is our water safe?

[Historian/Expert]

You destroyed our tap.

[Narrator/Interviewer]

And crimes like that, they don't just happen.

We call things accidents. There is no accident. This was 100% preventable.

They're the result of choices by people. Ruthless oil tycoons, corrupt politicians, even organized crime. These are the stories we need to be telling about our changing planet. Stories of scams, murders, and coverups that are about us and the things we're doing to either protect the Earth or destroy it. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondry App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad free right now by joining Wondry in the Wondry App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.