1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to cool People did cool stuff. We're 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 2: back in case you noticed, we weren't here, but now 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 2: we're here. The we in this case is me Murder Kiljoy, 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 2: and my producer Sophie Hi Sophie, my Magpie, and my. 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 3: Guest Robert Evans Hi Magpie. I listened to when I 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 3: was buying Hey today. Right before this, I went to 8 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:32,920 Speaker 3: go get hay for my livestock at the feed store 9 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 3: and they were playing that song Brandy, And so now 10 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 3: I am in my head remixing that song instead of 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 3: being about a woman whose lover dies at sea, to 12 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 3: be about you making podcasts. 13 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 2: Excellent, Well, we can make hay from that one time 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 2: Robert and I went and got Hey, and it was 15 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 2: the first time in a little while at my pickup 16 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 2: truck got to be a pickup truck. Besides, well, I 17 00:00:57,320 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 2: guess it was a camper. Actually, we filled my camp 18 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 2: full of hay, is what happened. Yes, And it took 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 2: me a long time to get all the hay out. 20 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 3: It does take a long time to get all the 21 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 3: hay out. 22 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 2: But it's worth it because then the goats got to eat. 23 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 3: Hay, and the goats love hay So. 24 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: Speaking of this week, speaking of saying hey, oh we 25 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: should say hey to Rory. 26 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 2: Who's our audio engineer? Hi Rory, Hi Riight, Hi Rory? 27 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 2: And our theme music was written forced by unwoman and 28 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 2: for no particular reason, not at all. I actually genuinely 29 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 2: picked the subject and started researching it before the activities 30 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:32,199 Speaker 2: that happened last week. 31 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: You did like, like, I can vouch for you. 32 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 2: You and I'm glad you don't believe don't have to 33 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 2: vouch for me in court about it. 34 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: I'm just but but I would, and it would be 35 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: I would be truthful. I have like documentation full. 36 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 2: It's true because the thing we're going to talk about, 37 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 2: Robert Evans, have you ever heard of people trying to 38 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 2: assassinate people that they don't like? 39 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 3: No assassinations. No one would ever do such a thing. 40 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 3: No one would ever do such a thing and then 41 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 3: have it immediately cause Blue Cross Blue Shield to reverse 42 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 3: the policy on denying claims arbitrarily when the surgery takes 43 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 3: too long to pay for anesthetic. That would never happen. 44 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 2: No, there's not a whole saying about direct action gets 45 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 2: the goods. You all are listening to this in the future, 46 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 2: where the knock on effects will have become more clear. 47 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,239 Speaker 2: But right now we know very We only know one 48 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 2: knock on effect of last week. 49 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 3: Which is if you've got blue Cross, you now have 50 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 3: to be less worried about getting surgery. 51 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 2: Yeah, and waking up in the middle of surgery, which 52 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 2: is basically everyone's nightmare. 53 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 3: Yeah. 54 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 2: Literally, that is. 55 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: So like, so many people have that fear, and that 56 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: it's grulish. Yeah, so goulish, it's so gross. 57 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 2: Well, the person that we're going to talk about attempting 58 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 2: to assassinate in the past, who's already dead, is a 59 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 2: little fascist he might have heard of named Mussolini. 60 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 3: Mussolini, I hardly know Leini. Okay, pass, and it's not 61 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 3: gonna work. Sorry, Mussolini. 62 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 2: Originally this was going to be a two parter where 63 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 2: one part was the people who tried when Mussolini was 64 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 2: coming up, and then the second part was going to 65 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 2: be people who succeeded when he was coming down. But 66 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 2: it's actually all going to be about people who tried 67 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 2: when he was coming up because there were so many 68 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 2: Did you know that an awful lot of people tried 69 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 2: to kill Mussolini? 70 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 3: Yes, I mean it's like with Hitler, right, like, you've 71 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 3: got that guy who tried to blow him up, and 72 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 3: that and almost did that fucking carpenter who tried to 73 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 3: blow him up in one of the halls. He was 74 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 3: speaking at all sorts of pre attempts. So I wasn't 75 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 3: really familiar with the ones on Mussolini, but I was 76 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 3: sure there had been some. 77 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 2: We're going to talk about I think eight of them 78 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 2: today or this week. 79 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, that sounds like the right himount Yeah. 80 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 2: And so far, by my account, I was counting right 81 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 2: before I recorded. I was talking to one of my 82 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 2: friends about it. So far, by my account, we've got 83 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 2: one socialist, one Catholic, one Republican, and five anarchists attempted 84 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 2: to kill Mussolini. So, Benito Mussolini is famously one of 85 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 2: the founders of fascism, the ideology that is genuinely and 86 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 2: truly bad. That ninety five percent of the people on 87 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 2: this planet agree is bad. We just don't agree about 88 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 2: what counts as fascism. 89 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 3: Yes, that's part of the problem. Yeah, yeah, it. 90 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 2: Doesn't help that. I mean, because some people use fascism 91 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 2: to just being anyone I don't like or any authoritarianism, right, 92 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 2: And that's not an accurate way to talk about things. 93 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 2: We shouldn't call our enemies fascists when they're not fascists. 94 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 3: Now, like Stalin wasn't really a fascist, no, because in 95 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 3: part fascists come to power through popular acclaim as a 96 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 3: result of like setting themselves up in opposition to the left. 97 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 3: There's this also idea that Stalin does kind of fit 98 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 3: in with the attitude that like the fascist dictator embodies 99 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 3: the people in some way, although the way in which 100 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 3: like Soviet propaganda talk about Stalin was actually quite different 101 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 3: from the way fascist propaganda tends to talk about the 102 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,839 Speaker 3: leader being like an embodiment of the people. But yeah, 103 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 3: there are some similarities, Like there's a bunch of stuff. 104 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 3: Syncretism is a big part go read your umburdo Echo. 105 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 2: Well, there's gonna be a bunch of emburdos in this episode, 106 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 2: but not echo. Yeah, but it turns out Umberto is 107 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 2: sort of the mic of Italy. Well, yeah, McLay is 108 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 2: probably the mic of Italy. But fascism is one of 109 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 2: the most convoluted and complex political ideologies to ever come about, 110 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 2: which is one of the reasons why you can kind 111 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 2: of point to anything and call it fascism and be wrong, 112 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 2: but also be like, you see where you're coming from 113 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 2: about it, you know, because it's not actually a simple ideology. 114 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 2: The more as I was reading this, because Italian fascism 115 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 2: in particular comes out of where they're right and the 116 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 2: left meet, and it is not a Well we'll talk 117 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 2: about this. I'm not going to get too deep into 118 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 2: the weeds of defining fascism today, but I want to 119 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,840 Speaker 2: talk first about someone who one hundred percent, absolutely I 120 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 2: am certain, would have been fine with assassinating someone like 121 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,679 Speaker 2: Benito Mussolini. About fifteen years before Benito Mussolini came to power. 122 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 2: That man who would have been totally fine with killing 123 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 2: Benito Mussolini was Benito Mussolini. 124 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 3: Oh because well yeah, yeah, I know that makes sense. 125 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, to open up a can of orbs that the 126 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 2: Internet is not equipped to handle. Benito Mussolini, the founder 127 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 2: of the world's deadliest part right ideology, started on the left. 128 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 3: Yep, he sure did. Uh kind of adjacent to anarchism. 129 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to talk about that. There's gonna be 130 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 2: a lot of it. Also started as a journalist, hooray. 131 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 2: Uh yeah, yeah, he was a socialist for a long 132 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 2: ass time, he was at least a second generation leftist. 133 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 2: Mussolini was born in the year eight teen eighty three 134 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 2: and he was the child of a blacksmith socialist and 135 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 2: a Catholic school teacher. He got named after a series 136 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 2: of socialists and leftists because of his father, and then 137 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 2: he was baptized Catholic because of his mom. He's named 138 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 2: Benito after Benito Juarez, the liberal president of Mexico, and 139 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 2: his middle names, which I forgot to look up in 140 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 2: Italian are Andrea and Amala Caare and these are after 141 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 2: two anarchists because his father was part of the Anarchist International, 142 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 2: which was an anti authoritarian socialist organization in the eighteen seventies. 143 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 2: I'm just going straight into the like the this is 144 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,119 Speaker 2: like when I have to talk about eugenics on this show, 145 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 2: you know, whenever I have to talk about something that 146 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 2: was like really common and easily understood in the nineteenth century, 147 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 2: that makes no sense in the twenty first century. Italian 148 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 2: nationalism is really intertwined with the left, and it's really 149 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 2: intertwined with anarchism. 150 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, and that, I mean it makes sense when you're 151 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 3: coming out of a world well not very long before 152 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 3: this period, Italy had been fucking Habsburg property. Much of 153 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 3: Italy at least had been Habsburg property, right, And when 154 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 3: all of these things that we now just see is like, well, 155 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 3: obviously Italy's a country, obviously Croatia is a country. When 156 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 3: they're all the property of some guy in his inbred family, 157 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,600 Speaker 3: it's a lot less weird that it's a left wing 158 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 3: position to talk about nationalism. 159 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. Benito Mussolini never did really roll with the anarchists. 160 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 2: He kind of wanted to at different points. When he 161 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 2: was a socialist, he was firmly in the authoritarian socialist camp, 162 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 2: but he studied a lot of anarchist theory. He remained 163 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 2: friendly with anarchists. He was either dating or just friends with. 164 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,080 Speaker 2: I've read both the anarchist orientalist poet named Leita Rafanelli. 165 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 2: He translated two of the anarchist Peter Kropotkin's books from 166 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 2: French into Italian. And because yeah, he was journalists, he 167 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,479 Speaker 2: read newspapers and kind of if you were a polytical 168 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 2: person in the nineteenth century, if you were like a 169 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 2: political leader, your thing was that you were a journalist. 170 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,199 Speaker 2: Your thing is that you ran a newspaper. 171 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's the same. It's the same. Reason 172 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 3: is that with the generation coming up and the next 173 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 3: generation are all going to get their starts on TikTok 174 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 3: and Twitter, and like we're already seeing this on the right, right, 175 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 3: I mean in the left to a degree. You know, 176 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 3: it's because that's totally that's not the journalism. Tweeting is not, 177 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 3: or making TikTok is not journalism. But journalism wasn't what 178 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 3: we would consider journalism back then. It was just the 179 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 3: best way of getting propaganda to the masses. 180 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:35,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was Yeah, you wrote polemics, and propaganda 181 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 2: just literally meant propagating ideas. If you had an idea 182 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 2: and you wanted to tell people about it, you would 183 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 2: propagandize the idea. So Mussolini, the thing that's going to 184 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 2: come up throughout this week's story is that he's clearly 185 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 2: into authoritarianism, right, But there's something he liked about the anarchists. 186 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 2: He liked their courage, he likes their commitment, and he 187 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 2: liked action. You know, he was he wasn't the kind 188 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 2: of guy who wanted people to win around and talk 189 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 2: about things. He wanted people to go out and do things. 190 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,199 Speaker 2: He also, for a long time shared their opinion that 191 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 2: killing autocrats was just fine. 192 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 3: I mean, look, there's a vin diagram. We do may 193 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 3: not like to say it, but like, there's a Vinn 194 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:21,280 Speaker 3: diagram at points between me and Mussolini's life right now, Totally, 195 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 3: I'm not against killing early twentieth century autocrats theoretically. 196 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 2: Right, yeah, totally. Yeah, if we had a time machine, 197 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 2: we would feel justified in going back and killing absolute 198 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 2: monarchs from the nineteenth century and earlier. 199 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 3: Look, if I could go back in time and stab 200 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 3: the King of Italy, I would try to. 201 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 2: Well, that's going to bring us to this week's first assassin. 202 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 3: Is it the guy who stabbed the King of Italy? 203 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 2: I actually can't remember whether this guy stabbed or shot him. 204 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 2: This is the first Okay, this is the only successful 205 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 2: assassin we're going to talk about for a while. But 206 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 2: he shaped a lot of Italy's politics for a long time. 207 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 2: And that man's name was Gaetano Bresci. He was a 208 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 2: weaver from Italy who emigrated to the US in the 209 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 2: nineteenth century to Patterson, New Jersey. And it's kind of 210 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 2: funny because there's all of these different hidden, secret anarchist 211 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 2: strongholds of the past. I don't normally think about New 212 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 2: Jersey when I think about anarchism, but yeah, Patterson, New 213 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 2: Jersey very strong Italian anarchist scene. The next little bit, 214 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 2: because it's been a little while since I've looked up 215 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:29,080 Speaker 2: Gatana Brescia. I used to write about him a lot, 216 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 2: So I'm kind of going into a little bit story 217 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 2: mode when I talk about Katana Bresci. I'm gonna have 218 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 2: more direct sources for the rest of the rest of 219 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 2: the people I'm gonna talk about. So everyone knows Katana 220 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 2: Breshi was hanging out New Jersey with his Irish wife, Sophie, 221 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 2: which is a good name, I agree, right, yeah, and 222 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,599 Speaker 2: his two daughters, and she's gonna be all right in 223 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 2: this story. 224 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: Cool, yeah, okay, cool, don't bring the name down. 225 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, no, she's great. No, no negative notes on Sophie. 226 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 2: In eighteen ninety eight, there are these food riots in 227 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 2: Italy and the government was like, well, a specific general 228 00:12:03,679 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 2: is like, why don't we just murder the entire crowd 229 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,520 Speaker 2: that's rioting, And so they did that, and we will 230 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 2: think food riots. They usually think like, oh, everyone like 231 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 2: lost their mind and was running around and burning things 232 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 2: or whatever. These were organized strikes that were met with 233 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 2: lethal force. At least eighty protesters and two soldiers were killed. 234 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 2: Jesus and so King Umberto the first what did he do? 235 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 2: And everyone at the time was like, oh, the king 236 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 2: is the true you know. A lot of like populism 237 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 2: is based on the idea that the government's bad, but 238 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:35,559 Speaker 2: the king's good, you know. 239 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 3: And this translates to fascism too, right during the Third Reich, 240 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 3: there was always this idea that like, if only Hitler 241 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 3: knew right about the worst Nazi policies. Yeah, yeah, this 242 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 3: is the same thing with the czar. Yeah yeah, no, totally. Yeah. 243 00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 2: We see this again and again, and so I think 244 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,240 Speaker 2: everyone was kind of expecting Umberto to come in and 245 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 2: be like, well, you probably shouldn't have done that, right, Oh, 246 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 2: I did promise you more than one mburdo and this 247 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 2: is one of them. There'sn be another one, probably on Wednesday. 248 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:05,040 Speaker 2: But what i'mburda the first did is awarded the guy 249 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 2: who ordered the massacre a medal of honor, and Gatano 250 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 2: Bresci he didn't like that. He was living in New 251 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 2: Jersey with Sophie. He'd started an anarchist paper with some folks, 252 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 2: and he'd put up a fuck ton of money to 253 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 2: start that paper. It is like two hundred bucks at 254 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 2: the time, which is like several thousand dollars now. He 255 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 2: didn't want anyone else to get in trouble for what 256 00:13:26,160 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 2: he decided to do, so he didn't tell anyone. He 257 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 2: didn't tell Sophie. He just told her he had to 258 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 2: go deal with some stuff, like family stuff in Italy. 259 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,599 Speaker 2: He didn't tell his comrades. He went into the newspaper 260 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 2: and said, hey, all that seed money I put in, 261 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 2: I need it back now. And they were like why, 262 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 2: and he was like, the not your business, give me 263 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,200 Speaker 2: my money back. And so everyone kind of thought he 264 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 2: was a sellout and he was just like getting his 265 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,560 Speaker 2: money to go fuck off, right. Everyone thought he left 266 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 2: the movement. But he got his money back and he 267 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 2: bought two things. He bought a Smith and Wesson and 268 00:13:57,920 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 2: he bought a one way ticket to Paris. 269 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 3: That's a song. That's a warren Zevon song right there, 270 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 3: Smith and Wesson in a one way ticket to Paris. Excellent. 271 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 2: And the king is going to die and unlike a 272 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 2: lot of would be assassins that we've talked about on 273 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 2: this show BRESHI practiced with the revolver. 274 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 3: Which is always key. Yes. 275 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, he made his way probably to Rome. He made 276 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 2: his way to Italy. He spent two days scouting out 277 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 2: the area where he knew the king was going to be, 278 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 2: and then on July twenty ninth, nineteen hundred, he went out. 279 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 2: He got some ice cream. I think he had lunch 280 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 2: with like a stranger and just hanging out and he 281 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 2: was like, you're gonna remember me guy, And then he 282 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 2: waited for Umberto to come through, waiting in the crowd 283 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 2: that was all there to cheer on their you know, 284 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 2: glorious leader, and he shot Umberto to death. The crowd 285 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 2: immediately grabbed him. Gaetano said, I did not kill Umberto. 