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Putschcast

The Putschcaster

A global podcast about Riots, Rebellions and Revolutions. Putschcast explores how power changes hands, whether through internal social and political decay, external pressure, popular resistance or a pure stroke of luck.

Featuring experts in their field, every episode explores a unique moment in history that led to profound changes in the lives of the people affected by it.

For the latest coup d'état, follow Putschcast on Youtube, Instagram or www.putschcast.com

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Avg 1 hr 4 min
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S1 · E28
Yesterday · 55 min
#28 Global - Fareed Zakaria on Trump, Pauline Hanson and the Backlash against Revolution
From the Dutch in the 1600s to Trump and Pauline Hanson in Australia today, what connects them is a backlash against revolutions, one of which is taking place right now. Our special guest, Fareed Zakaria from CNN and the Washington Post, tries to find the answers, including how AI might change the world we live in. Fareed is the author of Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present. In this episode of Putschcast, the conversation follows the arc of the book: the Dutch Republic and the invention of modern liberalism, the French Revolution that failed on its own terms, the Industrial Revolution's real legacy of social democracy, and the present day shift from left vs right to open vs closed. Along the way, why Donald Trump reminds Fareed of the godmen of his childhood, why no one saw Pauline Hanson's comeback in Australian politics coming, and why AI will force the same reckoning we had 150 years ago, when the steam engine changed the world. "The wave will not go away magically," Fareed says, just before US voters make important decisions in the Mid-terms. "We have to present a powerful, compelling articulation of political ideas." Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E27
October 17 · 1 hr
#27 Syria - The Double Life of Asma al-Assad: Vogue Covers and Torture Chambers
The story of Asma al-Assad is one of the most bizarre and morally corrosive chapters in modern Middle Eastern history. But how did "Emma from West London" end up in the presidential palace in Damascus? It began with a cousin's connection, a mother at the Syrian embassy, and a romance with a shy ophthalmology student who was never supposed to rule. What followed was a Vogue cover, a revolution, a regime that tortured and killed its own people, and an unforeseen overthrow and escape to Moscow with bags full of money. Observer journalist and host of We Call Her Emma, Chloe Hadjimatheou, shares incredible insights from her extensive investigation into the First Lady's true role. Asma was no passive bystander. She ran orphanages used as leverage against detained families, amassed economic power as her country starved, and tried to flee not from moral conviction, but after discovering her husband's infidelities. Her husband has now been sentenced to death in absentia in Damascus, yet Asma still lives in luxury abroad. But will London, the city that shaped her, ever let her return? Find the podcast here: https://observer.co.uk/we-call-her-emma Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E26
October 2 · 1 hr 9 min
#26 Gaza - From Hamas vs Fatah Coup to October 7
Why did Hamas launch the October 7 attacks, and what did they actually expect to happen? October 7 shattered regional stability and thrust a small, blockaded enclave into a total war that rewrote modern history. But how did Hamas actually seize power in the first place? Surprisingly, it began through a democratic election in 2006, followed by a violent 2007 self-coup where Hamas used military force against Fatah to defend what it viewed as its legitimate right to rule. What followed across nearly two decades was a high-stakes, volatile reality leading up to the third anniversary of the catastrophic 2023 assault. In this deeply analytical episode of Putschcast, The University of Sydney Middle East expert Martin Kear draws from 15 years of intensive research into resistance movements and political violence to share incredible insights into the group’s true strategy. Dr Kear unpacks a startling reality: the modern attacks were far more successful than Hamas ever envisioned, exposing the tactical miscalculations, the hostage crisis reality, and the naive assumptions made about Western complicity and Israel's retaliation. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E25
September 19 · 1 hr 7 min
#25 Czechoslovakia - Communist Coup, Prague Spring and Velvet Revolution
