Fascinating People Fascinating Places

Decorated Tampa police officer Javier Guzman was once named Officer of the Year. But in the early 1990s, his most dangerous assignment drew him deep into the world of Colombian cartels, covert money laundering and constant deception. Recruited to work undercover in Operation PROMO, Guzman handled vast quantities of drug money while living with the ever-present possibility of exposure, torture and death.

Over time, however, the boundary between the identity he had created and the man he really was began to disappear. His extraordinary journey—from respected police officer to undercover operative and ultimately convicted criminal—is a story of courage, temptation, compromised judgment and the devastating consequences of crossing the line one step at a time.

In this episode of Fascinating People, Fascinating Places, Javier Guzman recounts the dangers of maintaining his cover, the psychological cost of living a double life and the decisions that transformed a remarkable professional triumph into a dramatic fall from grace.

His memoir, Riptide: Cartels, Cocaine, and an Undercover Cop’s Fall from Grace, tells the complete story.

Music and sound effects provided by Pixabay

Friday 13th ….

A few years ago, the Barna Group – a market research firm specializing in religious beliefs conducted a survey in which it emerged that more Americans believe Satan is real than believe in God. On a superficial level, the results seem counterintuitive. In a nominally Christian society, God and Satan seem to go hand in hand. But it’s important to remember that the Satan figure of the Bible appears in Islam and Judaism, and that demons whether real or imagined pre-date the Abrahamic religions and can be found in ancient cultures around the world.

But whatever his origins, Satan and his demons have inspired countless movies and TV shows and there are numerous instances of people arguing that these demons can and do possess people even today. In this episode, I speak with four people, an academic, a Vatican Exorcist, a fundamentalist Christian, and a man who believes demons can be tackled through science rather than religion.

Music: Pixabay
Images: Canva

Guests: Father Vincent Lampert
Shirley Phelps-Roper (Westboro Baptist Church)
Kenneth Dukofsky
Ljubo Rubic

Film footage: Les Tresors De Satan (1902)
Public domain
The Devil in a Covent (1899)

Links: Links: Kennth Dukofsky Youtube Channel

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Presented by Fascinating People, Fascinating Places podcast is available wherever you get your podcast.

By the 14th century, God was everywhere. The children of Abraham had conquered the Middle East, North Africa and even portions of Southern Europe under Islam. Christians had churches everywhere from Ireland to Russia, Cyprus to Norway. And Jewish communities thrived across the known world. But there was one outpost where the old world gods of paganism remained strong: Lithuania.

In this episode I explore the dramatic story of Europe's last pagan outpost. I travel thousands of miles to see for myself where Christian crusaders and pagan warriors fought their last battles. It is a complex tale of false promises, broken alliances, and resilient traditions.

Music and Sound from Pixabay

If you enjoyed this episode these are some other episodes that cover mentioned themes:

Lithuania

The Vow a Love Story & The Holocaust

Pagans

The Science of Scrying

The Witches of Denmark

The Druids

Witchcraft and Violence in Paradise

Christianity

Satan and The Exorcists

Poland

Solidarnosc

Geopolitics have brought me to Europe for the beginning of this episode as a onetime ally eyes up Danish territory, and merchant ships are blocked from free access to key waterways unless they’re willing to pay onerous tolls.

If it all sounds familiar, I am not here to discuss recent news events, in fact I am exploring similar but much more consequential events that happened 400 years ago right here in Copenhagen Denmark and the man at the center of it all King Christian IV. 

He may not be a household name outside Scandinavia, but he ruled over a territory equal in size to Napoleon's empire at its peak, he indirectly inspired Shakespeare's MacBeth, King James of the protestant bible was his brother-in-law. He was a key figure in post reformation Europe, an architect and ship builder, but a complex man, a devoutly religious witch hunter, yet a drunkard and womanizer. But above all, he was in the tradition of his Viking ancestors a warrior King.

In this episode I explore the story of Christian IV of Denmark, I speak with a leading expert on the subject Prof. Paul Lockhart of Wright State University whose work includes "Denmark in the 30 years' war: 1618 to 1648." We examine the man and attempt to separate the myth from the facts.

Guest:

Prof. Paul Lockhart

Denmark in the 30 Years War: 1618 - 1648

Music and Sound: Pixabay

If you found this episode interesting you may enjoy the following:

Witches of Denmark

In 1780, a successful businessman and local leader became the unlikely leader of a violent rebellion within the sprawling Spanish Empire. Tupac Amaru II -- as he became known -- had Incan roots, a Spanish education, and was a devout Roman Catholic. But, despite having the standing and connections to freely mingle within all levels of society, he was not blind to the injustices affecting so many native Peruvians.

In this episode I speak with Professor Chuck Walker of the University of California Davis, a subject matter expert whose work includes the award winning "Witness the Age of Revolution: The Odyssey of Juan Bautista Tupac Amaru." We discuss, Tupac, the surprising role fierce woman warriors including his wife had in the conflict, the reasons behind the uprising, and its lasting legacy.

