Robert and Dave conclude our episode about think tanks.

Robert and Dave conclude our episode about think tanks.

There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous ideology, the founder of Blackwater’s insane quest to build his own Air Force, the bizarre lives of the sons and daughters of dictators and Saddam Hussein’s side career as a trashy romance novelist.

Everything you don't know about History's greatest monsters

Behind the Bastards

There’s a reason the History Channel has produced hundreds of documentaries about Hitler but only a few about Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bad guys (and gals) are eternally fascinating. Behind the Bastards dives in past the Cliffs Notes of the worst humans in history and exposes the bizarre realities of their lives. Listeners will learn about the young adult novels that helped Hitler form his monstrous ideology, the founder of Blackwater’s insane quest to build his own Air Force, the bizarre lives of the sons and daughters of dictators and Saddam Hussein’s side career as a trashy romance novelist.

Part Two: How Conservatism Won

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ba2ba736-c447-4172-b6bc-b147016c7903/transcript

This week Robert sits down with James Stout to weave the story of the worst military leader in human history: Francisco Solano Lopez. Also known as 'El supremo', he nearly annihilated his own country through sheer incompetence.

Sources:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26494384?googleloggedin=true&seq=22

https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/11/22/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-1-francisco-solano-lopezs-earlier-life

https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/8/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-2-the-start-of-the-war-of-the-triple-alliance#.YcJFwy2cZAY=

https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/23/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-3-devastating-battles-for-both-sides#.Yd9N0i2cZAY=

https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2022/1/12/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-4-how-the-war-ended#.Yd9N0i2cZAY=

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/war-of-the-triple-alliance-bloodbath-in-paraguay/

https://www.thecollector.com/francisco-solano-lopez-paraguayan-war/

https://countrystudies.us/paraguay/10.htm

https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780742537552

 

This week Robert sits down with James Stout to weave the story of the worst military leader in human history: Francisco Solano Lopez. Also known as 'El supremo', he nearly annihilated his own country through sheer incompetence.
Sources:
<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26494384?googleloggedin=true&amp;seq=22" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26494384?googleloggedin%3Dtrue%26seq%3D22&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Slajk37QV7TM2UlDawZYR">https://www.jstor.org/stable/26494384?googleloggedin=true&amp;seq=22</a>
<a href="https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/11/22/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-1-francisco-solano-lopezs-earlier-life" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/11/22/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-1-francisco-solano-lopezs-earlier-life&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3B6JjyfSAbQdjTnt1-msja">https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/11/22/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-1-francisco-solano-lopezs-earlier-life</a>
<a href="https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/8/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-2-the-start-of-the-war-of-the-triple-alliance#.YcJFwy2cZAY=" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/8/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-2-the-start-of-the-war-of-the-triple-alliance%23.YcJFwy2cZAY%3D&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PrG_m2N1ey19kDd_WzFz0">https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/8/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-2-the-start-of-the-war-of-the-triple-alliance#.YcJFwy2cZAY=</a>
<a href="https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/23/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-3-devastating-battles-for-both-sides#.Yd9N0i2cZAY=" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/23/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-3-devastating-battles-for-both-sides%23.Yd9N0i2cZAY%3D&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2LFFFNOfmvXD3QglpF4jUI">https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2021/12/23/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-3-devastating-battles-for-both-sides#.Yd9N0i2cZAY=</a>
<a href="https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2022/1/12/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-4-how-the-war-ended#.Yd9N0i2cZAY=" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2022/1/12/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-4-how-the-war-ended%23.Yd9N0i2cZAY%3D&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0b6pSeSOxXvsCbOHIm-60x">https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2022/1/12/the-paraguayan-president-who-brought-his-country-to-military-catastrophe-part-4-how-the-war-ended#.Yd9N0i2cZAY=</a>
<a href="https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/war-of-the-triple-alliance-bloodbath-in-paraguay/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/war-of-the-triple-alliance-bloodbath-in-paraguay/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2q6RwdRAW1D3a1TJTCxKo4">https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/war-of-the-triple-alliance-bloodbath-in-paraguay/</a>
<a href="https://www.thecollector.com/francisco-solano-lopez-paraguayan-war/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.thecollector.com/francisco-solano-lopez-paraguayan-war/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1aD5GeZfeJ2Qu8lab6e3nf">https://www.thecollector.com/francisco-solano-lopez-paraguayan-war/</a>
<a href="https://countrystudies.us/paraguay/10.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://countrystudies.us/paraguay/10.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw26Zb3au0yoEloHnrJl0mnc">https://countrystudies.us/paraguay/10.htm</a>
<a href="https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780742537552" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780742537552&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021922984000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1y_K4wsFHgy-mFcz26j3sM">https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780742537552</a>
&nbsp;

Part One: Francisco Solano Lopez: The Worst Military Leader In Human History

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/5891e83b-a3d4-4968-8cbf-b4a9016379bf/transcript

With Palantir now off the ground, Alex Karp turns himself into the spokesman and salesman for Palantir, a company that threatens to destroy everything he pretends to believe in.

