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Let's Start a Coup!

Let's Start a Coup!

By: iHeartPodcasts
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About this listen

What would you do if a secret cabal of the nation’s most powerful people asked you to overthrow the President? Weirdly enough – it’s not a hypothetical. It almost happened to FDR in the 1930s, were it not for a very intense, very problematic Marine named Major General Smedley Butler.

Join Ben Bowlin, Alex French, and a cast of historical characters brought to life by Joe Kinosian for a darkly comedic – and terrifying –​ retelling of one of the weirdest forgotten schemes in American history.

2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia True Crime World
Episodes
  • Yeltsin in Texas! How a Houston Grocery Store Ended the Cold War (and Inspired a Great American Musical)

    Yeltsin in Texas! How a Houston Grocery Store Ended the Cold War (and Inspired a Great American Musical)
    Nov 20 2025

    In 1989, Boris Yeltsin walked into a Houston supermarket, and walked out ready to end an empire. What he saw in Texas that day would shake the foundations of the Soviet Union.

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    On the Very Special Episodes podcast, we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday. Special thanks to composer Evan Mack for letting us play a clip of “Make Your Move,” from his original opera Yeltsin in Texas. Learn more at evanmack.com. And thanks to Yelena Biberman for sharing her story. Check out her excellent podcast How to Kill a Superpower.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    44 mins
  • Ep 6 – The Real Coup

    Ep 6 – The Real Coup
    Apr 3 2023

    The Congressional investigation is, surprise, a farce. Those in office – heavily influenced by their powerful donors – seem determined to prevent any genuine attempt at investigating Smedley’s evidence. The press, controlled by the same forces, dismisses his claims as the paranoid ramblings of an old, no longer relevant relic of a bygone age.

    Yet the nation is listening. The original gonzo journalist John Spivak digs into the story – and he is able to prove Smedley’s claims. What happens next?

    LINK: http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/53/spivak-NewMasses.pdf

    (Page 8 for conspiracy board)

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    40 mins
  • Ep 5 – Ham on Half

    Ep 5 – Ham on Half
    Mar 27 2023

    As the conspiracy to overthrow the United States government rushes from idea to action, Major General Smedley Butler draws a line in the sand. From what he can tell, the country’s most powerful people have both the money and the political will to betray their own nation. And he knows the plotters' mercenary army could outnumber U.S. forces. Smedley orders a pizza and then blows the whistle, triggering a Congressional investigation.

    Yet, it seems, Smedley forgot one important thing: the shadowy forces plotting the coup may have already bought Congress.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    33 mins
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