Pandemics are horrifying. But what if one could be unleashed deliberately? How did ancient armies from the Greeks to the Mongol hordes use germ warfare? Why did America conduct tests on unsuspecting people in New York and San Francisco? Can biological weapons be developed to only infect a single person? And why is the US government researching how to use insects as taxis for viruses? ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George...

When revolutions happen, everything changes. In this episode, we'll look at why one revolution was launched when a rebel leader in southeast Asia started climbing trees; how Teddy Roosevelt's son led a CIA-backed coup in 1953 that contributed to the Iranian revolution; and why one East German guard had a bad day -- and forever changed history as a result. ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

Pandemics are as old as human civilisation, but there's a lot you probably don't know about them. Why did "dancing plagues" erupt repeatedly in Medieval Europe as a result of "hot blood"? Why is calling it the "Spanish Flu" an egregious historical injustice? And how do mathematical modellers incorporate Italian vs. American culture into their forecasting and predictions? ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

What if your mistakes could cause an empire to fall, a war to start, or thirty million people to starve to death? Whether it's Mao's campaign to murder sparrows leading to a deadly famine; or an emperor who really, really should have bought a cannon, such mistakes define our past, present, and future. Don't make the mistake of not listening. ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

Corruption is usually hidden. But sometimes, it’s out in the open. In this episode, we explore some unexpected hotspots of corruption and kleptocracy. How does a fugitive Malaysian playboy who allegedly stole billions still legally own a mansion in London? Why did a small town Massachusetts mayor try to accept big wads of dirty cash in a shed behind his house? ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

Christopher Blair has been called the Godfather of Fake News. He's an American troll. And whether you realized it or not, you've probably unknowingly read a fake news article that he's written. So we traveled to meet him, to understand how one man makes a living by deceiving gullible people on Facebook — and the effect that his trolling has on democracy. ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

When a dictatorship collapses, there's a big problem: everyone who knows how to run the government is someone who helped the dictator. Do we need Saddam Hussein's henchmen to keep the electricity on? We'll speak to Ambassador Paul Bremer, who ran Iraq from 2003-2004. And we'll talk to a torture victim who extended an unthinkable olive branch to those who ordered his torture. ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.

If you're trying to consolidate power as a dictator, what's the best way to go about it? We'll speak to Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion who now plots his moves against Vladimir Putin. And we'll travel to Thailand to speak to a journalist who got kidnapped by a military junta in a surreal attempt to give him Stockholm Syndrome for his dictatorial captors. ---- Power Corrupts is written and narrated by Brian Klaas. The executive producer and sound editor is George McDonagh.