1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,079 Speaker 1: learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. Hello, welcome back to a 5 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: very special show. My name is Matt, my name is Noel. 6 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: They called me Ben. We are joined as always with 7 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 1: our guest super producer Max the freight Train Williams. Most importantly, 8 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: you are you. You are here, and that makes this 9 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: the stuff they don't want you to know. Hang on, 10 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: you might be thinking, isn't this the weekly listener mail segment? 11 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: What's going on? Is there no order in the world. Well, 12 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,520 Speaker 1: it's a it's a kind of chaotic place the world. 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: But we are doing something a little bit different today. 14 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: You've heard uh Matt, Noel and word was truly talk 15 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: about this this book thing we did that we're really 16 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: excited about, and that came out in an audio book 17 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: platform as well, or an audio book format, I should say. 18 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: And Uh, we decided in one of our top secret 19 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: think tanks to put our money where our mouths are 20 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: or where your ears are. We're are you talking about 21 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: that meeting we had in that dumpster the other day? 22 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: The think Tank. Yes, it's classier when we called the 23 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: think tank. But yes it is a dumpster. It's it's 24 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: a very nice dumpster. We have seats. Uh. We also 25 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: binkster the thinkster. Yes, yes, it's where we dump our thoughts. 26 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: It's also where all the badgers hang out with us. 27 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 1: They usually have They contribute, yeah, pretty well, but sometimes 28 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: they get a little mouthy and we have to shove 29 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: them back in the bag. Back in the bag, badgers 30 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: and bags. Uh. This is an excerpt from our actual 31 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,639 Speaker 1: audio book. And we went back and forth and we thought, 32 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: you know what, what's the US way to give people 33 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: a taste of the kind of stuff we're talking about? 34 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: And uh, we decided we would pick just one chapter 35 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: and where you're about to hear is that chapter. Sort 36 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: of we cut some stuff out. We cut out three 37 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:21,079 Speaker 1: minutes wait no, no, don't no, three bonus minutes in 38 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: that way that there'll be something fresh for you when 39 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: you go back listen to the audio book and full 40 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: or by the book, and this segment is read with 41 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: the dulcet tones of by the dulcet tones of Ben 42 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: bowling Um. The entire book has contributions for all three 43 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: of us. And I also want to say when Ben 44 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: says a taste, he's not kidding. These audiobook producer people 45 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: are sticklers. There's no styling on any of this. It 46 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: is word for word, Uh what the book is. Um, 47 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: so this is a new experience thing for all of us. 48 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: But that was a part that never really occurred to me. 49 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: That like, because of certain search features and audio books 50 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: and things like that, Um, you have to read it 51 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: verbatim so that they can reference it and match it 52 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: back to the text. Huge shout out to the engineers 53 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: over at Lantern Audio in Atlanta, to producers. We worked 54 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: with Verbe and Tim as well as Mark and Chris. 55 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that Mark and Chris were the actual guys. 56 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: Verbe and Tim was supposed to be a joke and 57 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: I failed. Oh I don't think so. I don't think 58 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: you failed. I mean we certainly we we certainly didn't 59 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: fail to do this book. And know you're right, Uh, 60 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: they are, they are sticklers. But I'm gonna go ahead 61 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: and doubled down these three mystery minutes that you're not 62 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: hearing now, they're gonna they're life changing and you can 63 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:42,839 Speaker 1: only hear them through our audiobook or if you check 64 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: out our print book and read it out loud to yourself, 65 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: make your make your own audio book. It could be 66 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: an activity for the whole family. Be the change. But 67 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 1: really get trying to sell it because we will come 68 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: for you. No no, no, no, no no no, don't 69 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: do that, but really get ready for this. We're like, 70 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: did you know the United States has been correct me 71 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: if I'm wrong here, I believe successfully backed in some 72 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: way coups in countries across the world. Yeah, minimum thirty 73 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: five thirty five proven times. So in our chapter and 74 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:20,840 Speaker 1: Coups and Assassinations, we look at some of these unpleasant facts. Uh, 75 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: and we learned why assassinations continue to be a go 76 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: to tactic of governments around the world. There really are 77 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: no good guys in geopolitics. Uh. And they're definitely doing 78 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: the stuff they don't want you to know. So we 79 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: hope you enjoy it. We can't wait to hear your thoughts. 80 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: Will be back at the very end of this excerpt, 81 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: Chapter six Coups and Assassinations. In the U S school system, 82 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:56,480 Speaker 1: many children are taught a carefully curated history of America, 83 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: one that frames the nation as a champion of human rights, 84 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: and democracy. A country so committed to this ideology that 85 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: it can and will take action to bring this ideology 86 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: and officially its benefits to foreign sures, even when it 87 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:21,160 Speaker 1: wrestles with its own human rights issues domestically. It's often 88 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: a story of heroes, and as such this narrative includes 89 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: many of the tropes you'll find in the hero's journey. Yes, 90 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: the teacher and textbooks readily admit mistakes were made in 91 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: the past, but lessons were learned and the country is 92 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: the better for this experience. While that may be broadly true, 93 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: it's a story that misses a great deal of nuance 94 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,040 Speaker 1: and at times purposely brushes past some of the most 95 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: nefarious deeds of the United States. Coups and assassinations. Let's 96 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: art with coups. You've heard of them before, both in 97 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: the annals of ancient history and in the modern age. 98 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: During a coup data French for blow or stroke of state, 99 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: a faction overthrows a government with the aim of installing 100 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: rulers with differing priorities and policy goals. While the term 101 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: entered English in the nineteenth century, the practice itself, just 102 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: like propaganda, dates back to antiquity. Many countries kingdoms and 103 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,040 Speaker 1: empires have been subject to coups or have instigated coups 104 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: in other countries. Some coups may result in the downfall 105 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: of an entire country, while others focus on gaining control 106 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,919 Speaker 1: over a strategic region. Many citizens of the United States 107 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,799 Speaker 1: have found it difficult to face up to their country's 108 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: long involvement in coups, labeling attempts to understand these illegal 109 