286 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 2: I have killed the king. I have killed a principal. 287 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 3: Hell oh that's a good line. That's a good line. 288 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 2: Back home in New Jersey, his anarchist friends were like, oh, 289 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 2: I guess we judged him wrong, and they started a 290 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 2: fund to look after his kids and support his family. 291 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 2: His wife came to Italy and testified to his good 292 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 2: character in court. His whole family was like arrested in 293 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 2: an investigation into conspiracy, but eventually everyone was let go 294 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 2: and Italy under a king was actually had a more 295 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 2: fair criminal justice system than the United States does today. 296 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 2: They didn't have the death penalty. Mussolini's going to bring 297 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 2: that back later, so he gets life in prison. He 298 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 2: was held in solitary confinement. He had one hour a 299 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 2: day of exercises, like feet were like manacled to the floor. 300 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 2: They didn't treat him great. Less than a year later 301 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 2: he was found hanging in his cell, and modern historians 302 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 2: are recentably certain he was murdered. At the time, everyone's like, nah, 303 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 2: I just killed himself. Interestingly enough, this assassination didn't bring 304 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 2: in sweeping reactionary forces or anything like usually people are like, ah, 305 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 2: you killed the king and something worse is going to happen. 306 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 2: This changed things, but it the existing like kind of 307 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 2: leftist government stayed in power, and things kind of chugged along. Okay, 308 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 2: it didn't even lead to they like cracked down on 309 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 2: the anarchist movement, but they didn't come through and destroy it. 310 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 2: It did lead to more international cooperation between law enforcement. 311 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 2: When I first started dreaming up this show years ago, 312 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 2: it was kind of in a different context and I 313 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 2: wanted to talk about anarchist history and I was like, 314 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 2: you know, they literally invented international policing to stop us. 315 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 2: Why are all of our books boring? Has been my 316 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 2: like go to tagline because they did. International policing exists 317 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 2: because of trying to stop the anarchist movement. Because yep, 318 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 2: nothing gets people to work together. Like like when people 319 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,080 Speaker 2: go around and kill like poor people, everyone's like, oh, 320 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 2: that sucks whatever. When people go around and kill kings, 321 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,120 Speaker 2: Kings work together to make sure that that stops. 322 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,879 Speaker 3: Yeah. No, kings are great at like really union behave 323 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 3: they really work like unions royalty. 324 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, when when someone comes for them as a class, 325 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 2: they band together. 326 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 3: Yeah. 327 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 2: One person who defended Gaetano Breshi doing a little king 328 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 2: murder was a man by the name of Benito Mussolini. 329 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 2: His fellow socialists were claiming Bresci was crazy for having 330 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 2: killed the king, right. Mussolini said that tyrann aside was 331 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 2: quote the occupational hazard of being a king, which I 332 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 2: don't know I. 333 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:49,520 Speaker 3: Mean talking about occupational hazards. Yeah, I feel confident saying 334 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 3: that being a king is a pre existing condition. 335 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, totally. But what isn't a pre existing No, 336 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 2: but what else we're obliged to do is play ads 337 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:16,680 Speaker 2: for you now, Yeah, like these ones and we're back. Now, 338 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 2: this might shock you, Robert, did you know Mussolini didn't 339 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 2: stay leftist? 340 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 3: Really? Now? I thought you were talking about Benny Mussolini, 341 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 3: the man who invented the three day weekend. 342 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 2: Well, I was reading a whole bunch on on that 343 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 2: website X about how actually the fascist or socialists and leftists. 344 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 3: You're, of course referring to the website that just plays 345 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 3: a looping video of the song X gonta give it 346 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 3: to you. That's where I get all of my historical 347 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,400 Speaker 3: information about anarchists in the early nineteen hundreds as well. Yes, 348 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 3: uh huh, yeah. 349 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 2: My ex feet is certainly playing looping videos of something 350 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 2: right now. And so Mussolini was kicked out of the 351 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,639 Speaker 2: Socialist Party because he supported interventionism, he supported Italy fighting 352 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 2: in World War One, and along the way he started 353 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 2: developing his theories on fascism, which was basically, what if 354 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 2: you took revolutionary socialism and then replaced it with revolutionary nationalism. 355 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 2: Instead of class solidarity, you had national solidarity. What if 356 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 2: you made all of the poor people suck up to 357 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 2: the rich people and then defend the nation as a concept, 358 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 2: the leftist trappings and some of the leftists strategies, but 359 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 2: with right wing goals, because at the time, right wing 360 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 2: was just like the status quo. Right if you defend 361 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 2: like the monarchy or whatever, your right wing, so there's 362 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 2: nothing really revolutionary about it. But fascism was like, no, 363 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,400 Speaker 2: but we want the revolution and we want to feel 364 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 2: cool and edgy, but we also want to we really 365 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,159 Speaker 2: like the taste of boots, and so we're going to 366 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 2: become fascists and invent this new ideology. For a few years, 367 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,639 Speaker 2: a lot of politics in Italy was happening in the streets, 368 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 2: fascists versus anti fascists fighting it out, and for a 369 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 2: good several years Mussolini tried to make common cause with 370 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 2: the anarchists, specifically to join him against the socialists and 371 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,159 Speaker 2: the communists. After all, this is the period where the 372 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,720 Speaker 2: Bolsheviks and Russia were murdering anarchists on Moss and so 373 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 2: some folks there was a chance that Mussolini was even 374 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 2: going to go anarchists during this time. I actually don't 375 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 2: buy it, but I read one person making this argument. 376 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 2: He actually risked alienating his base with how much he 377 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 2: appreciated the anarchists interesting because his base was like, no, 378 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:35,320 Speaker 2: those are the people we just go fight in the streets. 379 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 2: But Mussolini kind of admires their commitment, right, and the 380 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 2: anarchists don't want him. Mussolini said, quote, we are always 381 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,240 Speaker 2: ready to admire men who are willing to die for 382 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 2: a faith they believe in selflessly. And this is him 383 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 2: contrasting the anarchists to the cowardly socialists. The anarchists, in 384 00:20:57,560 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 2: so many words, told him to eat shit and die, 385 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 2: refuse his overtures again and again, and soon enough they're 386 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 2: going to try really really hard to just outright kill 387 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,879 Speaker 2: this man. The most famous Italian anarchist then and now 388 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 2: is this guy named Erico Malatesta. He's popped into a 389 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 2: bunch of our stories on the show, like when comrades 390 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,520 Speaker 2: got him to Argentina by smuggling him in a crate 391 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 2: of sewing machines, and then he helped the Baker's Union 392 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 2: there become the most radical union in that country and 393 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,159 Speaker 2: the model that all the other unions rush to follow. 394 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 2: And how today in Argentina there are still pastries named 395 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,360 Speaker 2: by the anarchist Bakers, like little books and little bombs. 396 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 2: I really like Malatesta. He's always in and out of jail. 397 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 2: He's an older fellow now, I think he's in his 398 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 2: sixties at this point that we're talking about. And while 399 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 2: he's in prison in Italy, there's a huge campaign to 400 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,880 Speaker 2: free him, and who supports that campaign but Benito Mussolini, 401 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 2: even though his followers are fighting the anarchists in the 402 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 2: streets during this time, Malatesta gets out and he can't 403 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 2: get any paper for his newspapers because of political pressure 404 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 2: against him, and Musolin offers him paper to print on 405 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 2: and Malatist is like no, what No, So Mussolini keeps 406 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 2: trying to be friends with them. But some anarchists and 407 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 2: folks from every ideology did turn fascist, right, because you 408 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 2: can't have a new ideology without starting with people who 409 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 2: used to have other ideologies. An awful lot of anarchists 410 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 2: turn fascist. Orwell has a really good essay about this. 411 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 2: George Orwell has a really good essay about this called 412 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 2: Notes on Nationalism that basically lays out the case that 413 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,919 Speaker 2: a lot of political extremists are into extremism, not the 414 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,959 Speaker 2: idea that the extremism is attached to. So you get 415 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 2: people going from the radical left to the radical right 416 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:45,400 Speaker 2: reasonably often. And this unfortunately ties into the first time 417 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,399 Speaker 2: that I've found of someone trying to kill Mussolini. Some 418 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 2: anarchists got together in nineteen twenty one, before Mussolini ever 419 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 2: even took formal power. He does that in nineteen twenty two, 420 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 2: and they're like, all right, we got to kill this guy. 421 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 2: They delegate one among their number, a man named Biaggio Massi, 422 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 2: to go kill Mussolini. Instead, Biaggio went to Mussolini and 423 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 2: told him the whole plan. Mussolini protected him, and then 424 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 2: the very next day, because Mussolini has just been I 425 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:21,440 Speaker 2: don't know, cunning or whatever, yeah, Mussolini goes and gives 426 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 2: a speech about how the government needs to really release 427 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 2: Mala Testa, right, even though he has just learned that 428 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 2: the anarchists or trying to kill him. He's a forty 429 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,400 Speaker 2: chess kind of man, this Mussolini. 