It all starts to go horribly wrong… After the disastrous invasion of Greece, Mussolini sends troops to Russia. Benito’s Blitz prompts bemusement in Britain. An Italian assassin somehow survives the firing squad. A famous American mobster helps the Allies in Sicily. And Il Duce’s son telephones his father with devastating news…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 6 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the Munich Conference, Mussolini postures as a peacemaker. With Hitler in the ascendancy, the Rome-Berlin Axis is upgraded to a military alliance. High on fascist adrenaline, Il Duce invades Albania. Soon, in the backdraft of the German Blitzkrieg, he will declare war on Britain and France…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche, Thomas Weber.

This is Part 5 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Il Duce uses propaganda to become a folk hero - part saint, part Father Christmas. He bans journalists from mentioning his birthday or the fact he’s a grandfather - to promote an image of eternal youth. Ernest Hemingway arrives in Switzerland to interview the Italian strongman, and sees right through him. Italy launches a genocidal campaign in Libya and gets away with it. And as the World Cup comes to the Fatherland, Benito Mussolini prepares to finally meet one Adolf Hitler…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 4 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

World leaders line up to hail the new Italian strongman. But the fascists are already silencing dissenting voices. An epochal discovery in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings unleashes a curse, or so Mussolini believes. Il Duce gets his top off in the wheat fields - making sure to be caught on camera. He comes to an arrangement with the Pope and meets the woman who will ultimately die by his side. Meanwhile, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat prepares to make an astonishing attempt on Mussolini’s life…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 3 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wounded at the Front, Mussolini’s war ends early. A playboy aristocrat forms his own private army, offering inspiration to Il Duce. As Italian workers go on strike, Mussolini’s goons crack skulls on the streets. And in a smoke-filled hall in Milan, he declares the birth of a new movement. His fascists will soon begin an audacious march on the capital…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 2 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A brand-new release from the Noiser Network. Join Hugh Bonneville on a thrilling journey through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Holmes mysteries - read in their original, masterful form.

If you enjoy this taster episode, search ’Sherlock Holmes Short Stories’ in your podcast app and hit follow for more episodes. Or follow this link: https://podfollow.com/sherlock-holmes-short-stories-1

Part 2 of The Adventure of the Speckled Band is live now and waiting for you.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We begin at the end… in 1945, with a pile of bodies dumped in Milan then strung up for all to see. Among them, the most powerful man in Italy. One of the most significant figures in modern history. How did it come to this? In this episode, we scroll back to follow the start of Benito Mussolini’s extraordinary rise. From humble origins as the son of a blacksmith and a schoolteacher, Il Duce will emerge as an incendiary journalist and activist. And before long, the onetime vagrant and draft-dodger will be on his way to the front line of World War One…

A Noiser production, written by Jeff Dawson.

Many thanks to Giulia Albanese, Joshua Arthurs, John Foot, Nicholas O’Shaughnessy, Lisa Pine, Helen Roche.

This is Part 1 of 7.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Falklands War casts a long shadow over Argentina as the junta teeters on the verge of collapse. The country slowly returns to democracy. But that isn’t the end of Videla’s time in the spotlight. As a heroic legal case is brought against him, justice for his victims finally seems within reach. We’ll meet a man who sat mere feet away from Videla in the courtroom - a young prosecutor with the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders…

A Noiser production, written by John Bartlett.

Many thanks to Edward Brudney, Robert Cox, Marguerite Feitlowitz, Francesca Lessa, Sara Méndez, Luís Moreno Ocampo, Ernesto Semán.

This is Part 4 of 4.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1978 FIFA World Cup rolls into Argentina. A surreal fortnight ensues. Fans flock to revamped stadia, while just metres away prisoners cower - hidden in secret torture facilities. As foreign journalists begin to join the dots, Videla goes into statesman mode. With the tournament in the balance, the dictator and a famous friend pay Argentina’s opponents a friendly visit. It will result in one of the most contentious games in history…

A Noiser production, written by John Bartlett.

Many thanks to Edward Brudney, Robert Cox, Marcela Mora y Araujo, Rhys Richards, Ernesto Semán.

This is Part 3 of 4.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Videla’s dirty war begins. ‘Subversives’ are rooted out, with torture centres established across the land - including one known as the ‘Argentine Auschwitz’. Education, music, children’s books and haircuts are subjected to new regulations. And as the Junta garners international attention, Videla will employ elaborate means to gloss over the atrocities…

A Noiser production, written by John Bartlett.

Many thanks to Edward Brudney, Robert Cox, Marguerite Feitlowitz, Francesca Lessa, Sara Méndez, Ernesto Semán.

This is Part 2 of 4.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Argentina. The story of a gaunt, hawkish man who earned the nickname “the Hitler of the Pampa”. A man whose awkward bearing belied his capacity for cruelty. A dictator who literally stole the children of his prisoners. In 1925, Jorge Rafael Videla is born into a country at a crossroads. But no one can imagine just how deeply he will impact Argentina over the next 87 years…

A Noiser production, written by John Bartlett.

Many thanks to Edward Brudney, Robert Cox, Marguerite Feitlowitz, Francesca Lessa, Ernesto Semán.

This is Part 1 of 4.

Get every episode of Real Dictators a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices