A crude, egomaniacal leader with astonishing hair, suffering from mini-strokes and hypertension, dies following a party where everyone kisses his ass and cheers on American machismo. Is it a call from the future? A bird? A plane? No…It’s The Death of Stalin!

Chaos breaks loose as his potential successors try to figure out who is the most feckless and clever of them all, and who can take over the future of the USSR. We meet failsons, daughters of dubious intellect, hypermasculine generals, and overly performative ass-kissers on our journey to the Nikita Khrushchev era in this pitch-black comedy from Antonio Iannucci, the kind and hilarious Scotsman who also blessed us with Veep.

We unpack the absurdity and tragedy of communist Russia in the 1950s, what “17 minutes” means, Sara’s history of working for maniacs, the settled-science hotness of Steve Buscemi, the adorable, tragic pup Laikaa, the missed opportunity for a McDonald’s tie-in, and so much more as we continue Politics Month 2025.  

Spoiler Warning: We spoil everything. And we enjoy it.

Sources used in the episode include…

Behind the Bastards, several episodes related to Joseph Stalin and his henchmen.

Real Dictators episodes on Joseph Stalin.

We read the graphic novel.

Character sketch on Khrushchev from a CIA memoranda prepared for President Kennedy in 1961 that was declassified in 1976, now available through the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library:

https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/jfkpof-126-003#?image_identifier=JFKPOF-126-003-p0087

The Last Days of Stalin, by Joshua Rubenstein.

https://slate.com/culture/2018/03/whats-fact-and-whats-fiction-in-the-death-of-stalin.html

Stalin's daughter : the extraordinary and tumultuous life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary Sullivan

Our theme music is by Ben Patch: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BB01QpPE7HBGacGAlullu?si=gp_6jbvsThWXg_sSLVcv6Q

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