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: attempts to over throw foreign governments as conspiracy theories. Because 110 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: the histories documenting these coups often originate in other countries, 111 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: they are too often brushed aside or dismissed by the 112 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: US mainstream media. Unfortunately, the conspiracies are all too often real. 113 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: At multiple points in history, from the eighteen hundreds to 114 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: the present day, the United States has actively participated in 115 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: or orchestrated coups conspiring to overthrow multiple governments, some more 116 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: than once. In the mid eighteen hundreds, for instance, the 117 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: US annexed the Republic of Texas, despite the fact that 118 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: Mexico considered the region its sovereign territory. This led to 119 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: the Mexican American War of eighteen forty six to eighteen 120 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: forty eight, at to which The US also took the 121 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: region that is now Nevada, Utah, Arizona, California, and much 122 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:14,680 Speaker 1: of New Mexico. In the US conspired with local business 123 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: interest to overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii, eventually annexing it entirely. 124 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: In In nineteen o three, the US intervened in Central America, 125 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: working with the Panama Canal Company to aid Panama's secession 126 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: from the Republic of Colombia, one of the most prominent 127 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: examples of Uncle Sam intervening in the affairs of nations 128 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: in the Caribbean, Central and South America. In some cases, 129 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: US forces sought to preserve a particular regime deemed friendly 130 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: to US interests. In other cases, US leaders sought to 131 00:08:55,360 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: overthrow existing governments, even when democratically elected, in favor of 132 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: another regime more amenable to US political and corporate interest. 133 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: As the Cold War ramped up after World War Two, 134 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: reviving early twentieth century fears of communism dominating the planet, 135 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: these coups were often framed as moral necessities. These nefarious 136 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 1: activities may not have been technically legal, it was reasoned, 137 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: but they were ethically sound and crucial to further the 138 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:38,599 Speaker 1: greater good of freedom under capitalism. From the US perspective, 139 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: the world was increasingly divided into three camps, communist, anti communist, 140 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: and non aligned countries, with the assumption being those countries 141 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: in the third group would inevitably either rise to the 142 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: level of democracy or fall into the clutches of an 143 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: international communist order. The term First World initially described countries 144 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: aligned with the US and NATO in opposition to the 145 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 1: Soviet Union or other communist governments. This worldview permitted the 146 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: rationalization of illegal activities, up to and including preemptively overthrowing 147 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: foreign governments if Western politicians believed those governments might fall 148 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: under Soviet sway. In practice, these justifications were all too 149 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: often revealed to be spurious. While many members of the 150 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: political and military classes doubtlessly believed in the mission of 151 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: spreading democracy, big business was inextricably intertwined with many of 152 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 1: these initiatives, and often the idea of freeing a given 153 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: nation was little more than a euphemism for aiding corporate 154 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: activities in the region. Some members of the military became 155 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: disillusioned with this pattern, most famously General Smedley Butler eighty 156 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: one to ninety a Marine Corps veteran and author of 157 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: War as a Racket, in which he alleged many of 158 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: the foreign conflicts he'd been involved in were in fact conspiracies, 159 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: exercises in resource extraction and racketeering. In an interview with 160 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: Common Sense, a socialist magazine of the day, the retired 161 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: general referred to himself as a gangster for capitalism, claiming 162 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: that American interventions were ultimately meant to help the bottom 163 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: line of banking houses, oil interest, fruit companies, and the like. 164 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: This was a far cry from the reasons cited in 165 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: the patriotic, idealistic speeches used to sell the American public 166 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: on US foreign policy. As a prolific public speaker and activist, 167 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:10,839 Speaker 1: Butler garnered massive support from veterans, leading multiple protest and 168 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: making no shortage of powerful enemies along the way. In time, 169 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: he found himself embroiled in one last conspiracy, the Business Plot. 170 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: In ninety four, Butler stated he had been approached by 171 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: agents representing a cabal of massively powerful business tycoons who 172 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: sought to take his expertise in coups to American shores. 173 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: Butler was contacted by Gerald McGuire, a member of the 174 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: American Legion who claimed to be serving the interest of 175 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: the newly formed political lobbying group, the American Liberty League. 176 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: This organization claimed to have no connection to Gerald McGuire 177 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: and denied the allegations of apply to overthrow the Roosevelt administration. 178 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:09,359 Speaker 1: Furious at then President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies, 179 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: these businessmen wanted to stage a coup of their own, 180 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: overthrowing the government and installing a new fascist regime in 181 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: its place. At this time, fascism was an increasingly popular 182 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 1: ideology for the ruling class of private industry in the US. 183 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: Butler alleged this group and asked him to lead a 184 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: private army of a half million men. His concerns were 185 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: treated seriously, and he eventually spoke to a committee of 186 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: Congress convened to explore whether the story was true. The 187 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,800 Speaker 1: committee was able to confirm some of Butler's claims in 188 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: their final report, where they noted in the last few 189 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,680 Speaker 1: weeks of the committee's official life, it received evidence showing 190 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 1: that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a 191 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: fascist organization in this country. There is no question that 192 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been 193 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed 194 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: it expedient. Yet no further investigations followed, no one was 195 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 1: ever prosecuted. The media of the time, itself often controlled 196 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: by the same wealthy class, was quick to dismiss the story. Today, 197 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: historians still go back and forth over how much of 198 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: Butler's tail was true, and his warnings about what he 199 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: saw as the hidden motivation for American adventurism abroad are 200 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: often ignored. But were he alive today, it would likely 201 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: not surprise Medley Butler to learn the pattern he pointed 202 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: to in War is a Racket continues in Killing hope. 203 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: U S military and CIA interventions since World War Two. 204 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: Author William Blum meticulously outlines and explores some fifty five 205 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: different cases of US efforts in this regard, each of 206 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: which aimed to overthrow foreign governments, and most of which 207 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: he finds were in fact democratically elected. It is tragically 208 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:30,040 Speaker 1: accurate to note that the freedom, liberty, and security the 209 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: US claimed to fight for was often little more than 210 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: the freedom, liberty, and security of US backed corporations to 211 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: do as they wished once a new government was installed, 212 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: reaping massive profits while avoiding the threat of nationalization. Nationalization 213 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: is the force to take over of a business or 214 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: entire industry by a government. These conspiracies were all genuine, 215 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: and as time marched on, more and more evidence came 216 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,359 Speaker 1: to light to prove them so. The coup of Guatemala 217 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty four is a textbook example of the process. 