276. The Biggest Corruption Scandal in French...

Despite later mythology, Stalin was effectively a nobody during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Unlike Trotsky and Lenin, he was not on the frontline amongst the revolutionaries. How did he reveal his penchant for violence during the Russian Civil War in the following years? And ...  Show more

How did Stalin become one of the most ruthless dictators in World History? What was his childhood like in Georgia? How did he rise from a poet training to be a priest, to the ruler of the Soviet Union? In Episode 1 of this new series, Anita Anand and William Dalrymple explore the ...  Show more

Ferdinand De Lesseps, "the Great Frenchman", is convinced that he is the man to build the Panama Canal. No, he isn't an engineer and, no, he's never actually been to Panama before. But he managed to dig the Suez Canal, and everyone said that would be impossible too. How hard can ...  Show more

In this episode, Ben and Noel dive into the story of François Vatel, a majordomo who was tasked with organizing an extravagant royal banquet in 1671. With 2,000 attendees expected, among them many high-ranking French dignitaries, the pressure was high. Tune in to find out the rid ...  Show more

Sixteen years have passed since Ferdinand De Lesseps' catastrophic failure in Panama and the dramatic collapse of the French Panama Canal company. Now, President Theodore Roosevelt has picked up the task. “No single great material work,” Roosevelt tells Congress, “is of such cons ...  Show more

Did the French secret service commit an act of state terrorism by sinking a Greenpeace ship? Why did the tragedy of the Rainbow Warrior become known as BlunderWatergate? How many millions of dollars did France have to pay Greenpeace in compensation? The French have bombed the Ra ...  Show more