February 1948. Communist stormtroopers marched through the freezing streets of Prague while regular citizens watched in stunned disbelief. This single week shattered Czechoslovakia’s democracy and forced a young, affluent bourgeois boy named Václav Havel into state-mandated exile from his own country's intellectual elite. What followed across four decades was a surreal, high-stakes battle of wits between a playwright and a totalitarian regime. While Havel was banned from traditional schooling and forced into manual labour, he quietly weaponised the theatre, transforming absurdist plays into the frontline of anti-communist resistance. In this almost philosophical episode of Putschcast, US-based academic and author David Gilbreath Barton draws from years of deep research and a personal encounter to share incredible insights into the man who went from an isolated dissident—living in a cabin in the woods and spending years in prison—to the president of a free European republic. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E24
September 4 · 1 hr 2 min
#24 Ukraine - From Euro Maidan to full-scale war with Russia
When corrupt President Viktor Yanukovych turned his back on the European Union to side with Vladimir Putin, he sparked a revolution. What began as peaceful protests on Maidan quickly escalated into a deadly crackdown, leaving scores killed and wounded. But the sudden departure of the 'Kremlin's man in Kyiv' was only the beginning. In this episode of Putschcast, we trace the direct line from the fires of Maidan to Russia’s historic retaliation, the illegal occupation of Crimea and the Donbas, leading all the way to the devastating full-scale invasion of 2022. Joining us is Financial Times Chief Ukraine Correspondent Christopher Miller. Reflecting on his years on the ground, Miller blends deeply personal frontline experiences with sharp political context to explain how Ukraine arrived at this defining, difficult moment in global history. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E23
August 21 · 1 hr 9 min
#23 Soviet Union - How the 1991 August Coup launched modern Russia
August 1991. Soviet tanks rolled into the centre of Moscow while most people were away on their summer holidays. This included the two most prominent politicians of the world's largest country and nuclear power, arch-rivals Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. What followed was a chaotic, alcohol-fueled gamble by communist hardliners, including KGB Chief Vladimir Kryuchkov. While Gorbachev was held under house arrest in Crimea, Yeltsin boldly seized the political vacuum. In this episode of Putschcast, former BBC Moscow Correspondent Tim Whewell shares his firsthand experience of the smoke, barricades, and desperation of the 1991 August Coup. He explains how Yeltsin’s defiance atop a tank rewrote the power dynamic, effectively sidelining Gorbachev long before the USSR fell. Stationed directly at the Russian White House in Moscow, the BBC journalist witnessed how a plot engineered by the country's most feared men was stunningly amateurish, ultimately achieving the exact opposite of what its initiators intended. During an infamous press conference, trembling coup leaders looked like incompetent bureaucrats. Meanwhile, when state television ran out of things to say, they famously broadcast a looped video of the Swan Lake ballet instead. Tim shares incredible personal stories but also explains how easily things could have gone wrong. Ultimately, although three people tragically died, history looks back at this event as a failed, largely bloodless coup. However, the aftermath reshaped global geography and continues to define the region to this very day. Within months of the failed plot, the USSR superpower collapsed, and new independent nations like Ukraine and Belarus emerged. Interested in more #russia putschcasts? https://putschcast.com/podcast/19-russia-prigozhins-march-on-moscow/ https://putschcast.com/podcast/14-chechnya-humiliation-leads-to-assassination/ Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E22
August 7 · 1 hr 3 min
#22 Argentina - Perón's populist Power, legendary Women and hidden Nazis
Caught between absolute power and violent coups, Juan Perón experienced both sides of political revolutions. Following a short imprisonment by military rivals, hundreds of thousands of Argentines took to the streets to demand his release, paving his way to the presidency. This was just the beginning of a chaotic legacy, as the women by his side also made history: Evita Perón remains a legend to this day, and his third wife, Isabel, later became the world's first female president. Latin American history expert Professor Raanan Rein from the University of Florida joins the podcast to analyse Perón's overwhelming popularity and the unique brand of populism he shaped, known as Peronism. This deep dive challenges the common narrative that Peronism was merely a local version of fascism inspired by Perón's time in Mussolini's Italy during the 1930s. Professor Rein argues against definitive fascist ties, explaining how Perón strategically adapted European techniques to suit unique Argentine circumstances. The analysis highlights his focus on statism and integrating the working class into a state-controlled system. The conversation also tackles the role of international players in the coup that violently overthrew his democratic reign, and other controversial aspects, including the history of Nazis hiding in Argentina under his administration. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E21
July 24 · 1 hr 2 min
#21 Australia - Colonial Uprisings, Race Riots and a Military Coup
For a special Aussie edition of Putschcast, all four hosts come together to review some rebellious periods in Australian colonial history, hardly known even to most Aussies. First up, the 1808 Rum Rebellion, Australia's only military coup. When Governor William Bligh (yes, that Bligh from the Mutiny on the Bounty) tried to shut down the New South Wales Corps' booze fuelled monopoly, the military marched on Government House and arrested him. Next, the Eureka Stockade of 1854, a makeshift rebellion of gold miners sick of unfair licences and heavy handed authority. It lasted minutes, but its flag became a lasting symbol of resistance and workers' rights. But not every rebellion is remembered with pride. The Lambing Flat riots of 1861 exposed a darker side: organised mobs of European miners driving thousands of Chinese diggers off the goldfields, fuelled by racism and resentment. That ugly moment helped shape the White Australia policy that followed. From mutiny to martyrdom to racial violence, this episode asks: why do we celebrate some uprisings and bury others? Revolutionary, revealing, and unflinching, this is Australian history. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E20
July 10 · 1 hr 11 min
#20 Greece - Forging a Nation through Revolution and Civil War
It wasn't just a war of independence, it was a civil war, a bloodbath, and the blueprint for modern nationalism all rolled into one. The Greek Revolution of the 1820s reshaped Europe, but the real story is darker and more complicated than the heroic tales suggest. We chat with Dr. Michalis Sotiropoulos, historian of modern Europe, author of Liberalism after the Revolution. We ask: was there even a "Greece" to liberate after 400 years of Ottoman rule, or was the nation invented through political imagination from Western Philhellenes? We get into the ugly stuff: the first atrocities, with Jews and Turks slaughtered in the Peloponnese, and the brutal civil wars between Greek factions that nearly destroyed the revolution before it succeeded. The ironic twist? Those very civil wars ultimately forged a shared sense of identity. Then came the diplomatic betrayal: a Bavarian King imposed by the Great Powers, not the republic many of the rebels fought for. Two centuries on, this essential Greek history is only understood by few but celebrated by many. Listen to Putschcast to get the full Greek picture. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E19
June 26 · 48 min
#19 Russia - Prigozhin's March on Moscow
He was a hot-dog seller who became a warlord. A convicted criminal who commanded the world's most feared mercenary army, the Wagner Group. And then he did what no one had dared since the Soviet collapse: he pointed Russian tanks at Moscow and took a swing at the Kremlin. On this episode, we sit down with Mark Galeotti, a leading expert on Russian security and organised crime, and co-author of Downfall: Putin, Prigozhin, and the Fight for the Future of Russia. Galeotti, a former academic banned from Russia, takes Putschcast listeners inside Yevgeny Prigozhin's criminal origins, his rise as "Putin's Chef," and the surreal day his Wagner forces seized a city, shot down military aircraft, and drove to within 200 km of Moscow. Then, out of nowhere, the tanks stopped. The march ground to a halt. And Prigozhin called of his mutiny and just walked away. Weeks later, his plane dropped out of the sky in a mystery that still has the Kremlin sweating. Galeotti unpacks what really happened, why the rebellion stalled, and whether it could all kick off again. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E18
June 12 · 1 hr 2 min
#18 Mexico - Another Revolution devoures its Children
In the early 20th century, Mexico was a playground for a dictator, foreign corporations and a tiny elite while millions of peasants lived in desperate poverty. In this Putschcast episode, we ride into the chaos of the Mexican Revolution. Joining us is Dr Robert Weis, an expert on modern Mexico, who walks us through the long collapse of Porfirio Díaz's regime and the revolutionaries who tried to seize the future. Díaz was no simple brute. He ruled through cooperation and selective repression, bringing stability and modernisation at a terrible cost. Land was stripped from Indigenous villages, foreign investors grew wealthy while most Mexicans stayed impoverished, and dissent was crushed by the Rurales. For more than 30 years he balanced order with exploitation. From Pancho Villa's daring cavalry in the north to Emiliano Zapata's fiery land rebellion in the south, we track how peasants, workers and renegades turned a fight against a dictator into a brutal war for the soul of a nation. Was the revolution a betrayed dream, or did it reshape Mexico forever? Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E17
May 29 · 1 hr 8 min
#17 France - The radical Women of the Paris Commune