430 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, unfortunately he is. 431 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 2: He was. 432 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 3: I mean, one thing you learned about Mussolini and all 433 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 3: these guys, with the exception of Franco, who unfortunately kept 434 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 3: a pretty good grip on his rationality throughout his life, 435 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 3: is most of them are a lot more cunning and 436 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 3: better at planning before they get into power. And it's 437 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 3: almost like power damages your brain in a way that 438 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:55,679 Speaker 3: makes you less capable of like clamping down on your 439 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 3: own worse impulses and analyzing things logically. 440 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,360 Speaker 2: That makes sense to me. There's also this thing where 441 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 2: people are always like Mussolini's like the little brother of Hitler, 442 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 2: you know, and he's kind of a joke because Italy's 443 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 2: military mite is not the same as Germany's. Right, Mussolini 444 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 2: pulled off something pretty incredible, like terrible evil, but like 445 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,479 Speaker 2: he did become dictator of a major country. That is 446 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,440 Speaker 2: like a hard thing to do. 447 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,199 Speaker 3: I mean, I think I could become dictator of Italy. Yeah, no, 448 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 3: I know, but you get give me six months, Margaret, Okay, 449 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 3: six months and a lot of pizza pies. If we 450 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:44,200 Speaker 3: know anything about our Italians, Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut's probably fine. 451 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:46,479 Speaker 2: I really like the pizza in Italy. 452 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 3: Yeah. 453 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 2: I like how every country of not every country, but 454 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:52,719 Speaker 2: most countries I've been to, the American version of their 455 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 2: national food is hard to get vegan, but in the 456 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 2: country that I'm in, it's actually reasonably easy. Like it's 457 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,439 Speaker 2: really easy to just go into any train station in 458 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:02,400 Speaker 2: Aley and by vegan pizza. 459 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 3: You could feel about how this however you want, but 460 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 3: undeniably like one of the most intense flexes in the 461 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 3: history of international conflict is when the US had the 462 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 3: former premiere of the Soviet Union become a spokesman for 463 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 3: Pizza Hut, Like that was just such a wow. Well, 464 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 3: I guess, yeah, I guess you guys lost that God 465 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:28,360 Speaker 3: like Jesus, Jesus. 466 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 2: So Mussolini comes to power in October nineteen twenty two, 467 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 2: first as the Prime minister. There's something that's like not 468 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:38,439 Speaker 2: not a coup. I mean, it's not a coup, but 469 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 2: it's also not not a coup. Right, thirty thousand of 470 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 2: his black Shirts, his personal army, marched on Rome. In 471 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 2: the March on Rome. The Liberal government was like, hey, 472 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:50,920 Speaker 2: let's declare martial law to stop this, but then the 473 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:53,199 Speaker 2: king was like, no, let's just put that guy in 474 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 2: charge instead. Mussolini immediately helped out the rich people. He 475 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 2: was not a fucking leftist at this point, immediately helped 476 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 2: out all the rich people, centralized power and just was 477 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 2: a right wing shit bag. By nineteen twenty four, he 478 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 2: was like, look, there's not a democracy anymore. Okay, it's 479 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 2: just fascism, and Italy became fascist and people didn't really 480 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 2: like that. There are some occupational hazards to being a dictator. First, 481 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 2: and most famous at the time but not the most 482 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:27,280 Speaker 2: famous now was a socialist politician named Tito Zanaboni. And 483 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,200 Speaker 2: don't worry. If you're like, hey, that sounds like Zamboni 484 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:33,879 Speaker 2: and you think that's clever, don't worry. There's two Zamboni's later. Okay, okay, 485 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:35,119 Speaker 2: but this one's Xanaboni. 486 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,360 Speaker 3: This is not a serious country. Look, I know we're 487 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,679 Speaker 3: talking about serious things, but Italy, I just I'm sorry, 488 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:42,360 Speaker 3: it's just not. 489 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 2: One time I was in Italy and my friend took 490 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,840 Speaker 2: me to like her very nice apartment in oh I 491 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 2: don't remember which city. I was on tour for like 492 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 2: a month and I went to a bunch of cities 493 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 2: and she was like, looks out, and I'm like, how 494 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 2: do you afford this like amazing, fantastic place. And she 495 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:01,879 Speaker 2: goes to the window and points down to this like 496 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 2: public square right outside, and she's like, that's where the 497 00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 2: mafia assassinates, like executes people in public. No one wants 498 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 2: to live here. 499 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 3: I mean, shit, you could do that in front of 500 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 3: my house if I could have paid, like, you know, 501 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,960 Speaker 3: thirty percent less. Absolutely. Look, I'm not I'm not getting 502 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 3: involved with the mafia. They got no reason to be 503 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 3: pissed at me. Yeah, I don't see shit. Yeah she 504 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 3: stays here gunshots at night. I don't know what you're 505 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:30,120 Speaker 3: talking about. Yeah, MafA, what. 506 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 2: Most of the places that have been really nice, that like, 507 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 2: have been aesthetically really nice that I can afford to 508 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,400 Speaker 2: live in, have had gunshots outside at night. Yeah that's true. 509 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 3: I mean I have twice been coming home to my 510 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 3: house when someone has a couple of blocks away been 511 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 3: shooting it out with the police. Yeah. A nice place 512 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 3: to live, a nice place to live. 513 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 2: And like, I'm not the police, so I'm not worried. 514 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 3: Again, shut, I'm not the police. These people have no 515 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,840 Speaker 3: reason to be angry at me. Yeah. 516 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,719 Speaker 2: So before we talk about Tito, we're going to talk 517 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 2: about another Italian socialist politician, Jacomo Matdietodi Madia Maddiodi. 518 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 3: You best friend, Buca di Beppo. 519 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 2: Tacoma Maddiot Maddieodi was a socialist politician who tried repeatedly 520 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,680 Speaker 2: to expose most Mussolini and fascism for what they were. 521 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 2: After he published a book against the fascists and accused 522 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:28,160 Speaker 2: them of fraud the fascists, who were certainly people of action. 523 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 2: On June tenth, nineteen twenty four, Jacomo was kidnapped by 524 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,159 Speaker 2: the Fascist secret police, who stabbed him to death with 525 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 2: a carpenter's file. I believe in the car. This wasn't 526 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 2: a lot of ways the thing that paved the way 527 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 2: for Mussolini to declare himself dictator. I'm going to oversimplify 528 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 2: this dangerously, but after a lot of handwringing and investigations 529 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,040 Speaker 2: and castigations of the fascists for this kind of thing, 530 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 2: eventually Mussolini was like, look, I'm a fascist, though I'm 531 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,200 Speaker 2: in charge, and we're going to stab people to death 532 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 2: with carpenter's files, and you're just gonna deal with it. 533 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 2: This had an enormous amount of knock on effects. One 534 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 2: of them was that this other socialist politician, tito 'sanaboni, 535 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 2: he got real mad. He had been part of the 536 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,440 Speaker 2: search efforts to find his friend. Before that, he'd been 537 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,840 Speaker 2: part of signing a peace treaty between the socialists and 538 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,480 Speaker 2: the fascists. But after they killed his friend. Oh yeah, 539 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 2: the Socialist signed of peace treaty of the fascists. After 540 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 2: I talk about all the anarchists, he became fascists and stuff. 541 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 2: It's worth pointing out the Socialist sign of peace treaty 542 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 2: with the fascists. After they killed his friend, He's like, 543 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 2: all right, fuck this, we got to shoot this guy. 544 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 2: And he and his friends conspired to kill Massolini. Tito's 545 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 2: a war hero, so he got a precision rifle and 546 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:46,400 Speaker 2: he set himself up to station himself in a window 547 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 2: to shoot Mussolini from far away. But among his co 548 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,560 Speaker 2: conspirators was an informant. So Tito and actually a general 549 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 2: in the army and the Italian Army were both sent 550 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 2: to prison. I think they got the maximum set, which 551 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 2: was thirty years. At the time, great, the United Socialist 552 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 2: Party was no more. In court, Tito used the same 553 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,840 Speaker 2: defense as most of Mussolini's would be assassins used later, 554 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 2: which is the defense of yeah, but fuck Mussolini, though 555 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 2: somebody should shoot him just you know, not always the 556 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 2: best way to get off in court, but like looks 557 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 2: good in history. 