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Real Dictators is the award-winning podcast that explores the hidden lives of history's tyrants. Hosted by Paul McGann, with contributions from eyewitnesses and expert historians.

New episodes available one week early for Noiser+ subscribers. You'll also get ad-free listening and exclusive content. To find out more about Noiser+, head to noiser.com/subscriptions.

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Production: Joel Duddell, Ed Baranski, Miriam Baines, Tom Pink, George Tapp, Dorry Macaulay, Cian Ryan-Morgan, Anisha Devadasan, Joseph McGann. Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink.

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/real for £100 sponsored credit.

Real Dictators

We begin at the end… in 1945, with a pile of bodies dumped in Milan then strung up for all to see. Among them, the most powerful man in Italy. One of the most significant figures in modern history. How did it come to this? In this episode, we scroll back to follow the start of Benito Mussolini’s extraordinary rise. From humble origins as the son of a blacksmith and a schoolteacher, Il Duce will emerge as an incendiary journalist and activist. And before long, the onetime vagrant and draft-dodger will be on his way to the front line of World War One…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 1 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.
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Benito Mussolini Part 1: Italy’s Fascist Godfather

A brand-new release from the Noiser Network. Join Hugh Bonneville on a thrilling journey through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Holmes mysteries - read in their original, masterful form.

If you enjoy this taster episode, search ’Sherlock Holmes Short Stories’ in your podcast app and hit follow for more episodes. Or follow this link: https://podfollow.com/sherlock-holmes-short-stories-1

Part 2 of The Adventure of the Speckled Band is live now and waiting for you.
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Introducing: Sherlock Holmes Short Stories

Wounded at the Front, Mussolini’s war ends early. A playboy aristocrat forms his own private army, offering inspiration to Il Duce. As Italian workers go on strike, Mussolini’s goons crack skulls on the streets. And in a smoke-filled hall in Milan, he declares the birth of a new movement. His fascists will soon begin an audacious march on the capital…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 2 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.
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Benito Mussolini Part 2: The March on Rome

World leaders line up to hail the new Italian strongman. But the fascists are already silencing dissenting voices. An epochal discovery in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings unleashes a curse, or so Mussolini believes. Il Duce gets his top off in the wheat fields - making sure to be caught on camera. He comes to an arrangement with the Pope and meets the woman who will ultimately die by his side. Meanwhile, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat prepares to make an astonishing attempt on Mussolini’s life…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 3 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.
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Benito Mussolini Part 3: Murder in Broad Daylight

Il Duce uses propaganda to become a folk hero - part saint, part Father Christmas. He bans journalists from mentioning his birthday or the fact he’s a grandfather - to promote an image of eternal youth. Ernest Hemingway arrives in Switzerland to interview the Italian strongman, and sees right through him. Italy launches a genocidal campaign in Libya and gets away with it. And as the World Cup comes to the Fatherland, Benito Mussolini prepares to finally meet one Adolf Hitler…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 4 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Benito Mussolini Part 4: A Fine Bromance

At the Munich Conference, Mussolini postures as a peacemaker. With Hitler in the ascendancy, the Rome-Berlin Axis is upgraded to a military alliance. High on fascist adrenaline, Il Duce invades Albania. Soon, in the backdraft of the German Blitzkrieg, he will declare war on Britain and France…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche, Thomas Weber.

This is Part 5 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Benito Mussolini Part 5: The Pact of Steel

It all starts to go horribly wrong… After the disastrous invasion of Greece, Mussolini sends troops to Russia. Benito’s Blitz prompts bemusement in Britain. An Italian assassin somehow survives the firing squad. A famous American mobster helps the Allies in Sicily. And Il Duce’s son telephones his father with devastating news…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 6 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Benito Mussolini Part 6: The Road to Perdition

As Italy switches sides, Hitler hatches a plan to rescue his pal. But with the Axis collapsing on all fronts, Mussolini makes for Switzerland - stowed away and in disguise. For Il Duce’s enemies, the race is on to get to him first. His downfall will come at the hands of his own people…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 7 of 7.

Real Dictators will be back soon with, among others, the stories of Fidel Castro and Jean-Bédel Bokassa as well as some bonus content. Stay tuned...
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Benito Mussolini Part 7: Break for the Border…

This is a taster episode of a brand-new podcast from the Noiser podcast network. Join host Paul McGann as he explores life and death on the most famous ship in history.

You’ll be right there on board - setting sail from Southampton, chugging across the Atlantic, striking the iceberg and sinking into the icy depths. We’ll hear the harrowing tales of the victims and the testimonies of the lucky survivors. And Paul explores his own family story, following his great uncle Jimmy McGann - a trimmer down in Titanic’s engine room.

Search ‘Titanic: Ship of Dreams’ in your podcast app and hit follow to get new episodes each Tuesday. Or listen at noiser.com

Episode 2 is live now on Titanic: Ship of Dreams.

Real Dictators will be back on April 30th with the story of Fidel Castro.
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Introducing: Titanic: Ship of Dreams - Episode 1

Fidel Castro - a revolutionary turned strongman dictator, beloved by his supporters and loathed by his enemies. The bête noire of the United States who pushed the world to the brink of annihilation. The ultimate political survivor who evaded hundreds of barely believable assassination attempts. We scroll back to the early years of the one they would call El Loco. It all begins on a farm in the east of Cuba - an island paradise with dark undercurrents swirling beneath the surface…

A Noiser podcast production.

Narrated by Paul McGann.

Featuring Michael J. Bustamante, Carlos Eire, Lillian Guerra, Jonathan Hansen, Peter Kornbluh, Jennifer Lambe, Rogelio Martinez, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, Alex von Tunzelmann, Ileana Yarza, Eduardo Zayas-Bazan.

Special thanks to University of Miami Libraries for the use of the Huber Matos archive.

This is Part 1 of 10.

Written by Edward White | Produced by Ed Baranski and Edward White | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design & audio editing by George Tapp | Assembly editing by Dorry Macaulay and Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cian Ryan-Morgan | Recording engineer: Joseph McGann.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fidel Castro Part 1: Rise of ‘The Crazy One’

In July 1936, Spain erupts into civil war. But Francisco Franco is marooned far away in the Canary Islands. A devious rescue mission ensues. Back on Spanish soil, Franco begins the process of conquering his homeland, butchering his enemies as he goes. Mussolini and Hitler lend a hand. Closing in on Madrid, Franco lays the groundwork for a decades-long dictatorship.
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.
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Franco Part 3: The Spanish Civil War

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