Power Corrupts

Corruption is usually hidden. But sometimes, it's out in the open — either by design, or by incompetence. In this episode, we explore some unexpected hotspots of corruption and kleptocracy. How does a fugitive Malaysian playboy who allegedly stole billions still legally own a mansion in London? Why did a small town Massachusetts mayor try to accept big wads of dirty cash in a shed behind his house? And how did a money laundering expert get caught...laundering money?

Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

Christopher Blair has been called the Godfather of Fake News. He's an American troll. And whether you realized it or not, you've probably unknowingly read a fake news article that he's written, cooked up on his computer in rural Maine. So we traveled to Maine to meet him, to understand how one man makes a living by deceiving gullible people on Facebook — and the effect that his trolling has on democracy.

Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

When a brutal dictatorship collapses, there's a big problem: everyone who knows how to run the government is someone who worked for the brutal dictator. It's a battle of pragmatism vs. justice. Should Nazi civil servants be allowed to keep their jobs? Do we need Saddam Hussein's handpicked henchmen, experts, and cronies to keep the electricity on? We'll speak to Ambassador Paul Bremer, who effectively ran Iraq from Saddam's palace from 2003-2004. And we'll talk to a torture victim who extended an unthinkable olive branch to those who ordered his torture.

Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

If you're trying to consolidate power as a dictator, what's the best way to go about it? Is it better to be feared or loved? How do you eliminate your enemies? We'll speak to Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion who now plots his moves against Vladimir Putin. And we'll travel to Thailand to speak to a journalist who got kidnapped by a military junta in a surreal attempt to give him Stockholm Syndrome for his dictatorial captors.

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

Mercenaries are sometimes described as "the world's second oldest profession." But how do they operate today? Can mercenary armies topple dictatorships? Why did one mercenary plot get duped by a Congolese con artist who invented a fake rebel group? Should we pay ex-special forces soldiers to do our dirty work? We'll answer those questions as we speak to Simon Mann, a founding member of Executive Outcomes and a mercenary mastermind of the botched Wonga Coup plot. Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

Propaganda has been around for thousands of years. But what separates the pros from the amateur propagandists? Why are North Korean radios made without dials? Who is Sister Potato and why is the Chinese government using her to convince people to eat potatoes? Why did American soldiers fight—and die—to steal phone books and undelivered mail for a propaganda radio station? And how does Iran shut down the internet? Welcome to Season 2 of Power Corrupts.

Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

Come explore the dark side of power as we travel across the globe meeting the often unsavory characters who inhabit the hidden world of mercenaries, propaganda, biological weapons, information warfare and trolls, dirty money, psychopaths, corruption, dictators, and revolutions. Hosted by Dr. Brian Klaas, political scientist at University College London and weekly columnist for The Washington Post.

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

To end our first season we look at Nepotism. What's it like to be the son or daughter of a dictator? Why did one dictator's son go from a high-flying life playing football in Italy to being shorn like a sheep in the hands of rebels? Why did the cannibal emperor of Bangui murder a woman who claimed to be his long-lost daughter? And in the cutthroat world of politics, is nepotism necessary to survive? We'll answer those questions across the globe from Equatorial Guinea to Uzbekistan and from Libya to the United States.

Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

What makes ordinary people commit extraordinarily violent acts? Is it their brain chemistry? Social pressure? Or a charismatic leader telling them it's their patriotic duty? In this episode, we explore the morality of a scientist who gave life to billions--but also facilitated the murder of millions; a psychiatrist who studied the brains of Nazi war criminals; a Rwandan who lost most of her family in the 1994 genocide; and hear from two experts on how authoritarian leaders can convince seemingly kind people to murder their neighbors.

Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

When you think of heists, you probably think of masked men, bank robbers, and priceless art. But governments carry out heists, too. In this episode, we explore a billion dollar bank heist carried out by North Korean hackers; a heist carried out by a dictator who pledged to rule for a billion years (and was obsessed with mayonnaise); and a jewel heist that destroyed diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Thailand for a generation.

Support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/powercorrupts

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Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.