558 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 3: Books, Yeah, looks good. I mean, there's right around this time, 559 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 3: the case of Saga Montealurian, who a Berlin jury decided like, 560 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 3: oh no, no, it was totally fine that he assassinated 561 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,520 Speaker 3: that guy who did a genocide. Oh yeah, you're totally politician. 562 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, we covered this one on the Armenian Genocide episode. Yeah. 563 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 3: I'm just saying, everybody who might wind up in a 564 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 3: court in New York start looking up jury nullifications right now. 565 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:49,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely. 566 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: So. 567 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 2: Tito is released in nineteen forty three when the fascist 568 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:56,959 Speaker 2: government fell. Which is the other thing that comes up 569 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,120 Speaker 2: a lot, is that revolutionaries or in this case, I mean, 570 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 2: it wasn't even a revolutionary as a politician who was like, yeah, 571 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:06,720 Speaker 2: but other politicians shouldn't murder people, you know, and people 572 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 2: go to jail for a really long time. Right wing 573 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 2: governments often fall, and if you can stay alive in 574 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 2: jail long enough, you'll be free again. But someone else 575 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 2: was directly inspired by the death of Jacamo Mattiot. One 576 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 2: of my favorites strange and misunderstood assassins in history, Violet Gibson. 577 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 2: Have you heard of I feel like that there's one 578 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 2: I've heard the name. Yeah, if there's one assassin people 579 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 2: have probably heard of. Violet Gibson This is the most 580 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,120 Speaker 2: widely known attempt on his life in the modern era 581 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 2: because it's the one that makes the coolest social media headline. 582 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: Is there like a song? 583 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:50,160 Speaker 2: There are there's actually there's songs about her. 584 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: There's documentaries, and I really hope I'm thinking of the 585 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 1: right person and also sound dumb. 586 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 2: She was like really short, right, yeah, she's five foot one, 587 00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 2: yeah yeah, okay, oh. 588 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,479 Speaker 3: Yeah, hell yeah. So I love stories about short ladies 589 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,720 Speaker 3: doing badass that. My grandma was like four foot eleven. 590 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 3: Hell yeah, my grandpa was six ' five And because 591 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 3: she was so small during World War Two, she had 592 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 3: a special job. They would hold her by her feet 593 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,600 Speaker 3: and shove her inside the wings of P fifty one 594 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,719 Speaker 3: mustangs so she could like weld them or like do bolting, 595 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 3: or she was like welding them on the inside. There 596 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 3: was like an area that needed welds that only the 597 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 3: tiniest girls could fit. 598 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,240 Speaker 2: Hell yeah, fucking. 599 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: Raby as somebody who definitely can't rich things on the 600 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: top shelf. I'm very excited to hear more about Violet. 601 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 2: Also, the only person who I'm going to talk about 602 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 2: today who successfully shot the man. 603 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 1: Well done. 604 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 3: I mean, one of the lessons is that nobody knew 605 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 3: how to shoot in the past. Yeah, and most people 606 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:52,840 Speaker 3: don't know how to shoot today. Also. 607 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:54,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. 608 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: So. 609 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 2: Violet Gibson was a forty nine year old Irish woman 610 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:01,719 Speaker 2: from Dublin who lived in a convent in Rome and 611 00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 2: shot Mussolini in the face on April seventh, nineteen twenty six. 612 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,880 Speaker 3: What's not to lot? God Ireland stays winning. 613 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I do. Mostly the part to not 614 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,680 Speaker 2: like about the story is that he turned his head 615 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 2: at the last minute. Yeah, he didn't die, and she 616 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,280 Speaker 2: only grazed his nose. But there are good pictures of him, 617 00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 2: like with the like bandage on his nose or whatever. 618 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 2: There's no comparisons that can be made now to the 619 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:27,880 Speaker 2: modern world. 620 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: No about people turning their heads. 621 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 2: Yeah and getting grazed. Yep. The world would have been 622 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:37,200 Speaker 2: a very different place if he had not turned his head. 623 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 3: Yep. 624 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,320 Speaker 2: Violet Gibson was a thin woman about five foot one. 625 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 2: Her father was the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. She grew 626 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,080 Speaker 2: up She's Anglo Irish, right, and she. 627 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,240 Speaker 3: Grew up like oh wow, so her like they're like 628 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:52,640 Speaker 3: the English landlord yeah type deal. Yeah yeah, yeah, oh 629 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,400 Speaker 3: like Lawrence of Arabia yeah. 630 00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 2: Totally uh And like Lawrence of Arabia, she's crazy as shit. 631 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 2: But people use this to invalidate and like claim that 632 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 2: her action wasn't political or thought out, and that's what 633 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:06,200 Speaker 2: I want to argue against. But I can't argue against 634 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 2: her being crazy at shit, and I'm going to tell 635 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,000 Speaker 2: you why. But she grew up riches hell. She was 636 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,600 Speaker 2: a debutante, debuted in Queen Victoria's court, which I only 637 00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 2: vaguely understand what is through. Mostly my friends who are 638 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,960 Speaker 2: from the South, most telling to the story come down 639 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:23,440 Speaker 2: to I don't know she did it because she was crazy. 640 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,279 Speaker 2: I am going to make the case as she did 641 00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,439 Speaker 2: it because she was a politically committed Catholic socialist who 642 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,280 Speaker 2: wanted to do right by God and people by killing 643 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,360 Speaker 2: a man who went on to be responsible for millions 644 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,719 Speaker 2: of deaths who was also crazy. She was always esoteric. 645 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,840 Speaker 2: She was raised Protestant right her mother became a Christian scientist, 646 00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:45,640 Speaker 2: and so she herself experimented with Christian science and then 647 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:48,800 Speaker 2: she got into theosophy for a while, but then she converted. 648 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 2: She found another esoteric religion to get involved in Catholicism. 649 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,800 Speaker 2: When she was twenty six and she stayed a Catholic 650 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,359 Speaker 2: for the rest of her life. She was sick all 651 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,440 Speaker 2: of the time, her body carried the scars of many surgeries, 652 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 2: and she spent years working at various pacifist organizations. The 653 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,480 Speaker 2: craziest thing she did, which is left out of the 654 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:11,719 Speaker 2: leftist accounts of her story, but it's included in the 655 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,560 Speaker 2: right wing accounts of her story that are like demonizing her, 656 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:19,799 Speaker 2: but they're verifiable. There, I believe this happened. So she 657 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,359 Speaker 2: used to walk around Dublin with a Bible in one 658 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:23,680 Speaker 2: hand and a knife in the other. 659 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,359 Speaker 3: And I hate to say it, but that is that 660 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:29,360 Speaker 3: is pretty cool. 661 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, no, like, yeah, no, she's I would want 662 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,399 Speaker 2: to meet her, maybe from a distance, but I would 663 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 2: want to meet her. 664 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 3: I would want to like observe her from a safe distance. 665 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:43,439 Speaker 2: Ye yeah, yeah, exactly. She talked all the time about 666 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:47,920 Speaker 2: the necessity of mortifying the flesh, which is normally about 667 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,560 Speaker 2: like killing the urge to sin, but she seemed to 668 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,080 Speaker 2: want to kill. That was that was part of her 669 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,400 Speaker 2: way of understanding that particular doctrine. Around nineteen twenty, she 670 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 2: attacked a young woman with a knife, cutting the woman's 671 00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:04,920 Speaker 2: face and hands, and so she spent two years in 672 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,760 Speaker 2: an asylum, and I don't know enough about that attack 673 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,080 Speaker 2: to know like if there's any motivation beyond something about 674 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:15,840 Speaker 2: how she wanted to like replicate the uh sacrifice of 675 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:20,359 Speaker 2: so and so in the Bible or whatever. Sure, when 676 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:23,080 Speaker 2: she got out, she moved a convent in Rome. I 677 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:25,640 Speaker 2: believe this was kind of a like, yeah, you're like 678 00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:27,840 Speaker 2: super rich, though, so you can go be in this convent. 