How could a city break away from its own country to try and build a radical, democratic utopia from scratch? In the middle of a war with a foreign power. In the spring of 1871, Paris did exactly that. Amidst the chaos and starvation of the Franco-Prussian War, the working class rose up to establish the Paris Commune, a revolutionary experiment that lasted just 72 days before being crushed in a sea of blood. In this Putschcast episode, we explore the rise and fall of the Commune with a special focus on the revolutionary vanguard often left out of the history books: the women of Paris. Joining us is historian and modern France expert Dr. Carolyn J. Eichner, author of The Paris Commune: A Brief History. Together, we unpack how these women took up arms, demanded radical labour and social reforms, and fought on the barricades for a new world. Was the Commune a desperate, doomed fantasy, or the ultimate blueprint for modern resistance? Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E16
May 14 · 59 min
#16 Vatican - The Cadaver Synod
What happens when a dead Pope is dug up, dressed in vestments, and put on trial by his living successor? A necrophilic coup? Yes, this story is true and Steve Guerra from The History of the Papacy podcast joins Putschcast to unpack the Cadaver Synod of 897 AD, the single most bizarre chapter in Rome's history. Steve walks us through the grisly scene: Pope Stephen VI exhumes his dead predecessor Formosus, appoints a deacon to speak for the rotting corpse, finds him guilty, cuts off his blessing fingers, and tosses him in the Tiber. It's horror, absurdist theatre, and political thriller rolled into one. Beyond the freakshow, the Cadaver Synod reveals what happens when institutions eat themselves alive and that there has been some darkness at the heart of the Catholic Church from the very early days. Yet the questions it raises about revenge, legitimacy, and show trials echo into modern politics. Tune in for a darkly funny and disturbing conversation about the time the Vatican put a corpse on trial. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E15
April 30 · 1 hr 24 min
#15 Ottoman Empire - 3 Coups and a lost World War
111 years after the Armenian Genocide, we provide context around the turbulent years that lead up to the massacres and the subsuquent fall of the Ottoman Empire. In this episode, historian Professor Adrian Jones and political scientist Dr Tezcan Gümüş dismantle the narrative of the "Sick Man of Europe" to explore the empire's desperate gamble on the world stage at the start of the 20th Century. We trace the three pivotal coups that shifted its destiny and examine why a triumvirate of military leaders sided with Imperial Germany in World War One, a decision leading to the empire’s dramatic downfall and the Armenian Genocide, an event deeply contested in Turkey today. We analyse why the Battle of Gallipoli became a defining moment in modern Turkish history and explore the internal transformations that reshaped Ottoman society from within. Along the way, we meet the key protagonists, including an autocratic, anti-reform Sultan and the visionary Pashas who called themselves the Young Turks. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E14
April 17 · 58 min
#14 Chechnya - Humiliation leads to Assassination
Exactly thirty years ago, a single Russian missile strike, guided by his satellite phone, ended the life of former Soviet General turned rebel leader, Dzhokhar Dudayev. For five years, he had been in charge of a tiny speck of land in Russia's deep south called Chechnya. His fellow Caucasian mountain rebels put up a fight against the once-mighty Red Army that humiliated Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin. Moscow responded with aerial bombardments and ruthless urban warfare. Yet unexpectedly, and at least in the interim, the Caucasian David won against the Russian Goliath. To unpack this chaos, Putschcast is joined by Thomas de Waal, a Caucasus expert who was there during the First Chechen War and met Dudayev face-to-face multiple times. He experienced the rebel leader's defiance and unpredictability firsthand, as well as the atrocities that gained only limited Western media interest at the time. Eventually banned from doing journalistic work in Russia, Tom takes listeners back to the chaotic days of the early 90s in post-Soviet Russia, when rubble littered the streets of Grozny and fierce nationalism turned into radical Islamist insurgency. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E13
April 3 · 1 hr 13 min
#13 Lebanon - Food, Shelter and Torture...the Hezbollah System