Guest Bio: Prof. Charles Walker

Professional Links: Prof. Charles Walker

Selected Works:

Walker, C. Tu ausencia ha sido causa para todo esto: Cartas de amor y guerra. Túpac Amaru / Micaela Bastidas / Tomasa Tito Condemayta, Penguin PERU, 2024  

Walker, C. Ensayos Cusqueños: Política, Sociedad y Disidencia desde Túpac Amaru. Cusco, Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas, 2024.

Walker, C., & Liz Clarke, Witness to the Age of Revolution: The Odyssey of Juan Bautista Tupac Amaru. Oxford University Press, 2020. Translated into Spanish and English.

Walker, C. & Carlos Aguirre, Alberto Flores Galindo: Utopía, historia y revolución. La Siniestra Ensayos, 2020. English edition: Brill, Dec. 2024.

Walker, C., & Aguirre, C. (Eds.), The Lima Reader, Durham: Duke University Press, 2017.

Walker, C. (2014) The Tupac Amaru Rebellion, Harvard University Press

Music & Sound from Pixabay

In the late 18th century in Scotland, a vagabond gained attention with a story of kidnapping, slavery, war, and immersion into native American culture. Peter Williamson became a sensation in the British Isles, but how much of his story was true? In this episode, I explore the bizarre tale of Peter Williamson. I separate fact from fiction and reveal the unlikely aspects of his story that proved to be true.

Music provided by The Conrads

Sound Effects from Pixabay.

Imagine one day waking up and being told to forget everything you had learned in school. Discovering that key industries in the economy had been eliminated. Learning that culture and history had been reset to year zero. And, worst of all learning that you and your friends and family were to be killed or sent to concentration camps.

This is the horrific reality Dr. Sara Pol-Lim was faced with as a young girl in 1970s Cambodia. The regime of the time -- a Marxist inspired junta named the Khmer Rouge created what they viewed as a utopia but the civilized world recognized as a dystopia. What followed was the Cambodian genocide which cost the lives of millions.

But what happens to those who survive such horrors? How do they move forward? How can they carry on and rebuild their loves in the shadow of unimaginable horror? 

In her powerful new book "Coming to Terms with Historical Trauma: A Memoir," Sara bravely shares her story. It is a book that is both tragic and inspiring. In this episode, I speak with Sara about her story, her trauma, and what lessons we as a society can learn from such terrible events.

Sara Pol-Lim's book is available from all major retailers including:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Dr. Pol-Lim honors include:

• “Woman of Distinction” Award from Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell in 2015. 

On the eve of launching a genocidal conflict in 1939, Adolf Hitler is reported to have asked "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" The event he was referring to was the near decade long systematic destruction of the ethnic Armenian community living in the Ottoman Empire or today's Turkiye. 

Hitler was alluding to the old adage 'History is written by the victors.' In essence, you can do the most terrible things but if you come out on top and control the narrative then no one knows or seemingly cares.  

A century later, the Armenian genocide hasn't been forgotten though, least of all in the now independent nation of Armenia which borders Turkiye. But Hitler was partially right. History and narratives pertaining to the past aren't always accurate. And today, a rival version of history exists within Turkish society in which there was no genocide. 

In this episode, I speak with Prof. Joachim J. Savelsberg author of Knowing About Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles.   We discuss how trauma and terrible events of the past come to be viewed differently through the prism of society. 

Music from Pixabay

Episode Guest: Joachim J. Savelsberg

Joachim J. Savelsberg is Professor of Sociology and Law and Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair at the University of Minnesota. He is the coauthor of American Memories: Atrocities and the Law and author of Crime and Human Rights: Criminology of Genocide and Atrocities.

Personal Website link

Faculty Page

Terminator, rogue chat bots, artificial intelligence replacing human workers ... over the last few years we have all seen numerous headlines about the existential threat posed to humanity by AI. But are these fears legitimate? Where do the fears come from? Are we really in danger from AI or something else? 

In this episode I speak with returning guest Prof. Margaret Schwartz of Fordham University. We discuss the cultural and societal impact of AI, but delve deeper than the media headlines as we try to understand how this new technology can actually impact us -- for better or worse.

Music and Sound: Pixabay

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution. Daniel Jurena from Prague, Czech Republic

We are all familiar with the Japanese Samurai: Sword wielding traditional warriors all consumed with a rigid honor code known as Bushido. But how much of this is true?

In this episode I speak with an expert Dr. Michael Wert Associate Professor of East Asian History at Marquette University. Through his work which includes the book Samurai: A Concise History, he has cast aside the Hollywood stereotypes and uncovered a real history that is much more complex. He explains the origins of the Samurai, their evolving role and shatters many of the myths most of us have come to believe.

Guest: Dr. Michael Wert

Sound & Music: Pixabay