679 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:32,840 Speaker 2: Her friends thought to themselves, she's probably going to kill somebody, 680 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 2: maybe the pope, but they didn't try to stop her, 681 00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:39,320 Speaker 2: which is really funny because they're probably all Irish Catholics 682 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:44,759 Speaker 2: and they're just like, eh, whatever. Then in nineteen twenty four, 683 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 2: when Jacamo was murdered, the guy murdered to death with 684 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:51,719 Speaker 2: a carpenter's file. Yeah, she was heartbroken because she was 685 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,560 Speaker 2: a Catholic socialist, right, and so she decided to like 686 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,360 Speaker 2: revenge that killing by shooting herself in the chest. The 687 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 2: bullet bounced off her ribs and she survived. And if 688 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 2: you want to survive in the world that's coming, you 689 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:10,080 Speaker 2: need to buy literally everything that is advertised on this show. 690 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 2: It is the only way to survive. I believe it's 691 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:23,160 Speaker 2: not a guarantee. But here's ads. 692 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:26,840 Speaker 3: And we're back. 693 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:31,400 Speaker 2: Mussolini. At this point I read a whole bunch of 694 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,400 Speaker 2: New York Times articles and like other like newspaper articles 695 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,359 Speaker 2: from this time, and they're all like Mussolini's great. We 696 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,239 Speaker 2: all like Mussolini because he's stopping the Bolsheviks. You know. 697 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,319 Speaker 2: Mussolini was being courted by the Western world. The King 698 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 2: of England awarded him the Order of the Bath, which 699 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,719 Speaker 2: is not in order to take a bath, unfortunately, but 700 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:56,120 Speaker 2: instead a knighthood, and Violet Gibson decided that the way 701 00:37:56,160 --> 00:38:00,480 Speaker 2: to glorify God was to assassinate Mussolini. He showed up 702 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:02,480 Speaker 2: at one of his talks in nineteen twenty six with 703 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:05,319 Speaker 2: a revolver and a rock. The rock was to break 704 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:09,879 Speaker 2: his windshield if necessary, which later assassins would have been 705 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:13,319 Speaker 2: more successful if they had also brought a rock. The 706 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 2: modern mind can't really understand her motive, I think, because 707 00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,040 Speaker 2: her motive was primarily religious, but it was also political. 708 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:24,080 Speaker 2: She did it to quote glorify God, and Angel kept 709 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:27,240 Speaker 2: her arm steady. I told this story to a Catholic 710 00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:29,640 Speaker 2: anarchist friend of mine, whose response was basically like, oh, 711 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:33,239 Speaker 2: those Irish and their angels. Mussolini turned his head. At 712 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 2: the last minute, she grazed his nose. She tried to 713 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 2: fire again, but the gun jammed. And I've read that 714 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,520 Speaker 2: what he yelled at the time that he was shot 715 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:46,240 Speaker 2: was fancy a woman, but that might have been later 716 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 2: he told the crowd, don't be afraid. This is a 717 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,120 Speaker 2: mere trifle, and then like later he went on this 718 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:55,120 Speaker 2: rant about how he's totally down to die violently as 719 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,359 Speaker 2: long as like a good, glorious death, but if he's 720 00:38:57,360 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 2: like killed by an old lady, he just can't handle it, 721 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:06,560 Speaker 2: which is why I wish Violet had succeeded over everyone else. Yeahs, Yeah. 722 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,360 Speaker 2: The crowd caught her and beat her, and she was 723 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,680 Speaker 2: whisked away by the cops and declared insane. People said 724 00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:15,919 Speaker 2: that she was paranoid and that was why she tried 725 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,840 Speaker 2: to kill him, because she was paranoid. I hate to 726 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,000 Speaker 2: break it to the people back then, she was correct 727 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:26,680 Speaker 2: about this particular thing. She spent the rest of her 728 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:30,520 Speaker 2: life in various institutions. She wrote letter after letter pleading 729 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:32,839 Speaker 2: to be set free, but those letters were never sent 730 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:37,719 Speaker 2: because you know, men are crazy, right, That's fine, That's 731 00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:42,319 Speaker 2: a sarcastic remind Yeah, probably caught onto that she told 732 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,359 Speaker 2: people that her mood controlled the weather. 733 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:47,239 Speaker 3: Okay, well did it. 734 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,040 Speaker 2: If she'd killed Mussolini, she would have stopped like three 735 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,640 Speaker 2: million deaths. Maybe her moods like I want to kill 736 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,200 Speaker 2: Mussolini have a pretty major impact. 737 00:39:55,520 --> 00:39:59,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, I can't prove that she's wrong. 738 00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. It reminds me of when I covered Joan of 739 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:04,760 Speaker 2: Arc on this show, where people are like, oh, feminist 740 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:06,920 Speaker 2: icon except you know, obviously she was just crazy with 741 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:10,160 Speaker 2: her visions from God. And it's just that people were 742 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:12,719 Speaker 2: conceiving of reality in different ways than we conceive of 743 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:14,200 Speaker 2: it now. And I think that people have a hard 744 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 2: time wrapping their heads around that she died in nineteen 745 00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:20,840 Speaker 2: fifty six at the age of seventy nine. She did 746 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 2: outlive Mussolini. No family members came to her funeral. History 747 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,839 Speaker 2: has vindicated her, and there's now a plaque for her 748 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:32,480 Speaker 2: on her childhood home in Dublin that describes her accurately 749 00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:35,880 Speaker 2: as a committed anti fascist. And it was articles about 750 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:39,279 Speaker 2: this from like right wing Irish people. Is how I 751 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:41,560 Speaker 2: learned about how she would run around and stab people 752 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:42,120 Speaker 2: and things like that. 753 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 3: Is it possible that there was like, no one at 754 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:47,239 Speaker 3: her funeral because this, I mean, I had just made 755 00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:50,480 Speaker 3: a comment about Ireland's staying winning. But Ireland's history are 756 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:54,080 Speaker 3: e the fascists in this period is not particularly clean, 757 00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:57,319 Speaker 3: in large part because the fascists were in opposed to 758 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,040 Speaker 3: the British government and so there was a lot of 759 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:02,880 Speaker 3: at least the enemy of my enemy is my friend 760 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,160 Speaker 3: thing among the Irish, as well as the fact that 761 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:08,640 Speaker 3: Franco was like a Catholic, Like, it's not a clean 762 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 3: period for Ireland entirety. 763 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:14,480 Speaker 2: No either, it's not. But she's also Anglo Irish, right. 764 00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,880 Speaker 3: Well, I mean he had that also makes sense, you right, 765 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:17,600 Speaker 3: had forgotten that. 766 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:21,399 Speaker 2: And I think it's I think overall it was just like, oh, 767 00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:25,560 Speaker 2: there's our crazy aunt. She's just crazy. She just wanted 768 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 2: to kill a guy. You know, that's like my best guess. 769 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,759 Speaker 2: But I'm not I'm not certain people didn't like her 770 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:34,719 Speaker 2: at the time, and now there's been kind of this 771 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 2: reclamation of her legacy. But Mussolini was particularly good at 772 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:44,080 Speaker 2: turning attempts on his life into popular support, which is 773 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:47,000 Speaker 2: like what you do if someone tries to kill you, right, 774 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:50,160 Speaker 2: You neither say like, oh no, I'm afraid and the 775 00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:52,359 Speaker 2: enemy is scary and bad, which is not a good 776 00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:54,759 Speaker 2: way to gain power. Or you can say like ha 777 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:56,560 Speaker 2: ha haa, they can't get me, but they want it 778 00:41:56,560 --> 00:42:01,080 Speaker 2: because they're evil. You know, almost every article about attempts 779 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:04,839 Speaker 2: on Mussolini's life from then or now is basically like, 780 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:10,280 Speaker 2: but this particular attempt is what Mussolini used to consolidate power. 781 00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:13,000 Speaker 2: Everything was fine until this person tried to kill him, 782 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:15,880 Speaker 2: and then woo, she just like swept in with fascism. 783 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:20,799 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think that that's people number one. 784 00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:23,160 Speaker 3: It's like working backwards, which you shouldn't do when you're 785 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:26,759 Speaker 3: trying to analyze people psychologically. Now that said, I don't 786 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,160 Speaker 3: know that I would say there's it didn't have an 787 00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:31,960 Speaker 3: impact on the character of the regime, just like it's 788 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 3: probably fair to like, whatever Trump does next, the shooting 789 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:39,759 Speaker 3: will probably have impacted because it clearly affected his mental. 790 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:40,640 Speaker 2: State right totally. 791 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:44,120 Speaker 3: Maybe it'll mean that he's a little less coherent and 792 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:47,480 Speaker 3: a little less like, maybe even less willing to take 793 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:49,960 Speaker 3: risks he might otherwise have taken. Maybe it'll mean he's 794 00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:52,960 Speaker 3: more vengeful. We don't know yet. We'll all be learning soon. 795 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:56,919 Speaker 3: But it definitely. The presidency we are going to get 796 00:42:56,960 --> 00:42:59,719 Speaker 3: out of him now is different than if he had 797 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:02,480 Speaker 3: won and nobody had shot him, right, Like, that's just 798 00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:05,120 Speaker 3: we don't know how, and we'll never know how. But 799 00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:08,680 Speaker 3: that's just a reality. Because nearly being shot to death 800 00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:13,680 Speaker 3: on live television changes you, changes anybody. You don't have 801 00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:14,640 Speaker 3: to be a good person. 802 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,919 Speaker 2: And it's like people talk about like hindsight is twenty twenty, 803 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:20,319 Speaker 2: but it's not, because you don't know what the other 804 00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:24,160 Speaker 2: options were. You know, you can only see the one 805 00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:29,640 Speaker 2: thing that happened. Yeah, and Mussolini would have become dictator 806 00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:33,200 Speaker 2: if no one had tried to kill him, yeah, you know. Yeah, 807 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:38,040 Speaker 2: and it he used moments like this to consolidate power, 808 00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 2: because anyone would. 809 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:43,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, because you can't let something like this go to waste. 810 00:43:43,320 --> 00:43:46,520 Speaker 3: And also just like continuing to work after you've nearly 811 00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:49,360 Speaker 3: been shot to death in the head probably also just 812 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:52,520 Speaker 3: kind of mentally necessary, Like you're gonna make use of 813 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:54,239 Speaker 3: that because otherwise you're going to sit alone in a 814 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:56,160 Speaker 3: room and think about how you nearly got your brains 815 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:56,680 Speaker 3: blown out. 816 00:43:56,880 --> 00:44:01,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, Yeah, Yeah, he keeps you know, he's got 817 00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:03,480 Speaker 2: a lot of mistresses. Although new York Times just is 818 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:05,239 Speaker 2: gonna run articles. I'll talk about him later, but New 819 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:06,959 Speaker 2: York Times like, oh, he's just hanging out with his family. 820 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:07,799 Speaker 2: He's a family man. 821 00:44:07,960 --> 00:44:12,239 Speaker 3: Like, Oh, they loved Mussolini, Benito. I mean a lot 822 00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:16,080 Speaker 3: of Americans really liked Mussolini in part because, like he was, 823 00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:20,799 Speaker 3: he was a very very much a celebrity dictator in 824 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,759 Speaker 3: a way that Hitler. Hitler was, but not in this 825 00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:28,200 Speaker 3: like Hitler was, you know, famous and managed to become 826 00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:32,320 Speaker 3: beloved in Germany. Mussolini had a level of like international 827 00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:36,280 Speaker 3: like movie star cloud in part because he looked handsome 828 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:39,400 Speaker 3: in his photos in a way Hitler didn't really like 829 00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,799 Speaker 3: he looked like a movie star, you know, not in 830 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:44,560 Speaker 3: real life. But he you know, he had good he 831 00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:45,840 Speaker 3: had good people, worry, and he had a lot of 832 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:47,640 Speaker 3: movie stars hanging out with him, by the way, a 833 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:51,319 Speaker 3: lot of American ones. And he like knew. 834 00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:54,600 Speaker 2: More about philosophy and art and shit like that, you know, 835 00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:56,040 Speaker 2: which was like a lot of the ways to be 836 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:58,640 Speaker 2: kind of like cool at the time. And like, I mean, 837 00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:01,480 Speaker 2: he created a philosopher one that is still around. 838 00:45:01,719 --> 00:45:01,919 Speaker 3: Yep. 839 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:06,279 Speaker 2: It's a bad one, yep. So there's another thing that's 840 00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:08,520 Speaker 2: going to tie into this that is going on the 841 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:12,040 Speaker 2: Italian anarchist world and the Italian American world and just 842 00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:14,319 Speaker 2: the news in general. And it's another thing that, like, 843 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:16,960 Speaker 2: looking back, it's hard to see why this is as 844 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:19,040 Speaker 2: big of a deal as it was. And this is 845 00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:21,400 Speaker 2: the trial of Sacco and Vinzetti. Have you heard of this? 846 00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:24,839 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, those are the two American anarchists 847 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:29,799 Speaker 3: who there was a bombing. They got accused of it executed, 848 00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:32,520 Speaker 3: didn't do it, right, am I am? I own the 849 00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:33,440 Speaker 3: basics there. 850 00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:37,200 Speaker 2: So what's funny about it? It's messy. 851 00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:40,799 Speaker 3: The general version is usually it is Yeah, this was 852 00:45:40,880 --> 00:45:43,960 Speaker 3: like cumulatively four sentences over the course of my high 853 00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:45,160 Speaker 3: school education. 854 00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:47,520 Speaker 2: And it's probably the only time during anyone' high school 855 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:50,960 Speaker 2: education the word anarchist gets mentioned. Besides like maybe you're 856 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:54,520 Speaker 2: going to get sho gosh killing McKinley, but probably not. 857 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:57,960 Speaker 3: I don't even think I learned about McKinley getting assassinated. 858 00:45:57,960 --> 00:45:59,640 Speaker 3: I don't think I learned it was an anarchist. But 859 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:02,400 Speaker 3: maybe I barely remember high school. 860 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:05,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, fair enough. I honestly, whenever I'm like my high 861 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:06,799 Speaker 2: school teacher didn't teach me this, I'm like I don't 862 00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:09,120 Speaker 2: know how would I have known. I got c's like 863 00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:09,879 Speaker 2: what you know. 864 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:13,680 Speaker 3: But I definitely remember knowing that Saco and Vinzetti had 865 00:46:13,719 --> 00:46:15,520 Speaker 3: been anarchists. 866 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:17,960 Speaker 2: Because that one was inescapable, and it was this incredibly 867 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:23,080 Speaker 2: important celebrity trial all over the world. And basically some 868 00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:27,239 Speaker 2: Italian American anarchists or mafia, but almost certainly anarchists, were 869 00:46:27,360 --> 00:46:30,719 Speaker 2: robbing a guy who carried the wages, basically the equivalent 870 00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:34,240 Speaker 2: of an armored truck robbery, and someone shot and killed 871 00:46:34,239 --> 00:46:38,640 Speaker 2: the paymaster and a guard. Two Italian American anarchists, Saqua 872 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:42,520 Speaker 2: and Venzetti were put on trial. The entire leftist world, 873 00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:44,920 Speaker 2: not just the anarchists, was convinced that they were innocent, 874 00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:47,920 Speaker 2: and basically this whole thing was seen as like a 875 00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:51,359 Speaker 2: travesty of justice. In nineteen twenty one, they were found 876 00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:54,520 Speaker 2: guilty and sentenced to death, but it took years for 877 00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:57,239 Speaker 2: the state to kill them because the outcry was so 878 00:46:57,440 --> 00:46:59,279 Speaker 2: much that they had to have all these appeals and 879 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:02,520 Speaker 2: investigation and things like that. This dragged on for years. 880 00:47:03,239 --> 00:47:08,360 Speaker 2: Later historians have been like, well, Sacho probably did it, 881 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:16,840 Speaker 2: uh and Venzetti maybe, Like it's possible Venzetti was there 882 00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:19,760 Speaker 2: and therefore actually criminally liable, but like didn't pull the trigger. 883 00:47:20,239 --> 00:47:24,719 Speaker 2: It's also possible that they weren't there because a lot 884 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:26,799 Speaker 2: of the evidence that they did do it comes from 885 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:28,759 Speaker 2: a guy we're going to talk about later who's an 886 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:32,040 Speaker 2: anarchist bomb maker who turned into a fascist informant named 887 00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:33,520 Speaker 2: Mario Buddha. H. 888 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:37,759 Speaker 3: Well, it's also an unfortunate truth that a lot of 889 00:47:37,760 --> 00:47:39,720 Speaker 3: times that people who are most willing to make things 890 00:47:39,760 --> 00:47:44,239 Speaker 3: like bombs are also driven more by rage than like 891 00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,400 Speaker 3: political conviction, and thus very easy to swing to a 892 00:47:47,520 --> 00:47:52,360 Speaker 3: politics that entirely exists on the basis of rage. Yeah, 893 00:47:51,719 --> 00:47:55,960 Speaker 3: which is why we really do try here not to 894 00:47:56,800 --> 00:48:02,960 Speaker 3: idolize people whose only contribution is that they did a violence. Yeah, totally, 895 00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:08,320 Speaker 3: even when everybody's making some very funny jokes on social media, 896 00:48:08,640 --> 00:48:10,800 Speaker 3: Yeah right now about a thing that just happened. 897 00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:14,520 Speaker 2: No, it's true, and that is like something that yeah 898 00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:19,680 Speaker 2: fun time to have decided to write this episode. But 899 00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:22,840 Speaker 2: the important thing about the Saque and Benzetti case is 900 00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:25,880 Speaker 2: that this trial was huge, The outcry was enormous, and 901 00:48:26,080 --> 00:48:28,719 Speaker 2: one thing that happened in this is that the fascists 902 00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:33,400 Speaker 2: tried hard to capitalize on it. And did capitalize on 903 00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:36,960 Speaker 2: it because most of the outcry against the trials that 904 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,480 Speaker 2: the trial was unfair as a result of the US's 905 00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:44,319 Speaker 2: anti Italian and anti anarchist bigotry. A fuck ton of 906 00:48:44,360 --> 00:48:48,600 Speaker 2: the Italian American crowd was either anarchist or fascist, and 907 00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:52,160 Speaker 2: so both the fascists and the anarchists rallied for Saquo 908 00:48:52,200 --> 00:48:56,600 Speaker 2: and Venzetti. Mussolini was cynically using the trial to stir 909 00:48:56,719 --> 00:49:01,400 Speaker 2: up nationalism at home and continuing his oddtures to the anarchists, 910 00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:04,120 Speaker 2: even though he was in power by most of this point, 911 00:49:04,160 --> 00:49:06,239 Speaker 2: and he's cracking down on the anarchists left and right. 912 00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:09,960 Speaker 2: His soldiers are burning photos of that guy Mala Testa. 913 00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:13,920 Speaker 2: Anarchists are being rounded up and stuff. Yet Mussolini is 914 00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:17,000 Speaker 2: telling his ambassadors to try and intervene on behalf of 915 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:21,080 Speaker 2: Saco and Benzetti because Mussolini wanted to be seen as 916 00:49:21,120 --> 00:49:24,200 Speaker 2: the man who protected Italians everywhere. And he has all 917 00:49:24,200 --> 00:49:27,360 Speaker 2: these quotes that are like, I cannot agree with anything 918 00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:31,600 Speaker 2: that these men stand for, but they're Italian by God, 919 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:36,400 Speaker 2: and America shouldn't kill them or whatever I'm now paraphrasing. 920 00:49:36,480 --> 00:49:37,880 Speaker 2: Terribly great stuff. 921 00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:43,759 Speaker 3: Yeah, and I don't love their murders, but I support them. 922 00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:46,560 Speaker 3: Being Italian, they ought to be free. 923 00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:51,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, exactly, fair enough. And what does this have 924 00:49:51,880 --> 00:49:53,600 Speaker 2: to do with Violet Gibson. Well, this is going to 925 00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:56,719 Speaker 2: turn into one of the best zings against America that 926 00:49:56,760 --> 00:50:02,080 Speaker 2: I've ever read about h only third, nineteen twenty seven, 927 00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:06,680 Speaker 2: Mussolini wrote, it is certain that the execution of Saco 928 00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:09,799 Speaker 2: Vanzetti would provide the pretext for a vast and continuous 929 00:50:09,800 --> 00:50:13,680 Speaker 2: agitation throughout the world. The fascist government, which is strongly 930 00:50:13,719 --> 00:50:17,520 Speaker 2: authoritarian and does not give quarter to the Bolsheviks, very 931 00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:22,240 Speaker 2: often employs clemency in individual cases. The governor of Massachusetts 932 00:50:22,320 --> 00:50:25,560 Speaker 2: should not lose the opportunity for a humanitarian act whose 933 00:50:25,600 --> 00:50:30,400 Speaker 2: repercussions would be especially positive in Italy, and fascist newspapers 934 00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:36,399 Speaker 2: were now contrasting the American government as more totalitarian than 935 00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:41,720 Speaker 2: the fascist Italian government because the Italian system, the fascist system, 936 00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:46,359 Speaker 2: had let Violet Gibson return to her own country, and 937 00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:49,000 Speaker 2: there is no death penalty in Italy at this point. 938 00:50:49,719 --> 00:50:50,440 Speaker 3: That's nice. 939 00:50:50,560 --> 00:50:53,160 Speaker 2: People could literally kill kings and get life in prison. 940 00:50:54,160 --> 00:50:58,719 Speaker 2: Comparing this to the barbaric United States. And this is 941 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:00,800 Speaker 2: the thing that I love about it is like the 942 00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:04,280 Speaker 2: dude's got a point yep. The US president industrial system 943 00:51:04,360 --> 00:51:07,360 Speaker 2: is like a nightmare. It sure is, and was worse 944 00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:08,560 Speaker 2: than the fascist government. 945 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:12,600 Speaker 3: I mean at the you know, it depends on the stage, 946 00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:15,320 Speaker 3: but at the early stages, you know, Mussolini does eventually 947 00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:19,440 Speaker 3: invade Ethiopia and deploy chemical weapons. Yeah, yeah, that's certainly 948 00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:22,840 Speaker 3: an argument that you could have made earlier in Mussolini's regime. 949 00:51:22,840 --> 00:51:25,160 Speaker 3: You have to remember he was not He definitely was 950 00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:26,720 Speaker 3: killing his political enemies. 