218 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty four, the Boston based United Fruit Company 219 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: was increasingly concerned about the political leadership of Guatemala. Ten 220 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,000 Speaker 1: years before, the people of the country had risen up 221 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: on their own to overthrow the military dictatorship of Joge Ubiko. 222 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: This was simply put a bummer for the leaders of 223 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: United Fruit, who got along famously with Ubiko's government. This 224 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: company thrived off the agricultural trade, particularly bananas. In nineteen fifty, 225 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: just a few years before the revolution, their annual profits 226 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:59,239 Speaker 1: were twice as large as the revenue of Guatemala's entire government. 227 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 1: United Fruit Company revenues in nifty or around sixty five 228 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 1: million dollars. That's equivalent to almost seven hundred and thirty 229 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: eight million dollars in twenty one. The company was also 230 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: the largest single landowner in the country and wielded de 231 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: facto control of Guatemala's only Atlantic port, creating another hefty 232 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: revenue stream from international trade. Almost no part of this 233 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: profit trickled down to the common workers, who are often 234 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: treated as little more than surfs. Guatemala's revolutionaries were well 235 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:47,680 Speaker 1: aware of United Fruits practices, which included discriminatory actions against 236 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:55,160 Speaker 1: impoverished Native workers, interference in domestic politics, and draconian economic practices. 237 00:17:56,359 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: The new ruler, President Juan Jose Arevalo, instituted progressive reforms, 238 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 1: things like a minimum wage, more voting rights, and other 239 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: moves that curtailed some of the common labor exploitation practices 240 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:16,639 Speaker 1: United Fruit depended on. For profit United Fruit felt it 241 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: was being specifically targeted. New labor laws meant workers could 242 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: strike if their demands for better treatment weren't met. United 243 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: Fruits had ignored multiple strikes in the past. The next 244 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 1: Guatemalan president, Jacobo Outbens, took things further. After his election 245 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: in ninety one. He instituted land reforms, which granted property 246 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: to the impoverished. The Guatemalan government's Decree nine hundred stated 247 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,679 Speaker 1: that all idle or uncultivated land could be part of 248 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 1: this reform. According to the government, United Fruit had cultivated 249 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: only some fifteen percent of the five hundred and fifty 250 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: thousand eight or as it owned, meaning the other was 251 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: up for grabs. This again posed a threat to Uniteed Fruits. 252 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:15,640 Speaker 1: Bottom line, the company was at an existential crossroads. United Fruits, 253 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:20,800 Speaker 1: once unassailable stranglehold on the economy of Guatemala was eroding. 254 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: The politicians they had bought were no longer relevant, and 255 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: the nation they once ruled and all but name was 256 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: closer and closer to showing them the door. They needed help, 257 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:46,400 Speaker 1: and they needed it quickly. Luckily for United Fruit, intervention 258 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: was an easy cell to Uncle Sam. The US government 259 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 1: was also not a fan of political developments in Guatemala, 260 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: and the White House was worried the empowerment of Guatemala's 261 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: workers signal they slide into socialism and communism. This fear 262 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:10,159 Speaker 1: only intensified when Our Bends officially legalized the Guatemalan Party 263 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: of Labor, a communist political party. It's important to note 264 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:18,959 Speaker 1: that Guatemalan leaders at the time saw themselves as anti dictator, 265 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: not necessarily communist in ideology. United Fruit went into a 266 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: lobbying overdrive, bending the year of Politicians and the president. 267 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,919 Speaker 1: US politicians berated the new Guatemalan government for failing to 268 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,879 Speaker 1: protect the interest of United Fruit and other Western companies. 269 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: Guatemala responded that, in its opinion, those companies, and United 270 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: Fruit in particular, were by far the main obstacle to 271 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: progress in its nation. By the time Truman was out 272 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: and Eisenhower was elected in nineteen fifty two, the figurative 273 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 1: writing was on the wall. Tensions escalated, Our bends showed 274 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: no signs of returning his country to the easily exploited 275 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 1: state of a dictatorship. Eisenhower's staff, particularly John Foster Dulleses 276 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: and Allan Welsh Dulless, urged intervention. The New York law 277 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: firms Sullivan and Cromwell represented the United Fruit Company. John 278 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: Foster Dullas, who served as US Secretary of State from 279 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:32,360 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three until nineteen fifty nine, was also a 280 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: partner at Sullivan and Cromwell. John's brother, Allan Welsh Dulless, 281 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: served as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 282 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty three until nineteen sixty one. While the specter 283 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: of communism was a convenient cover, the consensus in Washington's 284 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: back rooms was that United Fruit and its shareholders must 285 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:03,880 Speaker 1: be protected. In eighteen fifty three, the Guatemalan government expropriated 286 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: two hundred thousand acres of land from United Fruit, offering 287 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: the company compensation totally more than twice what the company 288 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:19,440 Speaker 1: had originally paid. This hefty profit did not mollify United 289 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: Fruits executives. Nevertheless, Guatemala continued to reclaim more of UFC's 290 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: uncultivated land. In a hilarious turn of events, it began 291 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: to base its offered compensation on UFC's own previous valuations 292 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:42,959 Speaker 1: of the property. This was even more unsatisfactory for UFC 293 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: because for years the company had been screwing over the 294 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: Guatemalan tax system by massively undervaluing its own land. In 295 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: a way, you could say United Fruit swindled itself. As 296 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:03,640 Speaker 1: Guatemala and UFC wrangle over land expropriation, a massive lobbying 297 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: effort began with master propagandist Edward Burnets. As we learned 298 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: in chapter five, Burns is hailed as the father of 299 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: public relations, a sort of sift lord of information control, 300 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: orchestrating a campaign to paint United Fruit as the undeserving 301 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: victim of a merciless, hardline communist government, Berne's commissioned a 302 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:35,159 Speaker 1: bizarre report, a smear piece that he circulated through Congress. 