With Palantir now off the ground, Alex Karp turns himself into the spokesman and salesman for Palantir, a company that threatens to destroy everything he pretends to believe in.

Part Two: Alex Karp: How Palantir's CEO Went From Marxist To Anti-Woke Crusader

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/6d113318-8a93-4f66-aafe-b4a401698771/transcript

Robert begins his exploration of the early life of Alex Karp, current CEO of Palantir and best friend to Peter Thiel. He traces Alex's journey from left-wing academic to overlord of an "Anti-Woke" defense contractor.

Sources:

Robert Evans

Sun, Aug 16, 7:55 PM (21 hours ago)

to me

https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.26d95273-6a62c822-5da570ba-74722d776562/https/www.juedische-allgemeine.de/politik/philosoph-des-cyberkriegs/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alex-karp-from-dyslexic-outsider-ai-war-ceo-michael-murphy-asslc/

https://archive.is/mITxe#selection-2543.0-2557.72

https://archive.is/aVOyY#selection-1659.0-1671.192

https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt

https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt

https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-what-the-company-does/

https://medium.com/@alfredas/leaving-the-shire-a-farewell-letter-to-my-colleagues-at-palantir-5275b28ce09b

https://medium.com/coriers/can-palantir-take-over-the-entire-data-stack-e9a40b842d0c

https://www.bobinsun.cn/assets/pdf/Palantir-Redefining-Analytics,%20Augmenting-Intelligence%20&%20Unlocking-Secrets.pdf

https://archive.is/QVBtT#selection-2347.0-2347.346

https://fpif.org/americas-ai-war-has-no-civilian-stop-rule/

https://www.reuters.com/technology/palantir-faces-challenge-remove-anthropic-pentagons-ai-software-2026-03-04/

https://www.wired.com/story/ice-palantir-immigrationos/

https://lieber.westpoint.edu/warification-illusion-precision-ai-targeting-increasing-civilian-harm/

https://www.business-humanrights.org/es/%C3%BAltimas-noticias/palantir-spacex-allegedly-complicit-in-war-crimes-amid-israels-war-in-gaza/

https://en.defence-ua.com/analysis/security_risks_emerge_how_us_based_palantirs_systems_could_endanger_ukraines_defense_data-16804.html

