Dictators

He was a ruthless sycophant who carried out Hitler’s orders with utter savagery. Once a far-right university radical, Heinrich Himmler rose to become a leading member of the Nazi party and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust. 

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Caesar’s assassination throws Rome into political turmoil, jeopardizing Cleopatra’s right to rule Egypt. She begins a legendary love affair with Mark Antony that secures her survival for the time being. But an enemy is rising that will take everything from her.

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A keen witness to political theater from a young age, Cleopatra became the teenage queen of Egypt after her father suddenly died. In the face of deadly conflicts and exile, she found an unlikely ally in Julius Caesar and rose to become one of the most powerful — and most famous — figures of ancient Egypt. 

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!

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The pharaoh prepared his armies for battle against the Hittites in modern-day Syria. In epic poems and pictorial reliefs, Ramesses would honor himself as the savior of Egypt’s forces — despite the true outcome of the clash. It was one more example of the power of his self-mythologizing. A tactic that would secure his legacy for ages to come. 

Countdown to the CULTS book release! Parcast’s first book hits shelves July 12th. It’s an unflinching exploration of shame, secrecy, power, exploitation, and destruction. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults! 

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He set out to be a living god whose name could never be forgotten. Ramesses II built monuments and a lavish new capital city. He tore down Akhenaten’s metropolis, using its stones for his own tomb. He mined gold in the desert. And in his long reign, he became a legend. 

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!

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The completion of his glorious capital city was one step in Akhenaten’s plan to diminish the power of the Amun priesthood and reorient all of Egyptian religious life around the Aten. He had learned from his father how powerful a cult of personality could be. And he’d go to extraordinary — and violent — lengths to preserve his. 

Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!

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During Egypt’s 18th Dynasty, a teenage pharaoh ushered in a revolutionary new theology, elevating a single solar deity above all other gods. He honored the Aten in magnificent fashion, and introduced changes to the iconography and architecture of the day. The next seismic wave in his plans: a new capital city. 

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The death of the Director in 1972 put an end to a reign that spanned 48 years, and left America to live in his outsized shadow. What happened to Hoover’s secret files? How is the modern FBI still shaped by his legacy? And what have we discovered about the true nature of his surveillance projects? This is the final episode in our six-part series from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

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While antiwar and Civil Rights movements charged forward, Hoover unleashed the FBI upon his enemies and adversaries. By the end of the 1960s, he was proclaiming that America’s greatest domestic threat was the Black Panther Party — and he was determined to smear, discredit, even destroy anyone even remotely associated with them. This is the fifth episode of our six-part series from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators. 

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In the 1960s, the Director’s adversaries included the Kennedy brothers and leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, which he believed to be part of a larger communist conspiracy. He would do everything in his power to undermine them all. When JFK was assassinated — two weeks after Lee Harvey Oswald emerged onto the FBI’s radar — Hoover strangled the investigation to protect the Bureau’s reputation. This is episode four in our six-part crossover special from Conspiracy Theories and Dictators.

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