303 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: The report painted a frightening picture of a new, dangerously 304 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: communist regime on the rise in Guatemala. All in all, 305 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:49,920 Speaker 1: United Fruits spent about five hundred thousand dollars selling America 306 00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: and its rulers on the Coupe Tata. It was money 307 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,919 Speaker 1: well spent. After a false start in nineteen fifty two 308 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,159 Speaker 1: with an operation called PB Fortune, which failed because the 309 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: CIA was caught attempting to interfere with Guatemala by other 310 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: factions of the U S government, the CIA and United 311 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:15,679 Speaker 1: Fruit were able to launch Operation p B success just 312 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:20,199 Speaker 1: a few years later, in nineteen fifty four. This was 313 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 1: a genuine, successful conspiracy on the part of the CIA 314 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: and the United Fruit Company to overthrow the democratically elected 315 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 1: government of Guatemala. The Information war in the US evolved 316 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: into military action. The US government trained insurgents, provided arms, 317 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,479 Speaker 1: and also received a list of people who would be 318 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 1: murdered or exiled in the aftermath of the coup. Guatemala 319 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 1: went on to be ruled by a string of US 320 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: backed military dictators leading up to the Guatemalan Civil war, 321 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: which ended only in nine seen. The ramifications of this 322 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: coup echo throughout Guatemala today. This is only one example 323 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 1: of a successful coup on the part of the US government, 324 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 1: though it is perhaps most notable for the amount of 325 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: information available to the public about how this operation occurred. 326 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: The United Fruit Company survived, it prospered. It exists today, 327 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:31,240 Speaker 1: rebranded as Chiquita Brands International. The company still sells bananas 328 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: and remains controversial due to a number of shady activities, 329 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: including things like allegedly paying off foreign terrorist groups. All 330 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 1: in all, experts like William Blum estimate the US has 331 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: attempted to overthrow various world governments at least fifty seven 332 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 1: times since the end of World War Two. It hasn't 333 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:58,159 Speaker 1: always been successful, but its track record isn't short on 334 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: big winds. Blum states there have been no fewer than 335 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: thirty five successful US backed coup ditast seven if you 336 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:12,399 Speaker 1: count three interventions in Laos as separate incidents. Were these 337 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:17,920 Speaker 1: victories for democracy and blows against the boogeyman of communism? 338 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:22,800 Speaker 1: Or is the ideological Overton window dressing of freedom and 339 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: liberty just that a disguise draped over the real motivation 340 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: the expansion of capitalism and the growth of corporate profits. 341 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: It's a question historians continue to analyze, and while each 342 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: case carries its own set of complications and intervening factors, 343 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: they all share a similar theme. While the US has 344 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: for a very long time articulated a clear aspiration for 345 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: a liberal, democratic world, it has often shown little compunction 346 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,439 Speaker 1: about making this vision a reality. Laws can and should 347 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: be respected, so long as they don't get in the 348 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: way of that greater good. However, vaguely defined assassinations in 349 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,959 Speaker 1: the early days of National Public Radio found themselves at 350 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: the heart of a strange controversy. When the US targeted 351 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 1: Irani in General Kaseem Solamani in January of that year. 352 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: News organizations were seriously concerned over how best to describe 353 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: the US role in the general's death. In common usage, 354 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: murder means to kill someone, but legally it means an 355 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:52,159 Speaker 1: unlawful killing. The US operation had all the hallmarks of 356 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 1: an assassination, but still some audience members objected when NPR 357 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: used the phrase. It's controversial. Many people don't like to 358 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:09,679 Speaker 1: think of the good guys using assassins. Assassination is a 359 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: uniquely awful form of murder. It is defined by target, motivation, 360 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:22,080 Speaker 1: and tactics. The target is typically a prominent public figure, 361 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: while the assassin themselves maybe in it only for the money. 362 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: The people orchestrating the assassination typically have larger socio political 363 00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 1: aims regime change. For example, while a robber may murder 364 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 1: a cashier in the course of a crime, they're not 365 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: doing so with the goal of changing public discourse or 366 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 1: a nation's government. But someone who fatally attacks the president 367 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:57,960 Speaker 1: of the United States is an assassin. This distinction may 368 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 1: seem like a trivial game of semantics, but it's a 369 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: big deal. In some cases, it can have legal implications. 370 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:12,840 Speaker 1: Politically motivated killings are familiar to cultures across the planet 371 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: and throughout the ages, from John Wilkes Booth to Locusta 372 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: the Poisoner. You don't have to look far to find 373 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: historical records of assassins. The Encyclopedia of Assassinations by Karl 374 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: Sefakis explores both attempted and successful assassinations throughout human history 375 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: and across the planet. The term assassin dates back to 376 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 1: a real ancient organization known as the Order of Assassins. 377 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: A great deal of the stories about this order are 378 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: either fancifully embellished or outright fabricated. Their fortress was conquered 379 00:29:56,040 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: in twelve fifty six and their records were destroyed, so 380 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: no accounts from the Order itself exists in the modern day. 381 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: Much of the contemporaneous writing about the Assassins comes from 382 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,720 Speaker 1: their enemies, such as Syrian Sunni chroniclers. These accounts are 383 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:20,320 Speaker 1: biased because the Syrian Sunnis despised the Assassins for good reason. 384 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: For example, the connection between assassins and marijuana use was 385 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,080 Speaker 1: almost certainly a smear tactic, and there's no credible link 386 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: between the Order and this drug. However, we do know 387 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,400 Speaker 1: a few things for certain. Between ten ninety and twelve 388 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: seventy five, a small Shia sect called the Nazari Ismaili, 389 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: located high in the mountains of Persia and Syria, went 390 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: into the murder business. This sect was founded by Hassani Saba, 391 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: who referred to his followers as a sassayun, which means 392 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: people who are faith full to the foundation of the faith. 393 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,959 Speaker 1: They were based in a fortress called Alamote Castle, about 394 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,280 Speaker 1: one hundred and thirty miles from modern day Tehran. The 395 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: Nazari Ismaili sought to challenge the Seljuk Turks Sunni Muslims 396 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: who were in control of Persia at the time. This 397 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: is when the group first became known as the Hashashion. 