Robert begins his exploration of the early life of Alex Karp, current CEO of Palantir and best friend to Peter Thiel. He traces Alex's journey from left-wing academic to overlord of an "Anti-Woke" defense contractor.
Sources:
Robert Evans
Sun, Aug 16, 7:55 PM (21 hours ago)
to&nbsp;me
<a href="https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.26d95273-6a62c822-5da570ba-74722d776562/https/www.juedische-allgemeine.de/politik/philosoph-des-cyberkriegs/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.26d95273-6a62c822-5da570ba-74722d776562/https/www.juedische-allgemeine.de/politik/philosoph-des-cyberkriegs/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2ME2wGtyhns88BlutpmTA9">https://translated.turbopages.org/proxy_u/ru-en.en.26d95273-6a62c822-5da570ba-74722d776562/https/www.juedische-allgemeine.de/politik/philosoph-des-cyberkriegs/</a>
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alex-karp-from-dyslexic-outsider-ai-war-ceo-michael-murphy-asslc/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alex-karp-from-dyslexic-outsider-ai-war-ceo-michael-murphy-asslc/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2pSd8g9O7ZWmQ-9sr2x7Ea">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/alex-karp-from-dyslexic-outsider-ai-war-ceo-michael-murphy-asslc/</a>
<a href="https://archive.is/mITxe#selection-2543.0-2557.72" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.is/mITxe%23selection-2543.0-2557.72&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2k2A0Mkb1ub3gmy1DR0RY9">https://archive.is/mITxe#selection-2543.0-2557.72</a>
<a href="https://archive.is/aVOyY#selection-1659.0-1671.192" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.is/aVOyY%23selection-1659.0-1671.192&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1h29kb0rDbGHOXoILR0_3S">https://archive.is/aVOyY#selection-1659.0-1671.192</a>
<a href="https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2cQ_iKUJo4vBDDA7bN3DG4">https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt</a>
<a href="https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2cQ_iKUJo4vBDDA7bN3DG4">https://kristindemontfort.substack.com/p/alex-karps-aggression-in-the-lebenswelt</a>
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-what-the-company-does/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-what-the-company-does/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw00ukFLHHvPXghjDePYowki">https://www.wired.com/story/palantir-what-the-company-does/</a>
<a href="https://medium.com/@alfredas/leaving-the-shire-a-farewell-letter-to-my-colleagues-at-palantir-5275b28ce09b" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://medium.com/@alfredas/leaving-the-shire-a-farewell-letter-to-my-colleagues-at-palantir-5275b28ce09b&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw11iULXDAPfwsUABVkCDf8Y">https://medium.com/@alfredas/leaving-the-shire-a-farewell-letter-to-my-colleagues-at-palantir-5275b28ce09b</a>
<a href="https://medium.com/coriers/can-palantir-take-over-the-entire-data-stack-e9a40b842d0c" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://medium.com/coriers/can-palantir-take-over-the-entire-data-stack-e9a40b842d0c&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-kFurdbT0Qzk9_WTVbqQR">https://medium.com/coriers/can-palantir-take-over-the-entire-data-stack-e9a40b842d0c</a>
<a href="https://www.bobinsun.cn/assets/pdf/Palantir-Redefining-Analytics,%20Augmenting-Intelligence%20&amp;%20Unlocking-Secrets.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bobinsun.cn/assets/pdf/Palantir-Redefining-Analytics,%2520Augmenting-Intelligence%2520%26%2520Unlocking-Secrets.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0-i9vhZxVksFya6oRhqDRG">https://www.bobinsun.cn/assets/pdf/Palantir-Redefining-Analytics,%20Augmenting-Intelligence%20&amp;%20Unlocking-Secrets.pdf</a>
<a href="https://archive.is/QVBtT#selection-2347.0-2347.346" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.is/QVBtT%23selection-2347.0-2347.346&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3iS1anx-Y8D2IsV1aDVfLD">https://archive.is/QVBtT#selection-2347.0-2347.346</a>
<a href="https://fpif.org/americas-ai-war-has-no-civilian-stop-rule/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://fpif.org/americas-ai-war-has-no-civilian-stop-rule/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw312aIhVh_0NKaJM_7hhUhb">https://fpif.org/americas-ai-war-has-no-civilian-stop-rule/</a>
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/palantir-faces-challenge-remove-anthropic-pentagons-ai-software-2026-03-04/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.reuters.com/technology/palantir-faces-challenge-remove-anthropic-pentagons-ai-software-2026-03-04/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw00M5bOF93RSub0c0xKQRDf">https://www.reuters.com/technology/palantir-faces-challenge-remove-anthropic-pentagons-ai-software-2026-03-04/</a>
<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ice-palantir-immigrationos/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wired.com/story/ice-palantir-immigrationos/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0PnfWxHSTzExq3QkO5p_uw">https://www.wired.com/story/ice-palantir-immigrationos/</a>
<a href="https://lieber.westpoint.edu/warification-illusion-precision-ai-targeting-increasing-civilian-harm/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://lieber.westpoint.edu/warification-illusion-precision-ai-targeting-increasing-civilian-harm/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1szYlf0n4OXuxmHKqL2zbg">https://lieber.westpoint.edu/warification-illusion-precision-ai-targeting-increasing-civilian-harm/</a>
<a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/es/%C3%BAltimas-noticias/palantir-spacex-allegedly-complicit-in-war-crimes-amid-israels-war-in-gaza/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.business-humanrights.org/es/%25C3%25BAltimas-noticias/palantir-spacex-allegedly-complicit-in-war-crimes-amid-israels-war-in-gaza/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw32fOClKl0JqnrIJa3tZpBo">https://www.business-humanrights.org/es/%C3%BAltimas-noticias/palantir-spacex-allegedly-complicit-in-war-crimes-amid-israels-war-in-gaza/</a>
<a href="https://en.defence-ua.com/analysis/security_risks_emerge_how_us_based_palantirs_systems_could_endanger_ukraines_defense_data-16804.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.defence-ua.com/analysis/security_risks_emerge_how_us_based_palantirs_systems_could_endanger_ukraines_defense_data-16804.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1787021923129000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0nsrqVykrJ_e-mLHe-1gcL">https://en.defence-ua.com/analysis/security_risks_emerge_how_us_based_palantirs_systems_could_endanger_ukraines_defense_data-16804.html</a>

Part One: Alex Karp: How Palantir's CEO Went From Marxist To Anti-Woke Crusader

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7551b361-a42d-438b-8215-b4a30000c541/transcript

Part Two: How Conservatism Won

In 1 playlist(s)

Behind the Bastards

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips