This episode, we look at the life of the Roman Emperor who really wanted to be a gladiator. Yes, Joaquin Pheonix himself - Commodus: a perfect object lesson in what can happen when you give absolute power to someone catastrophically incapable of wielding it.

Commodus

Autocracy Now is a podcast about historical dictators. In the modern world, shockingly, more and more people are growing frustrated with democracy. Is democracy really 'the best form of government, apart from all the others'? What can we understand about autocrats by looking at their lives and their policies? What forms has autocracy taken in the modern and ancient worlds? We'll try to answer all of these questions by following the lives of famous autocrats.

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An announcement regarding the future of the show.  Hi all, So this is just a quick update to explain a little about the podcast, so that I don't just vanish without trace entirely. Autocracy Now! was the first show idea I had, way back at the end of 2016. I'd been a podcast fan for many years, and finally just decided to start podcasting for myself after listening to Mike Duncan of The History of Rome talk about it. Over the next few months, I wrote the first scripts - for Commodus, and then the huge behemoth that became the Stalin scripts, and then finally the scripts for Huey P Long. The Huey Long scripts were finished by the end of the summer of 2017, which means that it's been 18 months since I actually wrote anything for this show. Initially, my physics show - Physical Attraction - was going to be a very quick "test" podcast, before launching the longer-term history show. But I pretty quickly realised that I had an awful lot to say about physics, and I got into writing that, and now that show has over a hundred episodes and has taken up far more of my time than it was ever supposed to. It came to the point where I was worried that the history show, which I'd finished recording months ago, would never be released. So I decided - I can't let all those months of work go to waste - and I started releasing episodes of the show so that someone, somewhere might eventually hear them. But I never intended to run two shows at once: it's just too much work, alongside my PhD which is a full-time job on its own, and other writing committments that I have in my free time. I could probably try to juggle both of the shows, but I know that the quality of both would suffer, and I really don't want that to happen. At the same time, there are loads of stories on Autocracy Now that I never got the chance to tell - reading that I did that I never got to use. I was definitely going to do a show about Mao, and another about the Taiping Rebellion, and all manner of other things. And maybe, someday, I will get a chance to write and record all of those shows for you - I'd love to do it. But as things are, I have to, sadly, put the history show on an indefinite hiatus. If I ever get a chance, I will return and tell you all of those stories. But this isn't the end for me as a podcaster. As most of you probably already know, the physics show, Physical Attraction, is over at www.physicalattraction.libsyn.com or www.physicspodcast.com - and if you don't already listen to it, you're missing out. We have interviews with experts, we have interviews with historians, and we go through an awful lot of the history and philosophy of physics as well as going through breaking news about technology, speculation about the future - all that kind of thing. That show is going to continue, hopefully also indefinitely, and I already have episodes ready to go for the next few months at least. So what you should all do, as soon as this little announcement ends, is go and subscribe to Physical Attraction if you haven't already. Stay subscribed to this feed, too - if... let's say when - the show comes back, I will be releasing episodes here as normal. And, of course, if the history show comes back I will announce it on the physics feed, so it's worth being subscribed to that and keeping up with it as far as you can.  Finally, I'd like to say. It's a strange game, this podcasting lark. I spend weeks researching and writing without knowing if anyone would ever listen. That was fine, because I liked doing it, and I liked having the project to work on, and telling people about them. I know that somewhere, out there, some of you are, and that makes me happy. And for now, it's done - just another thing someone created, living there in the ether, free for anyone who wants to access it. Tell anyone who might be interested to give it a whirl. Head on over to Physical Attraction. And until I return, or until next time: thanks for listening.  

The Future of the Show

Could Huey Long's personality, travelling-salesman charm, and Share Our Wealth populism catapult him into the White House?  In this episode, we find out.   www.autocracynow.libsyn.com www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod @autocracynow

Huey Long, Part VI: A Long Shot?

The good people of the United States Senate were not prepared for Huey P. Long.  www.autocracynow.libsyn.com www.physicspodcast.com @physicspod @autocracynow

Huey P. Long V: Kingfishers and Filibusters

“I would rather go down to a thousand impeachments than admit that I am the Governor of the state that does not dare to call the Standard Oil company to account so that we can educate our children and care for the destitute, sick, and afflicted.”    Huey called mass rallies, warning his supporters to “beware the lying newspapers, pay no attention to what they say”. At the rallies, he quoted his favourite poem, Invictus: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul!”  This is the story of the impeachment of Huey Long. 

Huey P. Long, IV: Round Robin

In 1928, Huey Long was riding high. He'd beaten all opposition and achieved the second step in his life-plan. Get elected to minor public office, check. Get elected to the Governorship, check. There's little doubt given everything we know about him that he was already angling for a seat in the Senate - although in his early addresses he was already lying about "ridding the state of corruption and waste... without ambition for ever again holding another public office." A bold claim for a man who had "become President" on his to-do list. But in order to do that, he would have to deliver on his outlandish promises that he'd made in the campaign to be Governer. He had to keep his base onside and prove that he wasn't the lying demagogue that his hated media constantly portrayed him to be. In the meantime, the powers that be in the state of Louisiana dusted themselves off and began strategizing how they would manipulate the young and inexperienced Governor to keep their interests at heart. They had dealt with demagogues before; Huey was not unique in that respect, although few of them had made it to his lofty position. Confidence was probably high amongst the establishment that most of them could work with Huey, that things would continue more or less as they had before, and in a few years - promises largely broken - the political machines could wrestle back control. This was how many people thought it was going to go. A lot of them were mistaken. 

Commodus

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