398 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:31,760 Speaker 1: This group actively and covertly murdered Muslim and Christian leaders 399 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: throughout the Middle East who were deemed to be enemies 400 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: of the state or the order. While assassins typically refers 401 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: to the entire sect, only a select group of disciples 402 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: known as the Fida'i actually engaged in conflict. The Nassari 403 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,400 Speaker 1: did not have a standing army, so they relied on 404 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: these warriors to carry out espionage and assassinations of key 405 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:03,440 Speaker 1: enemy figure gers. While the reputation of the Assassins was 406 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: built largely on exaggerations by their enemies, the impact of 407 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: this small sect and its effective tactics struck fear into 408 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 1: mighty powers, and perhaps most importantly, has inspired imitators ever since. 409 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: So knowing the bizarre history of the term assassin, we 410 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: have to ask how much of their strategy informed similar 411 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:34,080 Speaker 1: activities in the modern day. Assassinations still occur. With so 412 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: much new technology and play, and so much more communication 413 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: between world powers, it's easy to assume that someone at 414 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:50,000 Speaker 1: some point must have said, hey, we should make assassination illegal, right, Well, 415 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:55,280 Speaker 1: unfortunately that doesn't seem to be entirely true. According to 416 00:32:55,320 --> 00:33:00,600 Speaker 1: the political ethicist Michael L. Gross, assassination can be more 417 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: or less perfectly legal. He writes, international law does not 418 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: man assassination unequivocally, but instead prohibits perfidy, or those acts 419 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 1: that abuse the protections that the laws of armed conflict guarantee. 420 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: Common examples of perfidy include attacking from under the protection 421 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: of a white flag or harming combatants who laid down 422 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: their arms. These protections are integral to modern warfare and 423 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: underlie the conventions of surrender. Without them, war would end 424 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,960 Speaker 1: only an extermination, or the proverbial fight to the death. 425 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: Assassination is perfidious only in so far as it abuses 426 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:50,480 Speaker 1: these or similar protections. So in this sense, assassination is 427 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: fine just as long as you obey certain rules. Assassination 428 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 1: remains a viable tactic for governments. For why simple troubling 429 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:08,360 Speaker 1: fact it works. Assassinations, or if you prefer, targeted killings, 430 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: have fundamentally altered the course of human history. In Russia alone, 431 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 1: five emperors were assassinated within less than two hundred years, 432 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:24,319 Speaker 1: Ivan the sixth, Peter the third, Paul the first, Alexander 433 00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:28,640 Speaker 1: the second, and Nicholas the second, along with his wife Alexandra, 434 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: daughters Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, and son Alexei, with 435 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:41,800 Speaker 1: each murder sparking instability and chaos in the region. Another example, 436 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:46,160 Speaker 1: six of the twelve Caesars were assassinated, with each death 437 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,120 Speaker 1: marking a shift in the governance of the Roman Empire. 438 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:54,600 Speaker 1: The most notable assassination victim in US history was President 439 00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:59,440 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln. Three other US presidents have been killed by 440 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: assassin nation since, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. 441 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:12,120 Speaker 1: In Europe, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princey, 442 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:16,719 Speaker 1: one of several Serb nationalist insurgents, triggered World War One. 443 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:27,359 Speaker 1: It's tricky to say how history would have played out 444 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:31,560 Speaker 1: if these and other murders had not occurred. The stage 445 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:35,480 Speaker 1: was already set for World War One, Lincoln had already 446 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:38,440 Speaker 1: made a lasting impact on the US and so on. 447 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:43,239 Speaker 1: But we will never know what would have happened had 448 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,600 Speaker 1: these and other political leaders remained alive for their natural 449 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:53,279 Speaker 1: life span. What we do know is this multiple countries 450 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: have committed, do commit, and likely will commit assassinations in 451 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:04,239 Speaker 1: the future. The United States is no exception. Given the 452 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 1: deeply ingrained distrust of government and love of conspiracy so 453 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: common in American culture, it should come as no surprise 454 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:17,720 Speaker 1: that one of the country's most popular, prevalent, and long 455 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:24,720 Speaker 1: lived conspiracy theories is centered around an assassination. Who really 456 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:31,240 Speaker 1: killed President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. In the world of conspiracy lore, 457 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:36,880 Speaker 1: the idea that sinister forces assassinated President Kennedy and later 458 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:41,719 Speaker 1: his brother Robert Kennedy looms large. It's one of the 459 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,839 Speaker 1: most widely believed conspiracy tales in the United States, and 460 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:51,239 Speaker 1: for good reason. First, there are several strange aspects to 461 00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: the story. You can call them discrepancies, complications, or coincidence. 462 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:03,759 Speaker 1: Since the day of Kennedy's assass fascination on November two nine, 463 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:09,000 Speaker 1: Gallup has tracked public opinion about the murder. It's first poll, 464 00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:14,000 Speaker 1: taken immediately after the assassination, found that fifty two percent 465 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:18,440 Speaker 1: of Americans believed others were involved in the incident, and 466 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:23,920 Speaker 1: only twenty nine percent believed Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, 467 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:28,760 Speaker 1: though this number has waxed and waned over the years. 468 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: Recent polls from Gallop and five thirty eight indicate that today, 469 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,759 Speaker 1: nearly sixty years since the murder, well over half of 470 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:43,680 Speaker 1: the American public believes there was a conspiracy afoot. A 471 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:48,840 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen poll from Associated Press GfK found that fifty 472 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:53,200 Speaker 1: nine percent of Americans think multiple people were involved in 473 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:59,360 Speaker 1: a conspiracy to kill President Kennedy. If the officials seem 474 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:04,040 Speaker 1: uni versely aligned on the same conclusion, why do so 475 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:08,399 Speaker 1: many people have a problem with the story? First, there 476 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:13,040 Speaker 1: are the numerous inconsistencies in the findings. During his time 477 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:17,920 Speaker 1: with the Assassination Records Review Board, Dr T Jeremy Gunn 478 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,400 Speaker 1: was surprised to learn that some of the medical evidence 479 00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:27,680 Speaker 1: was dubious. The Assassination's Records Review Board was created by 480 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:32,640 Speaker 1: the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 481 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: only a year or so after filmmaker Oliver Stone debut 482 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:44,719 Speaker 1: JFK his conspiratorial take on Kennedy's murder. The board was 483 00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:50,920 Speaker 1: expressly formed to re examine assassination related records federal agencies 484 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:55,200 Speaker 1: felt were still too sensitive to share with the public. 