logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2021
47m 33s

Operation Ajax Pt. 2

SPOTIFY STUDIOS
About this episode
CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt led a covert operation to overthrow Iran's Prime Minister in 1953. But Operation Ajax didn’t go according to plan. Theories about it continue to this day, ranging from whether Roosevelt went rogue and hatched his own plan, to what Iranian politics would look like today without foreign intervention. Learn more about your ad choices ... Show More
Up next
Oct 8
Candy Jones, the Brainwashed Fashion Model
Candy Jones had an impressive résumé: Miss Atlantic City, Model of the Year, highest-paid cover model of the 1940s, entrepreneur, radio personality, author…and an unwitting undercover CIA agent, brainwashed by the government. Or, so she claimed. To find out more, we’re digging in ... Show More
48m 3s
Oct 1
Fake News and Forgeries: How MI6 Manipulated Americans
As Germany conquered Europe in 1940, the UK desperately needed foreign reinforcements. When the American people hesitated to help, MI6 conspired to secretly change their minds. But how far did the influence go? Conspiracy theories suggest the US President may have conspired in th ... Show More
43m 11s
Sep 24
Helena Blavatsky: The Most Interesting Woman in the World?
Most of what we know about Helena Blavatsky’s life seems improbable. In her 59 years on Earth, she was a young Russian aristocrat. A Parisian circus performer. A concert pianist in England. A clairvoyant. A medium. A telepath. An author. A missionary. A descendant of a Rosicrucia ... Show More
42m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2020
Scandal 2: Iran-Contra Affair
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan’s administration secretly — and illegally — traded weapons of war to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages, then used the proceeds to fund a Nicaraguan rebel army known as the Contras. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p ... Show More
50m 50s
Mar 2023
312: Reagan, Iran-Contra and the Cold War (Part 3)
Warmonger or nuclear disarmer? Ronald Reagan’s presidency survived an assassination attempt, the AIDS epidemic and the Iranian hostage crisis. He powered through the 1980s, creating his own truth and narrative, in a series of events that read like a Hollywood screenplay.  Tom and ... Show More
1h 1m
Nov 2023
393. JFK: Cuba, Camelot and the Cold War (Part 2)
By the late 1950s, John F. Kennedy was a rich and handsome Democratic senator with a beautiful wife and young family, heading for the White House despite his Catholicism, his affairs and his secret illnesses. In January 1961 he became the youngest ever President of the United Sta ... Show More
56m 2s
Nov 2018
JFK Pt. 3: Kennedy's Legacy
President John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. on November 22nd, 1963. The fallout of his death would change the course of history for America and for the world. What would America be like if John F. Kennedy had survived? New Shows! Parcast Network - Don’t forget to rate ... Show More
46m 44s
Nov 2022
Dig: Iran, 1953-1979. From the Shah to Islamic Revolution
Featuring Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi and Golnar Nikpour on the history of modern Iran. This is the third episode in our four-part series. We pick up in the wake of the US-British 1953 coup against Mossadegh, assess the Shah's repression and attempts to manufacture consent throug ... Show More
2h 24m
Jun 2020
“Chicago’s Finest?” Pt. 2: Richard Cain
He saw himself as an enigmatic spy and went so far as to try to play both sides of the FBI and the CIA. Richard Cain’s later career in international espionage in the 1960s nearly crossed paths with Fidel Castro before once again returning to the mayhem of Chicago—and the mob. Lea ... Show More
39m 49s
Jun 2024
‘Why Iran Hates America’
Following the death of Iran’s President Raisi in a helicopter crash, and amidst ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Fareed Zakaria examines Iran's decades-old animosity towards America, tracing it back to the 1979 embassy hostage crisis and U.S. support for Saddam Hussein's inva ... Show More
48m 32s
May 2024
Succession unplanned: Iran’s president killed
The death of Ebrahim Raisi will spark succession battles both for the presidency and for supreme leader-in-waiting. What kind of Iran will result? Accusations and evidence of Chinese espionage are stacking up in and raising tensions with Britain (9:57). And how the careers advise ... Show More
26m 18s
Feb 2021
“The King of the Ozarks” James Ellison Pt. 2
In the 1980s, rigorous training and illegal weapons turned Ellison’s once peaceful commune into a murderous militia. As they carried out acts of terrorism and plotted attacks on the government, their actions did not go unnoticed — or unanswered. Learn more about your ad choices. ... Show More
46m 54s