951 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:28,919 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, he had the stabbed a dude to death 952 00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:29,400 Speaker 2: of a file. 953 00:51:29,719 --> 00:51:33,200 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, not necessarily in a way. That's a higher 954 00:51:33,239 --> 00:51:36,080 Speaker 3: body count than, for example, the number of black people 955 00:51:36,120 --> 00:51:41,040 Speaker 3: being murdered by police in apartheid states in the United States, right, yeah, like, 956 00:51:41,239 --> 00:51:44,200 Speaker 3: which is not a different thing to me. I don't 957 00:51:44,239 --> 00:51:48,960 Speaker 3: consider that to be better than I don't know, rounding 958 00:51:49,040 --> 00:51:53,120 Speaker 3: up like a few dozen socialists and murdering them or 959 00:51:53,120 --> 00:51:57,720 Speaker 3: whatever like that, and the constant mass the constant murder 960 00:51:57,719 --> 00:52:00,200 Speaker 3: at a pretty high rate of blackmen in the set 961 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:04,680 Speaker 3: by cops and vigilantes, like both things that I would 962 00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:06,240 Speaker 3: put on a similar moral level. 963 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:09,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. I'm not trying to be like Benito Mussolini 964 00:52:09,640 --> 00:52:10,040 Speaker 2: is great. 965 00:52:10,239 --> 00:52:12,080 Speaker 3: You know no, no, no, no, I didn't. I didn't 966 00:52:12,080 --> 00:52:14,000 Speaker 3: think you were. Yeah, I'm just saying like, yeah, that's 967 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:16,920 Speaker 3: not an irrational statement to make at that point in time, 968 00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:17,839 Speaker 3: knowing what they knew. 969 00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:23,799 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, And Violet she was not alone in her 970 00:52:23,880 --> 00:52:28,120 Speaker 2: quest to see the duke die. The next attempt was 971 00:52:28,120 --> 00:52:30,640 Speaker 2: on September eleventh, nineteen twenty six, and this is why 972 00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:34,640 Speaker 2: people remember September eleventh, and this is probably the most 973 00:52:34,719 --> 00:52:38,400 Speaker 2: organized attempt. Sophie is clearly agrees with me. 974 00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:41,720 Speaker 3: Did anything else happen on September eleventh? Ever? That seems 975 00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:42,279 Speaker 3: like one of those. 976 00:52:42,400 --> 00:52:46,160 Speaker 2: Is that coup that happened somewhere is such a smooth joke? Yeah, 977 00:52:46,200 --> 00:52:46,520 Speaker 2: thank you. 978 00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:49,719 Speaker 3: I'm looking. I'm looking at my calendar of various September 979 00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:52,000 Speaker 3: elevenths that I keep for no reason. Yet it doesn't 980 00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:54,640 Speaker 3: look like anything's ever happened on another September eleventh that 981 00:52:54,680 --> 00:52:58,000 Speaker 3: I can Yeah, that I've got. Okay, you're the funniest 982 00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,200 Speaker 3: person I know. That must be why I celebrate nine 983 00:53:00,239 --> 00:53:05,480 Speaker 3: to eleven. Wait, exactly, shit, Margaret, Margaret, I'm getting some 984 00:53:05,600 --> 00:53:08,160 Speaker 3: very bad Google results. Suddenly, we need to edit that out. Oh, 985 00:53:08,200 --> 00:53:11,200 Speaker 3: my god, Oh my god, all those poor people. Holy shit. 986 00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:14,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, I lived in New York City y September eleven, 987 00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:19,120 Speaker 2: so I saw the towers on fire. There's all the 988 00:53:19,120 --> 00:53:25,120 Speaker 2: smoking remains. But anyway, the socialist politician had failed. The 989 00:53:25,200 --> 00:53:28,799 Speaker 2: Catholic wingnut had failed. Time to bring in the professionals. 990 00:53:28,800 --> 00:53:31,399 Speaker 2: If there's one group that knows about killing kings and 991 00:53:31,800 --> 00:53:35,440 Speaker 2: monarchs and stuff, it's the anarchists. Again, we all know 992 00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:38,279 Speaker 2: they failed, but you know what, they tried real hard. 993 00:53:39,239 --> 00:53:42,360 Speaker 2: The next attempt was by a man named Gino Lucetti, 994 00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:45,640 Speaker 2: who I'll tell you about along with his cousin Gino, 995 00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:48,480 Speaker 2: because his name is Geno, but so is his cousin. 996 00:53:48,560 --> 00:53:50,959 Speaker 2: That's the thing I'm saying. Well, i'll tell you about 997 00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:52,720 Speaker 2: it on Wednesday. 998 00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:57,399 Speaker 3: Excellent. You know, Wednesday, Margaret, is the day that comes 999 00:53:57,440 --> 00:54:00,520 Speaker 3: after Tuesday. That's a little science fact. Those of you 1000 00:54:00,560 --> 00:54:02,280 Speaker 3: in the audience, thank. 1001 00:54:02,080 --> 00:54:04,680 Speaker 1: You so much for telling us that. I have no idea. 1002 00:54:04,800 --> 00:54:06,000 Speaker 1: I have no idea how we would have. 1003 00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:08,040 Speaker 3: Wait, we tried to shoot a little bit a couple 1004 00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:09,200 Speaker 3: of facts your way. 1005 00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:11,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's why it's edutainment. 1006 00:54:12,200 --> 00:54:13,640 Speaker 3: That's why it's edutainment. 1007 00:54:13,840 --> 00:54:14,000 Speaker 1: Right. 1008 00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:20,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, So remember, folks, Wednesday, day after Tuesday. Thursday comes 1009 00:54:20,320 --> 00:54:23,479 Speaker 3: the day before Monday, and that's all I gotta say. 1010 00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:24,840 Speaker 2: It comes before Monday. 1011 00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:27,480 Speaker 3: Yes, yes, yes, Tomorrow is Saturday. 1012 00:54:27,160 --> 00:54:30,200 Speaker 2: And after Monday. Is the weirdest thing about Thursday. 1013 00:54:29,840 --> 00:54:32,200 Speaker 3: I know, I know, it's the day so nice they 1014 00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:33,320 Speaker 3: made it happen twice. 1015 00:54:33,880 --> 00:54:37,200 Speaker 2: It I can't even there's nothing I can do with that. 1016 00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:40,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, oh, Margant, I wish you and I could hang 1017 00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:41,760 Speaker 3: out all eleven days of the week. 1018 00:54:42,080 --> 00:54:45,440 Speaker 2: I know, I know that'd be nice, but I only 1019 00:54:45,520 --> 00:54:47,439 Speaker 2: have so many hours in the day and I don't 1020 00:54:47,440 --> 00:54:48,399 Speaker 2: remember how many it. 1021 00:54:48,360 --> 00:54:49,640 Speaker 3: Is forty one? 1022 00:54:49,800 --> 00:54:54,120 Speaker 2: Oh okay, no, yeah, that makes sense. Yes, but Robert Evans, 1023 00:54:54,239 --> 00:54:57,759 Speaker 2: where can people find more about you or what do 1024 00:54:57,800 --> 00:54:58,040 Speaker 2: you do? 1025 00:54:58,560 --> 00:55:01,320 Speaker 3: Well, you can find me wedding away in my basement, 1026 00:55:01,760 --> 00:55:06,640 Speaker 3: because you and I only use an antique coptic Christian 1027 00:55:06,760 --> 00:55:12,240 Speaker 3: calendar and day system based largely on a step pyramid 1028 00:55:12,880 --> 00:55:15,840 Speaker 3: that used to exist but was bulldozed in what was 1029 00:55:15,920 --> 00:55:19,080 Speaker 3: once Sumeria, so it takes a lot of time to 1030 00:55:19,120 --> 00:55:23,600 Speaker 3: remember what day it is. Yeah, we really kept this 1031 00:55:23,680 --> 00:55:24,720 Speaker 3: bit going for a while. 1032 00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:27,680 Speaker 2: I feel like at the end of a Gijoe episode 1033 00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:30,680 Speaker 2: where you tell kids to like not hide in refrigerators. Right. 1034 00:55:31,120 --> 00:55:33,399 Speaker 2: I feel like it's worth pointing out that I really 1035 00:55:33,440 --> 00:55:36,480 Speaker 2: am talking about history here and that nothing necessarily good 1036 00:55:36,520 --> 00:55:39,000 Speaker 2: happened for many of the attempts that I'm describing. I 1037 00:55:39,040 --> 00:55:41,480 Speaker 2: am not morally against the attempts that I am describing. 1038 00:55:41,520 --> 00:55:43,440 Speaker 2: I'm clearly not of this thing that happened in the 1039 00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:45,799 Speaker 2: nineteen twenties, but I want to be clear on that. 1040 00:55:46,280 --> 00:55:49,440 Speaker 3: Just that is the thing. I can think of very 1041 00:55:49,480 --> 00:55:53,239 Speaker 3: few assassinations in history where ultimately you would look at 1042 00:55:53,280 --> 00:55:55,640 Speaker 3: it and say that, like, yeah, that worked out really well. 1043 00:55:56,040 --> 00:55:59,040 Speaker 3: Is particularly that worked out well by the person carrying 1044 00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:04,080 Speaker 3: out the assassination standards. Really the one that like Sogam 1045 00:56:04,080 --> 00:56:06,919 Speaker 3: and Tealurian who shot you know, one of the young 1046 00:56:06,960 --> 00:56:09,959 Speaker 3: Turks who orchestrated the Armenian genocide, that worked out great 1047 00:56:10,560 --> 00:56:13,600 Speaker 3: by his standards, and everyone else's that guy who shot 1048 00:56:13,640 --> 00:56:17,080 Speaker 3: Abe seems to the long run of that seems to 1049 00:56:17,120 --> 00:56:22,000 Speaker 3: have been positive. Very few other instances, like I don't 1050 00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:25,680 Speaker 3: know that i'd say McKinley worked well in the long run. 1051 00:56:25,840 --> 00:56:28,719 Speaker 3: Obviously shooting the archduke fucking disaster. 1052 00:56:29,239 --> 00:56:33,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, No, it's it is worth thinking about that anarchists 1053 00:56:33,680 --> 00:56:36,080 Speaker 2: had given up on propaganda by the deed at this point, 1054 00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:38,120 Speaker 2: propaganda by the deed. It was this anarchist idea that 1055 00:56:38,120 --> 00:56:40,840 Speaker 2: people were like, well, the masses don't really read theory, 1056 00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:42,800 Speaker 2: so let's just show them by killing all the kings 1057 00:56:42,840 --> 00:56:44,839 Speaker 2: and the you know, the people who are in charge 1058 00:56:44,840 --> 00:56:49,200 Speaker 2: of them. And it overall was disastrous for the anarchist 1059 00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:53,920 Speaker 2: movement because it just led people to then defend the 1060 00:56:54,040 --> 00:56:56,759 Speaker 2: very systems that the anarchists were opposed to. And this 1061 00:56:56,800 --> 00:57:00,879 Speaker 2: happened time and time again. There are exceptions. During are 1062 00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:03,040 Speaker 2: the run up to the Russian Revolution. You have like 1063 00:57:03,160 --> 00:57:07,080 Speaker 2: about from like nineteen oh three to nineteen seventeen, anarchists 1064 00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:09,839 Speaker 2: and other groups were all doing these attendants, all doing 1065 00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:13,759 Speaker 2: these assassinations, and it did lead to a revolutionary situation, which, 1066 00:57:13,760 --> 00:57:16,440 Speaker 2: of course, i'll kind of ended badly and created the 1067 00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:21,160 Speaker 2: United the USSR. But usually these kind of things destroy 1068 00:57:21,200 --> 00:57:25,960 Speaker 2: a social movement. Sometimes, if enough people are interested in it, 1069 00:57:25,960 --> 00:57:29,240 Speaker 2: it builds a social movement, but usually it doesn't. And 1070 00:57:29,280 --> 00:57:32,560 Speaker 2: that is the like it's a crapshoot at best, It's 1071 00:57:32,560 --> 00:57:35,880 Speaker 2: a like, let's redraw our hand of cards and probably 1072 00:57:35,880 --> 00:57:41,840 Speaker 2: get something worse yep. But still, if someone had successfully 1073 00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:44,440 Speaker 2: killed Mussolini. I bet the world would have been a 1074 00:57:44,480 --> 00:57:45,000 Speaker 2: better place. 1075 00:57:45,320 --> 00:57:49,680 Speaker 3: Yes, yes, but the if within the if contains a 1076 00:57:49,720 --> 00:57:55,400 Speaker 3: lot of reasons. Why you know, we're going to say 1077 00:57:55,440 --> 00:58:00,080 Speaker 3: for legal reasons here, assassinations probably not worth it. 1078 00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:04,680 Speaker 2: And we're gonna talk about like five more of them 1079 00:58:05,200 --> 00:58:05,920 Speaker 2: on Wednesday. 1080 00:58:06,320 --> 00:58:08,080 Speaker 3: Yeah. 1081 00:58:08,200 --> 00:58:10,560 Speaker 1: At the end here, I just want to plug if 1082 00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:13,080 Speaker 1: you haven't listened, I just am plugging this on anything 1083 00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:15,760 Speaker 1: I can. I just want to plug our colleague James 1084 00:58:15,760 --> 00:58:20,600 Speaker 1: Stouts series from Reporting from the Darien Gap about one 1085 00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:26,040 Speaker 1: of the worst land migration places in the world, and 1086 00:58:26,200 --> 00:58:29,520 Speaker 1: just you know, the stories and people he talked to there, 1087 00:58:29,520 --> 00:58:30,840 Speaker 1: and I just want to plug that because it's an 1088 00:58:30,880 --> 00:58:33,240 Speaker 1: amazing series and I'm very proud of James. 1089 00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:35,600 Speaker 2: I started listening to it. I haven't finished it yet. 1090 00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:37,439 Speaker 2: It is really good. It's really good. 1091 00:58:38,480 --> 00:58:40,080 Speaker 1: Yes, So if you have time around the end of 1092 00:58:40,080 --> 00:58:41,840 Speaker 1: the year and you're like, oh, I need something to binge, 1093 00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:43,760 Speaker 1: James did five episodes. 1094 00:58:43,680 --> 00:58:46,000 Speaker 2: On It could happen here on it could have thank you, 1095 00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:50,760 Speaker 2: and it could happen here. All right, see y'all on Wednesday. 1096 00:58:51,240 --> 00:58:56,240 Speaker 3: Bye. 1097 00:58:57,800 --> 00:59:00,280 Speaker 1: Cool People who Did Cool Stuff is a product of 1098 00:59:00,320 --> 00:59:03,800 Speaker 1: cool Zone Media. More podcasts from Cool Zone Media. Visit 1099 00:59:03,840 --> 00:59:07,000 Speaker 1: our website folezonemedia dot com, or check us out on 1100 00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:08,520 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple 1101 00:59:08,600 --> 00:59:11,040 Speaker 2: Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.