485 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:00,640 Speaker 1: During a deposition with Dr James Joseph Humes, one of 486 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: three doctors who performed the autopsy on Kennedy's corpse, Dr 487 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:09,440 Speaker 1: Gunn learned the medical team skipped some basic steps of 488 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: a normal autopsy. Dr Humes also stated he'd made a 489 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:19,480 Speaker 1: copy of the original autopsy, destroying the first document when 490 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: he realized it bore bloodstains. Dr Gunn found additional discrepancies 491 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:30,759 Speaker 1: what he calls serious problems with the forensic and ballistic evidence, 492 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,920 Speaker 1: as well as the troubling discovery that the official photos 493 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:39,400 Speaker 1: of Kennedy's corps stored in the National Archives do not 494 00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:45,239 Speaker 1: appear to be the original photos. These facts do not 495 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:51,960 Speaker 1: point inevitably to conspiracy. First, this murder investigation received much 496 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 1: more scrutiny than an everyday homicide, and to a degree, 497 00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: it's logical that it would continue to receive heightened scrutiny 498 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:04,359 Speaker 1: in the decades following. It is not uncommon for homicide 499 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:11,360 Speaker 1: investigations to have discrepancies inaccuracies and missing paperwork, and these problems, 500 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:16,720 Speaker 1: when discovered, don't automatically send people into the land of conspiracy. 501 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:22,040 Speaker 1: At the same time, mistrust of the government is as 502 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:27,080 Speaker 1: American as apple pie apples are originally from Kazakhstan, and 503 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:32,479 Speaker 1: since parts of the investigation remain classified today, that lack 504 00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:37,520 Speaker 1: of transparency, coupled with an ingrained lack of trust, makes 505 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:43,759 Speaker 1: dense fertile soil for speculation. Belief in conspiracies surrounding the 506 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:49,400 Speaker 1: Kennedy assassination also seems to know no real political divide. 507 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:55,880 Speaker 1: In about fifty nine percent of Hillary Clinton's supporters believed 508 00:40:55,920 --> 00:41:00,319 Speaker 1: in a conspiracy surrounding the death, and about sixty one 509 00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:04,560 Speaker 1: percent of Donald Trump's supporters were on the same page. 510 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:11,960 Speaker 1: The most prevalent conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination can 511 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:17,840 Speaker 1: be grouped into a few broad categories. The Mafia killed Kennedy, 512 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:22,759 Speaker 1: Fidel Castro killed Kennedy, the c I A or then 513 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:28,480 Speaker 1: Vice President Lyndon Johnson or both working in concert killed Kennedy. 514 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,880 Speaker 1: On the more extreme end of the spectrum, we find 515 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: people claiming shadowy cabals like the Illuminati killed Kennedy, or 516 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:42,439 Speaker 1: that the president somehow never actually died. It's a fascinating, 517 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:47,200 Speaker 1: deep rabbit hole of conjecture, and the theories often contradict 518 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:51,520 Speaker 1: each other on the most basic of assumptions. There is, however, 519 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:57,800 Speaker 1: one commonality, Lee Harvey Oswald, All the popular theories state 520 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:02,640 Speaker 1: did not act alone. M theorists also tend to place 521 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:06,920 Speaker 1: great weight on Oswald's own death. He was murdered on 522 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:12,520 Speaker 1: November nineteen sixty three by a local nightclub owner named 523 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:19,000 Speaker 1: Jack Ruby. Ruby died while awaiting a retrial on January third, 524 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:25,360 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven. Again, over half of the American public 525 00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:29,760 Speaker 1: believes some version of these stories, and since nineteen sixty 526 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:34,600 Speaker 1: three they've never quite gone away, and the nineteen sixty 527 00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:39,600 Speaker 1: eight assassination of JFK's brother, New York Senator Robert Kennedy 528 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:44,920 Speaker 1: only added more fuel to the fire of speculation. While 529 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:50,799 Speaker 1: declassifying all outstanding information regarding the assassination would be a 530 00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:55,000 Speaker 1: big step toward dispelling some of the wilder claims, it's 531 00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:59,600 Speaker 1: possible that even full transparency wouldn't be enough to stem 532 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:04,640 Speaker 1: the side of speculation. This is because, regardless of what 533 00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:08,520 Speaker 1: evidence has been produced or will be produced regarding one 534 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:15,960 Speaker 1: of history's most infamous assassinations, one profoundly disturbing, inarguable fact 535 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:23,880 Speaker 1: remains the United States has assassinated people it like other countries, 536 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:29,360 Speaker 1: likely will assassinate more people in the future if it 537 00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:36,040 Speaker 1: deems such actions appropriate, But the US is not infallible. 538 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: Just as with the pattern of attempted coup datas, the 539 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 1: U s assassination track record features its own collection of 540 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:49,680 Speaker 1: blunders and failures. The most famous of these was probably 541 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:55,160 Speaker 1: Uncle Sam's long running mission to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro. 542 00:43:56,160 --> 00:44:02,000 Speaker 1: Over the course of decades, multiple US administration tried increasingly 543 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:07,920 Speaker 1: bizarre and outlandish methods to end Castro's life. Poison smuggled 544 00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:12,440 Speaker 1: in cold cream, batulenum tocks and laced the cigars a 545 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:16,960 Speaker 1: syringe of lethal substances hidden in a pen. The CIA 546 00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:20,480 Speaker 1: reached out to mafia syndicates in the US seeking to 547 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:25,040 Speaker 1: arrange a hit. Some of the plots focused on character assassination, 548 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:30,520 Speaker 1: essentially deciding that if the man couldn't be killed, discrediting 549 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:34,240 Speaker 1: him was the next best thing. What if thallium salt 550 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:39,000 Speaker 1: could destroy his facial hair, could LSD be piped into 551 00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:44,239 Speaker 1: his recording studio causing him to hallucinate on air? The 552 00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:48,960 Speaker 1: last documented attempt on Castro's life occurred in two thousand, 553 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:52,840 Speaker 1: while he was on a trip to Panama. His personal 554 00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:58,440 Speaker 1: security guards discovered a cash of explosives hidden under a podium. 555 00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:04,480 Speaker 1: This attempt also yield This list of farcical misfires points 556 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:08,440 Speaker 1: to one reason we should be skeptical of many assassination 557 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:14,480 Speaker 1: conspiracy theories. How can the same government capable of orchestrating 558 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:19,040 Speaker 1: and carrying out a convoluted plot to kill its own president, 559 00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:24,440 Speaker 1: including a sweeping multigenerational cover up of that act, also 560 00:45:24,560 --> 00:45:28,960 Speaker 1: be so incompetent that it could not kill another world leader, 561 00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:34,880 Speaker 1: despite more than six hundred separate attempts, specifically six hundred 562 00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:39,760 Speaker 1: and thirty four according to Fabian Escalante, the former chief 563 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:45,799 Speaker 1: of Cuba's counter intelligence initiatives. Nevertheless, we are faced with 564 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,600 Speaker 1: the undeniable fact that members of the United States government 565 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:54,200 Speaker 1: are capable of ordering, planning, and carrying out the execution 566 00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:58,200 Speaker 1: of political leaders. And this fact has led many people 567 00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:01,799 Speaker 1: in the US and around the world to believe that 568 00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:06,400 Speaker 1: such extraordinary actions are not as uncommon as we might think, 569 00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:12,680 Speaker 1: nor restricted to foreign leaders. This brings us to another infamous, 570 00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:18,600 Speaker 1: untimely death, the assassination of doctor Martin Luther King Jr. 571 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:24,520 Speaker 1: Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in nineteen twenty nine. Martin Luther 572 00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:29,120 Speaker 1: King Jr. Was a minister, activist and one of the 573 00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:33,399 Speaker 1: most prominent leaders of the American civil rights movement. From 574 00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:37,800 Speaker 1: the Montgomery bus boycott of nineteen fifty five up until 575 