logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2020
48m 16s

Mao Zedong Part 3: The Cultural Revoluti...

NOISER
About this episode

Mao’s ‘Cultural Revolution’ sets out to purge the minds of an entire population. Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader himself leads a life of debauchery and excess - as his former doctor remembers. The Chairman seems invincible. But as his health deteriorates, his legacy is anything but assured. Eyewitnesses to his brutality reflect on what Mao means to China today, more than 40 years after his death.

For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up next
Jul 1
Fidel Castro Part 10: Emergency on an Airplane
The end arrives. Embarrassed at a baseball game, the Maximum Leader responds with arrests and intimidation. We hear first-hand testimony from a Cuban on the receiving end of the violence. A nasty public fall and a painful ordeal in the air show that age and illness are catching u ... Show More
1h 1m
Jun 24
Fidel Castro Part 9: Down With Fidel!
After a tragedy in the Florida Straits, a dramatic tug of war takes place between Castro and America - all centred on a five-year-old boy. A new leader in the Soviet Union comes to power with fresh ideas which terrify Fidel. The Berlin Wall crumbles, putting Cuba on the brink. As ... Show More
1h 1m
Jun 17
Fidel Castro Part 8: Miami Vice
When a bomb goes off on a south Florida street, it bears all the hallmarks of a Cuban expert. Castroland is going international. As exiles flock to Miami, Fidel sets off on a globe-trotting mission - meeting Colonel Gaddafi in Libya and dispatching troops to Angola. But back at h ... Show More
58m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
Early Years: The Day of Treason
The Nazi leader launches his very own assault on power: the Munich Putsch. Under cover of darkness, the SA prepare to storm locations across the city. Hitler himself prepares to kidnap a senior politician. Will the Nazis take over Germany? Or will they fail and fade back into obs ... Show More
32m 7s
Apr 2023
The Nazi Art Mystery (Part 2 of 3)
Art detective Arthur Brand continues his quest to find Hitler’s favourite statues, the massive bronze horses that once stood outside the Reich Chancellery. He travels to the site of a former Red Army base in East Germany where he makes a startling discovery. Now it’s not just neo ... Show More
38m 22s
Mar 2023
The Chinese Cultural Revolution
By the early 1960s, Chairman Mao Zedong's campaign to modernise Communist China had ended in disaster. Known as the Great Leap Forward, it resulted in turmoil on such a scale that many had begun to question Mao's authority. In response, he set out to claim absolute political supr ... Show More
32m 54s
Apr 2023
Early Years: Hitler’s Secret Book
The Nazis kickstart their media operation. Desperate to be an icon, Hitler pens a secret autobiography, where he compares his own rise to Jesus’s resurrection. French and Belgian troops cross the German border, while the economy goes into meltdown. Amidst the turmoil, the Nazis p ... Show More
34m 35s
Mar 2023
Early Years: Hitler in the First World War
June 1914. Sarajevo. An assassination on the street disrupts the entire balance of power in Europe. World War One explodes into action. Adolf Hitler relocates to Munich. After dodging the draft, he later embraces life as a soldier. But then, serving in Flanders in 1918, a traumat ... Show More
42m 1s
Apr 2023
Early Years: The ‘Stab in the Back’
The Great War ends. Hitler despairs. The Kaiser does a runner. Revolutions break out across Germany. Discharged from hospital, Hitler returns home to Munich, desperate to keep his army job. The Allies gather in Paris to settle the tab for the War. Hitler drinks in far-right consp ... Show More
45m 44s
Mar 2023
Early Years: Birth of a Führer
We begin a deep dive into the early years of a man who became the very embodiment of evil. Peeling away Hitler’s own myths about his childhood, we explore how he emerged from obscurity. The future German führer isn’t born in Germany. Growing up in Austria, he clashes with his fat ... Show More
41m 30s
May 2016
Brian James DeMare, “Mao’s Cultural Army: Drama Troupes in Chinas Rural Revolution” (Cambridge UP, 2015)
The Chinese Revolution was a profoundly theatrical event. Brian James DeMare’s new book explores the relationship between drama and political action in China, from the earliest era of communist Red Drama to the establishment of Mao’s cultural army and beyond. Mao’s Cultural Army: ... Show More
1h 1m
Mar 2024
The French Revolution, Part 2 of 2
It’s simple enough to pinpoint the beginnings of the French Revolution in 1789, but far more difficult to mark its end. Following the initial outbreak of revolution, France was plunged into years of political, social and economic instability, as various new governments sought to ... Show More
54m 39s
May 2024
Mahatma Gandhi
Raised in India, and trained in London as a lawyer, Mahatma Gandhi went on to lead a life that was anything but ordinary. He campaigned against unjust laws in South Africa, led the movement against British rule in India, and changed the entire nature of protest. His commitment to ... Show More
1h 3m