Western media calls Hezbollah a terrorist group and leaves it at that. This Putschcast episode does something more: it shows how the organisation governs; terrorising its own people while supporting others. Journalist Dr Rami Aycha offers an inside look at Hassan Nasrallah – his rise, 30-year reign, and brutal death by Israeli forces. Aycha's connection is deeply personal: his father was Nasrallah's school principal. His uncle is a Hezbollah member. His mother remains a devoted follower. Yet none of that protected him. Hezbollah thugs abducted and tortured Aycha for covering a secret arms deal between the "Party of God" and Syrian forces – supposed enemies turned quiet partners. As Aycha explains, Hezbollah never needed to formally seize power – after assassinating Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005 and staging a brief coup in May 2008, they already controlled Lebanon from the shadows. If you think you understand Lebanese politics, Hezbollah, or the line between resistance and repression – think again. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E12
March 20 · 51 min
#12 Galilee - Jesus' Revolutionary Forerunner
John the Baptist was not just a prophet and religious firebrand; he was also a political revolutionary, according to the Bible. He took on the Roman client King Herod Antipas and called for more equality while challenging the status quo, immoral behaviour, and hypocritical religious leaders. However, what was his relationship and connection to Jesus Christ? Was he merely the forerunner, or was he a direct competitor who had to die, with his severed head served on a silver platter, in preparation for the imminent Kingdom of God? Returning Putschcast guest Garry Stevens from the History in the Bible podcast explains why John the Baptist is such a divisive figure. As always, he explains what the Bible actually says and whether there is any non-spiritual evidence for the "Dippers'" end-of-the-world preachings. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E11
March 6 · 1 hr 2 min
#11 Haiti - Successful Revolution & Failed Genocide
The Haitian Revolution is the only successful slave revolt that birthed a free republic. Professor Nicolai von Eggers brings a crucial perspective to understanding the revolution not just as a military event, but as a profound political upheaval in the colony of Saint-Domingue, which at the time, was the world's most profitable colony. We unpack the radical ideas of former slave and revolutionary leader Toussaint Louverture that fueled the fight for freedom that sent shockwaves through slaveholding global powers, including France, England and Spain. We confront the harrowing French response, initiated by Napoleon, intended to reconquer the fledgling nation via a brutal campaign that historians increasingly examine for its genocidal dimensions. We also learn why the small island nation that we know now as Haiti never really had a chance to become a propserous society. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E10
February 20 · 1 hr 5 min
#10 Imperial Germany - A Kaiser prefers Exile over Empire
He was once hailed as the "Kaiser of Peace." By 1918, his empire lay in ruins, and millions had died in vain. To avert a "Russian scenario" like the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, Germany's military dictatorship under Hindenburg and Ludendorff made a desperate, calculated move: they handed power to civilians to seek peace. We trace the sailors' mutiny in Kiel and the Kaiser's sudden flight into exile, events that ignited the November Revolution. But on Putschcast we also ask, was this a true revolution? And why did the old elites remain so firmly in power? Joined by historian Andrew Bonnell, we explore why many Germans were unaware of defeat until the Treaty of Versailles was signed, and how the generals' "Stab-in-the-Back Myth" cynically transferred blame, poisoning the new Weimar democracy from the very start. Find the book discussed on the podcast here. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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S1 · E9
February 6 · 1 hr
#9 Southern USA - Violent Prophecy vs Slavery
In August 1831, Nat Turner, an enslaved preacher, acted on visions he believed were divine. The uprising he led in Virginia, is often remembered in stark terms: a bloody slave rebellion that hardened the South’s defenses of slavery. But the true story of how his story was told during the past two centuries, is far more complex. Was Nat Turner's faith a source of personal liberation, a strategic blueprint for revolt, or a combination of both? We move beyond the simple narrative of a “mad prophet” or a purely political revolutionary to explore how his religious convictions shaped a radical challenge to the slave system. We explore how Turner’s faith was neither simple nor singular, and how, in the two centuries since, his figure has been claimed, interpreted, and weaponised for vastly different agendas—by abolitionists, white supremacists, Black nationalists, and artists. To unpack this, we are joined by Professor Greg Downs, who has co-authored a new book on the Nat Turner Revolt with the late Anthony E. Kaye. To find out more about our guest and his book, click here. Watch the 'Birth of a Nation' trailer here from the 2016 film that is being discussed on this Putschcast episode. Check out Putschcast as video on our new Youtube channel. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and share with your friends and foes. Send us an email to putschcast@gmail.com and visit our website.
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