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:42,080 Speaker 1: his death, Doctor King fought tirelessly to further the cause 576 00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:48,560 Speaker 1: of equality for all residents of America, regardless of their race, ethnicity, income, 577 00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:54,160 Speaker 1: or political stance. Doctor King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, 578 00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:59,000 Speaker 1: on April fourth, nineteen sixty eight. Investigations of the murder 579 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:03,120 Speaker 1: concluded King was killed by veteran and petty criminal James 580 00:47:03,120 --> 00:47:07,400 Speaker 1: Earl Ray using a Remington rifle to which he attached 581 00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:12,680 Speaker 1: the scope. Riots ensued across the country. As in the 582 00:47:12,719 --> 00:47:17,000 Speaker 1: case of Kennedy's assassination, a significant portion of the public 583 00:47:17,040 --> 00:47:20,920 Speaker 1: did not accept the government's conclusions, and a large percentage 584 00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:25,360 Speaker 1: of the American population today considers US involvement in King's 585 00:47:25,440 --> 00:47:29,400 Speaker 1: murder to be a kind of open secret. Critics of 586 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:34,399 Speaker 1: the official narrative, including King's surviving relatives, argue that King 587 00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:39,200 Speaker 1: was purposely targeted for assassination by branches of the federal 588 00:47:39,239 --> 00:47:44,759 Speaker 1: government and the mafia in The King family brought and 589 00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:48,200 Speaker 1: won a civil suit in which the jury agreed that 590 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:52,680 Speaker 1: doctor King's death was the result of a conspiracy by 591 00:47:52,719 --> 00:47:56,759 Speaker 1: a coffee shop owner named Lloyd Jowers, who had been 592 00:47:56,840 --> 00:48:01,719 Speaker 1: hired by a mafia affiliated Memphis resident and Frank Liberto. 593 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:06,200 Speaker 1: Jowers claimed the Memphis police and a man known only 594 00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:12,360 Speaker 1: as Raoul also participated. According to Jowers, Ray was framed 595 00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:16,200 Speaker 1: to take the fall, and the actual shooter was Earl Clark, 596 00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:21,400 Speaker 1: a Memphis police officer. The court granted the King family 597 00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:26,920 Speaker 1: one hundred dollars in damages. This ruling prompted the Department 598 00:48:26,960 --> 00:48:30,920 Speaker 1: of Justice d o J to reopen the case the 599 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:34,680 Speaker 1: next year. The d J stated it found no evidence 600 00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:39,480 Speaker 1: of a conspiracy. Furthermore, the department found there was no 601 00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:45,280 Speaker 1: proof Frank Liberto was a mafioso, jowers own statements didn't 602 00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:48,720 Speaker 1: add up, and his witnesses couldn't get their story straight. 603 00:48:49,239 --> 00:48:53,000 Speaker 1: The department also noted Jowers was being paid for media 604 00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:58,919 Speaker 1: appearances related to the assassination and questioned his motives. By 605 00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:02,520 Speaker 1: the time the d O issued this announcement, the public 606 00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:06,960 Speaker 1: had already learned about Cohen tell Pro. The federal government 607 00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:10,440 Speaker 1: may not have killed Dr King, but it certainly worked 608 00:49:10,520 --> 00:49:15,799 Speaker 1: to ruin him. Cohen tell Pro short for counter intelligence 609 00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:20,640 Speaker 1: program was an FBI initiative originally intended to discover and 610 00:49:20,719 --> 00:49:25,560 Speaker 1: disrupt communist activity in the United States. The program began 611 00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:29,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty six and existed in secrecy until nineteen 612 00:49:29,880 --> 00:49:35,680 Speaker 1: seventy one. It also experienced mission creep, expanding its scope 613 00:49:35,719 --> 00:49:41,000 Speaker 1: from communism to include surveillance and disruption operations against virtually 614 00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:45,320 Speaker 1: any groups believed to be a threat to national security. 615 00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:52,240 Speaker 1: The definition of national security also broadened, as was convenient coming, 616 00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:56,520 Speaker 1: to mean in practice, anything the FBI perceived as a 617 00:49:56,640 --> 00:50:01,080 Speaker 1: threat to the existing status quo. This included things like 618 00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:04,680 Speaker 1: far right hate groups, as well as left wing civil 619 00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:09,240 Speaker 1: rights initiatives. Coin tel Pro broke laws in the service 620 00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:12,399 Speaker 1: of what it saw as the greater good, and did 621 00:50:12,440 --> 00:50:17,520 Speaker 1: so successfully. Ultimately, it would take an independent crime to 622 00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:22,600 Speaker 1: bring these crimes to light. The American public first learned 623 00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:26,520 Speaker 1: of co in tel Pro, not through declassified documents or 624 00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:32,279 Speaker 1: a whistleblower, but from a good old fashioned heist. In one, 625 00:50:32,520 --> 00:50:36,880 Speaker 1: an outfit called the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI 626 00:50:37,120 --> 00:50:42,080 Speaker 1: broke into an FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, making 627 00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:47,120 Speaker 1: off with over one thousand documents containing classified information and 628 00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:51,400 Speaker 1: later past material describing co in tel Pro to reporters. 629 00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:57,520 Speaker 1: Many news agencies initially refused to publish the evidence, concerned 630 00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:01,680 Speaker 1: that as it related to ongoing govern ment activities, going 631 00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:04,920 Speaker 1: public might threaten the lives of the agents and others 632 00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:09,960 Speaker 1: involved in the operations. The Washington Post became the first 633 00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:13,799 Speaker 1: to break the story, running their report on March twenty four, 634 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:19,520 Speaker 1: seventy one. Win Magazine published an expose a on the 635 00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:23,440 Speaker 1: break in in March nineteen seventy two, with a piece 636 00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:28,480 Speaker 1: showing the complete collection of the stolen documents. This treasure 637 00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:34,360 Speaker 1: trove of information provided indisputable evidence that the FBI was 638 00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:40,200 Speaker 1: conducting criminal acts, including the use of switchboard operators and 639 00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:45,440 Speaker 1: postal workers to spy on non violent black activist groups, 640 00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:50,480 Speaker 1: black college students, to right wing groups, and more than 641 00:51:50,600 --> 00:51:56,399 Speaker 1: two hundred left leaning groups. Cohen Telpro also targeted Dr 642 00:51:56,520 --> 00:52:00,920 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King, Jr. In a conspiracy to discredit his 643 00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:06,400 Speaker 1: activities and, if possible, prompt him to take his own life. 644 00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:12,280 Speaker 1: Perhaps most infamously, in nineteen sixty four, King's wife, Coretta 645 00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:17,640 Speaker 1: Scott King, received an anonymous package containing recordings of King's 646 00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:22,319 Speaker 1: alleged sexual activities outside of marriage, as well as a 647 00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:26,080 Speaker 1: letter that King believed was attempting to persuade him to 648 00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:31,560 Speaker 1: commit suicide. King believed this letter and the recording were 649 00:52:31,560 --> 00:52:35,200 Speaker 1: the work of the FBI. In the wake of co 650 00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:40,200 Speaker 1: Intel prose public exposure, the Church Committee conducted a series 651 00:52:40,239 --> 00:52:45,319 Speaker 1: of hearings and investigations, eventually uncovering evidence that seemed to 652 00:52:45,480 --> 00:52:52,120 Speaker 1: confirm King's suspicions. The nineteen seventy Senate Select Committee to 653 00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:58,000 Speaker 1: Study Governmental Operations with respect to Intelligence Activities, also known 654 00:52:58,040 --> 00:53:00,880 Speaker 1: as the Church Committee because it was chaired by Frank 655 00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:06,680 Speaker 1: Forrester Church, the Third investigated alleged illegal activities carried out 656 00:53:06,719 --> 00:53:11,480 Speaker 1: by the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and 657 00:53:11,560 --> 00:53:16,440 Speaker 1: the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A copy of the anonymous 658 00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:19,960 Speaker 1: letter was found in the work files of Deputy FBI 659 00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:25,640 Speaker 1: Director William C. Sullivan. This means that while the US 660 00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:31,080 Speaker 1: denies any involvement with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 661 00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:38,359 Speaker 1: The government inarguably did instigate and pursue a conspiracy against him, 662 00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:43,880 Speaker 1: illegally spying on his activities, conducting smear campaigns, and doing 663 00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:48,480 Speaker 1: a number of, at the very least highly unethical things 664 00:53:48,560 --> 00:53:52,759 Speaker 1: to discredit his standing in the civil rights movement. And 665 00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:57,160 Speaker 1: in the general public eye. With this in mind, it's 666 00:53:57,239 --> 00:54:01,120 Speaker 1: no wonder that so many people but eve Doctor King 667 00:54:01,360 --> 00:54:05,640 Speaker 1: was murdered by some faction of the government, or that 668 00:54:05,800 --> 00:54:10,000 Speaker 1: members of some government agencies may have had at least 669 00:54:10,640 --> 00:54:15,919 Speaker 1: knowledge of his impending death. And with this information, it's 670 00:54:15,960 --> 00:54:20,560 Speaker 1: also not particularly surprising that the jury in Memphis agreed. 