Dictators

Now wearing the papal tiara, Pope Alexander VI was determined to root out the corruption that had plagued Rome and the Vatican. But as his papacy continued, rumors began to spread that the Spanish pop...

20 Jul 202149min

Elevated into power by his uncle, Pope Calixtus III, Rodrigo Borgia became instrumental in settling affairs throughout the Papal States. As a cardinal, he orchestrated the election of popes for decade...

13 Jul 202146min

By 1913, Talaat Pasha was one third of a military triumvirate and the de facto leader of the Ottoman Empire. This episode covers his alliance with Germany during WWI, the Battle of Gallipoli, and the ...

6 Jul 202143min

After the Fall of Constantinople, the Ottomans became the most powerful dynasty in existence. But the great empire began to decline, and in the early 20th century, a leader named Talaat and a group of...

29 Jun 202149min

Early successes gave way to embarrassing defeats as Franz Joseph I was outsmarted by savvier leaders on the world stage. In 1914, when his successor was assassinated in Serbia, Franz declared war — an...

22 Jun 202144min

With revolution spreading, the young Franz Joseph I succeeded to the throne of the Habsburg Dynasty in 1848. The new emperor set to work crushing an insurrection in Hungary, negotiating with the King ...

15 Jun 202139min

With the newly formed Free Congo State in his possession, Leopold II was determined to extract all the ivory and rubber he could. But in the process, his colonial agents wreaked havoc on the indigenou...

8 Jun 202143min

Ever since he was a child, Leopold II was obsessed with bringing prestige to the nascent Kingdom of Belgium. As king, he spent decades scheming and conning European powers to fulfill his single-minded...

1 Jun 202141min