PODCAST · history
Secret Police
by Jack Johannessen
A crucial and often overlooked aspect of authoritarian regimes are the ranks of the political or secret police. More akin to a paramilitary force than your average cops, secret police enforce the ideology of the State and the personal agenda of a dictator. On this podcast, Jack takes a deep and detailed dive into the history, methods, and the people of the world’s most infamous secret police forces such as the KGB or the Gestapo. Follow @secretpolicepodcast on Instagram! Subscribe, rate, review. Thank you!
Episodes
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German Secret Police pt. 1 Prussia & The Police Union
What happens when a loose collective of states and political entities see a revolution in France and then invasion by Napoleon? Hint: it probably has to do with secret police. Following the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, the Confederation of German State banned together by common language.…
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The Sovereignty Commission & The State of Mississippi
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Mississippi's state government felt that segregation was threated by Federal encroachment. Segregation was the legal practice of separating blacks and whites in public life in the Deep South of the United...
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Chile's DINA & Augusto Pinochet
It's said that there were three sources of power in Chile: God, Pinochet, and DINA. The DINA was Chile's secret police from 1973 to 1977 in the early years of the Pinochet dictatorship. They were often compared to the Gestapo or the KGB by American intelligence. La Dirección de Inteligencia...
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Congo's Force Publique & King Leopold II
If greed were a person he would be Belgian monarch, King Leopold II. In this episode, we will explore the incredibly dark history of the Congo region in Central Africa. Congo has a history of exploitation by European colonizers and extractive industries. The worst of these predators was King...
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Iran's SAVAK & Mohammad Reza Shah
In 1921, Reza Khan rose to power with the help of the British government. He led a modernization of Persia, insisting the international community refer to his country as Iran. His son, Mohammad Reza Shah, inherited the throne in 1941. The Shah expanded his authority using a violent secret police...
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Japan's Kempeitai & Unit 731
We’ve heard about a lot of evil on Secret Police, but the actions of the Kempeitai and the wider Imperial Japanese Army are particularly poignant for their brutality and the extent to which violence prevails if you believe your enemy is inhuman. Who were the Kempeitai? How did the Kempeitai…
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Norsefire's Fingermen from V for Vendetta
Bonus Episode! V for Vendetta is a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Llyod. The story shows a bleak future where the United Kingdom is run by a totalitarian government run by a political party called Norsefire. A masked vigilante known simply as "V" is bent on sparking…
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Haiti's Tonton Macoute & Papa Doc
The Tonton Macoute was a secret police force established by Haitian physician and dictator, Francois Duvalier, better known as Papa Doc. The Macoute brutalized the Haitian people and hijacked the country’s Vodou traditions to invoke fear of a mythical bogeyman. We’re going to go through the…
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The FSB DOES NOT want you to hear this ft. Kristaps Andrejsons
A conversation with Latvian journalist, and host of the Eastern Border podcast, Kristaps Andrejsons. We recap the Russian secret police series while Kristaps provides his unique perspective on my show, Soviet times, and the future of Russian security services. Please check out Kristaps' show:...
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Russian Secret Police Summary! What Happens Next?
Almost 2 years ago, I was inspired by The Dictator's Handbook to start a podcast on secret police. It was a grueling task, much of it self-inflicted because I'm a sucker for detail, but this episode will be light. This episode starts with a brief summary of each episode part I - XI: the leaders,...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 11 The FSB
Just when you thought that Soviet security forces were a thing of the past, the double headed eagle rises from the ashes. The Federal Security Services or FSB are the Russian Federation’s modern day Chekists. Vladimir Putin and the security services have carefully crafted the image they want you…
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 10 The KGB’s Downfall
In this 10th edition of Russian secret police, we’ll dive into the KGB’s downfall, the unraveling of the Soviet Union, and the atypical leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev. We’ll see how Gorbachev rose from life as a farm boy to the Kremlin’s Communist throne. We’ll discover how the KGB reacted to...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 9 Brezhnev’s KGB
The downing of Korean Air Flight 007 demonstrates the level of stupidity and paranoia the Cold War reached. More astounding is this was the second passenger jet the Soviet Union shot down. The first instance was in 1978 when Korean Air flight 902 was on route from Paris to Seoul with a stop over…
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Secret Police Interrogates History Impossible
Bonus Episode! Alex von Sternberg, host of History Impossible, has a ton of experienced in the podcast space and one of the top established shows. He's covered many different topics, most recently the Black Death, as well as Muslim Nazis and a sort of obscure, yet arguably powerful group, called...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 8 KGBrinksmanship
Do you know somebody who was alive during the Cuban Missile Crisis? Do they remember how it felt thinking that the world may end in a literal flash? At least one could duck and cover their way into a false sense of safety. In this 8th episode of our Russia series, we are going to wrap up the…
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 7 The KGB: Spycraft
In this 7th episode of our Russia series, we will take a deep dive into the KGB itself. We’ll examine its structure, leadership, and most of all, its methods with particular interest in the KGB’s infiltration of governments across the globe. Who were some of the KGB’s most prominent agents? How…
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 6 The KGB: Khrushchev’s Rise
Many if not most people have heard of the KGB. Their spy craft is legendary and their presence was menacing. To Americans, they were the illusive boogeymen in the shadows of Cold War events. They're probably the most recognizable Russian spy agency and I’d bet money they’re the most infamous spy...
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George Orwell’s Thought Police
Bonus Episode! George Orwell's famous novel, 1984, can be interpreted in multiple ways by people of varying political identities. They can offer the story as a warning as to why the other side, in their view is dangerous. When the book was published, some viewed it as a warning of what England...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 5 Beria’s NKVD
Imagine a state apparatus of terror; they monitor citizens, they kidnap people in the middle of the night, they torture people to extract false confessions. Now imagine that same state apparatus of terror is run by a murderous pedophile. That was the Soviet people's reality with appointment of...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 4 The NKVD
The early USSR owes many of its achievements to Stalin's secret police, called the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, or the NKVD. These guys really took Russian espionage to a new level. Their reach was global in scale; nearly anybody Stalin wanted dead, the NKVD could get it done. They...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 3 The Cheka
From 1917 to 1922, the Cheka terrorized the Russian people into dedicating their lives to the Soviet State. Old institutions were destroyed, people were targeted on the basis of their socio-economic status, and farmers were forced into collectives. Those who disobeyed were likely shot, the most...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 2 The Okhrana
Imagine for a moment you're an early 20th Century Russian factory worker in Moscow. You do your job everyday to support your family but it's dangerous work. You have moments when you wonder what you're family would do if you were injured or killed on the job. Then you overhear a coworker talking...
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Russian Secret Police Pt. 1 The Oprichniki
They wore black robes and rode black horses like a monastic order of death itself. From 1565 to 1572, the Oprichniki inflicted medieval terror and torture upon the Russian people in the name of Ivan the Terrible. ***Content Warning*** contains descriptions of torture techniques. This is the first...
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Trailer: Secret Police
***TRAILER!*** Welcome to a new podcast called Secret Police. This show is dedicated to the lap dogs of dictators. Special operatives that employ surveillance and terror upon their own people. We will explore their histories, their brutal methods, and their eventual downfalls. Listen to Secret...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A crucial and often overlooked aspect of authoritarian regimes are the ranks of the political or secret police. More akin to a paramilitary force than your average cops, secret police enforce the ideology of the State and the personal agenda of a dictator. On this podcast, Jack takes a deep and detailed dive into the history, methods, and the people of the world’s most infamous secret police forces such as the KGB or the Gestapo. Follow @secretpolicepodcast on Instagram! Subscribe, rate, review. Thank you!
HOSTED BY
Jack Johannessen
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Secret Police have?
Secret Police currently has 24 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Secret Police about?
A crucial and often overlooked aspect of authoritarian regimes are the ranks of the political or secret police. More akin to a paramilitary force than your average cops, secret police enforce the ideology of the State and the personal agenda of a dictator. On this podcast, Jack takes a deep and...
How often does Secret Police release new episodes?
Secret Police has 24 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Secret Police?
You can listen to Secret Police on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Secret Police?
Secret Police is created and hosted by Jack Johannessen.
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