He was once hailed as the "Kaiser of Peace." By 1918, his empire lay in ruins, and millions had died in vain. To avert a "Russian scenario" like the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Germany's military dictatorship under Hindenburg and Ludendorff made a desperate, calculated move: they handed power to civilians to seek peace.

We trace the sailors' mutiny in Kiel and the Kaiser's sudden flight into exile, events that ignited the November Revolution. But on Putschcast we also ask, was this a true revolution? And why did the old elites remain so firmly in power?

Joined by historian Andrew Bonnell, we explore why many Germans were unaware of defeat until the Treaty of Versailles was signed, and how the generals' "Stab-in-the-Back Myth" cynically transferred blame, poisoning the new Weimar democracy from the very start.

Find the book discussed on the podcast here.

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In August 1831, Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher, acted on visions he believed were divine. The uprising he led in Virginia, is often remembered in stark terms: a bloody slave rebellion that hardened the South’s defenses of slavery. But the true story of how his story was told during the past two centuries, is far more complex.

Was Nat Turner's faith a source of personal liberation, a strategic blueprint for revolt, or a combination of both? We move beyond the simple narrative of a “mad prophet” or a purely political revolutionary to explore how his religious convictions shaped a radical challenge to the slave system.

We explore how Turner’s faith was neither simple nor singular, and how, in the two centuries since, his figure has been claimed, interpreted, and weaponised for vastly different agendas—by abolitionists, white supremacists, Black nationalists, and artists.

To unpack this, we are joined by Professor Greg Downs, who has co-authored a new book on the Nat Turner Revolt with the late Anthony E. Kaye.

To find out more about our guest and his book, click here.

Watch the 'Birth of a Nation' trailer here from the 2016 film that is being discussed on this Putschcast episode.

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Five hundred years ago, a radical firebrand emerged to take Martin Luther's Reformation in a far more dangerous direction. While Luther preached spiritual reform, Thomas Müntzer demanded a heaven on earth, fusing scripture with revolution and arming the peasantry against the feudal lords.

On Putschcast, we trace this rivalry from the theological schism to the bloody Peasants' War of 1525. Was Müntzer a true revolutionary hero, as Friedrich Engels later claimed, or merely a ruthless demagogue? Joining us to walk through these violent events is Canadian college instructor and podcaster Eva Schubert, as we examine a legacy fiercely contested for half a millennium.

Find the Villains and Virgins history podcast here.

Find Thomas Muntzer's newly interpreted music, featured on the podcast, here.

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The Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been captured, not while on a state visit abroad, but at his own stronghold in Caracas. While the US President opted for a sudden military operation, regime change was not the ultimate goal. So, was it a putsch from abroad and how did people on the streets respond?

After years of economic strife, international sanctions, and a divided opposition, the country is at a historic turning point. On this episode of Putschcast, you will hear from two people who were on the ground that night, sharing their memories of the event that made history, and the aftermath that followed.

Our guests are Dr. Thomas Schaumberg, Director of the Goethe Institut in Caracas, who was in the capital the night the bombs went off, and Australian expat and YouTuber Phillip Campbell, who has made Venezuela his home and strives to tell a different story about the South American country he loves.

Learn more about the Goethe Institut in Caracas here.

Visit Phil's Youtube blog here.

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At Putschcast, we can’t cover all the riots, rebellions, and revolutions that occurred over the past 12 months, plus we have only launched this global podcast in the second half of 2025.

Accordingly, in a special episode, all four co-hosts gather in the Putschcast interrogation room to share a coup that, they insist, people need to know about. 

Dave: South Korea - President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted a "self-coup" by declaring martial law, but it spectacularly collapsed in just six hours. Lawmakers literally climbed walls to get into the blockaded parliament and voted unanimously to stop him—the shortest-lived martial law since South Korea's democracy began in 1987. Will the now former President lose his life over the stunt?

Oliver: Nepal - The government in Kathmandu flipped the power switch on social media in September 2025, but it spectacularly backfired, turning Gen Z's simmering rage over corruption and "NepoKids" into a wildfire of protests that burned down parliament and forced the prime minister to resign. But, after all this, why did young people vote in yet another old person to rule over them, via Discord? 

Sloany: Madagascar - In October, President Rajoelina was forced to flee the country, which he announced via Facebook, after massive "Gen Z" protests over blackouts led to a military intervention. Ironically, the dual-citizen president lost his top job the way he seized it years before. Will the new army colonel in charge improve life for people on the world’s fourth-largest island? 