671 00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,200 Speaker 1: The jury, which was made up of six black and 672 00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:30,439 Speaker 1: six white jurors, reached a unanimous verdict. These assassinations are 673 00:54:30,480 --> 00:54:33,560 Speaker 1: two of the most famous alleged to have been carried 674 00:54:33,560 --> 00:54:37,160 Speaker 1: out by the US government, but they're far from the 675 00:54:37,239 --> 00:54:42,520 Speaker 1: only examples, both in the United States and abroad. Again, 676 00:54:42,719 --> 00:54:48,000 Speaker 1: consider the assassination of Iranian General Kasam Solamani in two 677 00:54:48,040 --> 00:54:52,880 Speaker 1: thousand twenty, or the numerous leaders who, like Salvador Allende 678 00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:58,840 Speaker 1: in Chile, died during coups organized by the CIA. Assassination 679 00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:04,400 Speaker 1: remains a liable tool for governments, criminal organizations, and terrorist 680 00:55:04,440 --> 00:55:11,040 Speaker 1: groups alike, and assassinations are by their very nature inherently conspiratorial. 681 00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:16,560 Speaker 1: Countries often don't like to be openly associated with these 682 00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:20,960 Speaker 1: acts of murder, and commonly employ proxies to obfuscate their 683 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:26,680 Speaker 1: direct involvement. The problem with many JFK and MLK theories 684 00:55:26,800 --> 00:55:30,960 Speaker 1: is that theorists often interpret a lack of evidence as 685 00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:36,200 Speaker 1: a form of evidence itself. If evidence doesn't exist, and 686 00:55:36,160 --> 00:55:39,960 Speaker 1: it's not because there is no proof of a conspiracy, 687 00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:43,719 Speaker 1: it's because the proof has been destroyed or hidden by 688 00:55:43,760 --> 00:55:49,239 Speaker 1: the nefarious government bureaucrats behind the assassination plot. The goal 689 00:55:49,320 --> 00:55:54,400 Speaker 1: post can continually move, and if evidence that contradicts a 690 00:55:54,440 --> 00:55:59,279 Speaker 1: conspiracy theory is revealed, as in our earlier examples, there 691 00:55:59,320 --> 00:56:03,520 Speaker 1: would still be people claiming this exonerating evidence was doctored 692 00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:09,320 Speaker 1: or manufactured. The latter scenario is rare in any case. 693 00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:14,520 Speaker 1: The truth it is highly unlikely the American public will 694 00:56:14,719 --> 00:56:19,480 Speaker 1: ever be given full access to classified information regarding the 695 00:56:19,560 --> 00:56:26,760 Speaker 1: investigations of the MLK and Kennedy assassinations. That absence of transparency, 696 00:56:26,960 --> 00:56:31,840 Speaker 1: even when there are valid security reasons for secrecy, functions 697 00:56:31,880 --> 00:56:35,839 Speaker 1: as high test fuel for the engine of public conjecture. 698 00:56:36,840 --> 00:56:42,279 Speaker 1: Imperfect transparency is still better than nothing, but speculation of 699 00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:47,600 Speaker 1: government involvement in these assassinations will only continue to thrive 700 00:56:47,760 --> 00:56:52,160 Speaker 1: in the coming decades. There it is we hope you 701 00:56:52,560 --> 00:56:58,360 Speaker 1: enjoyed this chapter on coups and assassinations minus the mysterious 702 00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:00,800 Speaker 1: three minutes, and you might be saying you might be 703 00:57:00,880 --> 00:57:04,799 Speaker 1: haunted right now by how strange the world is, and 704 00:57:04,840 --> 00:57:08,839 Speaker 1: you might be asking yourself, how do I find there's 705 00:57:08,840 --> 00:57:11,759 Speaker 1: three minutes you guys are hiding from me. We can 706 00:57:11,800 --> 00:57:15,120 Speaker 1: help you with that. On October October eleven eleventh, as 707 00:57:15,160 --> 00:57:18,320 Speaker 1: my Monster Truck announcer voice producer of Lackluster The Stuff 708 00:57:18,360 --> 00:57:20,480 Speaker 1: they Don't Want you to Know, book and audiobook will 709 00:57:20,520 --> 00:57:24,360 Speaker 1: be unleashed. Dare I say released on the public, the 710 00:57:24,440 --> 00:57:27,680 Speaker 1: unsuspecting or in your case, suspecting public. And and we 711 00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:30,760 Speaker 1: really appreciate if you bought those things. I think sometimes 712 00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:33,280 Speaker 1: it's cool to have both because it really is. You know, 713 00:57:33,440 --> 00:57:36,160 Speaker 1: you're gonna get us a chance to hear us fumble 714 00:57:36,160 --> 00:57:38,280 Speaker 1: our way through an audio book reading. And I think 715 00:57:38,280 --> 00:57:39,680 Speaker 1: we all did a fine job. I don't know why 716 00:57:39,720 --> 00:57:42,400 Speaker 1: I'm being self deprecating there on all of our behalves. 717 00:57:42,400 --> 00:57:45,080 Speaker 1: That was an appropriate me. But seriously, it is something. 718 00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:47,040 Speaker 1: There is something to be able to listen to it. 719 00:57:47,080 --> 00:57:48,720 Speaker 1: This is the kind of book you can also reread. 720 00:57:48,960 --> 00:57:50,960 Speaker 1: I mean it really is like the the actual physical 721 00:57:50,960 --> 00:57:53,880 Speaker 1: book really just looks looks really nice on your coffee 722 00:57:53,880 --> 00:57:57,640 Speaker 1: table with illustrations right, our dear friend, mural artist, graphic 723 00:57:57,680 --> 00:58:01,640 Speaker 1: designer extraordinaire Nick Admiral turb O Benson. Um, it is 724 00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:03,840 Speaker 1: a lovely piece. To have it your house and to 725 00:58:03,920 --> 00:58:05,880 Speaker 1: give us gifts to your friends and family. This is 726 00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:09,400 Speaker 1: what you do. Download that audio book, you know, after 727 00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,320 Speaker 1: paying for it. You gotta pay for it. Uh, then 728 00:58:12,640 --> 00:58:16,040 Speaker 1: put some beats behind the words. That's what I want 729 00:58:16,040 --> 00:58:19,480 Speaker 1: to hear. I want to see on social somewhere. Uh, 730 00:58:19,560 --> 00:58:22,720 Speaker 1: one of our voices or more of our multiple voices 731 00:58:22,840 --> 00:58:26,720 Speaker 1: of ours behind some really just dope beat that you've 732 00:58:26,760 --> 00:58:29,040 Speaker 1: created or found. So see see if you can make 733 00:58:29,080 --> 00:58:38,320 Speaker 1: that happen. Like so, just just use that one. No, no, no, 734 00:58:38,840 --> 00:58:41,320 Speaker 1: give us all you know, give us trap flavor, reggaetone, 735 00:58:42,080 --> 00:58:45,080 Speaker 1: a little bit of jungle, you know whatever, any dope beats? 736 00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:48,320 Speaker 1: What will do? Oh yeah? Or what? What is something 737 00:58:48,400 --> 00:58:54,520 Speaker 1: that's really like sensual? They call that conspiratorial healing a 738 00:58:54,680 --> 00:58:58,040 Speaker 1: quiet storm, right stuff They don't want you to know 739 00:58:58,240 --> 00:59:02,600 Speaker 1: after duck cry and loving or leaving. We're glad you're here. Uh, 740 00:59:02,800 --> 00:59:05,919 Speaker 1: we cannot wait to hear your opinions. As we said. Uh. 741 00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:10,200 Speaker 1: The book, the audio book, they're out, check out the art. 742 00:59:10,400 --> 00:59:14,720 Speaker 1: We are very fortunate to be joined with with the 743 00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:18,280 Speaker 1: one and only Admiral Turbot Benson. Uh we actually there 744 00:59:18,360 --> 00:59:20,880 Speaker 1: is a true story. We were able to pull him 745 00:59:20,960 --> 00:59:24,840 Speaker 1: away from Run the Jewels. So apologies to our fellow 746 00:59:24,840 --> 00:59:28,160 Speaker 1: at Lanton Killer Mike, but we hope you enjoyed the 747 00:59:28,160 --> 00:59:30,840 Speaker 1: book as well. That's it for today, folks, will be 748 00:59:30,920 --> 00:59:33,560 Speaker 1: back with listener mail next week. In the meantime, we 749 00:59:33,640 --> 00:59:35,360 Speaker 1: want you to be part of the show. You're the 750 00:59:35,400 --> 00:59:38,560 Speaker 1: most important part of this whole crazy endeavor, so join 751 00:59:38,680 --> 00:59:41,400 Speaker 1: up with us becoming conspiracy Realist. We try to be 752 00:59:41,480 --> 00:59:44,440 Speaker 1: easy to find online. Lock Arms the Internet reach out. 753 00:59:44,520 --> 00:59:46,120 Speaker 1: You can find us on Facebook, you can find us 754 00:59:46,120 --> 00:59:47,959 Speaker 1: on Twitter, and you can find us on YouTube where 755 00:59:48,000 --> 00:59:50,680 Speaker 1: things are assumed to be afoot. Keep an eye on 756 00:59:50,720 --> 00:59:53,040 Speaker 1: that space as the kids say, who the kids say that? 757 00:59:53,240 --> 00:59:55,040 Speaker 1: Who says that? No one says that. I don't know, 758 00:59:55,080 --> 00:59:57,240 Speaker 1: maybe it's just me. But you can find us at 759 00:59:57,280 --> 01:00:00,720 Speaker 1: the handle Conspiracy Stuff on those platforms Conspiracy STI Show 760 01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:05,360 Speaker 1: on Instagram where there is currently stuff afoot. So just 761 01:00:05,440 --> 01:00:08,240 Speaker 1: watch that space, you know, just go to it Instagram 762 01:00:08,280 --> 01:00:10,720 Speaker 1: Conspiracy Stuff Show. And we got a phone number. It's 763 01:00:10,760 --> 01:00:13,640 Speaker 1: one three three s td W y t K call in. 764 01:00:13,720 --> 01:00:16,440 Speaker 1: It's a voicemail. You've got three minutes. Say whatever you want. 765 01:00:16,480 --> 01:00:18,640 Speaker 1: Give yourself a moniker and let us know if we 766 01:00:18,680 --> 01:00:21,360 Speaker 1: can use your name and message on the air. If 767 01:00:21,400 --> 01:00:25,480 Speaker 1: you don't monocle a monster, give yourself an give yourself 768 01:00:25,480 --> 01:00:30,280 Speaker 1: a monocle and a moniker moniker, monuncle. As I should 769 01:00:30,280 --> 01:00:36,360 Speaker 1: do my warm ups before we're in the actual recording session. Okay, yes, yes, yes, yes, 770 01:00:36,440 --> 01:00:38,160 Speaker 1: yes yes. And if you don't want to do that 771 01:00:38,200 --> 01:00:40,080 Speaker 1: stuff you don't like your phone, why not instead send 772 01:00:40,120 --> 01:00:42,960 Speaker 1: us a good old fashioned email. We are conspiracy at 773 01:00:42,960 --> 01:01:04,280 Speaker 1: iHeart radio dot com. Yeah, stuff they don't want you 774 01:01:04,360 --> 01:01:06,960 Speaker 1: to know. Is a production of I heart Radio. For 775 01:01:07,040 --> 01:01:09,400 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart 776 01:01:09,480 --> 01:01:12,280 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 777 01:01:12,280 --> 01:01:12,960 Speaker 1: favorite shows.