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Behind the Bastards: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous ideology, the founder of Blackwater’s insane quest to build his own Air Force, the bizarre lives of the sons and daughters of dictators and Saddam Hussein’s side career as a trashy romance novelist.
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- Yesterdaynarrative49 min8-min read
Part One: Dennis Hastert: The Longest-Serving Republican Speaker of the House
This episode of Behind the Bastards, with guest Miles Gray, covers the early life and career of Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House, who was exposed late in life as a serial child molester from his days as a high school wrestling coach. The episode traces his childhood, his self-mythologizing autobiography, and his climb through teaching, coaching, and Illinois state politics, arguing that Hastert's pattern of opportunism, cover-ups, and quiet corruption was visible from the very beginning.
- 5 days agonarrative3h 22m15-min read
It Could Happen Here Weekly 256
This compilation episode of It Could Happen Here bundles a full week of daily episodes into one long-form listen: a briefing on Israel's October 27th election and what it means for Palestinians, a roundtable with IWW members running for the union's national board, a Halloween-appropriate deep dive into the Chupacabra as a creature born of colonialism and tabloid media, a spooky labor-history segment on gravedigger and death-worker strikes, and the weekly Executive Disorder newscast covering Lula's upset win in Brazil, the DOJ's non-citizen voting crusade, AI deepfake political ads, and the Albanian uprising. The through-line is power — who holds it, who is denied it, and how people organize, mythologize, and fight back.
- 6 days agoconversational1h 9m9-min read
Part Two: Peter Rachman: King of the Slumlords
Robert and guest Kevin Foster wrap up a two-part Behind the Bastards saga on Peter Rachman, the Notting Hill slumlord whose name literally became a word — 'Rachmanism' — for predatory landlordism. The episode traces how a Holocaust survivor turned London's most infamous slumlord invented racially-charged eviction tactics, accidentally helped spark the 1958 Notting Hill race riots, got posthumously scapegoated as the singular villain of British housing, and how the actual British power structure used his corpse as a smokescreen while doing basically nothing to fix the problem — which, delightfully, is still broken today. Also, Kevin learns who Fleetwood Mac is.
- 1 weeks agoconversational56 min5-min read
Part One: Peter Rachman: King of the Slumlords
Peter Rachman, a Holocaust survivor and Polish immigrant, became one of London's most notorious landlords in the 1950s and 1960s, exploiting housing shortages, racial tensions, and sex workers to amass a property empire. Though he provided housing to marginalized groups, his tactics were ruthless, involving intimidation, racial manipulation, and predatory rent practices — so much so that his name became synonymous with tenant exploitation: 'Rachmanism'.
- 1 weeks agonarrative4h 17m6-min read
It Could Happen Here Weekly 255
This compilation episode weaves together urgent political threats to democracy, academic freedom, and human rights, exposing how authoritarian tactics are being institutionalized through executive overreach, voter suppression, and the weaponization of racism and nationalism.
- 1 weeks agoconversational1h 15m7-min read
Part Two: How Nuisance Streamers and Rage-Baiting Ate the Internet
This episode dives into the rise of 'nuisance streamers' — internet personalities who profit from rage-baiting, public harassment, and cultural trolling — tracing their roots to the broader 'attention economy' where shock value and controversy are monetized. The conversation explores how figures like Ice Poseidon, Johnny Somali, and Vitaly ZDorovetsky exploit social media platforms and real-world chaos for clout, often with little consequence, while drawing parallels to larger cultural forces like Trumpism and Elon Musk’s media dominance.
- 2 weeks agoconversational1h 8m6-min read
Part One: How Nuisance Streamers and Rage-Baiting Ate the Internet
This episode of Behind the Bastards explores the disturbing rise of 'nuisance streamers'—online provocateurs who profit from rage-baiting the public with offensive behavior, often racial harassment, culminating in the case of Dalton Levi Etherly, aka 'Chud the Builder,' who shot a Black man after live-streaming racial slurs. Host Robert and guest Jason Pargin dissect how technology, social media algorithms, and the influencer economy have created a perverse incentive structure where being a hateful public nuisance can become a lucrative career.
- 2 weeks agoroundtable3h 53m5-min read
It Could Happen Here Weekly 254
The episode is a compilation covering multiple political and social issues, including international reactions to U.S. midterms, student-led protests in France and Spain, climate-resilient agriculture in Puerto Rico, the dangers of nuclear escalation, and a controversial ICE shooting in New York. The overarching theme is a global wave of resistance against authoritarianism, inequality, and state violence, with a focus on youth mobilization and systemic critique.
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About Behind the Bastards
There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous ideology, the founder of Blackwater’s insane quest to build his own Air Force, the bizarre lives of the sons and daughters of dictators and Saddam Hussein’s side career as a trashy romance novelist.
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