James: Guinea-Bissau - President Embaló was deposed in late 2025 after troops walked into his office, prompting him to call a journalist to calmly announce, "I have been deposed." The swift swearing-in of a military ally and the destruction of election files point to this being a cleverly staged "sham coup" from within. And the question remains, are the main drivers of the small West African country, cashews, coups, and cocaine?

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In 1980, Türkiye was teetering on the brink of civil war amid relentless political violence and economic decline. To end the chaos, the military, led by General Kenan Evren, seized power in a coup that surprised no one. The move was swiftly endorsed by Washington, preoccupied with Cold War priorities.

But was this a necessary reset or a disaster for Turkish democracy, and why did the U.S. greenlight a regime that would oversee 50 executions, mass arrests and brutal human rights abuses? 

On Putschcast, political scientist, analyst, and commentator Dr Tezcan Gümüş examines why the coup was initially welcomed by many but also why it led to widespread oppression of political views, religion and cultural identity. He also answers the question of how Turkey found its way back, from military rule to a widely supported democracy.

His first book, Turkey’s Political Leaders: Authoritarian Tendencies in a Democratic State (Edinburgh University Press), is based on his doctoral research and is available here: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-turkey-s-political-leaders.html

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Initially predicted to fall during the 2011 Arab Spring, Bashar al-Assad clung to power through a devastating civil war, surviving only after critical military intervention from Russia and Iran. It was in the midst of this conflict that Australian journalist Luke Waters secured a rare one-on-one interview with the President in Damascus.

On this episode of Putschcast, Luke reflects on that historic meeting. Assad insisted he was merely fighting terrorists, believing history would vindicate him as Syria's saviour. But did he truly believe his own rhetoric? How do you even secure a sit-down with a leader accused of war crimes? And what was going on behind the scenes? We uncover the story behind the interview.

To find out how Assad's regime actually fell, listen to Putschcast episode 1.

To watch Luke's TV interview with Assad from 2016, click here.

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He was a prince, an outlaw, a prophet. Or was he? He stood before the most powerful ruler on Earth and delivered a single, thunderous demand: "Let my people go!" 

Long before Spartacus, Moses led a slave revolt that children still learn about today, and it is a foundational story for the Jewish faith and the State of Israel.

Was Moses more than a biblical hero? Was he, in fact, one of the world's first revolutionaries? A master of political subversion who reshaped the ancient world?

We’re going to look past the Charlton Heston epic, past the parting of the Red Sea, and into the heart of a burning question: How much of this story is a divine miracle, and how much is a revolutionary's blueprint that has inspired others to this day?

Joining us in the Putschcast interrogation room is Garry Stevens, a Bible buff and host of the podcast "History in the Bible", who has dedicated more than a decade of his life to trying to discern what is truth and what is fiction.

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After the gruesome end of World War II and in a city filled with rubble, a disciple of Stalin built a fortress. He was the goateed architect of German Socialism who made it onto the cover of Time magazine and who didn’t shy away from setting up one of the most rigid police states to cement his power. His name? Walter Ulbricht.

Now almost forgotten, Ulbricht rose to power and faced an uprising only 4 years after founding his own state. His response? A brutal crackdown. Always on his side, his most loyal protege, Erich Honecker. For decades, the two men who couldn’t have been more different didn't only build Socialism; they also built a wall together.

But what happens when the student decides the master's time is up? A textbook palace coup. The year was 1971, when the old guard, Ulbricht, found himself outmaneuvered by his closest ally - or so he thought.

Joining us is Olaf from the Netherlands, who is the face of ‘East Germany Investigated’, a popular YouTube channel that dives deep into the history of the German Democratic Republic.

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From most-wanted terrorist and enemy No. 1, with a US$10 million bounty on his head, to a respected statesman giving a historic speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, has defied the odds and made a name for himself in only 11 days, after setting out from his mini state in Idlib to bring down the dreaded Assad regime, following a bloody 13-year civil war.

In the first-ever Putschcast episode, Arabic scholar and writer, and former Damascus resident Jaron Sutton, alongside our flabbergasted hosts Oliver and Dave, tries to make sense of what just happened and where this mysterious man will take his war-ravaged homeland.

As always, we will also try to answer the key podcast questions: Was it a putsch? Was it a bloody or velvet one? And, most importantly, was it successful?

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